Tag: Real Science

Geeking Science: Walking on Eggshells

Erin Penn

Image acquired from: 254588 © Kmitu | Dreamstime.com

Exoplanets continue to be discovered and the scientists gather what little information is available from our distant observation point: closeness to its star, size, …. oh, maybe atmosphere if the light bounces right. We can infer temperature, composition, and minerals available.  Year length and day cycle need just a bit of number crunching.

Then scientist group the planet into something that matches our system of planets – the rocky inner, the gas giants, ice rocks, and maybe, terrestrial in the life zone. But in the infinite possibilities of the universe, will every planet be a “Jupiter” or “Venus”?

Using computer modeling, other possibilities are coming to light. One is eggshell planets. The thin lithosphere means no plate tectonics, which I was surprised to learn meant uninhabitable because one of the job of plate tectonics is to control the minerals related to controlling carbon.

You know the stuff humanity is trying to control to rein in climate change.

The eggshell planets, according to theory, will have runaway greenhouse heating because of the lack of recycling crust. Other peculiarities include a crust that might bow and dip with heat cycles of the lower levels, but not create mountains or valleys.

As a science fiction writer, I thinking about how would industries take advantage of these planets? Could ships hide in the unique crust features? Scientists suspect life as we know it can’t live there, but what other options might play out?

The fact is there are over a dozen suspected planetary types. As writers, we don’t need to limit ourselves to the standard four.

Bibliography
Choi, Charles Q. “Strange ‘eggshell’ exoplanets may have ultra-smooth surface.” 2021 November 29. Space.com. https://www.space.com/eggshell-exoplanets-ultra-smooth-surfaces?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=space.com&fbclid=IwAR16dotQSs-WVpo4DkyXOjhdxprXNrungCtjFYlGDMAvxAIpX8ZLxK-sa2I – Last viewed 1/12/2022.

Gough, Evan. “Eggshell Planets Have a Thin Brittle Crust and No Mountains or Tectonics.” 2021 November 18. Universe Today. https://www.universetoday.com/153328/eggshell-planets-have-a-thin-brittle-crust-and-no-mountains-or-tectonics/ – Last viewed 1/12/2022.

Unveiled. “Why Scientists Are Studying Unique Eggshell Planets.” 2022 January 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FiA57KKDqo – Last viewed 1/12/2022.

Geeking Science: Plant Trees

Erin Penn

Photo by Eyoel Kahssay on Unsplash

Planting trees is essential for reversing climate change.

I mentioned my “duh” moment of the important of trees back in 2018 (Geeking Science: Trees and Oxygen). Because trees are MUCH taller than everything humanity replaces them with, the VOLUME of tree oxygen production is much higher than crops or grass.

Trees also STORE a lot of carbon, much more than grass. A study shows that trees planted in a manner that doesn’t impact human cities or agriculture can still store two-thirds of the carbon humanity needs to pull out of the atmosphere to mitigate the worse aspects of climate change. (Good News Network, 2019)

You may wonder if planting trees will really make a difference. Seems possible based on what happened in the 1500s when within a single century the indigenous population of the Americas was reduced by 90% from 60 million to 6 million. All that farmland used by the Inca, Sioux, Cree, etc. became reclaimed by the forest. Antarctic ice core studies show a reduction in carbon by 7 to 10 part per million because of that. While the Little Ice Age started before the 1500s, its onset spurred by volcanic eruptions, the temperatures reached their all-time lows during century where nearly all farmland in America disappeared. (Geggel, 2019)

Now this particular study of agriculture losses in the Americas impacting carbon levels is still in the “lots of questions” stage of scientific investigation. Until at least two or three other studies are needed to support or refute the postulate; a grain of salt needs to be taken with these “facts.” They are not facts per se, just theories, and not widely accepted ones as yet. But they have enough heft, they do warrant further study.

Trees also have other benefits, especially when added to an urban area. They reduce pollutants. Make life prettier and reduce noise. Decreases stress and family violence. Connect eco-spheres isolated within the urban setting. Control storm water, holding water in their leaves and roots to reduce flooding issues. And, most importantly (and easiest to prove), reduce urban heat island effects – reducing heat-related illness and death, air conditioning costs, and road maintenance.  All this on top of controlling carbon levels which MAY help mitigate climate change. (Grants Pass Oregon)

I’m willing to take climate change as a BONUS, and make Urban Forests into reality just for all the other benefits.

