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I think water will block cosmic rays -- put a pool on your roof.
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No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful. -
Let's hope it's the southern hemisphere. I don't trust those Kiwis, Ozzies, or Penguins.Originally posted by Straybow View PostB♭3Comment
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The gamma rays won't make it through the atmosphere. That's not what will kill us. It's the total destruction of the ozone layer. Doesn't matter where you live for that.Originally posted by Straybow View PostChristianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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how far away is it?Comment
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8,000 light yearsChristianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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Everything you wanted to know.
This one's more fun.
Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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Don't be silly, Che. We can just stuff aerosol cans full of ozone for when that happens, just spray it everywhere.Originally posted by chequita guevara View PostB♭3Comment
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Actually, it's not the total destruction of the ozone layer, only 30% to 50% of it, but that would still be enough to make life on Earth unpleasant.
Speaking of UV rays, I should go make Vitamin D with some.Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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See, it's not all bad!No, I did not steal that from somebody on Something Awful.Comment
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Gamma rays are the ultimate high energy electromagnetic radiation, and while the burst lasts less than two minutes it can contain more energy than the entire mass of the sun converted into energy by E = m c^2. You'll notice that the mass of the sun and the speed of light, c, are extremely large numbers.
The star is apparently 7000 light years away.
The solid angle of the Earth scales with (radius of the earth/distance to star)^2. That is a small number, BTW. Spread it over the earth's surface, period of the blast, and you get an even small number.
Assuming that the star is roughly the same mass as the sun, the energy flux through the Earth's upper atmosphere during such a blast would be the same order of magnitude as that due to the Sun on a regular basis. And that's before an undoubtedly large efficiency factor is thrown in.Last edited by Ramo; April 11, 2009, 14:36."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
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Actually, the OP isn"t that good.Christianity: The belief that a cosmic Jewish Zombie who was his own father can make you live forever if you symbolically eat his flesh and telepathically tell him you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force from your soul that is present in humanity because a rib-woman was convinced by a talking snake to eat from a magical tree...Comment
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Yes. Most science "journalism" isn't."Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way. "
-BokononComment
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[Q=Ramo;5571843]Gamma rays are the ultimate high energy electromagnetic radiation, and while the burst lasts less than two minutes it can contain more energy than the entire mass of the sun converted into energy by E = m c^2. You'll notice that the mass of the sun and the speed of light, c, are extremely large numbers.
Assuming that the star is roughly the same mass as the sun, the energy flux through the Earth's upper atmosphere during such a blast would be the same order of magnitude as that due to the Sun on a regular basis. And that's before an undoubtedly large efficiency factor is thrown in.[/Q]
Don't read too well, hmmm? WR104 is on the order of 20-50 times Msol. Its coalescence converts Msol of its mass into gamma rays. Given that proton fusion releases about 1% of its mass-energy, and the sun will fuse about 25% of its H in its lifetime plus a small He fusion flare, that means the coalescence releases roughly 400 times the energy of the lifetime of the sun.
So, Esol = lifespan·average radiated power = 3e16s·Jsol
Coalescence Ewr = 400·Esol = 1.2e19s·Jsol
Jwr = Ewr/d²/2s = 1.2e19s·Jsol/(7k·63k)²/2s for d in AU to compare to solar radiation reaching earth.
Jwr = 6e18·Jsol/(441e6)² = 30.8 Jsol = 30.8·1400W/m² radiation reaching earth
Jwr = 43kW/m² for 2 seconds.
The atmosphere should indeed filter most of that without dangerous levels of ionization at the surface. The EMP would destroy anything electronic, even on the far side of the globe as the ions spread out across the upper stratosphere.
Most cosmologists agree that the real danger is Type II supernovae within 10 parsecs bathing the planet in high energy neutrons.(\__/) Save a bunny, eat more Smurf!
(='.'=) Sponsored by the National Smurfmeat Council
(")_(") Smurf, the original blue meat! © 1999, patent pending, ® and ™ (except that "Smurf" bit)Comment
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[Q=chequita guevara;5571831]Actually, it's not the total destruction of the ozone layer, only 30% to 50% of it, but that would still be enough to make life on Earth unpleasant.[/Q] First, only half the atmosphere will be bathed in gamma rays and lose UV protection. Annual regeneration of the south polar ozone hole in a few weeks shows that solar UV will rebuild the ozone layer in a short period of time. Longer than a few weeks because the polar region has a low angle of incidence, giving a longer path through the upper atmosphere than temperate regions and more O3 generation.
The EMP will be worse for civilization, but the human race will survive.(\__/) Save a bunny, eat more Smurf!
(='.'=) Sponsored by the National Smurfmeat Council
(")_(") Smurf, the original blue meat! © 1999, patent pending, ® and ™ (except that "Smurf" bit)Comment
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