The Colorado Plateau – An Impact Feature?

9 Responses to The Colorado Plateau – An Impact Feature?

1. billgamesh says:

   October 20, 2015 at 8:44 am

   “It is difficult for people to envision the immensity of geologic time, as they tend to reckon time spans in relation to their own lives.”

   My own theory is that it is difficult for people to make any decision that does not immediately benefit them. We all know subconsciously we are going to die so most of our thinking is based on getting what we can before that happens- and not much else matters. I used to be skeptical about such subconscious devices until my own participation in rescue missions came back to haunt me.

   We take it for granted this world is the way it should be because it is. When someone says the chances of the Earth getting hit by a large comet or asteroid in our lifetime is “astronomically low” then we accept that as not worth any more attention. It is not “we” that say this, it is “I” that reasons I will be dead so it does not matter. And so biological life may be too stupid to survive.

   But as Dr. Spudis has done here, if we had lives that stretched across geological time, an indefinite lifespan, then our reasoning would be much different. This is actually not so hard to imagine when star travel is taken into account. The present most plausible method of traveling to another solar system is the “sleeper ship.” In this scenario our bodies are frozen with a process that does not damage cells and the temperature lowered to close to absolute zero. The Starship is propelled to a few percent of the speed of light, probably with a tremendous beam of energy. After a voyage lasting several centuries or even thousands of years, upon arrival the ship slows down, probably using H-bombs, and the crew is revived. The alien solar system is explored and the Starship begins the return voyage. When the crew arrives they have aged perhaps ten years while centuries or millennia have passed on Earth. It would be a reasonable assumption for the crew that while they were frozen a cure for old age would be found.

   The people on a Starship would be far more concerned about the future than we are. In some modest lab on planet Earth somewhere a dog or monkey may wake up tomorrow after being frozen- with no ill effects- and then what I just wrote will matter.
   • Joe says:

     October 20, 2015 at 3:09 pm

     Interesting take on things.

     As a side note it appears a movie based on Joe Haldeman’s “The Forever War” may finally get made into a movie.

     http://deadline.com/2015/04/channing-tatum-the-forever-war-movie-richard-edlund-1201418549/
     • billgamesh says:

       October 20, 2015 at 4:10 pm

       As far as I know there is presently, and probably will remain, only one “plausible” relativistic drive. Plausible being the math actually works without exotic matter handwavium or massive (and impossibly dangerous) amounts of anti-matter. The paper was published in 2009, shortly before Dr. Spudis’ work revealed ice on the Moon. That was when I was really becoming interested in space travel.

       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole_starship

       Time dilation has always fascinated me because it is so rarely used in sci-fi- yet time travel backwards in time is completely worn out. So tired of it. I find it an entertaining scenario where the 1st generation of sleeper ships is sent out and a century or so later the 2nd generation of black hole Starships chase after them. But whether a conveyance can actually travel at 99+ percent of the speed of light is a matter of debate. Some people seem to think those tiniest particles that cannot be avoided would destroy any ship and we will never go faster than a few percent.
       • billgamesh says:

         October 20, 2015 at 4:18 pm

         I would add there is also a curious coincidental number common to both space flight and ships at sea. At around 30 knots a standard displacement hull ship becomes very difficult to push any faster through the water. And at about 30 percent of the speed of light the power curve for a spaceship also goes almost vertical.
       • Joe says:

         October 20, 2015 at 7:46 pm

         Was not trying to take the subject that seriously, just always liked “The Forever War”.

         Since you “find it an entertaining scenario where the 1st generation of sleeper ships is sent out and a century or so later the 2nd generation of black hole Starships chase after them.”, I would suggest A.E. Van Vogt’s “Far Centaurus, written in the early 1940’s.

         Hope you enjoy.
         • billgamesh says:

           October 21, 2015 at 7:47 am

           Since you do not take the subject seriously I would suggest David Weber and Steve White’s “In Death Ground, written near the end of the last century.
2. billgamesh says:

   October 20, 2015 at 9:05 pm

   https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/10/20/an-unexpected-asteroid-will-fly-surprisingly-close-to-earth-on-halloween/

   Speaking of impacts. We really are stupider than the dinosaurs for not taking measures to protect ourselves.
3. billgamesh says:

   October 21, 2015 at 10:54 am

   http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151020192331.htm

   At the beginning of the year I commented on a fairly well known blog about the danger of an asteroid or comet impact- specifically, I completely disagreed with the author who was trivializing the danger. There were of course several wishy-washy waffle statements in the article so he could plead not guilty but it was obvious he was portraying it all as a joke. He answered my arguments with a string of replies that were increasingly hostile and insulting until perhaps he realized that was not such a good idea and deleted the entire conversation. http://www.wired.com/2015/01/fun-flaming-death/

   Two weeks later came the Chelyabinsk event. Said author column has since been discontinued but I doubt his “fun with flaming death” article had anything to do with that. Many of the so-called experts who write popular science columns are among the worst liars and deceivers in popular culture media. The almost unanimous support for NewSpace and the flexible path among this bunch of charlatans shows they do not take their profession or integrity as journalists seriously.
   • billgamesh says:

     October 21, 2015 at 11:00 am

     I would add that Dr. Spudis has mentioned the idea of a “Space Navy” on occasion and I would really like to see another article with his thoughts on this. My own thoughts are that such a fleet might just come in handy on some future Halloween when a couple million tons of rock is detected 10 days out headed for Earth at 70,000 miles an hour.

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