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Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#171

Post by cambalache »

cookiengineer wrote: post #88
cambalache wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspected so. But all those objects are in this solar system.Brown dwarfs are sub-stellar bodies.

Touche, you are technically correct. Though some might argue that in the changing nature of fusion reactions and body mass, this sorting of sub-stellar bodies is only true for as long as our star is a red dwarf. Once that's over (thinking in the larger timescale of things) and it becomes a brown dwarf, what then? Wasn't it a solar system at one point in time?

> Once that's over (thinking in the larger timescale of things) and it becomes a brown dwarf,

Our sun will never become a brown dwarf. Stars have their life-cycle and nomenclature. You cannot made your own willy-nilly.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#172

Post by bregma »

erispoe wrote: post #143
dimitrios1 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. For one, Earth is much further away. But most importantly, we have no clue if our current carbon levels are any sort of maxima in regards to what the planet can handle. We just have our own little recent industrialized history, and some charts about the past that are, at best, educated guesses. As George Carlin would say, "The planet will shake us off like a bad cold" Climate change is more important for our spec…

The planet might be ok after us, but still might not be able to birth another potentially space faring civilization, dooming earth life to extinction. Look at how: - no other earth based space faring civilization has evolved before us. - other intelligent species do not seem well equipped to do so, as it's hard to evolve tools without hands / prehensile organs (cetaceans), or when your lifespan is short or you're not…

Considering the industrial revolution had been in full swing for a century before the use of fossil fuels became widespread I think you make a poor argument.

Just because we were the first doesn't mean we'll be the last. A billion years is a very very very long time, and there are multiple billions of years in the Earth's future.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#173

Post by bregma »

matthewfelgate wrote: post #166

Do you think there could be more landings on Venus like the Russian one in the 1960s? How did the Russian probe even land and take a photo if the surface temperature is enough to melt metal?! Could you build a small rover to withstand the elements for a few hours?

It lasted what, 8 seconds before transmission ceased? It was definitely a success since they expected it to last about 5 seconds.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#174

Post by bregma »

fogihujy wrote: post #169
matthewfelgate wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What other elements do you think could form life? Or are you speculating there could just be such different physics out there we struggle to image what different worlds could be out there.

Silicon has been suggested as an alternative to carbon as basis for biochemistry. Ammonia-based life has also been suggested (and is also a rather common sci-fi trope).

It's both water and carbon that are necessary for our kind of life.

Interestingly, I was reading about how a silicone environment could have similar traits as a water/carbon one. Silicone can form polarized matrices.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#175

Post by bregma »

lenkite wrote: post #102

Did some planetary body hit Venus and destroy all life 700 million years ago ? Maybe even changed its rotation the other way ?

Yes [0]. About the same time we were being visited by aliens if I'm correct [1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worlds_in_Collision [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronauts

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#176

Post by Pompidou »

JMTQp8lwXL wrote: post #103

Imagine the timeline if humans and our technology were around 700 million years ago, at a time when some of our sibling planets were potentially habitable.

I think it would be a real nightmare. After their climate change we then would have to rapatriate every marsian and venusian human to earth, making our little rock absolutly overpopulated. Imagine then rivalries between planetary immigrant and their descendant.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#177

Post by ajuc »

bentcorner wrote: post #90
CGamesPlay wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a Cody's Lab video showing a "to-scale" solar system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCSIXLIzhzk

It's astounding that astronomers have mapped out the skies just by looking up. It's like as if I mapped out my entire city just by looking out the windows of my house.

If your city was 99% empty by volume and your house rotated every day it wouldn't be THAT difficult :)

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#178

Post by marshmallow_12 »

minitoar wrote: post #69
irrational wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

City blocks? Sweden has a scale model of the solar system that stretches across the entire country - north to south. And even then it isn’t actually big/long enough for the entire solar system.

Depends how small you’re willing to make the bodies. In Sweden the Sun is a huge spherical building.

and if it was smaller the planets would be invisible.

Re: Venus could have been habitable for billions of years (2019)

#180

Post by [deleted] »

nojokes wrote: post #52

A lot of CO2 and sulfuric acid is not a problem, it is an opportunity. CO2 means a lot of carbon, and oxygen, sulfuric acid means a lot of sulfur, oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen and hydrogen is water. Carbon is life and is solid. We just need to engineer a process that can use solar energy to convert these substances into some more interesting form. Perhaps some engineered bacteria could do the trick?

[deleted]
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