{"id":3532,"date":"2009-08-13T12:30:11","date_gmt":"2009-08-13T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=3532"},"modified":"2009-08-13T12:30:11","modified_gmt":"2009-08-13T16:30:11","slug":"lets-get-moving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/?p=3532","title":{"rendered":"Let’s get moving"},"content":{"rendered":"

This has to be the weirdest global warming solution I’ve ever heard. NASA Wants to the Move the Earth<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Hence the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to try to save Earth. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAll you have to do is strap a chemical rocket to an asteroid or comet and fire it at just the right time,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 added Laughlin. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIt is basic rocket science.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The slightest miscalculation in orbit could fire it straight at Earth \u00e2\u20ac\u201c with devastating consequences.<\/p>\n

It is a point acknowledged by the group. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe collision of a 100-kilometre diameter object with the Earth at cosmic velocity would sterilise the biosphere most effectively, at least to the level of bacteria,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 they state in a paper in Astrophysics and Space Science. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe danger cannot be overemphasised.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n

There is also the vexed question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcmost likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 it states, radically upsetting out planet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s climate.<\/p>\n

These criticisms are accepted by the scientists. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcOur investigation has shown just how delicately Earth is poised within the solar system,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Laughlin admitted. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcNevertheless, our work has practical implications. Our calculations show that to get Earth to a safer, distant orbit, it would have to pass through unstable zones and would need careful nurturing and nudging. Any alien astronomers observing our solar system would know that something odd had occurred, and would realise an intelligent lifeform was responsible.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAnd the same goes for us. When we look at other solar systems, and detect planets around other suns \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which we are now beginning to do \u00e2\u20ac\u201c we may see that planet-moving has occurred. It will give us our first evidence of the handiwork of extraterrestrial beings.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, there’s apparently a polystyrene planet out there<\/a>, moving backwards. I’m not entirely clear on what the scientific implications are, but it’s equally fascinating.<\/p>\n

Links via Warren Ellis<\/a> and SF Signal<\/a>, respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This has to be the weirdest global warming solution I’ve ever heard. NASA Wants to the Move the Earth: Hence the group\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s decision to try to save Earth. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAll you have to do is strap a chemical rocket to an asteroid or comet and fire it at just the right time,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 added Laughlin. \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcIt is … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[38,39],"class_list":["post-3532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-science","tag-weird"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3532\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unreality.net\/weblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}