Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Jim Hartung the American President of GlobalEnergySolutions an internet-based company providing information about energy and related subjects, having a history in innovative energy technologies includes solar energy, gasification, nuclear power, gas turbines, and enhanced oil recovery. Hartung has published an article on Project Syndicate titled ‘Can NASA Stop Global Warming?’ in which he states “…since the Apollo program, NASA has lacked a clear, overarching goal to guide its activities. To drive progress in crucial areas, the agency needs a compelling vision that is consequential and relevant to current needs… Obama should challenge NASA to address one of today’s most important issues, global warming, by developing safe, cost-effective technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the planet’s atmosphere and oceans. This mission could be accomplished in two phases. During the first phase, which could be completed by 2020, researchers would identify roughly 10-20 candidate geo-engineering technologies and test them in small-scale experiments. The second phase would include large-scale test demonstrations to evaluate the most promising technologies by 2025. Developing these technologies is crucial, given that, over the last half-century, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere has increased from roughly 320 parts per million to almost 400 parts per million, heating up the planet and increasing the acidity of the world’s oceans. At this rate, the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere will exceed 450 parts per million in roughly 25 years. …Far from conflicting with other, more traditional NASA programs, this mission would help to reinvigorate NASA and give its other programs greater focus and significance. This new, overarching vision would motivate NASA to gain a better understanding of the planetary processes that may affect Earth’s future, and to advance its capability to influence these processes if needed. Ultimately, this knowledge could be NASA’s greatest contribution to the world.”

Inspired by Jim Hartung, Project Syndicate ow.ly/imWZ5 Image source Global Energy Solutions ow.ly/imWHL

Son Nghiem the American NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory specialist in polarimetric scatterometry, whose work on Earth science remote sensing contributing to future advanced satellite instrument concepts, has identified a massive ice melt over the normally frozen wasteland of Greenland. In an article published on EcoNews by David Twomey, “Dr Son Nghiem… was analysing radar data from the Indian Space Research Organisation’s (ISRO) Oceansat-2 satellite when he noticed that most of Greenland appeared to have undergone surface melting, Dr Nghiem said, “This was so extraordinary that at first I questioned the result: was this real or was it due to a data error?” NASA says that for several days this month, Greenland’s surface ice cover melted over a larger area than at any time in more than 30 years of satellite observations. Nearly the entire ice cover of Greenland, from its thin, low-lying coastal edges to its more than three-kilometre-thick centre, experienced some degree of melting at its surface… NASA said that on average in the summer, about half of the surface of Greenland’s ice sheet naturally melted. …this year the extent of ice melting at or near the surface jumped dramatically. According to satellite data, an estimated 97 per cent of the ice sheet surface thawed at some point in mid-July. Researchers have not yet determined whether this extensive melt event will affect the overall volume of ice loss this summer and contribute to sea level rise.”

Inspired by Econews ow.ly/cEA4J image source ow.ly/cEzOo

Conditions that are 'ripe for life’ (June 13th 2012)

Ian O’Neill the Space Science Producer for Discovery News, and founding editor of Astroengine, has published an article on Aljazeera questioning if there is life on one of Jupiter’s moons Europa, where it is thought to have conditions that are ‘ripe for life’. In the article O’Neill states “Jupiter: the largest planet in the solar system, “protector” of the terrestrial planets, host to 66 moons and, potentially, home to life. The Jovian system is therefore one of the most intriguing and enigmatic targets for future space missions. And now, nine years after our most recent robotic foray to Jupiter, NASA has a mission powering its way through interplanetary space. …since life started to form on Earth over the past four billion years, a long period of calm has allowed life to evolve from single-celled microorganisms to the thriving ecosystem we know today. …It is thought that Jupiter’s largest moons, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, have extensive sub-surface oceans that may make ideal habitats for life. The most interesting moon of the trio is Europa, a world that is long thought to host the conditions ripe for life. …internal heating of the moon keeps a subsurface ocean in a liquid state, cycling it toward the surface, replenishing the surface ice through the cracks.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/brX6A image source Facebook ow.ly/brWVc

How much would you pay for the universe? (March 26th 2012)

Neil deGrasse Tyson the 53 year old US astrophysicist and the director of the Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History appeared before the US Senate Committee hearing submissions on NASA’s 2013 budget request & space program. Tyson stated “Exploration of the unknown might not strike everyone as a priority. Yet audacious visions have the power to alter mind-states — to change assumptions of what is possible. When a nation permits itself to dream big, those dreams pervade its citizens’ ambitions…  Epic space adventures plant seeds of economic growth, because doing what’s never been done before is intellectually seductive (whether deemed practical or not), and innovation follows, just as day follows night. When you innovate, you lead the world, you keep your jobs, and concerns over tariffs and trade imbalances evaporate … At what cost? … The 2008 bank bailout of $750 billion was greater than all the money NASA had received in its half-century history; two years’ U.S. military spending exceeds it as well… How much would you pay to “launch” our economy. How much would you pay for the universe?”

Inspired by Carl Zimmer http://ow.ly/9E620 image source NASA http://ow.ly/9E6Ng