The Public Perception of Space Travel

Posted on March 22, 2021 by weatherbysofferings
SpaceX launches 60 new Starlink satellites to orbit, nails ...
Recent Launch of Space X’s Falcon 9 rocket (Source)

In recent times, there is much political hubbub, controversy, and polarization. As someone interested in such things and making sense of them, I began to wonder – how does the American public stand on issues of space travel? Do people tend to value it, broadly, and how do they think it should be approached? I decided to look into the answer.

A few different surveys/polls have been done on the topic, from several reputable sources like GALLUP and PRC among others, which you can view a summary of and get direct links to here. The general takeaway, however, is that there is great positive sentiment for space travel within America! Indeed, 78% of people had a favorable impression of NASA, 71% say NASA is of vital importance to the US, and notably, despite party differences, over 55% percent of both Republicans and Democrats supported a manned mission to Mars. On budgetary issues, roughly 25% of Americans support a budget increase, and roughly 18% don’t. Many either thought it was fine as is, or confessed to not know what should be done. Moreover, many thought that space travel should be a mix of government and private efforts, though government exploration efforts were generally emphasized as more important.

Overall, the public as a whole is very supportive of continuing to explore space and research what lies outside of Earth!

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What threat do Coronal Mass Ejections Pose to Us?

Posted on March 22, 2021 by weatherbysofferings
Captured Image of a Coronal Mass Ejection (Source)

As discussed in class, one of the side effects of the Sun’s shifting magnetic field is that, occasionally, it arranges in an inconvenient fashion that causes the Sun’s plasma to explode aggressively outward. Thankfully, whenever that comes towards Earth, we are protected from any health effects thanks to our atmosphere.

But as Professor Grundstrom mentioned, these CME’s, if they were to reach a sufficient size and hit Earth, could pose a major threat to our electrical system. So it made me wonder – what would actually be the effects if a major CME hit Earth? Here’s what would happen.

Essentially, when CME’s of sufficient size hit the earth at the right angle, they warp our magnetic field due to their highly energized plasma. This sudden change and increase in magnetic intensity causes many wires and other electronic devices to suddenly receive an increase in current (due to the interrelation of electricity and magnetism) that causes many electronic devices to short-circuit, or in the worst case scenario, explode.

This is very, very bad for several reasons. Most importantly, it would likely knock out much of the world’s power grid, and if sufficiently bad, could even knock out areas that are sufficiently prepared for most CMEs, such as Montreal. Moreover, many entirely “locally power” electronics would likewise be disabled, due to their wiring be just as susceptible. It is uncertain whether the effects on the grid would be bad enough to only result in a temporary outage, or permanent damage that could take years to repair. If the former, there will likely be many deaths, in the order of perhaps a ten to a hundred thousands as hospitals, water plants, and other systems temporarily fail, causing breakdowns in supply chains and short-term limitations on travel that would limit aid efforts. This seems more likely, given that most CME’s are rarely of a degree bad enough to cause permanent damage, especially due to increases in preparation technology.

The alternative is much, much worse. In a worst case scenario, all of the issues above would be magnified greatly. Supply chains would permanently break down and refrigeration would be rare and expensive. Millions, and eventually billions, would starve as the world scrambles to repair the absolutely ravaged power grid. This would be an event that could kill a majority of the human population.

Thankfully, however, such an event is very unlikely to occur, especially at that scale. It can keep one up at night though…

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Radioactivity

Posted on March 22, 2021 by 20harriganc

Radioactivity can be described by radio active decay. The ultimate goals of the atom are to become stable, and when the numbers of protons and neutrons are not ideal, they release some of them. This is the atom changing the nucleus to a new nucleus, which is known as radioactive decay. A half-life is a measurement that tells us exactly how long it takes for 1 half of the sample to decay over time. Calculating the half-life allows us to determine how long it will take for a given sample to decay. Radioactive decay occurs when a nucleus has a higher energy level and wants to decrease to a more stable level. In CrashCourse, Hank Green does a great job of explaining how this works.

Radioactive dating is a method some scientists use to determine the age of materials on our planet. It is based on the comparison of naturally occurring isotopes and the remains of those Isotopes after they decay. They can determine this using half-lives.

