Out There...

[T'Lariss]

  seem to remember hearing that the Earth's magnetic field offers protection from the charged particles of the Solar Wind by causing such particles to go around the Earth.  If the magnetic field changes, in strength or direction, would this protection from charged particles also change?

 

 

On Nova they said that the magnetic field prevents the atmosphere from being stripped away by solar wind. The theory is that Mars has little or no atmosphere because it has little or no magnetic field.

That may be part of it but the biggist part f the problem with Mars is the lack of gravity. Mars' gravity is not enough to hold onto a decent atmosphere. Any gas less dense than CO2 is outgassed and blown away by the solar wind(you know unimportant gasses like H2O and O2)

This is why there the only water ther is frozen and there is almost none int he atmosphere. Terrafroming mars is going to be a real chore unless we can add sufficient mass to the planet to grab onto and hod a decent atmosphere

Gary

[PhaseDragon]

I admit that I am not familiar with any theories discussed here but it seems just from reading the posts that it could be possible that all the worldwide electronics devices are affecting the magnetic poles. Especially the electronic waves from outer space satellites.

 

Also, how much do we really know about life in general? There was an article in the Las Vegas paper last week about the theory that "Life" was deposited here by a comet and that there is an effort to follow a comet and collect some of it's tail as proof.

 

Each living being generates some form of electricity in their brains and there is an electromagnetic field around our bodies as well. In fact, there is a theory that if you could harness the brain's electrical power then you could power Chicago for ten years from one person. (Matirx comes to mind obviously).

 

It stands to reason that more people, more electronics, and more rapid travel would have to create some sort of change in the magnetics of the earth....that is unless I am completely off base here.

[Krelnett_of_Kraan]

I admit that I am not familiar with any theories discussed here but it seems just from reading the posts that it could be possible that all the worldwide electronics devices are affecting the magnetic poles. Especially the electronic waves from outer space satellites.

 

Also, how much do we really know about life in general? There was an article in the Las Vegas paper last week about the theory that "Life" was deposited here by a comet and that there is an effort to follow a comet and collect some of it's tail as proof.

 

Each living being generates some form of electricity in their brains and there is an electromagnetic field around our bodies as well. In fact, there is a theory that if you could harness the brain's electrical power then you could power Chicago for ten years from one person. (Matirx comes to mind obviously).

 

It stands to reason that more people, more electronics, and more rapid travel would have to create some sort of change in the magnetics of the earth....that is unless I am completely off base here.

While what you describe is certainly possible, it strikes us as unlikely just from the scale. A compass will function normally anywhere on Earth (unless you believe a Ford salesman, but that's a different story) How close does it have to be to a magnet or chunk of iron before it starts to go wonky? The Earth's fields are just so damn strong that no amount of EM from life's collective nervous systems would be able to affect it.

Artificial sources would seem more likely, but even then, they would have to be consciously aligned in such a way as to counter the Earth's field. To our knowledge, no one has done such a thing; electronic devices seem scattered willy-nilly through the biosphere, and not aligned in any particular direction at all.

[Damiano]

If we do enough research couldn't we just build a buckminsterfullerenes big enough to encapsulate the entire atmosphere envelope of Mars?

 

Taking this one step further, this would be an ideal principle to base a Dyson sphere on. A monomolecular sphere. Food for thought.

 

PS I'm pissed so I think there may be a flaw in my Mathematics somewhere. Think I'll send an email to Steven Hawkings for his thoughts

[T'Lariss]

If we do enough research couldn't we just build a buckminsterfullerenes big enough to encapsulate the entire atmosphere envelope of Mars?

 

Taking this one step further, this would be an ideal principle to base a Dyson sphere on. A monomolecular sphere. Food for thought.

 

PS I'm pissed so I think there may be a flaw in my Mathematics somewhere. Think I'll send an email to Steven Hawkings for his thoughts

An interesting idea but even if it were mono-atomic it would take huge quanities of Carbon and then you would lose all Solar radiation, kinda makes for a cold planet. The only wayI could think of doing it with current tech (ha) is to trhough as many of the asteriods from the asteiod belt into Mars to increase it's mass, this would have the added benifit of adding lots of minerals to the planet and maybe some of the elements needed for life (H2O, O2 and the like) and increase the temperature of the planet. OF coures it would take a generation before it would be safe to go back to mars after such a bombarment (the Planet would need time to cool down from all that) and as soon as it ws possible we would then have to seed the planet with micro-organisms to get the CO2-O2 cycle started. Unfortunatly we do not thin in terms of generations so such a thing will never happen (sigh)

Gary