# Sounds a lot like the SF of yore....



## j d worthington (Mar 16, 2008)

At least, that's what comes to mind with me on this one:

Real Death Star Could Strike Earth - Yahoo! News

Title: "Real Death Star Could Strike Earth", from SPACE.com, by Charles Q. Choi, datelined Mon., Mar. 10, 2008....


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## Pyan (Mar 16, 2008)

Yes...if we made the planet inertialess, we'd just float off with the pressure-wave...


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## j d worthington (Mar 16, 2008)

Oh, the things someone like "Doc" Smith could do with this one....

Wait... didn't he _do_ something like that at one point....????


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 16, 2008)

Aren't gamma rays constrained by the speed of light?  And wouldn't that mean that earth would have an 8,000-year warning, once the stars go supernovae, that a gamma-ray burst was on the way?  Since these stars are 8,000 light-years away, I mean.  And isn't that a good long time to work out some sort of plan to shield the earth from the burst if it looks to be in its path?


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## Pyan (Mar 16, 2008)

The problem, LMA, is that it might _already_ have happened, say, 7999¾ light years ago, and therefore we'll see it happen here in July....as nothing travels faster than lightspeed, there's no way we can have any warning, because that warning must be travelling faster than light to get here first, if you see what I mean...


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## Nik (Mar 17, 2008)

*Galactic orbits...*

Um, we're both in galactic orbits, so moving at ~20 miles per sec in slightly different planes etc...


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## The Ace (Mar 17, 2008)

It might miss.  Seriously, though if it was going to happen, what exactly could we do about it ?


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## chrispenycate (Mar 17, 2008)

The Ace said:


> It might miss.  Seriously, though if it was going to happen, what exactly could we do about it ?



Big gamma ray mirror?


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## mosaix (Mar 18, 2008)

littlemissattitude said:


> Aren't gamma rays constrained by the speed of light?  And wouldn't that mean that earth would have an 8,000-year warning, once the stars go supernovae, that a gamma-ray burst was on the way?  Since these stars are 8,000 light-years away, I mean.  And isn't that a good long time to work out some sort of plan to shield the earth from the burst if it looks to be in its path?




I think the gamma rays travel at the same speed as light so they arrive at the same time as we see the supernovae, therefore no warning.


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## Pyan (Mar 18, 2008)

Thanks, Mosaix - that's what I was trying to say, only put much more clearly!


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## j d worthington (Mar 18, 2008)

Actually, from what I understand, depending on the conditions, gamma rays may travel slightly _slower_ than the speed of light... though not by a very useful degree, in this case....


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## Drachir (Mar 18, 2008)

j. d. worthington said:


> Actually, from what I understand, depending on the conditions, gamma rays may travel slightly _slower_ than the speed of light... though not by a very useful degree, in this case....


 

That is reassuing.  What would that give us - ten minutes or ten years to get out of the way?

Looks lile "The World is Going to End Tomorrow" nuts might be right - someday.


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## Delvo (Mar 18, 2008)

Think in seconds or fractions of a second.


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## j d worthington (Mar 18, 2008)

Delvo said:


> Think in seconds or fractions of a second.


 
Yep; that's the sort of figure I'm getting, anyway....


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## HoopyFrood (Mar 18, 2008)

Just enough time to get in an obligatory "crap!" then...


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## j d worthington (Mar 18, 2008)

HoopyFrood said:


> Just enough time to get in an obligatory "crap!" then...


 
I was thinking in a bit stronger terms, but essentially, yes....

Oh, come on... is no one going to comment that this would make a great inspiration for a combination space-opera/"comfy" disaster story........


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## HoopyFrood (Mar 18, 2008)

As was I, but I also had consider the rules of the site...


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## Pyan (Mar 18, 2008)

Or just time to say *"Gods! Look at th..."*


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## Xelebes (Mar 20, 2008)

pyan said:


> The problem, LMA, is that it might _already_ have happened, say, 7999¾ light years ago, and therefore we'll see it happen here in July....as nothing travels faster than lightspeed, there's no way we can have any warning, because that warning must be travelling faster than light to get here first, if you see what I mean...



Quantum mechanics, by means of splitting photons and having them mirror information, may give us the chance to give us a fair warning.  Of course, we'd need to study quantum mechanics more to fully understand the Hologram Phenomenon.


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## Hilarious Joke (Mar 20, 2008)

I say we need to worry about the people dying needlessly on earth now before worrying about the possible deaths of people in the next few hundred thousand years. But hey, interesting nonetheless.


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## littlemissattitude (Mar 20, 2008)

mosaix said:


> I think the gamma rays travel at the same speed as light so they arrive at the same time as we see the supernovae, therefore no warning.


 
Well, of course.  Dumb me didn't think of that little detail. 

I stand corrected.  And I think I've been seeing too much TV science fiction.

*sigh*


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## Nik (Mar 20, 2008)

*Neutrino spike....*

IIRC, there may be a precursor neutrino spike...


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