Acquired from the internet hive brain (Copyright © 2014 CartoonArts International)

Bibliography

Geggel, Laura. “European Slaughters of Indigenous Americans May Have Cooled the Planet. LiveScience. 2019 February 8. https://www.livescience.com/64723-great-dying-little-ice-age.html (last viewed 4/10/2022)

Good News Network. “For First Time Ever, Scientists Identify How Many Trees to Plant and Where to Plant Them to Stop Climate Crisis.” 2019 July 7. https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/how-many-trees-to-plant-to-stop-climate-crisis/ (last viewed 4/10/2022)

Grants Pass Oregon. “Appendix A: Benefits of Trees in Urban Areas.” https://www.grantspassoregon.gov/DocumentCenter/View/1626/Chapter-3-Appendix-A-PDF (last viewed 4/10/2022)

Geeking Science: Fashion Meets the Surveillance Age

Erin Penn

From the Reflectacles Kickstarter

So after writing the Dark Web Trope Editing Rant in September, my paranoia is running higher. Just a little.

Did you know that there is a whole Fashion subset to avoid the surveillance cameras everywhere?

Here are some Fashion Statements to say something about the person wearing them, either tin-hat-paranoia or they-really-are-out-to-get-you. The accessories could make for some exciting additions to a near future sci-fi or a contemporary thriller.

  1. Makeup and Hair – Asymmetrical is the key. Bright splotches of color hair. Cover or obscure the eye with spikes and decorations. Squares with high differentiation of coloring – black and white. Jewels applied randomly to the face, especially the nose and cheekbones. Gorgeous and disturbing to a species hard-programmed for symmetry. The machines also freak out a little. (See cvdazzle for examples.)
  2. Pattern Recognition Disruption Scarfs – Put on a lacy scarf with dots or mini-faces. For example, the HyperFace scarf has 1,200 facial shapes to blow the surveillance camera software to bits.
  3. Health masks – Those face masks people are wearing to prevent transmission of disease. They may be keeping other transmissions and invasions at bay. Popular among protesters around the world, especially when holding a gathering near suppressive government buildings.
  4. RFID Blocking Wallets – With the credit cards being RFID chipped now, pick up a wallet to keep someone from reading accessing the credit just by talking down the street beside you.
  5. Metallic Fabric Jackets (with or without hoodies) – But the RFID and microchips go beyond just the wallet, dogs are chipped, medical history may be on chips soon, and some medical machines already are microchipped and can be programmed for injections. Pick up a metallic jacket to keep criminals from scanning the microchips … or reprogramming them.
  6. IR Privacy Eyewear – Full infrared (IR) protection on the sunglasses prevent surveillance cameras from getting eyeshape, one of the most important aspects of facial recognition. A bonus is manufacturing the frames to be extra reflective – this makes the wearer more visible at night when crossing the street while also completely screwing with the camera’s ability to see the person’s face.
  7. Antiflash Clothing – Prismatic metallic ink which interferes when paparazzi beat on a celebrity with flashbulbs. Suddenly their greatest tool of humiliation destroys the very picture they are trying to take. Also great for those days when a politician, or ordinary citizens caught up in a mess, takes a walk of shame before proof of innocence or guilt is established. Also useful for the next company party with the open bar; no pictures, no proof.
  8. Infrared Ballcaps – The brim of the cap shines an IR light on the face, making it too bright for surveillance cameras to see. Perfect for those late night run to Walmart, and you don’t want to get dolled up in an anti-surveillance fashion statement.

Bibliography

Bacchi, Umberto and Suliman, Adela. “Face masks to decoy t-shirts: The rise of anti-surveillance fashion”. Reuters. 2019 September 26. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-tech-fashion-feature/face-masks-to-decoy-t-shirts-the-rise-of-anti-surveillance-fashion-idUSKBN1WB0HT – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

CV Dazzle. “Camouflage from face detection.” cvdazzle. 2017 August 22. https://cvdazzle.com/ – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

Dobush, Grace. “Privacy by design: How fashion combats surveillance”. The Christian Science Monitor. 2017 January 27. https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Passcode/Security-culture/2017/0127/Privacy-by-design-How-fashion-combats-surveillance – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

Hern, Alex. “The fashion line designed to trick surveillance cameras”. 2019 August 14. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/13/the-fashion-line-designed-to-trick-surveillance-cameras – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

Hu, Jane C. “When Will TJ Maxx Sell Anti-Surveillance Fashion?” Slate. 2019 August 15. https://slate.com/technology/2019/08/facial-recognition-surveillance-fashion-hong-kong.html – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

Jacobs, Bel. “How what you wear can help you avoid surveillance.” BBC. 2017 March 20. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20170320-how-what-you-wear-can-help-you-avoid-surveillance – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

Reflectables. “IRpair & Phantom – Privacy Eyewear.” Kickstarter. 2019 November. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/reflectacles/irpair-and-phantom-privacy-eyewear – Last viewed 11/13/2019.

