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Archive for the ‘existential risks’ category: Page 4

Dec 20, 2023

New nuclear deflection simulations advance planetary defense against asteroid threats

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed a modeling tool for assessing the potential use of a nuclear device to defend the planet against catastrophic asteroid impacts.

The research, published today in the Planetary Science Journal, introduces a novel approach to simulating the from a nuclear device on an asteroid’s surface. This new tool improves our understanding of the nuclear deflection’s radiation interactions on the asteroid’s surface while opening the door to new research on the shockwave dynamics affecting the inner asteroid.

This model will allow researchers to build upon the insights gained from NASA’s recent Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission, where, in Sept. 2022, a kinetic impactor was deliberately crashed into an asteroid to alter its trajectory. However, with limitations in the mass that can be lifted to space, scientists continue to explore nuclear deflection as a viable alternative to kinetic impact missions.

Dec 19, 2023

North Korea Test Launches Missile Designed to Hit US Mainland

Posted by in category: existential risks

Over the weekend, North Korea tested two missiles, one of which is capable of reaching the United States, officials in South Korea and Japan said. Defense officials in both countries claimed that the rocket traveled more than 600 miles before landing in the ocean northwest of Tokyo.

Dec 10, 2023

Fermi Paradox: The Zombie Apocalypse Universe

Posted by in category: existential risks

An exploration of the hard science fiction ways a zombie apocalpyse might become a reality. My Interview with Dr. Travis Langley https://youtu.be/tgEITq1puc0?

Dec 8, 2023

This is the exact spot an asteroid made a crater 750,000 years ago

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

Scientists have pinpointed the location of the place where an asteroid hit Earth approximately 750,000 years ago.

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the planetary scientists released evidence showing that the location of impact crater they have been seeking for decades is on the Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos.

Dec 8, 2023

How the Media Broke the World

Posted by in categories: existential risks, physics, robotics/AI

💥Join us on our Journey to 1 Million Subscribers💥 Liv Boeree is a British science communicator, television presenter and former professional poker player. She is a World Series of Poker and European Poker Tour champion, and is the only female player in history to have won both a WSOP bracelet and an EPT event. She has a degree in astrophysics and uses her YouTube channel @LivBoeree to discuss science, game theory, probabilities, extinction risk and AI.

Dec 8, 2023

Report: Nuclear war in US would wipe out 90 percent of the population

Posted by in category: existential risks

A nuclear attack on the United States’ missile silos would blow radioactive fallout to every state and parts of Mexico and Canada, killing more than 300 million people in its wake.

Dec 7, 2023

6 US Cities Most Likely at Risk in a Nuclear Attack

Posted by in categories: existential risks, nuclear energy

When it comes to nightmare scenarios for the United States, a nuclear attack from a foreign power has to rank among the worst possible choices. While the likelihood of such a strike is low, that does not stop experts from trying to prepare for any possibility. A story by Business Insider lists the following six cities as the most likely to be at risk in the vent of a future nuclear attack on the United States:

1) Chicago, Illinois.

2) Houston, Texas

Dec 7, 2023

Study reshapes understanding of mass extinction in Late Devonian era

Posted by in categories: climatology, existential risks, sustainability

Diverse and full of sea life, the Earth’s Devonian era—taking place more than 370 million years ago—saw the emergence of the first seed-bearing plants, which spread as large forests across the continents of Gondwana and Laurussia.

However, a near the end of this era has long been the subject of debate. Some scientists argue the Late Devonian mass extinction was caused by large-scale volcanic eruptions, causing global cooling. Others argue a mass deoxygenation event caused by the expansion of was to blame.

A recently published study in the journal Communications Earth & Environment led by researchers at IUPUI now posits that both factors played a role—and draws attention to the environmental tipping points the planet faces today.

Dec 6, 2023

Risks of Artificial Intelligence & Shifting Goal Definitions

Posted by in categories: existential risks, robotics/AI, sustainability

The development of artificial intelligence poses potential risks to society and requires a shift in goal definitions, consideration of the motivational landscape, and wisdom to prevent self-extinction and promote sustainability.

On this episode, Daniel Schmachtenberger returns to discuss a surprisingly overlooked risk to our global systems and planetary stability: artificial intelligence.

Continue reading “Risks of Artificial Intelligence & Shifting Goal Definitions” »

Dec 5, 2023

University of Hawaiʻi Scientists Discover Micrometeorites May Have Delivered Life’s Building Blocks to Earth

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, chemistry, existential risks

Micrometeorites, tiny space rocks, may have helped deliver nitrogen, a vital life ingredient, to Earth during our solar system’s early days. This finding was published in Nature Astronomy on November 30 by an international research team, including scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and Kyoto University. They discovered that nitrogen compounds like ammonium salts are common in material from regions distant from the sun. However, how these compounds reached Earth’s orbit was unclear.

The study suggests that more nitrogen compounds were transported near Earth than previously thought. These compounds could have contributed to life on our planet. The research was based on material collected from the asteroid Ryugu by Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft in 2020. Ryugu, a small sun-orbiting rocky object, is carbon-rich and has experienced considerable space weathering due to micrometeorite impacts and solar charged ions.

The scientists studied the Ryugu samples to understand the materials reaching Earth’s orbit. They used an electron microscope and found the Ryugu samples’ surface covered with tiny iron and nitrogen minerals. They theorized that micrometeorites carrying ammonia compounds collided with Ryugu. This collision sparked chemical reactions on magnetite, resulting in iron nitride formation.

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