Christopher Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 5 hours ago, Cancer said: I suppose you would have to content yourself with examining the impact fireball and measurements of the inverted stratigraphy in the ejecta blanket. Rosetta Reconisance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 More like Deep Impact without the Deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 27, 2018 Report Share Posted February 27, 2018 Shallow Glance: The Movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DShomshak Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 The March, 2018 issue of Scientific American has an article about the TESS and CHEOPS planet-hunting space telescope missions. Dean Shomshak tkdguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 6, 2018 Report Share Posted March 6, 2018 Heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 7, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 11 hours ago, Old Man said: Heads up! No problem, they'll just shoot it down like they did last time. What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 13 hours ago, Old Man said: Heads up! A question just crossed my mind: If that stations would harm anyone (or their property) on the ground, could China be sued for damages? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Sued, sure. Successfully sued, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 2 hours ago, Old Man said: Sued, sure. Successfully sued, I don't know. What exactly are the chances of success and what is the legisation here? Did the writers of the outer space treaty considered this question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 7, 2018 Report Share Posted March 7, 2018 Shrug. IANAL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted March 8, 2018 Report Share Posted March 8, 2018 I am not sure there is even a court whose jurisdiction would be recognized as valid for such cases, though I believe that if you approach it like admiralty law -- high seas type cases -- you are closest to the right idea. I have looked for a usable textbook on space law and not been successful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted March 9, 2018 Report Share Posted March 9, 2018 Ongoing reentry window updates for Tiangong-1 L. Marcus and Christopher 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted March 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 23, 2018 A star came within 1 light-year to our solar system 70,000 years ago. And now, something more light-hearted: Scientist announces the discovery of... Mars? L. Marcus 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted April 10, 2018 Report Share Posted April 10, 2018 What will happen when Earth's north and south magnetic poles flip. Which may happen at any time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted April 11, 2018 Report Share Posted April 11, 2018 My understanding is that they're in the process of flipping right now. Check out how the North Pole (magnetic) has been moving over the last few centuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted April 11, 2018 Report Share Posted April 11, 2018 That's what the video linked to asserts, as well. But the actual chaos of the magnetic shift hasn't happened yet. We're only seeing the signs heralding its approach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 On 4/10/2018 at 7:13 AM, Lord Liaden said: What will happen when Earth's north and south magnetic poles flip. Which may happen at any time. On 4/10/2018 at 6:31 PM, Zeropoint said: My understanding is that they're in the process of flipping right now. Check out how the North Pole (magnetic) has been moving over the last few centuries. Moving, and the field is weakening measurably, with a "disappearance timescale" on the order of 104 - 105 years. Given that the time history of these reversals is known from the frozen-in magnetic field in ocean floor spreading basalts, that timescale seems about right. The physics behind the field reversal is under exploration, of course; the one I know about is here, including an animation of a reversal event showing up in their model of the planetary core. In their model, the reversal took "only" about 1200 years. So I am not worried personally about the effects. And since there doesn't seem to be a correlation between extinction events and these field reversals, biology doesn't seem to care much about them either. That leaves only technology, and we aren't making anything with a design lifetime that long anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeropoint Posted April 13, 2018 Report Share Posted April 13, 2018 Yep. "ZOMG! The Earth's magnetic poles could flip ANY TIME!" "Dude, chill. They're flipping right now. They've BEEN flipping your entire life. They've been flipping since before the industrial revolution started. It's not a problem unless you're trying to navigate with a compass and old maps." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Liaden Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 I don't know enough about the time frame of the process to comment on its pace or imminence. The only info I had to work with was what that video provides. What it does highlight is that the process is accelerating, won't be smooth or uniform, and will drastically weaken Earth's magnetic field for an extended period, which will cause far more problems than just for people using compasses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted April 14, 2018 Report Share Posted April 14, 2018 3 minutes ago, Lord Liaden said: I don't know enough about the time frame of the process to comment on its pace or imminence. The only info I had to work with was what that video provides. What it does highlight is that the process is accelerating, won't be smooth or uniform, and will drastically weaken Earth's magnetic field for an extended period, which will cause far more problems than just for people using compasses. So could this be the cause of climate change? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novi Posted April 15, 2018 Report Share Posted April 15, 2018 On 4/13/2018 at 11:08 PM, Beast said: So could this be the cause of climate change? No. There is no good way for it to be a major or significant contributor. Magnetic fields interact strongly with charged particles, but only very weakly with neutral particles like photons (aka sunlight). Someone else can check me on this, but by weakly, I mean not technically zero interaction, but essential zero for everyone who's not conducting quantum physics experiments. And while more charged particles will reach Earth's atmosphere and surface, they really don't add all that much energy versus sunlight. Don't forget that all those charged particles are counted in when measuring the vacuum of interplanetary space, which is still better than all but the best vacuums you can make in a lab. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 23 hours ago, novi said: No. There is no good way for it to be a major or significant contributor. Magnetic fields interact strongly with charged particles, but only very weakly with neutral particles like photons (aka sunlight). Someone else can check me on this, but by weakly, I mean not technically zero interaction, but essential zero for everyone who's not conducting quantum physics experiments. And while more charged particles will reach Earth's atmosphere and surface, they really don't add all that much energy versus sunlight. Don't forget that all those charged particles are counted in when measuring the vacuum of interplanetary space, which is still better than all but the best vacuums you can make in a lab. what about ice melting at the ice caps? the magnetic field does redirect a good portion of that radiation to the poles and maybe the outflow/inflow of the magnetic field is heating the ice cap? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
novi Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 49 minutes ago, Beast said: what about ice melting at the ice caps? the magnetic field does redirect a good portion of that radiation to the poles and maybe the outflow/inflow of the magnetic field is heating the ice cap? I'm still going with no. I'm going to guess that at least one of the thousands of climate scientist would have thought of that and tested it, and I haven't heard it suggested anywhere else. Also, I believe the best counterexample is that previous magnetic reversals do not track climate fluctuations in the fossil record, AFAIK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninja-Bear Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 2 hours ago, novi said: I'm still going with no. I'm going to guess that at least one of the thousands of climate scientist would have thought of that and tested it, and I haven't heard it suggested anywhere else. Also, I believe the best counterexample is that previous magnetic reversals do not track climate fluctuations in the fossil record, AFAIK. Considering what fossils record, that’s not a strong answer. Really, can petrified bones hold magnetic properties? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted April 16, 2018 Report Share Posted April 16, 2018 That is, there is no correlation between magnetic field reversals and mass extinctions evident in the fossil record. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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