17 replies to this topic

[MindSparks]

Recently I have been trying to find out more information about NASA's claim that we are heading into space weather problems in late 2012. There are a bunch of random articles about the findings such as:

Wired : http://www.wired.com.../04/2012storms/
NewScientist : http://www.newscient....html?full=true
NowPublic : http://www.nowpublic...ible-nasa-warns
2012News : http://2012news.com/?p=186

Videos:




I also just recently watched the History Channel The Universe, Magnetic Storms. http://en.wikipedia....erse_(TV_series)

There's always the chance that NASA is just using scare tactics for their advantage and the chance that their calculations may be exaggerated. The fact that they are predicting: no gas, no electricity, no industry, no banking, no water, no hospitals, no transportation, no communication, etc. is terrifying (but also exciting in some aspects). What is purely terrifying is the concept of possibly up to half of the world population dying out. And if only half the world is hit then we would be at the mercy of other countries on the other side of the world (that may not be favorable).

Some interesting things to note:

- I can't find any evidence that shows that the NASA data is being exaggerated or fabricated (yet).
- If the magnetic poles switch their orientation at the time of the CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) we wouldn't just lose power the Earth would be destroyed.
- With a kind of world where there are none of the aforementioned systems available to us we would need to make sure we don't get sick, have a gardens, have water filtration systems (or lots of food and water stocked), defend ourselves (possibly kill others) from thieves and people going mad, and worry about police men who might take advantage of us.
- I am definitely going to be watching "The Colony" a few times to get an idea of what kind of projects and situations people will need to get into.
- With all internet, computers and hard drives being wiped out people would lose a ton of information, photos, websites, documents, projects, music, videos. I will be storing all of my important data on a special hard drive that isn't affected by magnetic interference (I forgot what the name of that special disk is called at the moment).
- We will need to factor this into the direction of ImmInst.org and the goals of transhumanism/indefinite lifespan. How can we take advantage of it and what disadvantages are there for us? Would we be able to still work together with all systems down?

Currently, this is all hypothetical, but then again NASA is touting possible facts, but the keyword is possible not definite. Also, there is only a couple videos and articles and yet they are so sure this is going to happen, how come there isn't more information? Please help me find more stuff about this if you can.

Edited by MindSparks, 13 August 2010 - 10:02 AM.

[MindSparks]

http://video.google....77053339520174#

This NOVA video explains the magnetic cycle of the earth and it's upcoming problems more in depth. It's similar to the History Channel show I saw.

Edited by MindSparks, 16 August 2010 - 09:29 PM.

[shifter]

As long as I'll be around in the brave new world.... BRING IT ON!!!

I'm working like a North Korean prisoner to make ends meet. Time for a change... :p

[MindSparks]

If this is a news of NASA then I can't argue because every body know that NASA is a power full company.

bad url removed

Is that sarcasm? Can't tell. Considering the fact that they are losing funding and don't have as many official space missions anymore, this could be sarcasm...

Edited by maxwatt, 06 October 2010 - 01:12 AM.
spam link removed

[Luna]

Maybe a bit, doubt anything will happen though. Hope I am right

I think it might turn out the risk is only for satellites.

[MindSparks]

Maybe a bit, doubt anything will happen though. Hope I am right

I think it might turn out the risk is only for satellites.

They say the CME if powerful enough enough could hurt some electrical things on land. Then if we get really unlucky and the geomagnetic pole reversal happens at the same time of the CME then our power system will be really screwed. The chances of both happening at the same time is very small of course. So the CME will more likely only hurt satellites and possibly astronauts in orbit.

[MindSparks]

Some new articles I found concerning the sun flares and whatnot.

Talks about the CME's that will occur in the next few years:

http://beforeitsnews...on_the_Sun.html

Talks about the actual chances of a solar flare killing people being very very low.

http://www.universet...er-solar-flare/

Talks about the chances of a geomagnetic reversal happening in 2012 at the same time as the CME as being very very low also.

http://www.universet...netic-reversal/

[Matthewl]

Ahh man I hope so! This would make life a bit more interesting.

[mikeinnaples]

If this is a news of NASA then I can't argue because every body know that NASA is a power full company.

bad url removed

Is that sarcasm? Can't tell. Considering the fact that they are losing funding and don't have as many official space missions anymore, this could be sarcasm...

They aren't losing funding at all. Get your facts straight.

[MindSparks]

If this is a news of NASA then I can't argue because every body know that NASA is a power full company.

bad url removed

Is that sarcasm? Can't tell. Considering the fact that they are losing funding and don't have as many official space missions anymore, this could be sarcasm...

They aren't losing funding at all. Get your facts straight.

http://www.washingto...0020102145.html

They lost their Constellation project and are cutting back on 7000 jobs. They were getting 9 billion dollars in funding to do this project from Bush, it cost a total of 81 billion to do this project, and now are receiving 2.5 billion to end it. They are instead getting 6 billion dollars over the next 5 years from Obama.

So they are definitely losing funding. And even if they do end up getting more funding from Obama's administration over time, technically right now their budget has been cut and they are losing funding. So my facts are straight.

http://www.jaxobserv...y-space-center/

http://www.newjersey...ts-back-on-moon

As you can see from these articles there are plans to increase the budget again in 2011 but they aren't confirmed yet. There is even a proposed 100 billion dollars towards NASA in the year 2011. Which is amazing! And this indeed will create more jobs in the end.

But the point is, there is currently a budget cut in place and NASA has lost money and some jobs.

[mikeinnaples]

But the point is, there is currently a budget cut in place and NASA has lost money and some jobs.

