~ jan wrote:

On Sun, 23 Dec 2007 13:31:54 CST, "Gareee©"
wrote:

1000 years from now, or a million it won't matter what we do or do not do
at all.. the Earth will still be here, and we most likely will not.

Assuming reincarnation isn't fact. ;-)

It won't help if there are no bodies to be reincarnated into - if we're
really lucky, we'll all be reincarnated as cockroaches...

--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message

............- if we're
really lucky, we'll all be reincarnated as cockroaches...

Some of the posters in the old group, are already there...

--
Gareee
(Gary Tabar Jr.)

I prefer to think of it as "practicing our terra-forming techniques in
preparation for colonizing Mars".

:-)


Which might take time, but it's not that hard. The "hard part" about
making Mars habitable is not giving it an atmosphere, but giving it a
magnetic field. It is the magnetic field that shields us from cosmic
radiation (alot more so than the atmosphere).

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
"Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground
with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay."

Chris Barnes wrote:

I prefer to think of it as "practicing our terra-forming techniques in
preparation for colonizing Mars".

:-)


Which might take time, but it's not that hard. The "hard part" about
making Mars habitable is not giving it an atmosphere, but giving it a
magnetic field. It is the magnetic field that shields us from cosmic
radiation (alot more so than the atmosphere).


Boy, this is getting a long way from ponding, so I'll point out that such
terraforming is required before Mars could ever have ponds...

You're right, but the magnetic field wouldn't need to be as strong (and in
fact, it's better if it isn't) because not so much solar radiation arrives
at Mars. Plus, we probably want to start out by living in buried
communities.
--
derek

I wonder if Mars is going thru a flip-flop or reduced magnetic field like earth goes
thru every so often?
Ingrid

On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 09:36:40 CST, Chris Barnes wrote:
Which might take time, but it's not that hard. The "hard part" about
making Mars habitable is not giving it an atmosphere, but giving it a
magnetic field. It is the magnetic field that shields us from cosmic
radiation (alot more so than the atmosphere).

wrote:
I wonder if Mars is going thru a flip-flop or reduced magnetic field like earth goes
thru every so often?

I think it has more to do with the fact that the earth has a molten iron
core (which spins), while it is thought that Mars does not. Speculation
is that when a mars-sized planet collided with the earth ~3 billion
years ago forming the moon we have, it melted the earth. This allowed
the denser iron to sink to the middle. Since no such collision
occurred for mars (it's moon is very small, basically a captured
asteroid), it never had the opportunity to have an iron core.


PS: I may be a computer geek, but working in a physics department with
my office near the astronomers is fun. ;-)

--

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Chris Barnes AOL IM: CNBarnes
Yahoo IM: chrisnbarnes
"Usenet really is all about standing around and hitting the ground
with clubs, on a spot where many years earlier a dead horse lay."

spinning molten iron core per se is not reason for Van Allen, spinning liquid is (our
sun, Jupiter, etc). and the faster it spins, the stronger the field.

It is my understanding that the earths liquid core was there before collision, and is
fueled by uranium breakdown.

PS: I am a biologist trapped in the physics department.
http://weloveteaching.com/author/author1.htm


I think it has more to do with the fact that the earth has a molten iron
core (which spins), while it is thought that Mars does not. Speculation
is that when a mars-sized planet collided with the earth ~3 billion
years ago forming the moon we have, it melted the earth. This allowed
the denser iron to sink to the middle. Since no such collision
occurred for mars (it's moon is very small, basically a captured
asteroid), it never had the opportunity to have an iron core.


PS: I may be a computer geek, but working in a physics department with
my office near the astronomers is fun. ;-)