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karov

Member

From: Bulgaria

Registered: 2004-06-03

Posts: 953

Superhabitable

OK,

It appears to "terraform" a world is a little bit of a low ball...

(google for "superhabitable" )

http://arxiv.org/abs/1401.2392

So, now, please, lets consider how to "superhabitabilize" Earth?

Tom Kalbfus

Banned

Registered: 2006-08-16

Posts: 4,401

Re: Superhabitable

Does the name Trantor have any meaning for you?

Void

Member

Registered: 2011-12-29

Posts: 7,169

Re: Superhabitable

Yes, it is the capitol of our galactic empire isn't it?

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Done.

Void

Member

Registered: 2011-12-29

Posts: 7,169

Re: Superhabitable

Karov,

This opinion is worth what you paid for it 0$

You made me think about stuff, and now I have to vent it would seem.

A question is, is the Earth better in an ice age or as now?  (For supporting life).

In an ice age, the ocean levels are lower, and so the atmospheric column over them is deeper.  This fact seems to be lost on the "Snowball Earth" theory people.  Perhaps there are less deserts.  Granted ice caps themselves are not that biological.

But you suggested tinkering with the Earth.  Well, if you could reduce the amount of water on the planet, and increase the amount of N2 and O2, I think you might have more land, and less desert land, and potentially little ice cap land.

With a thicker atmosphere, then water vapor should be able to rise higher (A deeper troposphere), crossing over mountains, to water some of the deserts.  Less water would lead to shallower oceans, which the article you cited seemed to like. Ocean water with say 5000 feet shaved off, and therefore 5000 more feet of atmosphere (With or without adding more atmosphere), would be warmer, since a greater greenhouse effect would be over the ocean surfaces, but not so much over the continents.

More evaporation from the Oceans, but not as much evaporation from the tops of the continents.  The continents being more colder than now as relative to the oceans, then more precipitation.

Of course a greater greenhouse effect might be unwelcome.

The Earths moon then might be a tow mechanism to pull the Earth to orbits further from the sun if you like. 

http://phys.org/news/2010-10-solar-power-earth.html
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info … ind-power/

Thing is if you could make the Moon a solar wind sail, then you could turn the electrical load on and off as you wished, the so when harvesting electrical energy, also produce a thrust.  However you would only want to do that as it suited your master plan to move the Earth away from the sun.

Water taken from the Earth might be put into containers on the Moon.  Perhaps underground seas.

Variations on this theme might allow the moving of all terrestrial planets outward as the sun heats up.

For the planet Mars, perhaps moving it some enormous time from now into the orbit of some outer planet.  (Pick up Ceres as a moon on the way). Mars could be put into a resonance with another object that orbits an outer planet, and so be awakened geologically by tidal heating.  Further if it were slightly embedded in another planets magnetic field it might not need one itself.

This set of (Very important!!!) notions has actually perhaps two values.

1) Young children who might fixate on the mortality of our world in 1/2 billion years, could be assured that they are perfectly safe

2) If their were alien civilizations to search for around white dwarf stars, then we might speculate that they might have to cared to do the above process to save and keep using their terrestrial planets, and so this might be and understanding that might help to reveal their existence some day.

Oh well, for what it's worth anyway.  Some further imagination.  Make a Sci-Fi.  Make people happy

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Done.