I wasn't commenting on the loss of jobs, because you were correct with that. The constellation program loss and the end of the shuttle program both contributed. Though, the reality is, that most of the job losses will not happen until next year despite USA letting 900 or so go recently, and depending on the newly signed bill, may not be nearly as bad as first thought. (also of interest is that the job loss consists primarily of contractors, not actual NASA employees). The budget issue also has changed in the 6-8 months since the articles you posted and is ultimately why I made the comment I did. Read up on the NASA Bill signed by Obama on 10/11/2010 and its proposed impact and take a look at the newest budget.

Of course, this is subject to change just like the outdated articles you posted.

[MindSparks]

But the point is, there is currently a budget cut in place and NASA has lost money and some jobs.

I wasn't commenting on the loss of jobs, because you were correct with that. The constellation program loss and the end of the shuttle program both contributed. Though, the reality is, that most of the job losses will not happen until next year despite USA letting 900 or so go recently, and depending on the newly signed bill, may not be nearly as bad as first thought. (also of interest is that the job loss consists primarily of contractors, not actual NASA employees). The budget issue also has changed in the 6-8 months since the articles you posted and is ultimately why I made the comment I did. Read up on the NASA Bill signed by Obama on 10/11/2010 and its proposed impact and take a look at the newest budget.

Of course, this is subject to change just like the outdated articles you posted.

I know I never said you commented on the job loss, but I decided to include that, so there. And I never said that the job loss has happened yet I said that they "are cutting back on 7000 jobs". And I agree that overall the impact may not be all that great, and will definitely in fact get a lot better with the 100 billion budget next year. And when I looked up the for the newest budget changes for NASA those are the only articles on the matter that I could find. But my basic point was that the cutbacks on budget did in fact happen. Even if they are getting all that money back in the long run.

Besides what's your opinion on the space storms, that's the bigger topic at hand.

[MindSparks]

But the point is, there is currently a budget cut in place and NASA has lost money and some jobs.

I wasn't commenting on the loss of jobs, because you were correct with that. The constellation program loss and the end of the shuttle program both contributed. Though, the reality is, that most of the job losses will not happen until next year despite USA letting 900 or so go recently, and depending on the newly signed bill, may not be nearly as bad as first thought. (also of interest is that the job loss consists primarily of contractors, not actual NASA employees). The budget issue also has changed in the 6-8 months since the articles you posted and is ultimately why I made the comment I did. Read up on the NASA Bill signed by Obama on 10/11/2010 and its proposed impact and take a look at the newest budget.

Of course, this is subject to change just like the outdated articles you posted.

http://www.engadget....-bill-into-law/

19 Billion, very nice.

(Btw, you could have always just posted these articles and politely showed me that a fact of the many facts I posted was wrong. Instead you bluntly just said "Get your facts straight", which is slightly immature.)

[mikeinnaples]

(Btw, you could have always just posted these articles and politely showed me that a fact of the many facts I posted was wrong. Instead you bluntly just said "Get your facts straight", which is slightly immature.)

My information didn't come from articles, it is direct from the source, which is why I didn't post links to anything. Sorry you find that immature, but I figured you are just as capable as I am of running a few google searches. Apologies.

[MindSparks]

(Btw, you could have always just posted these articles and politely showed me that a fact of the many facts I posted was wrong. Instead you bluntly just said "Get your facts straight", which is slightly immature.)

My information didn't come from articles, it is direct from the source, which is why I didn't post links to anything. Sorry you find that immature, but I figured you are just as capable as I am of running a few google searches. Apologies.

I'm saying overall you didn't actually help out the discussion much at first by just saying "Get your facts straight", and that was immature. I'm not saying that not posting your evidence was immature, it just would have been more helpful if you did so.

The reason why the articles I posted in response to you were old, is because I thought that since it said there wouldn't be a change in the bill until 2011, that meant we would have to wait until then for the budget to increase. Plus, I have been hearing about the budget cuts for a few months and wasn't until VERY RECENTLY he signed that new NASA bill, so you have to cut me some slack here.

Once again, please try to comment on the main topic at hand.

[mikeinnaples]

I'm saying overall you didn't actually help out the discussion much at first by just saying "Get your facts straight", and that was immature.

They aren't losing funding at all. Get your facts straight.

From my stand point, I was straight to the point and matter of fact. I fail to see the immaturity in that. This tends to be the way I communicate due to my military background.

Edited by mikeinnaples, 20 October 2010 - 06:27 PM.

[MindSparks]

I'm saying overall you didn't actually help out the discussion much at first by just saying "Get your facts straight", and that was immature.

They aren't losing funding at all. Get your facts straight.

From my stand point, I was straight to the point and matter of fact. I fail to see the immaturity in that. This tends to be the way I communicate due to my military background.

Ah military background. That makes sense. I'm glad you helped straighten out the facts I just wish you could have been a little more helpful about it instead of blunt. But I see that the bluntness is military based not maturity based. That's good.

Still, do you have any opinion on the main topic?

[Thomas Wayne Jr.]

'Dramatic' solar flare could disrupt Earth communications

An unusual solar flare observed by a NASA space observatory on Tuesday could cause some disruptions to satellite communications and power on Earth over the next day or so, officials said.

The potent blast from the Sun unleashed a firestorm of radiation on a level not witnessed since 2006, and will likely lead to moderate geomagnetic storm activity by Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

"This one was rather dramatic," said Bill Murtagh, program coordinator at the NWS's Space Weather Prediction Center, describing the M-2 (medium-sized) solar flare that peaked at 1:41 am Eastern time in the United States, or 0541 GMT.

"We saw the initial flare occurring and it wasn't that big but then the eruption associated with it -- we got energy particle radiation flowing in and we got a big coronal mass injection," he said.

My link