Close Encounters Expected
As the nation spirals downward in its death throes, thanks to the evil Kenyan at the helm, we look toward the heavens for a change of mental pace, and to take a breather from the caliphate-to-be or the invasion of disease-ridden aliens pouring across our southern border. But speaking of aliens . . .
Black Hole Sun
No, not Soundgarden. NASA. It seems every summer for the last few years, the sun has developed a "hole" on its surface. Known as a coronal hole, it is an area of the sun's surface that's slightly cooler than the norm. NASA first noticed these events in the 1970s, and they tend to coincide with the sun's normal 11-year cycle. What it means to Earth is highly accelerated solar winds, at twice the speed of normal solar wind, which can cause an intense and vivid aurora borealis, and minor disruption of electrical signals. The Earth's magnetic field protects us from excessive solar radiation. Usually. A huge, well directed coronal mass ejection (CME) could literally fry us and our civilization in a instant, bathing the Earth in a flood of gamma radiation.
Is Anyone Out There?
As many people know, we on Earth have been monitoring the skies for signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program has been in existence for years, but now has stepped up its cosmic eavedropping by announcing two new methods to search for signals that could come from life on other planets. In the Panchromatic SETI project, multiple telescopes will scan a variety of wavelengths from 30 stars near the sun. If you'd like to be part of the search, University of California at Berkeley has an app that allows your personal computer to analyze raw data signals returned to SETI's radio telescopes. It's free; download it here.
Yep. Life In The Neighborhood
Ask any teenager, "what is life," and you may get one of only several answers. Ask an astrophysicist, however, and you may be surprised at the answer. Life as we know it, or life as we may imagine it? Interesting, because the definition of life as we know it typically means a carbon-based, photosynthesizing life form. But we know of life forms in the deepest darkest oceans that survive on methane and sulfuric gases. They've never seen the sun, and are silicon based. So we know of at least several types of life. Recently the probe Cassini flew past Saturn's moon Enceladus and recorded something startling: the surface was emitting huge plumes of something far out into space. It turns out that it's most likely liquid vapor, coming from a massive subterranean ocean on Enceladus. So based on a revived definition of "life," have we indeed found it?
Evidence of Type II Civilizations?
Several astronauts who have walked on the moon contend, and have been validated by recently declassified and released Apollo Missison recordings, that we found artifacts there that defy conventional wisdom about the moon. And several tests by the Martian rover Curiosity has gotten positive results for radiation-emitting microbial life on Mars. That's pretty close to home. For whatever reason, NASA is disinclined to declassify any of this information, and we are left to draw our own conclusions. Is all this just someone's hyper imagination? Raw meat for conspiracy theories? I'm not so sure. But know this: both the US and the UN have contingency plans for our inevitable contact with extraterrestrial biological beings.
Is this knowlefdge in contradiction with established religion? Yes and no. Some would look at this as a validation of their faith, others would not. With so many people embracing a religion based on 6th century civilzation constructs, maybe the reluctance in releasing evidence that cultures and civilizations have preceeded us, and we are merely the new kid on the block, is valid. I can handle it, as I've long thought that this is the case, anyway. But there's 3 billion screaming zealots who may take umbrage at learning this, and well, they have a jihad going on now, and this information would most probably push them right over the edge. I hope however, that science and exploration both in space and on Earth will continue, and that those brave souls who strive to interrpret whatever anthopologcal findings are uncovered will continue to do so. I want to know. I want to believe.
Evidence of Type II Civilizations?
Several astronauts who have walked on the moon contend, and have been validated by recently declassified and released Apollo Missison recordings, that we found artifacts there that defy conventional wisdom about the moon. And several tests by the Martian rover Curiosity has gotten positive results for radiation-emitting microbial life on Mars. That's pretty close to home. For whatever reason, NASA is disinclined to declassify any of this information, and we are left to draw our own conclusions. Is all this just someone's hyper imagination? Raw meat for conspiracy theories? I'm not so sure. But know this: both the US and the UN have contingency plans for our inevitable contact with extraterrestrial biological beings.
Is this knowlefdge in contradiction with established religion? Yes and no. Some would look at this as a validation of their faith, others would not. With so many people embracing a religion based on 6th century civilzation constructs, maybe the reluctance in releasing evidence that cultures and civilizations have preceeded us, and we are merely the new kid on the block, is valid. I can handle it, as I've long thought that this is the case, anyway. But there's 3 billion screaming zealots who may take umbrage at learning this, and well, they have a jihad going on now, and this information would most probably push them right over the edge. I hope however, that science and exploration both in space and on Earth will continue, and that those brave souls who strive to interrpret whatever anthopologcal findings are uncovered will continue to do so. I want to know. I want to believe.
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