Scientists vs Myths: Black Holes, Colonization of Mars and Aliens

10:29, August 29, 2016

UrFU researchers debunk the popular scientific stereotypes

E1.RU and UrFU continue the project Scientists vs Myths. In the frameworks of the project, UrFU scientists debunk various scientific and pseudo-scientific myths. Last time we spoke about GMO.

This time we will focus on space, or rather on stereotypes that we obtain from the blockbusters and futurologists. We asked an employee of the Department of Astronomy and Geodesy of UrFU Institute of Natural Sciences, the candidate of sciences Pavel Skripnichenko to debunk or confirm them.

MYTH 1: One day we will be able to live on Mars like we do on Earth.

It is not a myth. Colonization of Mars is at the level of modern technology. For example, 80% of technologies in the film "Martian" are now real, there is no big blunders in this film, there are some small things that can be ignored, but in general, the film is credible.

The foundation of a permanent colony on Mars was supposed to be an interstate task, but now the international arena is complicated, and many state corporations put those plans away. The European Space Agency had a similar project in China; there are private entities that want to implement it.

The first 3-4 expeditions will be unmanned, their aim will be to set the appropriate equipment. There will be a corresponding structure that will create conditions for life: the composition of the air, temperature. The only thing that human will have to reconcile is gravity.

The flights to Mars are only possible at certain times, when Mars and Earth are most closely located to each other. The scientific value of the expedition is obvious, though the economic profitability is questionable; what will people do there? As soon as we define the economic practicability, everything will be possible.

So we have to come back from Mars before Earth will move away from it, right?

Modern programs do not set out to return people from Mars. Imagine that 7 people arrive on the planet, the age of which is 4.5 billion years; it is not studied, not open, and you live there. You would only be able to leave the station in special vehicles, special space suits. For the surface of Mars we do not need the same spacesuit we use for the open space, it can be lighter; Mars has some atmosphere, the radiation there is not that strong, the security level is higher. There is plenty of water, dissolved oxygen, a lot of metal; nobody conducted ore development, so all of resources are intact.

In the same film, the hero grew vegetable; can you really make a garden on Mars?

It is obvious that the soil on Mars is not identical to the soil on Earth. It is different, but after certain treatment, it will be possible to grow something.

As for the temperature, will people survive there?

Mars is a cold metal desert, but in summer at the equator, the temperature can be quite comfortable, around +20 °C +25 ° C. But again, you will not go out without a special suit that will provide thermal protection. In the polar regions the temperature can reach -180 ° C, but here we have a wonderful city Oymyakon, where the temperature drops to -90 ° C. We can say that to live on Mars is like to live in Oymyakon, but you can not breathe without special devices. The temperature will not change anything.

In films, we see that when people leave the spacecraft, they often explode.

Of course, a man will not explode, but it will inevitably lead to death. Humans are used to atmospheric pressure, that is why the astronauts have to wear space suits, which maintain the certain pressure. Without it, our organism will have problems with the blood supply, heart, alveoli and breathing. A human can not be in such state for a long time.

Will it happen immediately? What will a human feel? 

It will not happen in the blink of an eye, but rather fast, within several minutes. While getting frozen in space will take much longer. When the temperature outside is -30°С and there is air around us, this air ‘takes off the heat from our body’. In space, there is no atmosphere, that is why the temperature will go down through the heat emission, not because of exchange with atmosphere; and the process of heat emission is slower. You can not got frozen in space, the death will be caused by something else, for example, different level of pressure.

Will blood start to boil in space?

Yes, but not the way we think. We have the image of boiling water with bubbles, but in reality, if we change altitude, for example, go up the mountains, water will boil with less temperature because of lower air pressure. If there is no pressure at all, it will turn into gas; the same will happen with blood in space. A human will die in several minutes, but again it will not be as ‘spectacular' as they show it in films.

MYTH 2: Black holes are portals to the other dimensions and worlds.

One of the most popular hypothesis is that black holes are portals to other locations in space or time, but from the point of view of modern science, it is too early to judge. We can not say that it is fiction, it can be true, but scientists still discuss different ideas, study, make calculation. So let us leave this question open for now. Most likely, our ideas are close to reality, but there will be some additional details, we can not even imagine now.

MYTH 3: Aliens try to contact us.

I am absolutely sure, that our Universe has a lot extraterrestrial life forms. The closest place, where we will probably discover life will be Europa, one of Jupiter’s satellites. It is a planet covered with thick layer of ice, under which there is a warm ocean. It has all the conditions for life arising, the only thing missing is the Sun. However, even in our oceans, sunrays don’t reach the bottom, but there is still life. Life will definitely develop, it is not unique.

We should leave the concept of Earth superiority, uniqueness of mankind. We though that the Solar system travels around our planet, then it turned out, that was wrong. Then we thought, that only our planet has water in a liquid form, but now we discover it everywhere. We had the same idea about organic matter. You see, our next step is to realize that human intelligence is not unique.

I am sure, there a plenty of life forms. As for UFO and alien abduction, my opinion is that it will never happen and it has never happened before in reality. It makes no sense. If you reached such level of development that you can freely travel universe without any difficulties, you would not search for any contact.

We have nothing to be afraid of, we will see aliens as a natural phenomena, they will do the same. We are destined to live among humans.

MYTH 3: If the giant meteorite hit the Earth, it will be the end of the world.

Now this one is a real threat on a planet scale. The Chelyabinsk meteorite will happen again. When it fell, it seemed that such things happen once every 100 years, but it turned out that this type of meteorites fall every 20-30 years. More large meteorites also fall, but much more rare.

When the Solar system formed, there were about 80 planets, now only 8 are left. It means all the former planets became parts of the other planets in the collision process. On the scale of our Solar system, it is a totally normal and natural process when some object collides with another object, but from our point of view, if some large object falls on Earth, it is a catastrophe. All threats are divided into several types: less than 100 meters – regional; more than 1 km – global with a lot of casualties, climate changes, destruction; 10 km or more – the end of civilization. So the Chelyabinsk meteorite was a firework, a meme, an object for jokes and nothing too frightening. Were it bigger, the situation would be much worse.

Don't worry, the world is not going to end. Scientists know what to do. Meteorites fall all over the world. Russia is the largest country in the world, that is why the possibility of meteorite strike is higher. Chelyabinsk event showed that there is necessity of well co-ordinated work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the state space corporation Roscosmos, scientists and observatories, and others. If the situation got worse, we would have to take security measures, organize evacuation. Such security programs have been developed for many years. So everything is going to be fine.

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