calling science nerds

Discussion
1

I was wondering about the surface of mars and plants. not so much teraforming.

but what would if happen if you planted, say like a geranium or a cactus, on the surface of mars? I realize there is no water but there is plenty of sun and an endless supply co2. how long would that plant last? and how much oxygen would it give off?

and still a sciency fiction topic, but away from Mars, what if factories were required to build smokestacks that reached into space, could we pollute space?

I remember asking about “the straw sticking half into space and half into the earth,” and it would not create a vacuum and kill us all but would it work in reverse? could we blow shit out of the straw?

I love you science people that frequent the board. thanks for reading one more asinine space question from me and hopefully answering.

Late,
grmpysmrf

2

I’m not much of a science nerd (love the idea but can’t hack the math; I will forever be the fat kid with his hands pressed to the window of the candy store as far as science is concerned), but my 2 cents:

  1. The plant would die. Fast. They rely on water in a big way, and without it, they have no chance. I don’t even think a cactus would hack the temperature variances.

  2. I have no idea how to answer the question about the smokestack, other than to offer you a bullshit blanket “no smokestack could ever be constructed that would span the distance,” which I know isn’t what you’re looking for. Which brings me to MY science question:

I posed this to my dad once. Here goes: Assuming the following theses are constants (not possible, but possible for purposes of this question) –

a) the digestive tract is a straight path (twisty-turning but nevertheless straight as in “no forks in the road”) from the mouth to the anus AND

b) you could bend yourself like Plastic Man or Mr. Fantastic THEN

if you put your head up your ass, where in God’s name would it go? I mean, wouldn’t that create an endless loop?

(Long story short: I asked my dad, he told me to fuck off, and I woke up at 3 AM to find him with the encyclopedia opened to a drawing of the digestive system. He looked at me, ashen, and said, “I just don’t know. I really have no idea.”)

Lowell

3

It’s not gonna suck everything out of our planet or siphon everything out. We’ve already achieved equilibrium. That’s what the atmosphere is. There’s no solid shield or anything built around it, right? No physical barrier preventing stuff from going in or out. It’s just the manifestation of a balance being struck at two meeting points. So putting a tube across that border is not going to make any difference. Everything will work itself out and we’ll be fine, making our smokestack cannon useless. I do like the idea of just sending all our garbage out and into space, though.

4

It’s already a mess out there.

http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/waste-in-space-its-not-just-earth-that-needs-cleaning-up/

I don’t think anything harmful would happen with the straw idea. I mean if you were to stick a giant straw into the ocean with half of it sticking out into the air, nothing happens right? Unless you blow into it.

5

I’m not much of a science nerd (love the idea but can’t hack the math; I will forever be the fat kid with his hands pressed to the window of the candy store as far as science is concerned)

I love this analogy!!
me to buddy, me too!

interesting concept with the head up the ass. Although I think you would just end up chasing your neck as it stretched. you’re dad’s reactions, both of them, were too funny!

It’s not gonna suck everything out of our planet or siphon everything out.

i already knew this… i was thinking about pumping pollution into space not us getting sucked out.

Everything will work itself out and we’ll be fine, making our smokestack cannon useless.

what would happen to all of our smoke then in our cannon? would it just accumulate at said invisible border until it busted the cannon or just get backed up until it came out the other end?

There is an invisible barrier, but our cannon would act like a tunnel through it, no? that’s kinda what the elevator to mars is based on isn’t it?

I do like the idea of just sending all our garbage out and into space, though.

yeah it’d get pulled into the sun by it’s gravity… either that or if it happened to break free and burn up upon entering some other world, little aliens could make wishes on our garbage.
Late,
grmpysmrf

6

It’s already a mess out there.

http://www.bitrebels.com/technology/waste-in-space-its-not-just-earth-that-needs-cleaning-up/

I don’t think anything harmful would happen with the straw idea. I mean if you were to stick a giant straw into the ocean with half of it sticking out into the air, nothing happens right? Unless you blow into it.

I was kinda meaning actually out in space not just in orbit.
Late,
grmpysmrf

7

I’ll put some more thought into this for you and run some prototypes. I should have it all figured out shortly.

8

I’ll put some more thought into this for you and run some prototypes. I should have it all figured out shortly.

take the rest of the week, relax on the weekend,
but on my desk by the end of the day Monday! [:)]
Late,
grmpysmrf

9

[reply]I’ll put some more thought into this for you and run some prototypes. I should have it all figured out shortly.

take the rest of the week, relax on the weekend,
but on my desk by the end of the day Monday! [:)]
Late,
grmpysmrf[/reply]

I don’t like being bossed around, Son. If you want me to solve all the problems of the solar system you’re gonna have to give me a little space and show some friggin’ respect!

10

[reply][reply]I’ll put some more thought into this for you and run some prototypes. I should have it all figured out shortly.

take the rest of the week, relax on the weekend,
but on my desk by the end of the day Monday! [:)]
Late,
grmpysmrf[/reply]

I don’t like being bossed around, Son. If you want me to solve all the problems of the solar system you’re gonna have to give me a little space and show some friggin’ respect![/reply]
No one is paying you for space and respect!!! now, it’s on my desk first thing Monday morning.
you wanna double down gambler?
Late,
grmpysmrf

11

Not only is it missing the necessary H2O, but the temperature is around -75 deg F, the sunlight is not the same strength as it is on Earth, and plants need several minerals/elements for healthy growth.

Yup, equilibrium.

If your head was stuck up your ass, you would die without the aid of a g-tube, colostomy bag, and ventilator because it would be a continuous loop.