 

 

Geeking Science: The Search for Water

Erin Penn

Image courtesy of namakuki at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We are bags of mostly water, about 60%, with the brains pushing 75% and lungs over 80%. When humans go into space, the second consideration after air (and air pressure) is water. With air, we face a volume transport problem – but air does compact nicely; though runs toward the explosive during the unpacking. Water, though, is a weight problem and nearly all the hard-to-impossible-to-solve problems with space travel so far have been weight problems.

How does one get off the planet? Fight the weight of gravity. How does one travel through space? Fight the weight of inertia. Every pound in space requires a force to get it off the planet and moving where we will want it to go. Places like the Moon for training and exploration, Mars for first stage colonization testing, and other stars for immigration.

All the best situations for long-term habitation in space are to have water already be there at the end. Yes, we can (and are) studying every manner recycling of water during the journeys. Controlling a dozen gallons per person recycled in a closed system has been challenging. Forward osmosis is just one of the many processes being studied.

But for colonization, where the need for water will be hundreds of gallons per person – not a few dozen – between the requirements for crops and manufacturing and washing and population growth, water must be at the other end. 

We are beginning to find it among the exo-planets. Our tech isn’t *quite* there yet – new cameras and satellites are coming on line to double-check initial findings. But we have some suspects. Each step, each discovery, brings us that much closer to the stars.

 

Bibliography

Astrobio.net. “Recycling water in space”. phys.org. 2011 June 20.https://phys.org/news/2011-06-recycling-space.html – last viewed 1 November 2019.

Damadeo, Kristyn. “NASA and Partner Announce Finalists in the 2019 Mars Ice Challenge”. nasa.gov. https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/nasa-and-partner-announce-finalists-in-the-2019-mars-ice-challenge – last viewed 1 November 2019.

Ghosh, Pallab. “Water found for the first time on ‘potentially habitable’ planet”. BBC News Science & Environment. 2019 September 12. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49648746?SThisFB – last viewed 1 November 2019.

Siegel, Ethan. “Does water freeze or boil in space?” medium.com. 2016 Dec 10. https://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/does-water-freeze-or-boil-in-space-7889856d7f36 – last viewed 1 November 2019.

 

Geeking Science: Video Game Time Sucks

Erin Penn

Astrogarden/Farming Game Image

I call them Inventory Games. You know those games with lots of steps to gather this and that, then build an item, to build another item. The object is not to beat the bad guy but get all the stuff. They appeal to our natural hunt and gather instinct, to have enough to get through the winter. I swear we are hard programmed to play these games, at least I am. Astrogarden takes up far too much of my time, as my 130 level “character” indicates.

Why are these games so addictive? It’s like the manufacturers are tapping directly into our dopamine receptors and drugging us senseless. 

After all, the only thing humans really own is time, and to waste it cutting down virtual trees for hours on end makes no sense.

Originally games were aimed at fulling about 20 to 40 hours, maybe 100 hours of time, complete with a story. Unless it was just mindless Tetris, but even that had natural stop points to sleep and eat and go to work. These Inventory Games NEVER end. They are Grinds. Yet, still, we play.

Sometimes, part of the grind can be short-cut through purchase of items with real-world money. Like you have time to hold down a job while playing these games. This is how the companies make their money. I’ve limited myself to a certain amount per month, treating the “free” Astrogarden as a subscription service. But, really, you can easily drop hundreds of dollars on virtual nothingness. It is worse than Kindle and buying books you never will touch and if your device goes away (or Amazon does, don’t laugh, it has happened for other book and music dealers), everything goes away. I spent weeks getting a new kindle and fixing it just the way I like it when my old one got the black-lines-of-death during the 2019 tax season.

Why, why do I Grind through Inventory Games which provide no meals on my real-world table? One, it is therapeutic. Like doing embroidery and sewing. I notice the more I videogame, the less I sew. They provide the same need, to take a brain break. And the game, with its colored lights, happy music, and noticeable, achievable goals is much more fun, without being really fun, than sewing for 10 hours. Plus I can click my mouse for 10 hours in a single day, and I can’t stab cloth that long without my eyes crossing.

And tons more fun than putting words on a screen. Not reading them after the words successfully fought their way out of my head, but the process of words on screen makes grinding through the trees and rock appealing.

You want to kill the productivity of a nation – get the more active, the more intelligent, the go-getters, and the children – addicted to something that feels like it produces something but actually produces nothing. Kind-of like a paper-pusher job, only with fun lights every five minutes instead of a coffee break every two hours.

I need to figure out how to funnel my “time wasting” habits, the brain breaks, where I am not thinking, back into productive actions like sewing and cleaning house.

In the meantime, I’m off – my Tiger-Cows need milking and my hybrid-crops need harvesting.

Bibliography

Wong, David. The Secret Reason So Many Video Games are a Tedious Grind. Cracked.com. https://www.cracked.com/blog/the-secret-reason-so-many-video-games-are-tedious-grind/ . Last viewed 9/17/2019.