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Solar Wind Rips Up Martian Atmosphere
IHateEverybody writes "Scientists have found evidence that the solar wind is ripping off chunks of the Martian atmosphere, which could possibly explain why Mars has such a thin atmosphere today. The chunks are being ripped up along 'magnetic umbrellas,' which are bubbles of magnetic fields which rise from the ground and extend above the Martian atmosphere. This is surprising because scientists previously thought that these magnetic umbrellas protected the Martian atmosphere. Now it looks like exactly the opposite might be true."
if this is possible on mars, what different properties does earth have to stop our atmosphear from one day just disapearing?
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At least it's not ripping up Uranus.
at least we may know what to fix if we *ever* were to terraform that big red rock
Actually, no, I don't.
It is purely political.
Or do we just leave that as an extra credit exercise for the students?
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
climate change troll in 5, 4, 3,...
That Sol guy is a total dick.
Assuming everything the article suggests is correct, could this be a natural proof-of-concept example of a magnetic sail?
We don't (as far as I know) have the technology to test magnetic sails on our own, but it seems we may have been lent a giant laboratory far beyond our means in the form of Mars' peculiar magnetic fields.
"Oh no! Look, Billy! The sky is breaking apart!"
Well might not the end result of this be that Mars was once exactly like us?
When you look at how long mankind has to evacuate the planet it seems this could shorten that time quite a bit. The core of the earth will cool long before the sun goes red dwarf.
Maybe we should be looking into terraforming Venus.
Venus has 10,000 time the atmosphere of Mars and 90 times the earth. Yet no magnetic field protection and a ten times strong solar wind at that distance (r-squared divergence).
For all three planets, the planetary outgassing ratye from the interior is not well known and could be a factor in replenishment.
We have a large shield around our planet, which has a special, secret password. No one can ever strip aweay our atmosphere, no matter how much they suck or blow.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
So, Mars' magnetic umbrellas are sort of like credit swap derivatives, then???
"You must try to forget all you have learned. You must begin to dream." -- Sherwood Anderson
People are exposed to 2.5 tesla magnetic fields in conventional MRIs, and there are MRIs that go up to 9.3 tesla (even though that's a bit beyond what the FDA approves). There are scanners for animals that go up to 12 tesla. Even the least of these is well beyond anything the Earth generates. Clearly, however, magnetic fields are not as dangerous as has been assumed. At least, within reasonable limits.
This is a localized magnetic field, however. If you were to set up a Faraday cage, so that you were enclosed in a uniform magnetic field, you shouldn't ever detect it. A totally uniform field has zero effect on anything inside that region of uniformity. This would offer some interesting possibilities, as it would be a great deal cheaper to rig up a Faraday cage of some given internal volume than a totally pressurized dome of equal internal volume. The rest of the air would be breathable, and short exposure to the localized fields outside should be no more hazardous than short exposure to the magnetic fields in an MRI, and simpler forms of life (plants, for example) should be safe enough, allowing you to place the terraforming mechanism outside the inhabitable zone.
There is another option, however. It is radioactive material that keeps the Earth's core as hot as it is. We have plenty of such material we desperately want to get rid of. Provided you could find a method of getting the nuclear waste into the Martial core, there should be more than enough by now to strengthen and stabilize the natural magnetic field to usable levels for longer than we'd ever care about. Getting it there would be a problem and a half - mechanical drilling would be impossible and relying on maintaining a sub-critical mass to achieve the "China Syndrome" long enough to nuclear drill through would at best risk landing you with a supervolcano in your lap. However, I'm going to call that an "implementation detail" and not worry about it.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
You mean Modding actually does something?
It is carbonaceous. IOW, it does not have the ability to interact with Mars VIA magnetic pull. The moon can do that on us.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Just who are these people, who get to keep their jobs and reputations after such "predictions"?
What else are they predicting now? (Other than climate change, that is?)
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
We have not made a complete observation to know for sure what is transpiring with these bubbles. Mars is a somewhat fickle planeta, where magnetism may be weak in most areas, yet strong in some 'small' pockets, fluctuating. Also the mysteries of its two moons and their interactions with their parent planet. Life is not the only interesting thing we will discover about Mars. This is one strange planet!