We all know life is dangerous and results in death 100% of occurrences. Regardless I have a sense of amusement and a imagine a rioting neighborhood scene in South Park or Twilight Zone with some science stories. So I couldn't resist a thread devoted to all those threats to our terra firma that are going to wipe us out. And in honor of my EMF Phobia - first up for We're All Gonna Die http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/earth-s-impending-magnetic-flip/ Earths Impending Magnetic Flip A geomagnetic reversal may happen sooner than expected Sep 16, 2014 Earth's magnetic north and south poles have flip-flopped many times in our planet's historymost recently, around 780,000 years ago (that's like earliest pre people time). Geophysicists who study the magnetic field have long thought that the poles may be getting ready to switch again, and based on new data, it might happen earlier than anyone anticipated. <edit> ------------------------------------------------------------------ Yup it sure seems like We're All Gonna Die. Will Electricity flow the way it should when the poles flip ? Will the sun rise in the West ? How gruesome a death, we can only wonder and maybe wish the asteroid hits first. Share your We're All Gonna Die stories here as you find them, or not. Moi r > g View attachment 30258
Nah. The worst that would happen in case of magnetic flip is the water in our toilets would swirl to the right instead of to the left.
The Latest In We're All Gonna Die News. http://www.inquisitr.com/1506324/supervolcano-ready-to-explode-mount-st-helens-reawakens-continues-to-rebuild-itself/ Supervolcano Ready To Explode? Mount St. Helens Reawakens, Continues To Rebuild Itself Considering Hawai'i is still active after a brief nap - and the volcano in Japan - It sure appears we are entering into an era of Volcanism which will no doubt be followed by a Nuclear Winter scenario. Looks bad. We're All Gonna Die! My question is what could peoplekind have done to prompt this age of volcanism that is melting shelves of ice in Antarctica. If we don't take responsibility, who will? Moi Support Global Warming ! Defense from Nuclear Winter r > g No
The super volcano under Yellowstone is long overdue for a new eruption...it is going to Kill us all in 18 days according to my advanced research crew of geologist llamas.
Nope Dale, we still have 2000 years. By then we will have a more efficient waste system...The waste flows into a a 40-liter electrochemical reactor that uses electrodes to convert it into hydrogen gas. From there, the hydrogen can be used in fuel cells. Now of course if there is a magnetic flip, you could get sucked up into the reactor and be tomorrows power supply for your wife's waffle maker,,,but other than that,,,,meh......
I have read about that, good news is I heard they will be taking down those ''Dont feed the animals'' signs those last eighteen days.
This should ''spike'' those sagging real estate values along the east shore....Who knows what a magnetic flip could spark... A beautiful volcanic island in the Atlantic is on the brink of catastrophic collapse, threatening to unleash giant waves that will wreak havoc around the globe within hours. And while scientists try in vain to make their concerns heard, the world's governments look the other way. But yesterday a leading expert claimed the doom-laden scenario was not only real but was being almost completely ignored by people in power http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/aug/10/science.spain ''Surfs up**
Thus...I moved to Louisville ,KY, I estimate the Madrid fault will create a split in the north American continent along the Ohio valley and the Sunami will wipe out the East Coat completely. I will be beach front mountain....sawheet.
Isn't there an alleged Super Volcano of the Yellowstone sort in Siberia. So Super it makes Yellowstone appear dwarfed. It just simmers under the surface. Melting permafrost and releasing vast stores of hot house gas, Methane. With more active than usual volcanic activity in Japan, Mt. St. Helens, Iceland and Hawai'i - can Super Eruptions be far behind ? And of course the follow up Ice Age. Yup, We're All Gonna Die Moi PM interest - Apocalypse Insurance with the Volcano rider at little extra charge. r > g View attachment 30369
The Siberian "Traps" went dormant about half a billion years ago....whereas the Yellowstone beast is currently very active and has geologically recent evidence of massive activity. there is a reason Yellowstone is famous for geysers, and the mountains that surround it are actually the edges of a massive caldera. We are overdue.
This is a good one, to make it more spicy I would add an astronomical coincidence: imagine if an asteroid falling on Earth hits exactly the caldera of Yellowstone supervolcano !
My best "final scenario" for the end of life on our beloved planet is a bombardment of giant comets coming from the external regions of the Solar System [the Oort cloud] because of the gravitational interaction of the moving system with may be a giant interstellar cloud or other stars ... The scenario would be fantastic: the greatest show of comets in the sky ever, giant light phantoms with enormous marvelous trails ... to announce our destruction.
Wont take much, the one that finished the Dino's was approximately 6 miles long, not very big when you think about it.
Oh no, you don't need a big asteroid. It's all about kinetic energy. The mass of a spherical asteroid with a diameter of 10km is enough to make a planetary catastrophe. Since the key factor is velocity. An asteroid crashes against a planet with a tremendous kinetic energy given by its mass multiplied by its velocity.
