Science for Use in Science Fiction

[Brick Gold]

Now you know why you have to tiptoe around some of the worlds top scientists, the shit they gotta put up with, puts em on edge.

 

[Stryder50]

A Dictionary of Science Fiction Runs From Afrofuturism to Zero-G​

The long-running project found a new online home, one that showcases the literary genre’s outsized impact on popular culture.​

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In the summer of 1987, movie audiences first met Robocop in the science fiction classic about violence and corrupt corporate power in a future, dystopian Detroit. But the title word is much older than that, going back at least to a 1957 short story by writer Harlan Ellison, in which a tentacled “robocop” pursues a character. The prefix “robo-,” in turn, dates at least to 1945, when Astounding Science Fiction published a story by A.E. van Vogt mentioning “roboplanes” flying through the sky. “Robo-,” of course, comes from “robot,” a word created by Czech author Karel Čapek in his 1920 play R.U.R.: Rossum's Universal Robots, about synthetic humans created to perform drudge work who eventually rebel, destroying humanity.

This is the kind of rabbit hole a reader can go down in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, a resource decades in the making that is now available to the public in an accessible form. Lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower started the project years ago, when he was an editor at the Oxford English Dictionary.
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A Dictionary of Science Fiction Runs From Afrofuturism to Zero-G

The long-running project found a new online home, one that showcases the literary genre’s outsized impact on popular culture.

getpocket.com

 

[Stryder50]

The International Space Station to be retired and crashed into the Pacific Ocean​

MSN

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A few years away, still. DoD about Jan. 2031.

 

[Brick Gold]

The International Space Station to be retired and crashed into the Pacific Ocean​

MSN

.........
A few years away, still. DoD about Jan. 2031.

Which specific ocean are they crashing it into?

 

[Stryder50]

The biggest science mistakes in movies​

MSN

 

[Stryder50]

What A Novelist In 1922 Predicted What The World Would Look Like In 2022​

A century ago, The New York Herald newspaper commissioned popular English novelist W. L. George to write a full-page article about what he thought the world would look like in 100 years. George’s predictions for the future were published in the newspaper’s May 7, 1922 edition. And some of his prophecies were startlingly accurate.
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MSN

 

[james bond]

Which specific ocean are they crashing it into?

Prolly Point Nemo is someplace where no one visits in the ocean. I guess there is some land in the US where there is no government.

 

[Stryder50]

Prolly Point Nemo is someplace where no one visits in the ocean. I guess there is some land in the US where there is no government.

Which is exactly what is said (Point Nemo, Pacific) in the first paragraph of the article I linked to in that post about crashing ISS in the future.

 

[james bond]

Which is exactly what is said (Point Nemo, Pacific) in the first paragraph of the article I linked to in that post about crashing ISS in the future.

I looked at the map and saw it's in the middle of nowhere. There are prolly places in the ocean where no government can or want to claim.

 

[Stryder50]

The mega-comet hurtling through our solar system is 85, yes 85, miles wide​

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There are some bona fide behemoths sailing around the solar system.

In 2021, astronomers identified a gargantuan comet — an ancient mass of ices, dust, and rocks — hurtling through our cosmic neighborhood. Fortunately, it won't come within a billion miles of Earth. Named Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, it was perhaps the largest comet ever detected, likely some 10 times larger than the 6-mile-wide object that pummeled Earth and triggered the dinosaurs' extinction.

Now, new research more accurately gauges the comet's size. It's even bigger than some astronomers supposed. In the new study, to be published in the science journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, scientists estimate it's some 85 miles wide.

If stood next to Mount Everest, it would be around 15 times taller.
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There are almost certainly other profoundly giant comets out there. We just have to keep looking. After all, Comet Bernardinelli-Bernstein, Lawler noted, was only barely discovered. It was unknowingly picked up during a survey of galaxies in the deep cosmos in 2014. Then, it took years and the help of intensive computing for scientists to sift through loads of observations and ultimately identify this distant behemoth (as of June 2021, it was 1.8 billion miles from the sun).
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MSN

 

[Stryder50]

Astronomers discovered a new world orbiting close to our solar system​

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Astronomers believe they have discovered a new world orbiting Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our Solar System. It’s located roughly 4 light-years away. As such, it has long been the center of speculation and plans to visit if we ever venture beyond our own Solar System. Now, with the discovery of a third world orbiting Proxima Centauri, the fires of imagination may have been stoked once more.
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MSN

 

[Stryder50]

Scientists discover the Earth's inner core isn't solid or liquid. It's 'superionic.'​

MSN

 

[Stryder50]

The mysterious prehistoric city that has baffled scientists for years​

In a remote region of the western Pacific Ocean lies a stunning and spooky unsolved mystery: the ruins of the ancient city of Nan Madol.
Located next to the eastern shore of Micronesian island Pohnpei, this once-great, prehistoric city is comprised of nearly 100 geometrically shaped man-made stone islands, and it’s the only ancient city built atop a coral reef.
No one is sure of the origins, nor why anyone would want to build a city far from food and water, and yet its ruins are rife with stories and spirits. Check out the gallery for a brief tour of the space and travel back in time.
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MSN

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An ancient language has defied translation for 100 years. Can AI crack the code?​

Machine learning can translate between two known languages, but could it ever decipher those that remain a mystery to us?​

An ancient language has defied translation for 100 years. Can AI crack the code?

Machine learning can translate between two known languages, but could it ever decipher those that remain a mystery to us?

restofworld.org

 

[Stryder50]

The Hunt for Earth’s Deep Hidden Oceans​

Water-bearing minerals reveal that Earth’s mantle could hold more water than all its oceans. Researchers now ask: Where did it all come from?
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These mineral flecks — some too small to see even under a microscope — offer a peek into Earth’s otherwise unreachable interior. In 2014, researchers glimpsed something embedded in these minerals that, if not for its deep origins, would’ve been unremarkable: water.

Not actual drops of water, or even molecules of H20, but its ingredients, atoms of hydrogen and oxygen embedded in the crystal structure of the mineral itself. This hydrous mineral isn’t wet. But when it melts, out spills water. The discovery was the first direct proof that water-rich minerals exist this deep, between 410 and 660 kilometers down, in a region called the transition zone, sandwiched between the upper and lower mantles.

Since then, scientists have found more tantalizing evidence of water. In March 2018, a team announced that they had discovered diamonds from Earth’s mantle that have actual water encased inside. Seismic data has also mapped water-friendly minerals across a large portion of Earth’s interior. Some scientists now argue that a huge reservoir of water could be lurking far beneath our feet. If we consider all of the planet’s surface water as one ocean, and there turn out to be even a few oceans underground, it would change how scientists think of Earth’s interior. But it also raises another question: Where could it have all come from?
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The Hunt for Earth’s Deep Hidden Oceans

Water-bearing minerals reveal that Earth’s mantle could hold more water than all its oceans. Researchers now ask: Where did it all come from?

getpocket.com

 

[Stryder50]

The Ancient Peruvian Mystery Solved From Space​

These puzzling holes in the arid valleys of southern Peru tell us there was once a flourishing, sophisticated society here.
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The Ancient Peruvian Mystery Solved From Space

These puzzling holes in the arid valleys of southern Peru tell us there was once a flourishing, sophisticated society here.

getpocket.com

 

[Stryder50]

Medieval Africans Had a Unique Process for Purifying Gold With Glass​

And scientists in Illinois have recreated it.
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Medieval Africans Had a Unique Process for Purifying Gold With Glass

And scientists in Illinois have recreated it.

getpocket.com

 

[Stryder50]

Stashing some posts from another thread here, for ready future reference;
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A USA military presence in outer space has been considered for decades now. One classic example being Project Horizon, by the US Army. From the study of this proposal came the Saturn series of launch rockets, NASA assigned the moon project and much of Horizon morphed into Apollo.
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Project Horizon was a 1959 study to determine the feasibility of constructing a scientific / military base on the Moon, at a time when the U.S. Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, and Department of the Air Force had total responsibility for U.S. space program plans. On June 8, 1959, a group at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (ABMA) produced for the Army a report titled Project Horizon, A U.S. Army Study for the Establishment of a Lunar Military Outpost. The project proposal states the requirements as:

The lunar outpost is required to develop and protect potential United States interests on the moon; to develop techniques in moon-based surveillance of the earth and space, in communications relay, and in operations on the surface of the moon; to serve as a base for exploration of the moon, for further exploration into space and for military operations on the moon if required; and to support scientific investigations on the moon.[1]

The permanent outpost was predicted to be required for national security "as soon as possible", and to cost $6 billion. The projected operational date with twelve soldiers was December 1966.

Horizon never progressed past the feasibility stage, being rejected by President Dwight Eisenhower when primary responsibility for America's space program was transferred to the civilian agency NASA.[2]
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Project Horizon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Stryder50]

The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space service branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and the world's only independent space force.[6][7] Along with its sister-branch, the U.S. Air Force, the Space Force is part of the Department of the Air Force, one of the three civilian-led military departments within the Department of Defense. The Space Force, through the Department of the Air Force, is overseen by the Secretary of the Air Force, a civilian political appointee who reports to the Secretary of Defense, and is appointed by the President with Senate confirmation.[8] The military head of the Space Force is the Chief of Space Operations who is typically the most senior Space Force officer. The Chief of Space Operations exercises supervision over the Space Force's units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The Space Force is the smallest U.S. armed service, consisting of 6,434[1] military personnel and operating 77 spacecraft. Major spacecraft and systems include the Space Fence, Global Positioning System constellation, military satellite communications constellations, Boeing X-37B spaceplane, U.S. missile warning system, U.S. space surveillance network, and the Satellite Control Network. Under the Goldwater–Nichols Act, the Space Force is responsible for organizing, training, and equipping space forces, which are then presented to the unified combatant commands, predominantly to United States Space Command, for operational employment.

