How much Real Science is there in the science of climate change?

My understanding is that this would be problematic. Because if the object is not completely vaporized, say just broken up into pieces, then you have pretty much the same mass as before except in many fragments, still travelling mostly on the same path. (And there would be a risk of the same problem if it were nuked.)

I think that the sane proposals now are leaning towards 'nudging' an asteroid off its trajectory, so that it just flies by us like many already have. This can be done by landing a small craft on it, with a thruster that could then be fired up to push the whole thing off course.

( And that idea, by the way, is another reason why that craft which landed on a comet was such an exciting result - it was like a test mission. )

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Sounds good but could we land a small craft on it? heck we still have to get a ride to the space station from the Russians. So what have we got???????

Our space operations are in the dump since they scrapped the shuttles so we would have to rely on Russia to do that for us.

I still don't know why they srapped the shuttles and now they are talking about going to mars, in what???? is there a star gate they haven't told us about like in the series star gate?

 

Yes we can - the European Space Agency have already done it - in 2014, the 'Philae' lander from the 'Rosetta' spacecraft attached itself to Comet 67P/C-G.

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https://www.space.com/27740-rosetta-comet-landing-success.html​

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Yes, these are good points that you raise. And the good news about them is that a variety of options are in fact being considered. This is crucial, I think, because the plan we choose at the time (or perhaps several plans orchestrated amongst nations) will depend upon the size and composition of the incoming asteroid, its precise trajectory, and how much time we have to respond.

Here is an entertaining video which explains some of the options :

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http://science.howstuffworks.com/asteroid-nuclear-bomb.htm​

So essentially there are two categories - 'push it' or 'pulverize it'.

Oddly, this video does not include the 'thruster' idea as I described it (and which I do understand is now favoured). As an alternative, it says that a nuclear explosion just beside the asteroid could serve to nudge it off course.

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Like I said when is America going to get back in the space race. We have the technology but still we have to bum a ride to the space station from Russia. With all this talk about Trump and Russia on the news now what if Russia just says no we are not helping you anymore even with a ride to the space station. where the hell would we be then?? Have we got the technology and money and just holding back or what?

There are so many things being kept secret from us that is a problem.

 

Is Russia trying to take over space also?

 

Holy moly, Lustingmom1! What a great article! As a child, I grew up at the knee of a dad who was a self-educated fellow with a wall of books he read. He was not a scientist but he sucked up history as though it was candy. And he had no problem explaining in detail the events and historical exploits of men and folk of monumental stature. This is a guy who unpacked his first ever set of encyclopedias one volume at a time. He was also curious about differences and would often point out the now of life and the then of life in his stories. And I walked away with enough goodies to know when I had a pimple on my nose or not. Most of these memories fell prey to space needed to remember family fights or hard times or what the hell else we go through. But I do remember him pointing out that an El Nino occurred off the coast of Peru in the 1400s and caused enough change in rainfall to flood the Inca cultivation grid off the map. By the time Pizzaro came on the scene, they were in deep trouble as a power nation. Big pimple! Also, during one of the Spanish campaignes in the middle 1500s, a voyager sailed up the Sea of Baja to a point north of where San Diego is now. As a youth in Burbank, California, it was popular to hunt for see fossils in the HILLS around Burbank.

So by the time Mann and friends came on the scene, I was pretty much aware that we didn't publish squat about weather and climate and the condition of how things were over the centuries. Calling Michael Mann a "Scientist" would be like calling a hooker a "Sexual Education Consultant". He engineered a fraud by substituting existing data and he did it for money. ie: in the entertainment business, credibility = money. And what do we do with the well-educated rabble rousers and politicians on the lecture circuit that bought in to all this crap? Chees -

 

The one "lesson" in life I've learned... Hope for the best, but plan (be open to the possibility) of the worst.
One would think that something as impact-full as "climate change" would leave people open to reDUCING "our" impact on the environment... Even if it is only for "our" own (selfish) local (my backyard) considerations...

 

Just a weird question. Does anyone think the earth has a long time to survive? Signs are starting to show it doesn't. there are many different signs I could list but I am not because it is scary. This may sound far fetched but I think technology and machines will take over the world. now industrial plants are doing most work with robots leaving the human race without jobs etc etc. Then we have the population problem and health care. Like I said I could go on and on. I just see man destroying this planet for greed and I don't think it has a lot more to give. I hope I am wrong.

 

George Carlin used to say... the planet is fine, the people are fucked. May have been onto something

 

Regarding machines taking over, some futurist like Musk have the view that AI and machines will out pace us, it's just a matter of time. the answer isn't war but merging.

 

I think the earth will survive, as will a number of species, but I think that humans are reaching a tipping point that will be hard to control once we spill over. There will be a food shortage, there will be peak oil, and there will be a massive shift in the economy when millions of jobs are replaced with automation. The only question is when ... our lifetime? the next generation's? Some of it's greed, and some of it is simply because it's incredibly difficult to steer a ship when the ship is made up of many countries that have to agree to do something before it's too late.

You're right to be focusing on stuff other than climate change, that's just a piece of the problem-pie. Two new crisis coming to a neighborhood near you sooner rather than later: Amazon and autonomous vehicles. Amazon is decimating the retail industry which holds millions of jobs in it's grasp (about 12 million in America if I remember correctly). Ever see the inside of an Amazon warehouse? All robots doing everything. Autonomous vehicles will eliminate another 4 million jobs in America between truck drivers and service drivers like taxis and whatnot. Hell, I work with code and even my job is being done via automation to a large extent! With numbers like those, though, you have to wonder why we're focusing so much on coal in America... (approximately 78k jobs IIRC).

Back to climate and the world ... we're facing making massive acidification in the oceans which is disrupting one of the most vital ecosystems critical to our survival. It also has adverse effects on climate (because the oceans are warming) which in turn affect (sometimes) large masses of farm land. Then, we've become so dependent on monocultures that our carbon makeup primarily comes from corn and we're now reaching the point where we can't protect our corn because everything around it is becoming resistant to any pesticide we throw at it. At some point those won't work anymore ... then what?

There's a lot to consider and too much for any one person to worry about too much. I keep it as simple as possible: shop small businesses as much as possible, support local small farms for food as much as possible, and consider the source of everything you consume. That's how I contribute. Personally, plan ahead so you're not vulnerable. Humans were never supposed to be as comfortable as we are today. I continuously strive to do something a robot can't do (anytime soon at least) and prep like a prepper without being a prepper. I spread the word without being invasive if the conversation warrants it and I end up sleeping fine at night

 

Thank you and well said. This world right now reminds me of the movie "terminator rise of the machines" where humans once did the jobs now it will be robots and what will humans do without work? sooner or later there will be an uprising because they will do away with unemployement and we will be the ones serving the machines.

 

I was refering to taking away human jobs and putting people out of work. It is already happening in the auto industry and now it is spreading to all the big box stores where retailers are being fired because the have a section where you can pay for and bag your own groceries. I forget the stats but it has already put thousands of people out of work who handle the cash registers and people. They are no longer needed and I heard the companies are putting in more and more of these self serve automated machines. Some or most of these people their job is all they know. In todays world if you don't go to college to work with computers you have no career. What happens when they get all they need? what happens to the person who stands on their hands and feet 8 to 12 hours a day to make a living that have little to no education?

 

Whats your thoughts on the Imagrints in this country that will work in the fields for low pay that the average American would not get out in the field to do because he/she thinks the job is demeaning and doesn't pay enough?