Sunday, February 18, 2007
Only You Can Save the Earth
EldestOne is rather perturbed that the Sun will expand to a red Giant Stage and destroy the Earth. Of course, while that is some billions of years off, Earth will become uninhabitable long before then, as the Sun expands. EldestOne has had a hard time sleeping because of this (I did the same thing at his age, so I understand).
So, the task for my readers is: Come up with a way to save the Earth from its impending doom! The best entry (as judged by EldestOne) will win a copy of Sky&Space magazine. So put your thinking caps on, and see what you can come up with.
(Of course, the new Nova had nothing to do with this, but I will fo look again next morning)
So, the task for my readers is: Come up with a way to save the Earth from its impending doom! The best entry (as judged by EldestOne) will win a copy of Sky&Space magazine. So put your thinking caps on, and see what you can come up with.
(Of course, the new Nova had nothing to do with this, but I will fo look again next morning)
# posted by Ian Musgrave @ 10:09 pm 
Comments:
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Put a giant heat reflector in front of the sun stopping all the dangerous blasts and rays from hitting the earth. To move the earth from its current orbit build some Hugh solar sails and make the earth a huge sailing ship
Throw a steady stream of comets and asteroids past the earth as the temperate zone moves out, to move its orbit higher.
In the meantime build a Dyson Sphere around the earth to both retain heat and reflect the eventual red giant. We should have time, if we still exist.
When the red giant phase is past, we'll need the sphere to stop it becoming cold. In the meantime, we ought to be able to find a steady source of radioactive materials to heat it afterwards, by mining nearby star systems by robot. After that, I can't suggest anything...
In the meantime build a Dyson Sphere around the earth to both retain heat and reflect the eventual red giant. We should have time, if we still exist.
When the red giant phase is past, we'll need the sphere to stop it becoming cold. In the meantime, we ought to be able to find a steady source of radioactive materials to heat it afterwards, by mining nearby star systems by robot. After that, I can't suggest anything...
Given that we have a few billion years to acquire the technology and we decide that we want to put vast resources into maintaining the Sun out of sentimentality, we could try making it younger...
This would require huge amounts of energy to be injected to break up the helium atoms (and carbon, oxygen etc) back into hydrogen atoms and 'reverse the ageing process'. To get this much energy we would probably have to steal it from other stars and deposit it into the Sun in a very controlled way. This would probably involve sending beams of radiation from other stars at a wavelength suitable to break up helium. The beams would have to be well confined to make sure the Earth wasn't zapped in the process.
Personally I think that, like people, this is only trying to prevent the inevitable and we should either abandon planet (find another solar system) or even move our planet to another star (if we have planet moving gear by then).
Of course, all this assumes that the solar system isn't disrupted by the collision of the Milky Way with the Andromeda Galaxy in only 3 billion years! ;-)
This would require huge amounts of energy to be injected to break up the helium atoms (and carbon, oxygen etc) back into hydrogen atoms and 'reverse the ageing process'. To get this much energy we would probably have to steal it from other stars and deposit it into the Sun in a very controlled way. This would probably involve sending beams of radiation from other stars at a wavelength suitable to break up helium. The beams would have to be well confined to make sure the Earth wasn't zapped in the process.
Personally I think that, like people, this is only trying to prevent the inevitable and we should either abandon planet (find another solar system) or even move our planet to another star (if we have planet moving gear by then).
Of course, all this assumes that the solar system isn't disrupted by the collision of the Milky Way with the Andromeda Galaxy in only 3 billion years! ;-)
# posted by 
: 1:40 am
: 1:40 am
At present rates of progress, we'll get fusion power working, a few thousand years before the expansion of the sun become a problem. Build massive fusion powered lights near the equator, and use them as a light drive (running only at appropriate times of day) to accelerate the earth, increasing the size of the orbit.
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# posted by : 11:20 pm
: 11:20 pm << Home
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