If you want to put trash in space, you had best make sure to spend the money to get it out of Earth’s influence of gravity (past the Lagrange points) and into the Sun’s orbital decay trajectory. Keep in mind that objects in space do not move like they do in the movies; there are whole other sets of equations that govern out there. Orbital Mechanics/Dynamics involving orbital debris, trajectory, rendezvous, and proximity operations are specialties in the field of astrodynamics all unto themselves.

12

Dude, I’m not getting paid AT ALL. My contributions to science are because I’m such a caring person who wants to see our world improve for the children of tomorrow and whatnot. But forget it. I was gonna save your stupid planet but now I’m just gonna let it all get smashed by comets and choked by poison gas.

ATTN EVERYONE: When you all die of comet crashes and pollution, you have Grumpy to thank for it.

Killing the planet still pales, though, in comparison to the 13th Planet Plagues that you are also responsible for.

Bastard.

13

If your head was stuck up your ass, you would die without the aid of a g-tube, colostomy bag, and ventilator because it would be a continuous loop.

A messy but worthy way to go. Killers take note.

Or this could be Voidhead’s next controversial act; sadly he would die, but at least we would have pictures of the event.

15

Not only is it missing the necessary H2O, but the temperature is around -75 deg F, the sunlight is not the same strength as it is on Earth, and plants need several minerals/elements for healthy growth.

-75? holy shit!! then what’s all this talk about colonizing Mars in the future?? unless there is a why to heat that bitch up it’s a complete pipe dream! btw the soil isn’t nutrient rich? the soil is devoid of any building blocks too? They need to leave Mars alone and move on to Europa already!they missed the bus already by choosing Titan over Europa but lets gets serious, water is essential for life as we know it and they know for sure that water is there. so, why isn’t that place priority one?

If you want to put trash in space, you had best make sure to spend the money to get it out of Earth’s influence of gravity (past the Lagrange points) and into the Sun’s orbital decay trajectory. Keep in mind that objects in space do not move like they do in the movies; there are whole other sets of equations that govern out there. Orbital Mechanics/Dynamics involving orbital debris, trajectory, rendezvous, and proximity operations are specialties in the field of astrodynamics all unto themselves.

Thanks for all of that.

Dude, I’m not getting paid AT ALL.

yeah, I know, that’s what I said, “you are NOT getting paid for space …”

My contributions to science are because I’m such a caring person who wants to see our world improve for the children of tomorrow and whatnot.

that’s why you were recruited for this position.

But forget it. I was gonna save your stupid planet but now I’m just gonna let it all get smashed by comets and choked by poison gas.

caring person you say?

ATTN EVERYONE: When you all die of comet crashes and pollution, you have Grumpy to thank for it.

you can send your thank you notes to JW of rancho Ca.

Killing the planet still pales, though, in comparison to the 13th Planet Plagues that you are also responsible for.

[:(] I’m a bad man

Bastard.

I accept a little of that title.

The reason a straw to space won’t evacuate the atmosphere is because a differential pressure of 14.7psi not enough to lift a 30 mile column of air. Air has weight.

This is not what I’m asking… already asked this question a while ago and got the answer. I’m taking about a straw on the end of a smokestack that would extend into space.
could it work?
Late,
grmpysmrf

16

He plant would definitely die. Yes there is plenty of sun and CO2, but pretty much everything else it would need is missing. Water would be the big issue. Beyond that, the soil is poisonous (lots of iron, I don’t believe any nitrogen or carbon content). There’s not a lot of atmospheric pressure, so even if they could survive in such a low pressure environment, there would be a huge acclimation period. Even if you got past those, the temperature would still kill it. You’d pretty much need to bring everything but the CO2 and sunlight.

17

If your head was stuck up your ass, you would die without the aid of a g-tube, colostomy bag, and ventilator because it would be a continuous loop.

Not true. It’s totally possible.

18

Obviously none of you nerds have ever seen Total Recall.

Screw you, Benny… screw you.

19

A girl did a science fair project simulating Mars soil with Volcanic soil that has a similar chemical make-up and she got lima beans to grow in it just fine with Earth air. However, when she used air that was like the air on Mars, the plants didn’t grow because O2 is necessary for plant life, not just CO2. So, if you had a greenhouse to control the temperature and brought air with you, you could theoretically grow in Mars dirt.

http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astrobiologist/question/?id=970

Also, NASA is working on splicing DNA from extremophile bacteria into plants to make superplants that would kick ass on Mars on their own.

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2005/mars_plants.html

NASA has been growing plants in space for a long time. In fact, you can order SPACE BASIL directly from NASA! They sent millions and millions of cinnamon basil seeds into space and subjected them to space conditions, some of the seeds were then grown on the ISS, the rest were returned to Earth and are available to students, educators, and the general public in an experiment pack that includes five packets of seeds that went to space, and five packets of control seeds that stayed on Earth so you can grow them and look for differences. And it’s FREE (with $6.50 shipping & handling).

http://corecatalog.nasa.gov/item.cfm?num=300.0-83C

Just dropped the hint to my gf about that.

PON-3 has the best answer for the smokestack thing, I think.

And points to mooney too. Lagrange points are sexy.

20

NASA has been growing plants in space for a long time. In fact, you can order SPACE BASIL directly from NASA! They sent millions and millions of cinnamon basil seeds into space and subjected them to space conditions, some of the seeds were then grown on the ISS, the rest were returned to Earth and are available to students, educators, and the general public in an experiment pack that includes five packets of seeds that went to space, and five packets of control seeds that stayed on Earth so you can grow them and look for differences. And it’s FREE (with $6.50 shipping & handling).

Yeah, fuck that.
How do you think the zombie apocalypse starts?

22

The smoke will rise to the top like the cream of the crop and never eat a pig ‘cause a pig is a cop, or better yet a Terminator like Arnold Schwarzenegger, tryin’ to play me out like as if my name was Sega.