The Loris Bite : Space

Revealing Hidden Comet Strikes

cstanton — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:23:00 GMT

We all know that the Earth has been hit by comets, but it is really hard to tell when, where, and how many that there have been. This makes it very hard to predict when the next big comet is going to come in.

Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, thinks that Comet impacts may happen more frequently than we think.

He has been leading a research team that will show potentially markable levels of nitrate and ammonia in ice cores that correspond to suspected impact sites. That way we can see the footsteps of the comet, even if the crater has been washed away by erosion.

Scientists have found that the Haber process would have taken place during a comet impact because of high pressure, the presence of hydrogen and nitrogen gas, and the comet itself acting as an enriched iron catalyst, all three things necessary for the ammonia producing process to take place.

Melott displays confidence in his findings, and thinks that the addition of ammonia to the list of things to look for will help uncover other potential impact sites to help accurately determine how often impacts happen to better be able to predict when the next one might be coming.

He does however understand that the results are ultimately inconclusive as the nitrate-ammonia signature will have more than likely been washed away by rain quickly after following a comet strike, but in areas with high pressure and plenty of water, the ammonia levels easily could have been enhanced quite a bit by the Haber process.

In the article at Science Daily he states the fact that it is a very real possibility that a comet could come into our solar system and we would only have a couple of years notice before it smashed our little blue planet into pieces. The only warning sign that we would have is the tail that it pops coming into the solar system. It seems like finding out that we're right on schedule to have a huge comet blow us into oblivion wouldn't really do much good. I say that we cut Melott's funding and just throw that all into the bank for the Intergalactic Comet Prevention System and find a real way to blow the comet up once we can see it.

Even if we did know that a comet was going to hit us in lets say 8 years or something... What would we do? Project Manhattan our way out of it?

Nomura's Jellyfish Can Be Made Into Space Candy

cstanton — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:17:00 GMT

A little while back I wrote a blog post on how Nomura's Jellyfish are swarming the seas of Japan. Since then, the Japanese have been trying to figure out what they can do about the jellyfish problem and how they can use the goliath cnidarians.

Echizen kurage Jellyfish

Every year when the Echizen kurage swarm the seas they halt fishing operations, causing serious frustration to the industry. One group of highschool students has been cooking with the jellyfish since 2003 in their efforts to battle the jellies.

These students from Obama Fisheries High School have developed a way to make jellyfish powder by boiling the creatures down into a paste, drying them out, and then grinding them up into a fine powder.

Students that developed candy at Obama Fisheries High School

The students have developed a caramel candy made out of sugar, starch, syrup, and of course, jellyfish powder. They have requested from JAXA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, that their jellyfish caramel candies be available to astronauts aboard the International Space Station. According to Chunichi there is a representative from JAXA going to the school today, Sept 17th. to evaluate the candy.

Apparently there is a caramel candy trend going on in Japan, so the students are hoping to catch that ride with their new recipe.

Since the powder has been developed other local companies have put it to use in their recipes. One local company made jellyfish cookies with the powder. The powder is said to have a salty taste which compliments the cookie's sweetness.

Ekura-chan saku-saku cookies, sold in boxes of 10.

Its great that people can turn lemons into lemonade and jellyfish into space candy.

The Space Elevator May Become A Reality

cstanton — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:12:00 GMT

Traveling to space may be as simple as riding an elevator within the next decade or so. NASA's Centennial Challenges Program, Dryden Flight Research Center, and the Spaceward Foundation are announcing the next Space Elevator Games to be held on August 5th through the 7th at Dryden Flight Research Center's facilities. For the last few years, groups of scientists have been toying with the idea of building an elevator that can reach into space. I guess I should get into the concept before explaining what the teams will be required to do.

First of all, the concept of a space elevator is an elevator that rises along a structure that reaches so high off of the surface of the earth that it is in geostationary orbit. The first concept was made by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1895, who proposed a tower so high that it would reach the outer limits of our atmosphere. Now, with many years of findings under its belt, science has come up with a better, more realistic way. The more modern proposition is that of a tether anchored to an object in geostationary orbit. This was first proposed by Yuri Artsutanov. First proposed was a tether launched to an asteroid, but Artsuntanov's thinking is that it would be much easier to just build a satellite loaded with a spool of ribbon that could be shot back down towards Earth, while a counterweight was extended further out past the satellite away from Earth, keeping the structure taut and motionless relative to Earth. More modern concepts have been developed where the satellite would suffice as the counterweight and the tether would be attached to a mobile platform floating in the ocean. Using this way, we would have more control over the anchor itself and we would be able to move the mobile platform if it were necessary. The elevators themselves are actually less complicated than fashioning a tether that will be light enough and durable enough to reach space and be able to support an amount of weight that would actually make the concept useful.

Here's a video explaining the concept of the Space Elevator:

In all honesty, this video literally cracked me up. I have no idea what they were doing with the soundtrack, but I think it gives a good idea of what we're trying to do with this technology. I also don't like how they say that the ribbon would go from "Earth to Space," because in all actuality it would probably have to go from space back to Earth. All that aside, I think it is a good video.

Finding a material that this ribbon could be made out of has posed the biggest problem in the development of the space elevator, since all of the other technology is pretty much readily available to us. What the experts say they should use is carbon nanotubes. The problem lies in the production of these microscopic fibers. Creating nanotubes that could be strung from Earth to space would not be cost-efficient, but once we figure that out, we may be able to make this concept a reality. The Space Elevator Games are concentrated on the nanotubes required to build the strong tensile structure and the climbers that ascend it.

In 2005, at the first Space Elevator Games, the contestants were required to build a platform that could rise 50 meters on a steel cable at the rate of 1 meter per second. The platforms used solar power and were powered by spotlights provided by the Spaceward Foundation. Now, at the 4th year of the competition, the contestants will be required to build a platform that is able to rise 1 kilometer at the rate of 5 meters per second. Right now, they are climbing tethers that are attached to helicopters hovering high above the ground. This year's elevators use different technology. While still retaining their solar powered roots, they have an additional power source from a laser beam shot from the Earth's surface. They call this transfer of energy "power beaming."

The climbers could be built to lift up to 1,000 tons, according to Spaceref.com, and would be very safe as they carry no fuel. Riding on the elevator would be similar to riding on a train. The trip up would be pretty slow until the climber got past the gravitational midpoint, and then it would accelerate due to the rotation of the earth. The development of a structure like this could greatly improve our space technology, allowing us to build bigger space stations and once we develop it enough, we may even be able to launch crafts from space, requiring much less fuel for launch.

Here is the Official Trailer of the Space Elevator Games: