24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
Energy Needed to Power Civilization
The numerical results of my calculations show that the quantities of energy required for permanent survival and communication are surprisingly modest. For a society with the same complexity as the present human society on Earth, starting from the present time and continuing forever, the total reserve of energy required is about equal to the energy now radiated by the Sun in eight hours. The total energy reserve contained in the Sun would be sufficient to support forever a society with a compl... 1 
notes
notesThere is an overabundance of energy in the universe.
24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
A Black Hole is a Star Forever Falling Inward
He talked to us about the new theory of black holes which he had then just worked out. The idea of a black hole was one of the most dramatic consequences of Einstein's theory of gravity. According to Einstein's equations, a massive star at the end of its life, when it has exhausted its nuclear fuel, continues to contract and grow smaller and denser under the influence of its own gravitation. After the nuclear fuel is used up, the star goes into a state of gravitational collapse. All parts of ... 1 notes
notes24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
A Black Hole is a Star Forever Falling Inward
He talked to us about the new theory of black holes which he had then just worked out. The idea of a black hole was one of the most dramatic consequences of Einsteins theory of gravity. According to Einstein's equations, a massive star at the end of its life, when it has exhausted its nuclear fuel, continues to contract and grow smaller and denser under the influence of its own gravitation. After the nuclear fuel is used up, the star goes into a state of gravitational collapse. All parts of t...24 JAN 2015 by ideonexus
A Black Hole is a Star Forever Falling Inward
He talked to us about the new theory of black holes which he had then just worked out. The idea of a black hole was one of the most dramatic consequences of Einstein's theory of gravity. According to Einstein's equations, a massive star at the end of its life, when it has exhausted its nuclear fuel, continues to contract and grow smaller and denser under the influence of its own gravitation. After the nuclear fuel is used up, the star goes into a state of gravitational collapse. All parts of ...24 JAN 2014 by ideonexus
A Star for Everyone Who Ever Lived
Behind every man now alive stand thirty ghosts, for that is the ratio by which the dead outnumber
the living. Since the dawn of time, roughly a hundred billion human beings have walked the planet
Earth.
Now this is an interesting number, for by a curious coincidence there are approximately a hundred
billion stars in our local universe, the Milky Way. So for every man who has ever lived, in this
Universe there shines a star.
But every one of those stars is a sun, often far more brilliant and...Folksonomies: speculation science fiction
Folksonomies: speculation science fiction
1 notes
notesIn just our own galaxy.
04 JUN 2012 by ideonexus
The Physics of Black Hole Creation
Let me describe briefly how a black hole might be created. Imagine a star with a mass 10 times that of the sun. During most of its lifetime of about a billion years the star will generate heat at its center by converting hydrogen into helium. The energy released will create sufficient pressure to support the star against its own gravity, giving rise to an object with a radius about five times the radius of the sun. The escape velocity from the surface of such a star would be about 1,000 kilom...Folksonomies: physics black hole
Folksonomies: physics black hole
1 notes
notesAt a point in the star's collapse, it's escape velocity exceeds the speed of light.
17 MAY 2012 by ideonexus
Sarcastic Science
Sarcastic Science, she would like to know,
In her complacent ministry of fear,
How we propose to get away from here
When she has made things so we have to go
Or be wiped out. Will she be asked to show
Us how by rocket we may hope to steer
To some star off there, say, a half light-year
Through temperature of absolute zero?
Why wait for Science to supply the how
When any amateur can tell it now?
The way to go away should be the same
As fifty million years ago we came—
If anyone remembers how ...
1 A poem about science arguing we need to go to the stars, but it has made it so we must leave Earth. I wonder if Frost is referring to extinction as the way to go?
30 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Astronomy Comes to the Observer, Meteorology Must be Pursued
The astronomer is, in some measure, independent of his fellow astronomer; he can wait in his observatory till the star he wishes to observe comes to his meridian; but the meteorologist has his observations bounded by a very limited horizon, and can do little without the aid of numerous observers furnishing him contemporaneous observations over a wide-extended area. Folksonomies: astronomy meteorology
Folksonomies: astronomy meteorology
1 notes
notesIt requires collaboration with many observers around a large area of land.
26 APR 2012 by ideonexus
Early Speculation on the Fuel of Stars
A star is drawing on some vast reservoir of energy by means unknown to us. This reservoir can scarcely be other than the subatomic energy which, it is known exists abundantly in all matter; we sometimes dream that man will one day learn how to release it and use it for his service. The store is well nigh inexhaustible, if only it could be tapped. There is sufficient in the Sun to maintain its output of heat for 15 billion years. 1 notes
notesFrom 1920, demonstrating an understanding that the fuel is subatomic energy, but betrays no insights as to how it is release.
01 JAN 2012 by ideonexus
The Parallax Method
It is possible to measure how far away from us each galaxy is. How? How, for that matter, do we know how far away anything in the universe is? For nearby stars the best method uses something called 'parallax'. Hold your finger up in front of your face and look at it with your left eye closed. Now open your left eye and close your right. Keep switching eyes, and you'll notice that the apparent position of your finger hops from side to side. That is because of the difference between the viewpoi...Folksonomies: measurement parallax
Folksonomies: measurement parallax
1 notes
notesUsing the change in position of an object when viewed from two different points can be used to determine its distance from you.
