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OT: The F*cking Science Thread

Is there even any scientific backing to this whole endeavour though? Isn't it just a giant PR stunt for a reality TV show?
 
LeafGm said:
Is there even any scientific backing to this whole endeavour though? Isn't it just a giant PR stunt for a reality TV show?
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It'll be kinda sad if this is the way we end up doing it, but I'd imagine there'd be enough science done because EVERY scientific org would be begging for involvement. at the very least there'd be lots of geological info sent back.
 
JaysCyYoung said:
Does there really need to be a scientific component for the mission to be worth it?
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Well if you want them to survive for more than 3 seconds, I would think so.


Although I get what you are saying - the mission itself doesn't necessarily need to be based on scientific research...but it kinda goes hand in hand with the attempt.
 
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I view it more as a triumph of the human spirit and a new feat in pioneering more than a mission that will yield significant scientific dividends. Scaling Mount Everest added little, if anything, to the human knowledge base, but as natural explorers we will always seek to go beyond our current borders and establish new paradigms. A mission to Mars only has to be justified on the basis that it's something we've never done before.

And the fact that the mission is being organized by a private company with independently-raised capital means that it doesn't have the draw-backs of government, where each public dollar has to be accounted for and justified on a reasonable basis before receiving approval.
 
Jays, I think you misunderstood me. The issue I have with this is that from what I've seen, there's absolutely no proof that the people running this "Mars One" thing have anything close to the knowledge or capability of sending any living person to Mars. I don't think that's what Mars One is about. I think it's about selling the reality show that they'll be making on the back of their recruiting process.
 
Would be one hell of a reality show in any event. We already have the technology in the black ops sector to get there anyways.
 
I really really love the arctic and antarctic regions. Mountains of Madness and the Thing are two of my favorite works of fiction that deal with these regions.

Anyways, this story shows just how much mystery that the continent of Antarctica has to offer.

http://phys.org/news/2014-01-scientists-giant-trench-antarctic-ice.html

The researchers spent three seasons investigating and mapping the region in West Antarctica, uncovering a massive subglacial valley up to 3 kilometres deep, more than 300 kilometres long and up to 25 kilometres across. In places, the floor of this valley is more than 2000 metres below sea level.

The mountain range and deep valley were carved millions of years ago by a small icefield similar to those of the present-day Antarctic Peninsula, or those of Arctic Canada and Alaska.

Professor Martin Siegert, Professor of Geosciences at the University of Bristol, said: "While the idea of West Antarctic Ice Sheet growth and decay over the past few million years has been discussed for decades, the precise location where the ice sheet may originate from in growth phases, and decay back to in periods of decay, has not been known.

"By looking at the topography beneath the ice sheet using a combination of ice-penetrating radio-echo sounding and satellite imagery, we have revealed a region which possesses classic glacial geomorphic landforms, such as u-shaped valleys and cirques, that could only have been formed by a small ice cap, similar to those seen at present in the Canadian and Russian High Arctic. The region uncovered is, therefore, the site of ice sheet genesis in West Antarctica."

The team's analysis has provided an unprecedented insight into the extent, thickness and behaviour of this ancient icefield, and the configuration and behaviour of the early West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The subglacial landscape shows where and how the West Antarctic Ice Sheet originated and grew. It also provides important clues about the size and shape of the ice sheet in West Antarctica in a warmer global climate.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2014-01-scientists-giant-trench-antarctic-ice.html#jCp
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Also a 8000 year old mural has been linked chronologically to a volcanic eruption. The mural depicts the effects of the eruption visually.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-01/plos-nmm010314.php

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0084711

Starting from the discovery of the Neolithic settlement of Çatalhöyük in the early 1960s by British archaeologist James Mellaart, the excavations at this location have provided unique insights into the living conditions of humans at the transition from hunter-gatherer to settled agriculture societies. One outstanding find is a mural from level VII of Çatalhöyük (Fig. 1) famously described by its discoverer as depicting a volcanic eruption [1]–[3]. Similar interpretations, differing in detail, have been put forward since then, implicating this painting not only as the oldest depiction of a volcanic eruption, but as a contender for being the first graphical representation of a landscape or a map [4]–[6].
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http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/oddnews/it-got-so-cold-so-quickly-in-this-norweigan-bay-that-it-froze-a-bunch-of-fish-swimming-in-it-232504960.html

Flash freezing.

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Currently, coolers are used to transport organs for transplantation. The problem is that the cooler only slows down the organs deterioration since blood containing nutrients and oxygen stops being supplied to it. Because of this doctors have a short window of time( 5 to 10 hours for lungs and 4 to 6 hours for hearts) to remove and transplant the organ. Because of this organs go wasted because they're simply too far away from the people who need them. TransMedics is developing the Organ Care System (lung in a box) that keeps the organ "breathing" and supplied with blood. It's currently still being studied by has successfully been part of 12 lung transplants.
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They're also developing an equivalent "heart in a box" that will aid in heart transplants. "On an annual basis, more than 30 or 40 hearts in Hawaii go unused, because of the distance, these hearts cannot be transported to the mainland."
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SAUCE
 
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