Download or read book Catastrophic Events Caused by Cosmic Objects written by Vitaly Adushkin and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-10-09 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An asteroid or comet will inevitably strike the Earth some day, and potentially cause great destruction. This volume considers hazards due to collisions with cosmic objects, particularly in light of recent investigations of impacts by the authors. Each chapter, written by an expert, contains an overview of an aspect and new findings in the field. Coverage describes and numerically estimates the main hazardous effects.
Download or read book Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes written by Arnold Hanslmeier and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-11-14 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The search for life in the universe is one of the most challenging topics of science. It is not a modern topic at all, since more than 100 years ago, it was speculated that on the Moon, there are oceans and seas; on Venus, there are swamps and also Mars is inhabitated. However, now we have the scienti?c background and the scienti?c tools to answer this question and it is also certain that the answer would have deep imp- cations for our culture, philosophy, and religions. If we ?nd that life has developed on other planets or satellites of giant planets, then this would be the ?nal breakdown of our central position in the universe. But is life a widespread phenomenon? How vulnerable is it to changing conditions and even catastrophic events? These topics will be discussed in this book. If life is in the extreme case a unique phenomenon found only on planet Earth, which seems to be highly unrealistic, then also it is important to discuss how it is adaptable to changing external conditions. Can we survive a cosmic catastrophe? How do these catastrophes change habitability? Which forms of life are more v- nerable? It was mentioned that now science has made great progress to answer such qu- tions. Let us give some examples. In modern biology, in connection with organic chemistry, the origin of life is studied.
Download or read book Fire in the Sky written by Gordon L. Dillow and published by Scribner. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This “accessible and always entertaining” (Booklist) combination of history, pop science, and in-depth reporting offers a fascinating account of the asteroids that hit Earth long ago and those streaming toward us now, as well as how prepared we are against asteroid-caused catastrophe. One of these days, warns Gordon Dillow, the Earth will be hit by a comet or asteroid of potentially catastrophic size. The only question is when. In the meantime, we need to get much better at finding objects hurtling our way, and if they’re large enough to penetrate the atmosphere without burning up, figure out what to do about them. We owe many of science’s most important discoveries to the famed Meteor Crater, a mile-wide dimple on the Colorado Plateau created by an asteroid hit 50,000 years ago. In his masterfully researched Fire in the Sky, Dillow unpacks what the Crater has to tell us. Prior to the early 1900s, the world believed that all craters—on the Earth and Moon—were formed by volcanic activity. Not so. The revelation that Meteor Crater and others like it were formed by impacts with space objects has led to a now accepted theory about what killed off the dinosaurs, and it has opened up a new field of asteroid observation that is brimming with urgency. Dillow looks at great asteroid hits of the past and modern-day asteroid hunters and defense planning experts, including America’s first Planetary Defense Officer. Satellite sensors confirm that a Hiroshima-scale blast occurs in the atmosphere every year, and a smaller, one-kiloton blast every month. While Dillow makes clear that the objects above can be deadly, he consistently inspires awe with his descriptions of their size, makeup, and origins. Both a riveting work of popular science and a warning to not take for granted the space objects hurtling overhead, Fire in the Sky is, ultimately, a testament to our universe’s celestial wonders.
Download or read book Meteoroids written by Galina O. Ryabova and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-10 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This definitive guide provides advanced students and researchers with a detailed yet accessible overview of all of the central topics of meteor science. Leading figures from the field summarise their active research on themes ranging from the physical composition of meteoroids to the most recent optical and radar observations and ongoing theoretical developments. Crucial practical issues are also considered, such as the risk posed by meteoroids - to spacecraft, and on the ground - and future avenues of research are explored. Taking advantage of the latest dynamical models, insights are offered into meteor flight phenomena and the evolution of meteoroid streams and complexes, as well as describing the in-depth laboratory analysis of recovered material. The rapid rate of progress in twenty-first-century research makes this volume essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand how recent developments broaden our understanding of meteors, meteoroids and their origins.
Download or read book Frontiers of Space Risk written by Richard J. Wilman and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-06-13 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CHOICE Recommended Title, March 2019 This book brings together diverse new perspectives on current and emerging themes in space risk, covering both the threats to Earth-based activities arising from space events (natural and man-made), and those inherent in space activity itself. Drawing on the latest research, the opening chapters explore the dangers from asteroids and comets; the impact of space weather on critical technological infrastructure on the ground and in space; and the more uncertain threats posed by rare hazards further afield in the Milky Way. Contributors from a wide range of disciplines explore the nature of these risks and the appropriate engineering, financial, legal, and policy solutions to mitigate them. The coverage also includes an overview of the space insurance market; engineering and policy perspectives on space debris and the sustainability of the space environment. The discussion then examines the emerging threats from terrorist activity in space, a recognition that space is a domain of war, and the challenges to international cooperation in space governance from the nascent asteroid mining industry. Features: Discusses developments and risks relevant to the public and private sectors as access to the space environment expands Offers an interdisciplinary approach blending science, technology, and policy Presents a high-level international focus, with contributions from academics, policy makers, and commercial space consultants
Download or read book Worlds in Collision written by and published by Paradigma Ltd. This book was released on with total page 437 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With this book Immanuel Velikovsky first presented the revolutionary results of his 10-year-long interdisciplinary research to the public, founded modern catastrophism - based on eyewitness reports by our ancestors - shook the doctrine of uniformity of geology as well as Darwin's theory of evolution, put our view of the history of our solar system, of the Earth and of humanity on a completely new basis - and caused an uproar that is still going on today. Worlds in Collision - written in a brilliant, easily understandable and entertaining style and full to the brim with precise information - can be considered one of the most important and most challenging books in the history of science. Not without reason was this book found open on Einstein's desk after his death. For all those who have ever wondered about the evolution of the earth, the history of mankind, traditions, religions, mythology or just the world as it is today, Worlds in Collision is an absolute MUST-READ!
