This new paper argues that continued economic growth on Earth will hit a thermodynamic limit within the third millenium, if economic activities and energy consumption cannot be decoupled. The maximum size would be up to 7000 times the current one. An in-space economy would offer a way out.
“Energy Limits to the Gross Domestic Product on Earth” https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.05244
(Image: Wikipedia — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sky_mile_tower.jpg)
Almost a millennium ago, a major upheaval occurred in Earth’s atmosphere: a giant cloud of sulphur-rich particles flowed throughout the stratosphere, turning skies dark for months or even years, before ultimately falling down to Earth.
We know this event happened because researchers have drilled and analysed ice cores — samples taken from deep within ice sheets or glaciers, which have trapped sulphur aerosols produced by volcanic eruptions reaching the stratosphere and settling back on the surface.
Ice can thus preserve evidence of volcanism over incredibly long timescales, but pinpointing the precise date of an event that shows up in the layers of an ice core is still tricky business.
Each day brings us closer to landing the first woman and next man on the Moon! One year ago today, we revealed the name of our lunar exploration program, called #Artemis after the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the 🌕. https://www.nasa.gov/artemis/
A laser light shone through the dark could power robotic exploration of the most tantalising locations in our Solar System: the permanently-shadowed craters around the Moon’s poles, believed to be rich in water ice and other valuable materials.
ESA’s Discovery & Preparation programme funded the design of a laser system to keep a rover supplied with power from up to 15 km away while it explores some of these dark craters.
At the highest lunar latitudes, the Sun stays low on the horizon all year round, casting long shadows that keep sunken craters mired in permanent shadow, potentially on a timescale of billions of years. Data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, India’s Chandrayaan-1 and ESA’s SMART-1 orbiters show these ‘permanently shadowed regions’ are rich in hydrogen, strongly suggesting water ice can be found there.
#Roobert33 In this experiment it’s noted that one half of an aluminum anodized copper globe is connected to an electrical wire in a DC current pole. At the center of the container there is an electrically isolated brass bolt from the container and connected to another pole of the DC current. At the base of the wooden support there is a large loudspeaker magnet that generates a magnetic attraction. Inside the container liquid mercury is poured in a weight of just over 1 Kg. When current flows through the two conductors, it generates a strong magnetic field that supports the system. This favorable condition rotates the liquid mercury as it’s an electric conductive metal. This experiment is known as the “Lorentz Force”. The operating voltage is 2V DC controlled by a DC inverter. The speed of rotation of mercury depends on the voltage being given. Increasing the tension the mercury takes off outside the bowl. *The system doesn’t work in alternating current. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4hbUm4mMo
