You are not logged in. Please register or login.
- Topics: Active | Unanswered
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
Scientist have nailed down how and when the Earth will cease to exist.
The sun will slowly expand into a red giant, pushing the Earth farther out into space, but not far enough.
Our home planet will be snagged by the sun's outer atmosphere, gradually plunging to its doom inside the fiery stellar furnace.
"The drag caused by this low-density gas is enough to cause the Earth to drift inwards, and finally to be captured and vaporized by the sun," explains astronomer Robert Smith of the University of Sussex in southern England.
Previous projections had all figured that the Earth would avoid falling into the sun, even during our star's red-giant phase.
The good news: This won't happen for another 7.6 billion years.
The bad news: Life on Earth will end long before then.
In fact, we've only got a billion years left before the slowly expanding sun boils off the oceans and reduces our planet to an uninhabitable cinder, says Smith.
That may sound like a long time, but in fact life on Earth's been around a lot longer than that '” a total of 3.7 billion years, according to the latest estimates.
For those first three billion years, true, we were nothing but pond scum. Still, the new figures indicate the long story of life on our fair blue-green planet may be entering its last act.
Is there any way our future descendants can save themselves? Why, yes, explains Smith.
He cites a recent study emanating from the University of California, Santa Cruz. It proposes taming an asteroid to swing by the Earth every few thousand years, slowly nudging the Earth into higher solar orbit, enough to outpace the sun's own outward growth.
"This sounds like science fiction," says Smith. "But it seems that the energy requirements are just about possible and the technology could be developed over the next few centuries."
- Randall Flagg
- Rep: 139
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
IF we're worried about the Sun in a billion years, we deserve to be extinct. We should have Mars colonized within the next 250 years.
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
IF we're worried about the Sun in a billion years, we deserve to be extinct. We should have Mars colonized within the next 250 years.
I don't think anyone is worried about it, but its a good thing for scientists to be researching this stuff. Years ago, as I'm sure you remember, we were told in school mankind would be here billions of years until the Sun dies out. Now its down to a billion.
In my opinion, its probably much less than a billion. While the Sun is indeed an average star and expected to have the normal lifespan, there is no actual proof for how long the Sun has been alive. Its all estimates. They can guess on how long it was around before the planets started forming, but what if it took longer?
A billion years left could turn into a couple million pretty quickly. The Sun doesn't even have to die to fuck with the earth. It just has to enter its death throes. A small increase in size would make this planet uninhabitable.
I do agree with you though. By the time any of this happens we will have colonies all over the Solar System and possible even around a nearby star.
- Gunslinger
- Rep: 88
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
I agree that we should have fully realized the potential of colonizing other planets by then. It has always fascinated me of our (the human existence/condition) unbelievable egos. We fancy to believe that other planets in the galaxies are merely for our visual amusement instead of actually being there "for a reason". It is the same sort of thing we do with our beliefs that things like "global warming" are all due to man. Yes we pollute and waste far too much but cycles happen that are not of our doing. Our existence is much more important in our own minds to the "nature of things" than it is in reality. If we don't colonize other planets it is because our egos led to our ignorance and that led to our demise.
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
What about 2012
We enter the age of Aquarius and everyone's happy. ... 
- Gunslinger
- Rep: 88
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
What about 2012
I've heard that several times. Wasn't this first predicted by an Egyptian astrologer?
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
polluxlm wrote:What about 2012
I've heard that several times. Wasn't this first predicted by an Egyptian astrologer?
No, the Mayans predicted it 5000 years ago. Based on the cycles of the stars they marked down different cosmic events, or at least they had the information. Those guys had knowledge about the stars we're just starting to find out.
There will be a very special star alignment on 21/12/2012, only happens once every 10.000 years.
Some say Doomsday, some say pole shift, some say nothing.
The government seems to think something big will happen. Underground bases are being built non-stop all around the world. Me I think it'll be a shift in consciousness/evolution.
We'll know soon enough.
- Mikkamakka
- Rep: 217
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
What about 2012
No, it shouldn't kill the chances of a Hall of Fame GN'R Reunion 
Re: Scientists predict the end of the world
I knew it.
Damn republicans. It's their fault.