Download or read book Urban Habitat Constructions Under Catastrophic Events written by Federico M. Mazzolani and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-08-27 with total page 1068 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: COST is an intergovernmental framework for European Cooperation in Science and Technology, allowing the coordination of nationally-funded research on a European level. Part of COST was COST Action C26Urban Habitat Constructions Under Catastrophic Events which started in 2006 and held its final conference in Naples, Italy, on 16-18 September 201
Download or read book Strange written by Colin Wilson and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2014-10-21 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over fifty of the most fascinating accounts of history’s greatest unsolved mysteries. Did werewolves roam the countryside of fifteenth century France? What exactly is El Chupacabra, a creature whose name translates to “The Goat Sucker” in English? What phantoms and apparitions drift the halls of Borley Rectory, earning it the nickname of “The Most Haunted House in England”? Featuring maps, callouts, and facts that locate these mysterious happenings, Strange is a groundbreaking book and the first of its kind. In this riveting account of history’s most baffling mysteries, two of the world’s leading authorities on the supernatural, writer Colin Wilson and his son, Damon, search for the elusive answers to the most puzzling questions of the all time—from the fate of Atlantis to the curses of the ancient Egyptians to the Bermuda Triangle. Dozens of mysteries, some that have puzzled scientists and thinkers for centuries, are collected, illustrated, and explained in this captivating—and chilling—book. Lavishly illustrated and expertly written, Strange continues the Wilsons’ quest for answers to the great mysteries of the universe, taking readers on a journey beyond the imagination where fact seems stranger than fiction.
Download or read book Cosmic Catastrophes written by Mare Kõiva and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes written by Richard Firestone and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2006-06-05 with total page 346 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientific proof validating the legends and myths of ancient floods, fires, and weather extremes • Presents scientific evidence revealing the cause of the end of the last ice age and the cycles of geological events and species extinctions that followed • Connects physical data to the dramatic earth changes recounted in oral traditions around the world • Describes the impending danger from a continuing cycle of catastrophes and extinctions There are a number of puzzling mysteries in the history of Earth that have yet to be satisfactorily explained by mainstream science: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the vanishing of ancient Indian tribes, the formation of the mysterious Carolina Bays, the disappearance of the mammoths, the sudden ending of the last Ice Age, and the cause of huge underwater landslides that sent massive tsunamis racing across the oceans millennia ago. Eyewitness accounts of these events are chronicled in rich oral traditions handed down through generations of native peoples. The authors’ recent scientific discoveries link all these events to a single cause. In The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith present scientific evidence about a series of prehistoric cosmic events that explains why the last Ice Age ended so abruptly. Their findings validate the ubiquitous legends and myths of floods, fires, and weather extremes passed down by our ancestors and show how these legendary events relate to each other. Their findings also support the idea that we are entering a thousand-year cycle of increasing danger and possibly a new cycle of extinctions.
Download or read book Sky Static written by Antony Milne and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2002-10-30 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Space junk crashing into Earth is a real and escalating danger. Milne provides the first synthesis of the interdisciplinary work of the scientific community, which has been investigating how the satellite industry can be protected from manmade and natural space hazards. The result is an invaluable book for those concerned with space missions and space disasters, those worried about cosmic radiation and its effects on humans, members of the Spaceguard defense movement, and anyone concerned with defense and international cooperation efforts in general. Tens of millions of objects may exist in space, ranging in size from grains of sand to entire rocket boosters. Many fireballs seen in the skies, often thought to be UFOs, are in fact manmade debris. Plutonium and other highly toxic fuels from failed Russian craft have already contaminated inhabited areas of Central Asia. Natural hazards such as comet particles can travel at 100 times the speed of a bullet and can severely damage satellites. There is also the danger of spaceweather effects, such as cosmic rays, that could interfere with a spacecraft's electronics and interrupt the global transmission of telephones and television.
Download or read book Defending Planet Earth written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-07-21 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States spends approximately $4 million each year searching for near-Earth objects (NEOs). The objective is to detect those that may collide with Earth. The majority of this funding supports the operation of several observatories that scan the sky searching for NEOs. This, however, is insufficient in detecting the majority of NEOs that may present a tangible threat to humanity. A significantly smaller amount of funding supports ways to protect the Earth from such a potential collision or "mitigation." In 2005, a Congressional mandate called for NASA to detect 90 percent of NEOs with diameters of 140 meters of greater by 2020. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies identifies the need for detection of objects as small as 30 to 50 meters as these can be highly destructive. The book explores four main types of mitigation including civil defense, "slow push" or "pull" methods, kinetic impactors and nuclear explosions. It also asserts that responding effectively to hazards posed by NEOs requires national and international cooperation. Defending Planet Earth: Near-Earth Object Surveys and Hazard Mitigation Strategies is a useful guide for scientists, astronomers, policy makers and engineers.
Download or read book Legal Aspects of Planetary Defence written by Irmgard Marboe and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-09-27 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Impacts by asteroids or comets on Earth may lead to natural disasters of catastrophic dimensions. This book addresses legal and policy aspects of ‘planetary defence’ activities by space agencies and other actors aiming at the prediction and mitigation of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs).
Download or read book Asteroids III written by William Frederick Bottke and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2002-01-01 with total page 818 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two hundred years after the first asteroid was discovered, asteroids can no longer be considered mere points of light in the sky. Spacecraft missions, advanced Earth-based observation techniques, and state-of-the-art numerical models are continually revealing the detailed shapes, structures, geological properties, and orbital characteristics of these smaller denizens of our solar system. This volume brings together the latest information obtained by spacecraft combined with astronomical observations and theoretical modeling, to present our best current understanding of asteroids and the clues they reveal for the origin an,d evolution of the solar system. This collective knowledge, prepared by a team of more than one hundred international authorities on asteroids, includes new insights into asteroid-meteorite connections, possible relationships with comets, and the hazards posed by asteroids colliding with Earth. The book's contents include reports on surveys based on remote observation and summaries of physical properties; results of in situ exploration; studies of dynamical, collisional, cosmochemical, and weathering evolutionary processes; and discussions of asteroid families and the relationships between asteroids and other solar system bodies. Two previous Space Science Series volumes have established standards for research into asteroids. Asteroids III carries that tradition forward in a book that will stand as the definitive source on its subject for the next decade.
Download or read book Catastrophic Health Insurance for Planet Earth written by Air Command Air Command and Staff College and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-06-05 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concern exists among an increasing number of scientists throughout the world regarding the possibility of a catastrophic event caused by an impact of a large earth-crossing object (ECO) on the Earth-Moon System (EMS), be it an asteroid or comet. Such events, although rare for large objects (greater than 1 kilometer diameter), are not unprecedented. Indeed, the great upheaval and resulting ice age that marked the extinction of the dinosaurs is thought to have been caused by the impact of a 10 km diameter asteroid. In 1908 a stony asteroid of approximately 50 meters diameter exploded in the air above the Tunguska River in Siberia, producing an equivalent yield of 15-30 megatons of TNT, and leveling over 2,000 square miles of dense forest. Such an event is thought to occur approximately every century. It is only a matter of time before the world finds itself in a crisis situation-a crisis involving the detection of a large ECO, leaving little time to react and resulting in global panic, chaos, and possible catastrophe. Collectively as a global community, no current viable capability exists to defend the EMS against a large ECO, leaving its inhabitants vulnerable to possible death and destruction of untold proportion and even possible extinction of the human race. In this regard, a planetary defense system (PDS) capability should be resourced, developed, and deployed. At this time Planetary Defense is not an assigned or approved mission of the Department of Defense or the Air Force. Such a system would consist of a detection subsystem, command, control, communications, computer, and intelligence (C4I) subsystem and a mitigation subsystem. There are many potential variations of these subsystems which, with advances in novel technologies, will be available by 2025 to develop a credible PDS. We propose a three-tier system developed sequentially in time and space. Such a system would serve not only as a means to preserve life on earth, but also help to unite the global community in a common effort that would promote peaceful cooperation and economic prosperity as related spin-offs and dual uses of novel technologies evolve.
Download or read book A Framework for K 12 Science Education written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-02-28 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.
Download or read book The Quirks Quarks Guide to Space written by Jim Lebans and published by McClelland & Stewart. This book was released on 2008-02-19 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For everyone who’s curious about what’s new under (and over and around) the stars. Douglas Adams famously pronounced in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that the answer to life, the universe, and everything was 42. Quirks & Quarks, whose approach to science owes almost as much to Adams as it does to Newton or Einstein or Hawking, have flipped that notion through a gap in the space-time continuum (or something like that) and come up with answers to the 42 essential questions about space. Much about the universe is very hard for most of us to grasp, and if anyone can explain these mind-bending aspects of the heavens above, it’s the Quirks & Quarks producers, who have been bringing Canadians understandable science, with trademark humour, for more than thirty years. In their Guide to Space, they answer such pressing questions as Where does space begin? Why is most of the universe missing? Is there intelligent life in the universe? And the real puzzler: What came before the Big Bang? They also answer questions we wish we’d thought to ask, such as Can you surf a gravity wave? and Why is the universe’s temperature on my TV? There are answers as well to far more practical questions, like What happens when you fall into a black hole? and How will the universe end? The answers, which have been vetted by a team of astronomers, are witty, authoritative, in-depth, accurate, up-to-date astronomically, and, of course, quirky.
