2012 mass corona ejection-possible shields for Earth?

Discussion in 'Science and Technology' started by KJbushway, Jan 28, 2011.

  1. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    The History Channel is fine when it comes to History, but I wouldn't take them too seriously when it comes to the Future.
     
  2. Trekker4747

    Trekker4747 Boldly going... Premium Member

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    Well the "Life After People" show is kind of cool.
     
  3. RoJoHen

    RoJoHen Awesome Admiral

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    Cool, maybe. But is it accurate?
     
  4. doublegoodprole

    doublegoodprole Captain Captain

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    I, for one, welcome whomever, whatever, or whichever will be our new overlords in 2012. Except, obviously, a Republican president.
     
  5. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Not for the Marlins, it won't. ;)

    (what is "Nemesis," BTW?)
     
  6. doublegoodprole

    doublegoodprole Captain Captain

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    "Nemesis" is a really bad movie that will be re-released in 2012, causing great devastation and destruction across the solar system. It will wreak havoc again in about 26,000 years, when it will once again pass through movie theaters in the inner solar system.

    Alternatively, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(star)
     
  7. KJbushway

    KJbushway Commodore

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    I liked the Life after people but their time caculations where off. I have a bike sitting in my back yard now for 7 yrs, If i attached wheels to it I could still ride it. It won't be overcome for a couple more decades and I got it from walmart.
     
  8. Crazy Eddie

    Crazy Eddie Vice Admiral Admiral

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    ^ Aluminum doesn't rust, dude.
     
  9. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    No, but its surface does corrode into aluminum oxide, which acts as a barrier against further corrosion.
     
  10. Rob Hal

    Rob Hal Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I think the idea that a strong CME might somehow cause devastation to the Earth stems from an attempt to link the 'end of the world in 2012' craze to the expected time of maximal activity during the normal solar cycle, which should occur sometime around the end of 2012 or the start of 2013. As far as I know, there's no correlation between the intensity of CME events and the solar cycle, although even if there were, with an average period of the solar cycle at just over a decade, humanity would probably have had to worry about it a long time ago.
     
  11. CuttingEdge100

    CuttingEdge100 Commodore Commodore

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    Are there any holes in our Van Allen Belts?
     
  12. Asbo Zaprudder

    Asbo Zaprudder Admiral Admiral

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    ^ I think the South Atlantic Anomaly may be an example of what you're referring to:

    http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4234

    However, the Van Allen Belts don't protect us from CMEs; the geomagnetic field does, but it has its limits.

    If we have another Carrington event like the one in 1859, we might be slightly screwed.

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2008/06may_carringtonflare/

    "Just before dawn the next day, skies all over planet Earth erupted in red, green, and purple auroras so brilliant that newspapers could be read as easily as in daylight. Indeed, stunning auroras pulsated even at near tropical latitudes over Cuba, the Bahamas, Jamaica, El Salvador, and Hawaii.

    Even more disconcerting, telegraph systems worldwide went haywire. Spark discharges shocked telegraph operators and set the telegraph paper on fire. Even when telegraphers disconnected the batteries powering the lines, aurora-induced electric currents in the wires still allowed messages to be transmitted."
     
  13. FordSVT

    FordSVT Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Oh, definitely. If we really got whammed by a solar event, our power and communications infrastructure would be in a sorry state. As a species, we're really bad about preemptively taking action until we've already been smacked over the head. We're probably not prepared to recover from such an event in anything approaching an "acceptable" time frame that would avoid a tragic loss of life.
     
  14. AriesIV

    AriesIV Lieutenant

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    I fail to see how a poorly written Star Trek movie is going to end the world.
     
  15. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

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    Looks like flares are back in fashion:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12485104

    Stupid rain clouds, obscuring my view of aurorae... :sigh:
     
  16. Robert Maxwell

    Robert Maxwell memelord Premium Member

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    All belts need holes, don't they? Otherwise, how do you adjust them after dinner?
     
  17. Zulu Romeo

    Zulu Romeo World Famous Starship Captain Admiral

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  18. Mr. Laser Beam

    Mr. Laser Beam Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    JJ Abrams would agree, of course.