Now I am not sure, but at present I do not believe we have the science to destroy such a rock. I know the preferred method is to disrupt it's path, but I doubt we can do that either right now. At best we would have to gamble and try to blow it up I guess.....It's beats just sitting here and doing nothing.
You're quite right, it depends on the kind of object. A dark asteroid or a comet covered by dark carbons, would be really difficult to be detected at far distance [no sun light reflected means no possibility to see the object with telescopes and to calculate its potential trajectory of impact with the Earth]. So, the time to react to a real threat would vary a lot. Anyway, yes, the idea to destroy an incoming asteroid [or comet] with an ICBM modified to carry its warhead to the far space is quite crazy. Instead of a single asteroid we would risk to see a cloud of fragment coming against us [it's because the energy of the nuclear explosion can, or not, be enough great to change the sense of the vector of the kinetic energy of the original object which would be transferred, physical laws are physical laws, to the fragments coming from the explosion]. So, the best choice would be to deviate it [it's enough a little deviation, time would bring the object enough far from the trajectory of impact].
I guess one of the worst nightmares we could have is some rouge black hole passing by... If a rogue black hole ever closed in on our solar system and crept up next to Earth, the resulting havoc would seem like the wildest science fiction. Either Earth would career out of its orbit, spinning out of the solar system, or in the opposite direction, toward the sun, and we'd suffer a deadly warming. http://www.ibtimes.com/could-black-hole-destroy-earth-839477 Try and fix this....LOL Dont bother with shelters or Masks,,,just say ''Good Night''
I prefer the Gamma Ray burst from some distant pulsar - http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090403-gamma-ray-extinction.html Some nasty spinning pulsar out there emitting gamma rays at various trajectories and our Terra Firma intersects one of those blasts of energy that had traveled unobstructed through the vast void for time uncounted, just to meet up with Moi. We're All Gonna Die + + ala Mass Extinction.___________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, for those of us who prefer an Earth produced catastrophe, even if it is peoplekind's fault AND Volcanoes too http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/09/29/science-explains-why-volcanoes-are-erupting-all-over-the-place-right-now/ Science explains why volcanoes are erupting all over the place right now The Earth seems to have been smoking a lot recently. Volcanoes are erupting in Iceland, Hawaii, Indonesia, Ecuador and Mexico, Japan right now. Others, in the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, erupted recently but seem to have calmed down. <edit> Eruptions caused by the melting of ice And we know whose fault it is all that ice is melting. We are responsible for these volcanic eruptions. We're All Gonna Die Moi Life has a 100% mortality r > g No Where cryo is cheaper than burial
It's so incredibly vast out there, anything can happen. One extra anti matter and Poof* empty space. All this going on and here we are, driving around, living and breathing, and wondering who will win ''Dance with the stars'' next week .....LOL I try and look at the big picture and how we fit in, but honestly seems we are just a dust ball on the fickle finger of fate......Hell, we do not even know if this is reality, or just a re-run in time and space..... I am not nearly as curious about it's end as much as I am about it's start.... Everything ends, not everything starts....... So, you prefer a Gamma Ray burst from some distant pulsar, just beautiful. I guess when you think about it,,,who wouldn't...LOL
Speaking of kinetic energy, there's a technology that could perhaps upset the Yellowstone Caldera, and do so in a way that we could not prevent or guard against. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_bombardment A kinetic bombardment is the hypothetical act of attacking a planetary surface with an inert projectile, where the destructive force comes from the kinetic energy of the projectile impacting at very high velocities. The concept is often encountered in science fiction and originated during the Cold War. The typical depiction of the tactic is of a satellite containing a magazine of tungsten rods and a directional thrust system. When a strike is ordered, the satellite would break one of the rods out of its orbit and into a geostationary position while directly over the target. The rod would then begin to fall towards the earth, picking up immense speed until it reached terminal velocity shortly before impact. The rods would often be shaped so as to increase the terminal velocity. In science fiction, the tactic is often depicted as being launched from a spaceship, instead of a satellite. Kinetic bombardment has the advantage of being able to deliver the projectiles from a very high angle at a very high speed, making them extremely difficult to defend against. In addition, projectiles would not require explosive warheads, and in the simplest designs would consist entirely of solid metal rods, giving rise to the common nickname "Rods from God." Disadvantages include the technical difficulties of ensuring accuracy and the prohibitively high cost of positioning ammunition in orbit.
Correct and there is who predicts that aliens wanting to conquer our planet could evaluate such a strategy to destroy a large part of our industrial / military capability, to prepare an invasion.
The defense would be similar: there are advanced studies about this. A surface kinetik cannon would require a deep cave full of water and some wells. A controlled nuclear underground explosion would make the water generate a tremendous pressure which could launch kinetik shells towards the orbit. The problem would be accuracy in hitting the alien ship, as it is obvious.