Living Among the Stars: A Human's place in the Universe (The Stories behind the Future Book 2)

by R E Kearney

  As meteorologist Jason Samenow wrote in the Washington Post: "It's akin to seeking global agreement on the mechanics of playing God with the planet — establishing a world government to set and control a thermostat for Earth, and amicably living with whatever consequences."

  In other words, the cure may kill us, if the illness doesn’t. "We need to think very carefully before doing things on a large scale and consider what the potential repercussions might be. Kimberley Strong, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Toronto warns, History is littered with 'fixes' that have caused new problems."

  So will Geoengineering work? Nobody knows – not even the scientists proposing it know that it will work. The future environment of Earth is conjecture, but not preparing for a less than hospitable future is folly. Cities like Dubai does not believe in folly.

  “In Dubai we don’t wait for things to happen, we make them happen.”

  Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, is the Vice President, Minister of Defence and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Emir of Dubai.

  “No nation has embraced Total Quality Management, e-commerce and e-government with greater enthusiasm than Dubai. Such innovations have given Dubai a competitive edge and an accelerated growth rate that few could match.” Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair the Chief Executive Officer of the publicly traded Mashreq Bank and billionaire. Dubai realizes surviving in the future demands preparation and change now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbr845sGOYY

  “As human beings, we are vulnerable to confusing the unprecedented with the improbable. In our everyday experience, if something has never happened before, we are generally safe in assuming it is not going to happen in the future, but the exceptions can kill you and climate change is one of those exceptions.” Al Gore

  Scientists have found we can harvest storms for energy, use solar power to create water, and generate clean energy from wind turbines. So what’s the biggest single thing that’s holding us back from utilizing renewable energy?

  “A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache.” Catherine the Great

  Capturing lightning in a bottle. Supposedly, Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment involved attempting to capture electricity from lightning and store it in a Leyden jar. It failed. Since then, many have tried and just as many have failed. That is not to say that it cannot be done. It just has not been done…yet.

  Harnessing hurricanes. Riding the wind. In terms of energy stored and released, an “average” tropical cyclone might release the equivalent of six hundred terawatts of energy. But only a mere quarter of a percent of that energy is wind. The majority of the energy in a hurricane is in the form of heat stored and released as water vapor condenses into rain.

  Although wind is only a small part of any hurricane’s overall energy output, it is still around 1.5 terawatts, which is a vast amount of power. The wind from just one storm is a gold mine of clean energy. One hurricane may produce more than one quarter of the world’s current total electrical generating capacity of 5.25 terawatts. But, although all of that energy is whirling around the eye of the storm capturing that energy is not easy. In fact no known method or equipment currently exists for harvesting a hurricane’s energy, storing it and converting it into usable electricity.

  However, Atsushi Shimizu of Japan is determined to find a method to catch a typhoon’s whirlwind. Shimizu believes that the energy from one typhoon could power Japan for fifty years, and he has invented the world's first "typhoon turbine" to help plug into that potential. To capture the power of a typhoon, Shimizu’s company, Challenergy, designed a turbine with an omni-directional vertical axis that is able to withstand Japan's unpredictable wind patterns. It incorporates something called the "Magnus effect", the force that causes a spinning object to deviate from an otherwise straight path, a bit like the topspin given to a cricket ball to give it a downwards trajectory.

  "Japan has the potential to be a superpower of wind," says Shimizu. But there are others, such as Izumi Ushiyama, a professor and expert of wind power, who challenge Shimizu’s contention. "A wind turbine like Challenergy's could be very durable in strong winds, but without operating it throughout the year we don't know if it could produce more power than conventional turbines."

  Getting it there is more than half the battle. Capturing the power of storms is just the beginning. Terawatts of power do nobody any good until it reaches the users who need it. That requires storage and a transmission grid.

  Installed Infrastructure investment. Throughout history and around the world, city streets and buildings have been aligned, designed and constructed to accommodate the existing mode of transportation. Internal-combustion-engine-powered human and material transporters created the cities in which we live today. Tomorrow’s cities are being acclimatized today to accommodate the modes of transportation of the near future – ride-sharing, self-driving, electric vehicles. Thus electricity will fuel the future. So, a simultaneous acclimatization is necessary in the energy supply, storage and transmission networks or grids. Integrating both a different transportation system and a multi-source energy supply system into our lives demands significant changes to our systems, our thinking and to us.

  Environmental Economics. A singularly important area of contention is the expense of converting infrastructure from the continued use of non-renewable, polluting fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy sources. The electrical infrastructure systems of the future will be much more complex, because they will be required to integrate traditional and sustainable energy sources, existing and new distribution systems, storage systems, customers with different consumption patterns, demand responses based on market signals, and smart control systems. Fortunately, renewable energy is increasingly practical and economically viable and sustainable resulting in its increasing preference as the energy provider. Unfortunately, at this moment there are no comprehensive engineering models that are capable of coping with the higher level of complexity of future electric grids.

