TheMightyEthan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 The big ones are kind of tracked, but more could certainly be done to locate the ones we don't know about yet. As far as stuff in place to deal with one that was going to impact, no, there's absolutely nothing at all. There's lots of theoretical discussion of what we could do, but none of it's ever been designed, built, or tested, it's all high-level theoretical stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 ESA is set to test their "Don Quixote" system (slam an satellite into the side of an asteroid) in the next two years. Until we need to waste a nuke on an asteroid it likely won't be put in the testing stages ever. Especially as international treatise expressly forbid it. For now extensive nuclear testing and computer simulations will do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Okay, but even if you have a plan for how to deal with it, that shit hasn't been built yet. And building it takes time. Time we may or may not have depending on how long from impact the thing is when we find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Everything in the "nuke them" plan is built and relatively ready to launch. Just need Space Treaty to be temporarily repealed (depending on urgency I'd say it could be done in the space of a few hours). If nuking them doesn't work out it doesn't really matter how long of a heads up we had, we have nothing more powerful than nuclear weapons for the act of blowing shit up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Right, but blowing it up is not always the best plan, that's just movies. More realistic for a big one would be to nudge it into a different orbit, but that would require a lot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 ..or a lot of explosives. The intention isn't to blow up a 1km+ asteroid, largest dent we've ever made with a nuke is 0.3km crater anyway, it's to impact the side/surface of it enough to divert the course of the asteroid (while also lowering the overall mass). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 But that doesn't work with the ones that aren't solid objects but are instead loose collections of gravel-like material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 So, strapping something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29 But yeah, it has to be solid for it to work. For loose stuff, I think we're at a lost on what to do. We can tow it away via gravity but we don't have anything to do that with. Anything that can be done now is at least a decade off in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Right, which is why we should start actively developing it sooner rather than later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted February 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 gravel + atmosphere + vast speed = nothingness. A bunch of gravel isn't what wiped out the dinosaurs. Also I guess a slight cultural difference I just noticed. If I was to pull a nuclear-pulse craft out I'd have chosen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Daedalus I guess that's one difference in the school physics books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Huge chunk of gravel + vast speed + atmosphere = crazy intense heat, firestorms covering continents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted February 18, 2013 Report Share Posted February 18, 2013 Fire and Brimstone coming down from the skies! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 5, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-21679053 Hugo Chavez has died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 Let's see if they replace one cray-cray with another cray-cray. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted March 5, 2013 Report Share Posted March 5, 2013 I can almost feel the power vacuum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 It sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 A good read on Hugo Chavez: http://www.economist.com/blogs/americasview/2013/03/venezuela-after-ch%C3%A1vez?fsrc=scn/gp/wl/bl/chavez There is some bias (as there will be in most writings), but a good summary of his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mister Jack Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 North Korea actually came out and openly threatened to nuke the US. Not that they can, of course, but they are just BEGGING to get their asses kicked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheMightyEthan Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 North Korea is like a little kid throwing a fit just for attention. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madbassman39 Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 I know its probably best to just ignore N.K. right now, try to diplomatically quiet them down and what ever else we need to do to not aggravate them any more, but boy do I wish that the the world would be like "shut up or we'll make you shut up". A nice series of strategic attacks to really rub in the fact that they are just little assholes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thursday Next Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 I know its probably best to just ignore N.K. right now, try to diplomatically quiet them down and what ever else we need to do to not aggravate them any more, but boy do I wish that the the world would be like "shut up or we'll make you shut up". A nice series of strategic attacks to really rub in the fact that they are just little assholes. The only people that would suffer would be the NK Citizens. Hardly seems fair to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 That is why I would love to see China just quietly come in behind to kick their asses. They might be able to amass an army without the North knowing. I can almost see the rest of the world just go "We're cool.". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 14, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21777141 Pope Francis. Argentinian. And yes, the pope is catholic (has been since the day he was born, cos the one thing they say about Catholics is they'll take you as soon as you're warm) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted March 18, 2013 Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/business/global/asian-markets-drop-on-latest-euro-concerns.html?_r=0 Shit is hitting the fan. People work hard all of their life in order to be able to retire and enjoy what little of life they have left. Now, the EU wants to spread the buttcheeks and plunder the booty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deanb Posted March 18, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 18, 2013 But EU is what is keeping the rest of the booty in there. The scenario is: EU does fuck all, people lose all their savings as the Cyprus banks collapse. Or EU provides a bailout, puts a levy on accounts, and the rest of the savings are saved. There's also the issue of the Russian savings there too, since they're not part of the EU but are benefiting from the EU bailout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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