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Blog #4: Saturn Losing it Rings

Posted on March 22, 2021 by mattj3

Saturn’s iconic rings, the largest and most apparent in the solar system, are disappearing. Data produced from the Voyager One and Voyager Two missions observe its rings, rings synonymous with the image of the planet, disappearing at an extremely fast rate.  Saturn’s rings are formed from water ice ranging from microscopic dust to boulder size. As ultraviolet light from the sun collides with its orbiting ring the energy exchanged electrically charges the ice, allowing for Saturn’s magnetic field to act upon the charged ice particles, which were previously orbiting around Saturn due to its gravitational pull and the orbital velocity, moving them towards Saturn resulting in its gravitational force pulling the dusty ice in along its magnetic field lines. This process results in what is called “ring rain” or the icy debris raining into Saturn’s upper atmosphere. This is happing at a rate of 10,000 kg per second a rate fast enough to fill an Olympic-sized pool in half an hour. If this rate continues it is likely that Saturn’s rings will completely disappear in 100 million years (a relatively short time on the astronomical calendar). This discovery also led to new theories on the formation of the rings. As it was previously theorized that the rings were created due to leftover debris after the formation of the planet or that they were created from two colliding moons near the being of Saturn’s formation. However, the rate at which the rings are disappearing indicates that the formation of the rings began no more than 100 million years ago, a very different estimation from the previous 4.5 billion years ago (or the creation of Saturn).

From NASA
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Climate Change – Act Now!

Posted on March 22, 2021 by adisonfields
Impacts of Climate Change on the Economy and Society - Iberdrola
Impacts of Climate Change

Climate change has already had many significant impacts on our world.  Ice is melting globally, with glaciers shrinking and ice caps being broken up, causing rising sea levels.  This alone is devastating for plants and animals.  In case anyone would like to cry, here is a video of a starving polar bear on what is now iceless land.  There is no doubt that climate change, specifically global warming, is already causing irreparable damage, yet unfortunately, it seems that the long-term effects are not discussed nearly enough.  For example, there will be significant changes in precipitation patterns over the next few decades.  Where some areas in the United States may begin to get more rainfall, many others will get much less.  In the Southwest specifically, more droughts and heat waves are to become more intense, as rising temperatures and reduced soil moisture will inhibit agriculture.  In the Northwest, rising sea level and acidity will lead to more wildfires and insect outbreaks, killing off trees on a large scale.  This, obviously, can only make the issue at hand worse, since trees are vital to the slowing of climate change.  Even though there has not been a uniform temperature rise so far, due to the varying climate in our country, it is clear that it is happening.  Here is a great link to give you an idea of ways you can help begin to make a difference, because each and every person really does matter!  Like Dr. G says, melt hearts, not ice caps. ❤

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The Great Red Spot

Posted on March 22, 2021 by derrick37027

The Great Red Spot refers to a gigantic storm on the planet Jupiter. Imagine the largest hurricane you can think of, multiply that by 1000, then make the entire vortex the color of a penny. In fact, this hurricane is so big that, at one point, it was three times the diameter of Earth.

The Great Red Spot

First observed in 1665, the Great Red Spot is one of the most defining and iconic planetary features in our solar system. Assuming that the storm observed in 1665 is the same as our current Red Spot, this storm has been continuously brewing for over 350 years. Honestly, this is the extent of our knowledge on this cosmic mystery. Since we are so far away, we have no current methodology to retrieve more data about this phenomena. Scientists postulate that the gaseous nature of the planet, as well as its incredible size, leads to gigantic scale storms on the planet, and that the Great Red Spot is the combination of several of these.

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Solar Flares

Posted on March 22, 2021 by wendyyb
Can We Predict When Solar Flares—And Protect Our Satellites?
A picture of a solar flare, via: Popular Mechanics

The sun is massive. And despite it being so far away, I can’t help but wonder if activity on the sun could possibly effect life on Earth. Enter: solar flares. According to NASA, solar flares are “great bursts of electromagnetic energy and particles that can sometimes stream from the Sun”. Occasionally, solar maximums occur which are essentially massive solar flares. Some worry that a large enough solar flare could potentially disrupt GPS and electronic activity on Earth or even wipe us out entirely. No need to worry though: NASA tells us that these solar maximums occur every 11 years so you’ve likely lived through one already! The flares are not actually strong enough to reach the Earth so you and your electronics are safe!