The U.S. Space Force traces its roots to the beginning of the Cold War, with the first Army Air Forces space programs starting in 1945. In 1954, the Western Development Division, under General Bernard Schriever, was established as the first dedicated space organization within the U.S. Armed Forces[9][10] and continues to exist as the Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center. Military space forces were organized under several different Air Force major commands until they were unified when Air Force Space Command was established on 1 September 1982. U.S. space forces first began conducting combat support operations in the Vietnam War and continued to provide satellite communications, weather, and navigation support during the 1982 Falklands War, 1983 United States invasion of Grenada, 1986 United States bombing of Libya, and 1989 United States invasion of Panama. The first major employment of space forces culminated in the Gulf War, where they proved so critical to the U.S.-led coalition, that it is sometimes referred to as the first "space war".

The first discussions of creating a military space service occurred in 1958, and the idea was also being considered in 1982 by President Ronald Reagan. The 2001 Space Commission argued for the creation of a Space Corps between 2007 and 2011, and a bipartisan proposal in the U.S. Congress would have created a U.S. Space Corps in 2017. On 20 December 2019, the United States Space Force Act, developed by Democratic representative Jim Cooper and Republican representative Mike Rogers, was signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act by President Donald Trump, reorganizing Air Force Space Command and other Air Force space elements into the United States Space Force, and creating the first new independent military service since the Army Air Forces were reorganized as the U.S. Air Force in 1947.
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United States Space Force - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Stryder50]

Hopefully the US Space Force isn't just "out there" focused downward, but also watching outward, and ideally equip to respond/deal with ...
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A Look at Earth's Planetary Defense Systems in Preparation for Doomsday​

Within our solar system, there are thousands of objects that cross Earth's path, some of which could even collide with us someday. How are we ensuring this doesn't happen?
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It has become something of a trope thanks to Hollywood, science fiction writers, and fans of doomsday scenarios alike. A sizeable comet or asteroid is on a collision course with Earth, and news of its impending impact causes widespread panic and hysteria.

While the people of Earth dig in and prepare for the worst, the nations of the world come together in a last-ditch effort to destroy it and save the planet. As the plot of a major motion picture or novel, the stuff practically writes itself!

However, as with any good story, there's a strong element of truth to this scenario. For billions of years, planet Earth has come into contact with asteroids, comets, and other pieces of debris.

Granted, the vast majority of these were so small that they burned up in our atmosphere, or caused little to no damage on the surface. And more often than not, asteroids that exist in near-Earth space (known as Near-Earth Objects or NEOs) will pass us by at a safe distance.

But on occasion, there have been some impacts that were so powerful that they did more harm than a thermonuclear bomb.

Every few millions of years, there have even been impacts that have triggered mass extinctions.

It is little wonder then why space agencies around the world make it their business to track and monitor any and all NEOs that we know of. It is also understandable that for decades, these same agencies and government planners have been working on strategies for deflecting or destroying any asteroids that come too close to Earth, also known as planetary defense.

Which begs the question: how prepared are we for a doomsday-type asteroid-impact scenario?
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A Look at Earth's Planetary Defense Systems in Preparation for Doomsday

There are thousands of near-Earth objects in our solar system. In the event of an asteroid collision with Earth, how prepared are we to deal with this kind of event?

interestingengineering.com

 

[Stryder50]

Two impact events of significant size in recent times;
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Tunguska Impact:
This event, which took place on June 30th, 1908 in Eastern Siberia, was the largest impact event on Earth in recorded history. And while the meteoroid that was responsible did not technically strike Earth, but exploded in our atmosphere (an air burst), it is still classified as an impact event.

The resulting explosion caused widespread damage to the Eastern Siberian Taiga, flattening 2,000 km² (770 mi²) of the forest. Luckily, since the explosion happened over a sparsely populated region, it is not believed to have caused any human casualties.

Different studies have produced different estimates for the size of the meteoroid, ranging from 60 to 190 m (200 to 620 ft), depending on whether it was a comet or an asteroid. The object is thought to have disintegrated at an altitude of 5 to 10 km (3 to 6 mi) above the surface.
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Chelyabinsk Meteor:
This impact event is the most recent on record, which involved an extremely bright meteor (superbolide) entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding over the small southern Ural town of Chelyabinsk, Russia, on February 15th, 2013.

This event was caused by a NEO measuring approximately 20 m (66 ft) in diameter which was traveling at speeds of about 20 km/s (12.5 mi/s). The resulting airburst caused a shockwave that inflicted damage to 7,200 buildings in the region, as well as causing 1,500 injuries (but no reported deaths).

The light from the meteor was temporarily brighter than the Sun and could be seen by observers up to 100 km (62 mi) away. Some eyewitnesses also reported feeling the intense heat from the fireball, despite the otherwise freezing conditions at the time.
...

A Look at Earth's Planetary Defense Systems in Preparation for Doomsday

There are thousands of near-Earth objects in our solar system. In the event of an asteroid collision with Earth, how prepared are we to deal with this kind of event?

interestingengineering.com