  However, never say never. What appears impossible today is often created tomorrow. Considering the almost daily advancements in renewable energy capture, transmission and storage, a workable typhoon based energy system may become a reality in the near future. It is just not reality now.

  Does the world need NATO?

  “The whole notion of security as traditionally understood – in terms of political and military threats to national sovereignty – must be expanded to include the growing impact of environmental stress – locally, nationally, regionally and globally”. UN World Commission on Environment and Development (1987)

  Security through Science. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO involves more than military actions and it is for these other actions that the world (Earth) needs NATO. The twenty-eight member nations of NATO recognize that they face many environmental challenges, as a group and separately. In particular, NATO is working to reduce the environmental effects of military activities and, more importantly, to respond to security challenges emanating from the environment by employing future technologies.

  Based on a broad definition of security that recognizes the importance of political, economic, social and environmental factors, NATO is addressing security challenges emanating from the environment. These challenges include extreme weather conditions, depletion of natural resources, famine, pollution, migration, and other environmental threats which are factors that can ultimately lead to disasters, regional tensions and violence.

  NATO defines environment as "the surroundings in which an organization operates, including air, water, land, natural resources, flora, fauna, humans, and their interrelations"

  NATO is looking closely at how to best address environmental risks to security in general as well as those that directly impact military activities. For example, environmental factors can affect energy supplies to both populations and military operations, making energy security a major topic of concern. NATO is currently conducting
these initiatives via its Science for Peace and Security (SPS) program, the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) www.nato.int/eadrcc/ and Partnership for Peace Trust Fund projects, with a focus on civil emergencies, energy efficiency and renewable power, and on consulting with relevant international organizations and experts on NATO’s stake in climate change. NATO's Environmental community has been active in their cooperative efforts with other international organizations, to include the UN and EU. This collaborative approach also includes discussions with industry, academia and governmental agencies.

  NATO is actively engaged in coordinating civil emergency planning and response to environmental disasters. NATO’s former Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen highlighted that, with the growing impact of climate change, the demand upon the military as “first responder to natural disasters” was likely to grow. He urged Allies to consider how to optimize the Alliance’s contribution in that area with a focus on how NATO and its armed forces could better adapt to the challenge of an increasing number of natural disasters.

  Especially in a time when environmental security and human development are directly linked to the basic issues of nutrition and health, the SPS Programme addresses this issue by funding projects covering a wide range of activities. Sub-elements of the environmental security area include water resources management, modelling sustainable consumption (e.g. food, energy, materials), preventing conflicts in relation to scarcity of resources.

  NATO has also vested its vast resources towards the causes of humanitarian intervention and relief. NATO is enormously active in carrying out many humanitarian ventures. The same massive resources that permit NATO to engage security threats also grant it the capability to intervene in humanitarian crises around the world. Its ability to create a tangible difference in crisis situations with its extensive military infrastructure sets it apart from many other humanitarian groups. NATO’s record for humanitarian and peacekeeping undertakings is unparalleled: from halting a potential genocide in Kosovo, to providing provisions to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. NATO’s ability to bring about meaningful change in human disaster situations offers further credence to the fact that it is still relevant within the context of the modern world.

  Power through Partners. NATO is much more than a military alliance. As noted before, NATO is accomplishing a number of necessary tasks and assignments that are not militarily related. So, primarily, NATO is needed because it unifies so many nations enabling them to combine their expertise, skills and institutions to respond to situations and emergencies that would overwhelm one nation acting by itself.

  Why do you think it’s so important for the human race to continue to look for life on other planets? Should humans start to colonize space and other planets?

  “There is no planet B. We have to take care of the one we have.” Richard Branson

  There is no plan B. There is no Planet B. At least for the foreseeable future, our Earth is it. Earth is the only known planet with the atmosphere, temperature and environment where humans can survive. So, because there is no known planet, even nearby Mars, where man can comfortably populate and propagate, it is extremely important that the search for such a planet continue.

  If a planet comparable to our Earth exists we definitely need to know about it. Finding another planet where mankind my live will make us even more aware of how precious our Earth is, because if our current search has proven anything it is that such an Earth-like planet will be billions of miles away. Far, far away. Too far away for the human body to survive the trip, as our current space travellers are learning when living aboard the International Space Station.

  As NASA and others have learned, “Human bodies were not made for outer space. Neither were their minds, which is why NASA astronauts talk to psychologists once every two weeks, and write in their personal journals at least three times a week. The living and working quarters of the ISS are about the size of a six-bedroom house—spacious by manned satellite standards, but certainly very, very cozy. On a voyage to Mars, no amount of social media contact could stave off the potentially harmful effects of months of confinement with only a handful of people, in an environment so isolated from the rest of humankind it would make Sartre cringe.

