BadComrade wrote:The sun's eventually gonna supernova and swallow the earth anyway, so who gives a fuck. Human beings and the earth itself are nothing in the grand scheme of things. I think it's about time we get over ourselves.



On a related note: This probably isn't the most accurate thing in the world, but I like watching it:

http://www.break.com/index/the_earth_is_very_small.html

i liked the last part best. galaxies! i was always wondering whether the that square-with-a-handle constelation was surronded by blackness cause it's located on the outside of our galaxy. and it is! if i was eight, my mind would be blowned right now.

pics for people who know that these things are cool:
http://spacespin.org/images/articles/hu ... edge_2.jpg
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/Galaxy_with_Star_7.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/5434 ... ighres.jpg
and the best one:
http://wrongcrowd.com/albums/wallpaper/ ... 0x1200.jpg

emmanuelle cunt wrote:

BadComrade wrote:The sun's eventually gonna supernova and swallow the earth anyway, so who gives a fuck. Human beings and the earth itself are nothing in the grand scheme of things. I think it's about time we get over ourselves.



On a related note: This probably isn't the most accurate thing in the world, but I like watching it:

http://www.break.com/index/the_earth_is_very_small.html

i liked the last part best. galaxies! i was always wondering whether the that square-with-a-handle constelation was surronded by blackness cause it's located on the outside of our galaxy. and it is! if i was eight, my mind would be blowned right now.

pics for people who know that these things are cool:
http://spacespin.org/images/articles/hu ... edge_2.jpg
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/Galaxy_with_Star_7.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/5434 ... ighres.jpg
and the best one:
http://wrongcrowd.com/albums/wallpaper/ ... 0x1200.jpg

what about richard bransons space tourism idea? apparently it'll be up and running soon enough. would you risk it to get a little bit closer to the stars?? i would love to do it but definitely not the first couple of runs in case of accidental explosions and the like. thats what monkeys were invented for.

Oh my gosh, really.

the rest of the article wrote:Fluctuations in the magnetic field have occurred in several far-flung regions of Earth, the researchers found.

In 2003 scientists found pronounced changes in the magnetic field in the Australasian region. In 2004, however, the changes were focused on Southern Africa.

The changes "may suggest the possibility of an upcoming reversal of the geomagnetic field," said study co-author Mioara Mandea, a scientist at the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam.

Earth's magnetic field has reversed hundreds of times over the past billion years, and the process could take thousands of years to complete.

Oh wait. This has happened many times before. Way to unnecessarily geminate fear Mr.Reuben.

And no, I am not trying to pick a fight. I am just pointing out that the whole story needs to be told. You could have at least linked the article.

Jon

Rick Reuben wrote:Relax. It's interesting news. It's not a prediction of an impending event. I like to think about this kind of stuff.

I was being a bit reactionary. You are somewhat right to voice a concern. In actuality there would be a number or detrimental artifacts of the flipping of the poles. Most harm would be done in the period of time when there is no magnetic field protecting the earth from cosmic radiation.

Unfortunately humanity will most likely do enough harm to itself by the time all of this happens to dwarf the damage caused by radiation. Hopefully my pessimism is unfounded though and we are forced to deal with this problem in time.

Given the intelligence and curiosity of modern scientists, I doubt a solution to this change will not be discovered by the time we are faced with impending doom. We might have to live in shielded communities for some time but what better way to make friends.

Rick Reuben wrote:Science fiction is cool. So is 2012 and the Mayan Calendar.

Absolutely.


Jon