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Climate Change: Why You Should Care

Posted on March 22, 2021 by hunterspiveyastr
Photo By: TutorBin on Medium

We constantly hear about climate change in the media. So many political figures and social media users seem to argue about it on the daily. They debate whether it is real or not, whether it matters if it is real, or are we even the ones causing it if it is real? Along with these debates we’ve probably all seen a picture or two like the one above. It’s a simple infographic about how the greenhouse effect works, and in many ways should be an uncontroversial fact when discussing climate change. Scientists understand well how increased greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide increase the amount of energy trapped on the Earth. Yet somehow, this isn’t convincing enough for some people. Even though they know the mechanism by which the Earth warms, they deny it further, insisting that the actions of humans can’t affect the atmosphere that much, and surely the carbon we’re contributing must be minimal. In response to that, I’d like to share another graphic:

Graphic by: NASA

This chart shows how the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere for almost the past 1 million years have never gone above the level of approximately 300 ppm. However, just in the past 70 years, that amount has shot up to over 410 ppm. The previous graphic has already shown us what increasing CO2 amount leads to overtime, and considering these two pieces of information together, it becomes very apparent that humanity’s carbon emissions are going to cause the eventual heating of planet Earth. We may not know how much heating is too much, but we can certainly see the effect when we reach that point by looking towards planets such as Venus. Venus’s atmosphere consists of over 95% CO2, and boasts surface temperatures of almost 900 degrees Fahrenheit. We should begin taking note of the writing on the wall and taking steps in the right direction if we want to secure the long term stability and prosperity of our home and future generations.

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Blog Post #3 Climate Change and Its Effects On Sea Level

Posted on March 22, 2021 by mattj3

Climate change or global warming is understood (or should be) as an environmental issue with serious and concerning human implications relating to both the causes and consequences of the process. The effects of climate change are observed through the emission and build-up of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. Air pollutants and greenhouse gases, like water vapor, carbon dioxide, and methane, produced in excess through burning fuel and other human processes, collect and insulate Earth’s atmosphere causing climate temperatures to rise. This process specifically works as sunlight or rather as visible light waves pass through Earth’s atmosphere some of the energy reflects off Earth’s surface and returns to space while a part of the visible light wave is absorbed by the Earth’s surface resulting in Earth emitting infrared light. These emitted infrared light waves combined with increasing levels of greenhouse gasses result in climate change, as rising temperatures are products of the absorption of infrared light by greenhouse gasses. As the infrared light waves are released by the surface they are continually absorbed and reemitted by greenhouse gases effectively slowing down the rate at which the infrared light would otherwise exit Earth’s atmosphere. As greenhouse gases increase within the atmosphere the process in which infrared leaves the atmosphere is slowed, resulting in higher climate temperatures.

The Greenhouse Effect

However, rising temperatures are not the only or most important consequence of climate change as its effects are largely observed through Earth’s oceans, as the oceans serve to regulate rising climate temperatures. Through water’s much greater heat capacity, the heat produced by climate change is predominantly absorbed by Earth’s oceans, resulting in global sea-level rise through the mechanisms of thermal expansion and glacier melt. The thermal expansion of water produces rising sea levels because as water molecules increase in temperature their electrons gain energy and start moving farther apart, resulting in the molecule gaining in volume and losing in density. This small gain in volume results in a large increase in sea level globally. Lastly, glacier melt is pretty easy to understand, as temperatures of both the oceans and atmosphere rise glaciers and ice above sea level melt creating new water that enters the oceans.

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Aurora Borea-listen !

Posted on March 22, 2021 by wendyyb
Northern lights: See aurora borealis across northern US states
A picture of the Northern Lights, via USA Today

Looking at the picture above, it’s not hard to see why people often travel to observe the grandeur of the Aurora Borealis (aka ‘Northern Lights’). However, some who have seen it claim that alongside the visual spectacle, there’s an added auditory surprise: the Northern Lights make noise!

According to CNN, evidence of sounds from the Northern Lights is largely anecdotal with many scientists believing it to be false, merely coincidental background noise. However, those who have claimed to hear it all describe it similarly: as a pop or snap, “like a piece of meat hitting a frying pan”. Unto K. Laine, a professor at the Aalto University in Espoo, Finland, believes that the noises are caused by something called “temperature inversion”. Temperature inversion occurs on warm summer nights when warm air begins to rise but the ground temperature begins to cool down, leading to a layer of warm air being sandwiched between layers of cold air. The layer ‘sandwich’ accumulates positive charges from above and negative ones from below leading to the proposed popping noises.

In order to further investigate, volunteers at the Hankasalmi Observatory will launch an experiment this summer utilizing microphones and antennas in an attempt to prove or disprove Laine’s theory. What do you think? Have you ever heard noises from the Northern Lights? Do you think they’re real or merely someone stepping on a branch? Let me know (:

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