  These days, scientists know generally what astronauts should expect when they leave Earth’s atmosphere. The most common physiological changes result from the lack of gravity.

  Without the forces of gravity to help circulate air inside the orbital laboratory, the carbon dioxide its residents exhale can form an invisible cloud around their head, which can lead to headaches. In weightlessness, the fluids in the human body float upward and clog the sinuses, making astronauts’ heads feel congested and their faces appear puffy. Their skeletons become useless; bones don’t need to support muscles in microgravity, so they start losing minerals and regenerating cells at a slower pace. Astronauts can lose 1 percent of their bone density a month. Back on Earth, it takes a year for aging men and women to lose the same amount of bone mass. In an environment that requires little strength to move around and work, muscles atrophy, their fibers shrinking.

  These effects can be somewhat remedied, although not completely. Astronauts wear compression cuffs on their thighs to keep the blood in their lower body from pooling upward, and take vitamin D supplements. They maintain muscle and bone strength by exercising for two-and-a-half hours a day, six days a week, guided by strength coaches. The station’s fans help spread the exhaled carbon dioxide around.

  But scientists continue learning. In 2009, two NASA astronauts noticed they started having trouble seeing things close up. Eye exams and high-tech cameras revealed their eyeballs had become a bit squashed and their optic nerves had swelled, leading to farsightedness that persisted post-mission. Researchers suspect the change in vision is caused by cerebrospinal fluid in the skull, free from gravity, pushing on the back of the eyeballs, but they don’t know for sure. NASA keeps the ISS stocked with glasses just in case.

  Still, scientists have managed to figure out how to keep humans alive and relatively well for months at a time, a remarkable feat that now appears routine to those watching from the ground. But on a trip to Mars, its distance from Earth, not duration of spaceflight, that becomes the bigger enemy. The ISS orbits about 200 miles away, just within Earth’s protective magnetic field. There, astronauts receive 10 times the usual amount of radiation, high-speed particles from the sun or other parts of the galaxy that tear through DNA molecules that increase their risk of dying from cancer. Farther out, the exposure would get much worse.”

  “Exploring and colonizing Mars can bring us new scientific understanding of climate change, of how planet-wide processes can make a warm and wet world into a barren landscape. By exploring and understanding Mars, we may gain key insights into the past and future of our own world.” Astronaut Buzz Aldrin

  So if we must depart Earth let’s consider moving to our near neighbor Mars, which is only 33.9 million miles away when it is at its closest. Reaching Mars requires a mere seven to eight month space trip. Elon Musk is planning to start making this trip to Mars with colonists in 2024. But, his plan depends upon the successful development of a not yet existing rocket strong enough to propel his SpaceX vehicles filled with people and supplies to the Red Planet.

  According to Musk’s stated plans, each of his SpaceX vehicles will take 100 passengers with equipment to Mars. Trips to Mars are planned to only occur every twenty-six months, when Earth and Mars pass close to each other. At that rate, to establish a self-sustaining Mars civilization of a million people would take 10,000 flights, with many more to ferry equipment and supplies. “We’re going to need something quite large to do that,” Mr. Musk said. So, if there are no problems and all of the colonists live, it would take forty years to a century before a colony on Mars became self-sufficient.

  Suppose Elon Musk successfully develops a rocket capable of delivering a SpaceX vehicle with colonists and material to Mars. Acc
ording to Space Safety magazine, getting there will be the easy part. For our current human bodies to survive on Mars is going to be the true challenge.

  “After a long space flight, astronauts find it difficult to stand and orientate themselves in the weight of Earth’s gravity. A crew of post-mission specialists are ready to assist astronauts upon landing on Earth, but this will not be the case for the first settlers on Mars. The surface gravity of Mars is 38% that of Earth. That might make it slightly easier on landing, but in the long run, the full force of gravity that our bodies have adapted to will not be present to re-strengthen the astronauts’ cells, bones, and muscles as they readapt to a gravity environment. Adjusting to this lower level of gravitational pull on Mars may cause a physiological change in the astronauts’ bone density, muscle strength, and circulation making it impossible to survive under Earth conditions if they were to ever return.

  In order to assess the physiological effects of living on the surface of Mars, the Martian environment must be considered. Although it is orbiting 50% further away from the Sun and is 11% smaller than Earth, Mars is remarkably similar to our blue marble. With polar ice caps, seasonal changes, and weather patterns, it appears to be relatively comparable.

  However, the absence of an ozone layer and liquid water are both extreme factors in the safety of astronauts. The presence of ‘superoxides’ that break down in the presence of ultraviolet radiation in Martian soil and a much lower level of thermal inertia on Mars also makes it difficult to predict how the human body will cope in such an environment. Martian dust devils, monster columns of spiraling red-brown sand and dust ten times larger than tornadoes found on Earth are predicted to also pose a threat to Martian settlers.