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Space Elevators Could Be Lethal

Posted by kdawson on from the fried-by-van-allen dept.

Maggie McKee writes, "A new study reports that passengers on space elevators of current design could be killed by radiation. Even traveling at 200 kilometers per hour, passengers would spend several days in the Van Allen radiation belts, long enough to kill them." Looks like the elevator scientists will get this one solved before liftoff.

2 of 428 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Aqua viva by maxume · · Score: 5, Informative

    Radiation does bad things to dna. It mostly just heats water. Ooooh, scary, somewhat warmer water.

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    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  2. Re:Oh, the horror! by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well contrary to the popular opinion, scientists aren't idiots, so they thought about the Van Allen radiation belts long before any sensationalist headline came up with it.

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