Gian

If we can create nuclear bombs 1000x hiroshima, wouldn't it be fairly simple to use it to power space ships which could accelerate to the point where a trip to the outer planets would take days rather than years? Is it true that this is already quite possible, but governments won't let us do it because of the potential dangers of nuclear accident? Cheerz GIAN xx

inow and swansont Well yes, hopefully sunlight could be turned into energy in another form eg motion and/or light. Yes there would be waste heat but presumably not as much as if the sunlight energy had not absorbed at all. And yes a percentage of the 'harvested' sunlight would also be reflected away from the Earth. Presumably if if it was done on a big enough scale there would be a net cooling of the Earth, plus an additional reduction of CO2-producing forms of energy production? cheerz Gian

If there were enough solar panels installed across the world, besides give us lots of cheap energy would this also reverse the effects of global warming? If so, how many would be needed? cheerz Gian

Cheerz Mr Strange. Well at least someone could produce a generic basic probe with additional components which could be added as required according to the nature of the mission. Thanks for the SpaceX tip I'll check them out GIAN x

At the BIS Christmas lecture in December John Zarnecki spoke about how he and his team designed and built the Huygens probe for Titan from scratch. No wonder it took so long and was so expensive. Why can't someone design a generic spaceprobe which can be used anywhere and built on a production line like Boeing airliners? Has anyone tried this? Cheerz Gian☺

Spoke to Prof John Zarnecki after a lecture he gave about Titan last month and he said that yes astronauts on Titan could use the nitrogen and there would be enough water ice to extract oxygen to make breathable air. He also said that there will be big waves and it will be possible to go surfing on Titan!☺

Science says (I think) we can make artificial gravity in space using a centrifugal force on the inside of a rotating circular structure. If so, anyone know what maths and physics I need to calculate speed of rotation for a given radius of a circular spaceship? Cheerz GIAN

cheerz

Hydrogen-1 (protium) is an isotope of Hygrogen yeah? It has one proton in the nucleus and one circling electron? So is Protium just another word for hydrogen itself?

THANKS!!!!! Got it (I think) 1/2x1/2=1/4 (viz to the power2) x1/2= 1/8 (to the power3) x1/2= 1/16 (to the power4) x1/2= 1/32 (to the power5) So ans=5 Is there a particular formula I should use though? Or is working through it methodically number by number the right way to do it?

THANKS!!!☺☺☺

Excuse my ignorance, but with an equation like this; 32 x 0.5x = 1 is there a formula I can use to calculate the index number x ? cheerz GIAN

Excuse my complete ignorance, but I'm new to this. I have a question from a GCSE physics book as follows;"Cobalt-60 is a radioisotope made by placing cobalt in a nuclear reactor. It has a half-life of 5 years. The activity of a piece of Cobalt-60 is 32.0 kBq. How long would it take to fall to (a)16.0kBq (b)1.0 kBq?"I guess question (a) would be five years, or one half-life; but what maths/ formulae should I use to calculate (b)? Of course I guess I can get it by just counting down multiplying by 0.5 each time, but I wondered if there's an algebraic formula I should use for this? (kBq is kilo-bequerels) cheerz GIAN

THANKS!

a few further queries I mentioned earlier (1) I guess there's wind and tidal forces on Titan so maybe we can walk along the beach of one of the methane seas with methane washing up and down? (2) If liquid methane has less than half the density of water, would it still be possible to have powered craft which could float on the surface of Titan's lakes? (3) Could explorers go hang-gliding? Or maybe even a nanolight powered by methane? (4) Presumably with all the methane about, power won't be a problem. When explorers get to Titan I guess temperature suits would have to be powered (unless NASA has an insulation fabric which could withstand −179 °C?) (5) As the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, presumably explorers would only have to take oxygen with them and have a mechanism for mixing it to make breathable air? (6) And given that there's water on Titan, would it be possible to mechanically extract enough oxygen to add to the nitrogen to make breathable air? altho I guess it would take a helluva lot of water.... cheers GIAN

Not at all, although I've no idea of the answer!

Thanks Janus et al for all the above replies, ah well if I ever get to Titan I'll take my flippers and snorkel anyway. Yep, Velocity Boy, 'Swimming on Titan' would make a great movie even if it's impossible! Dunno about finding Life, but it would be great if we did. (1) I guess there's wind and tidal forces on Titan so maybe we can walk along the beach of one of the methane seas with methane washing up and down. (2) If liquid methane has less than half the density of water, would it still be possible to have powered craft which could float on the surface? (3) Thanks Janus and Airbrush for the hang-gliding idea. Or maybe even a nanolight powered by methane? (4) Presumably with all the methane about, power won't be a problem. When explorers get to Titan I guess temperature suits would have to be powered (unless NASA has an insulation fabric which could withstand −179 °C?) (5) As the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen, presumably explorers would only have to take oxygen with them and have a mechanism for mixing it to make breathable air? (6) And given that there's water on Titan, would it be possible to mechanically extract enough oxygen to add to the nitrogen to make breathable air? altho I guess it would take a helluva lot of water.... cheers GIAN

The atmospheric density as well as pressure at the surface of Titan is like being in about 15-20 feet of water here on Earth and surface gravity about 0.1G. If so, does anyone know if it would be possible with flippers and the right equipment to 'swim' through the atmosphere at the surface of Titan? ta

There seem to be only two palaeontology degrees in the UK. What's the best way in? Also, what's a good starter book on evolution? (don't fancy Darwin at this stage)

The Universe has been expanding since the Big Bang ye? so we can see the 'red shift' in galaxies moving away. Does this mean literally that galaxies are getting further away from us in miles? or does 'stretching space' mean something else? I'm not a scientist so I need some assistance on this one

well as I've said above I thought pressure at titan's surface was about the same as being in 20ft of water here on earth. But you'd sure need a temperature suit or presumably you'd freeze solid in seconds

thanks xxx

good point i ain't got the mathematical knowledge to follow but im sure you're right. ye it's the difference between pressure and density. cheerz

thanks. im a newbie at all this but wanna be a scientist one day

On the contrary, as I said the literature Ive read says the atmosphere is denser than ours, it's like being in about 20 feet of water, but with 10% of our gravity. You'd float to the ground eventually, but couldn't you just 'swim' along?