Ian O'Neill

Poll: Should ESA Science Have a Political Agenda?

Recently, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced his vision for the future of the European Space Agency (ESA). To prevent ESA from becoming “obsolete” and overtaken by nations with fledgling space agencies (such as China, Japan and India), Sarkozy believes ESA should move away from a “science driver” and adopt a “political driver”. He is a huge advocate of NASA’s politically-driven direction and wants to adopt a similar model for Europe.

However, NASA’s political future is looking uncertain (budget cuts and job losses), is this a reliable model for ESA to adopt? Having said that, without a political incentive in the 1960’s NASA may never have landed man on the Moon. Perhaps politics can invigorate investment and space exploration.

I want to hear your view on this tricky subject, so for Astroengine’s first foray into online polls (true democracy over here!), please cast your vote on the question below and we’ll see what everyone thinks. If you want to share your views, please feel free to leave a comment!
Continue reading “Poll: Should ESA Science Have a Political Agenda?”

Now we can Call Martian Regolith “Soil” Thanks to Phoenix

This is just one of those niggles I’ve felt ever since I started working on Mars projects and articles. How can “Mars soil” be an accurate description of the stuff that sits on the surface of Mars? You see it written everywhere, from NASA to New Scientist, writers have referred to Martian regolith as soil. Why is this? Is regolith and soil that much different? Perhaps I was just getting my knickers in a twist for no reason; perhaps they were the same thing after all. So back to basics, I grabbed for my trusty old dusty dictionary and stopped leafing through the pages at “S”… there, soil. Now for “R”… got R but no regolith (wasn’t that a word in 1980?), just regorge (that isn’t pretty). So I get online and do my research 21st Century style: Google.

I found my answer, but it turns out recent data from the Phoenix Mars lander has complicated matters… apparently the writers at NASA and New Scientist were right all along (even though they didn’t realise it)…
Continue reading “Now we can Call Martian Regolith “Soil” Thanks to Phoenix”

2012 Doomsday Article Now Available in Portuguese

With a special thanks to Nisia Chaves at Chá de Camomila, my original “No Doomsday in 2012” article published on the Universe Today has been carefully translated into Portuguese. This is great as it extends the readership to countries such as Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Chinese S.A.R. of Macau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Alas, my Portuguese is a bit rusty, so this might be a good chance to learn some important phrases from the 6th most popular language in the world. So lets start with “Nada de Juízo Final em 2012” – No Doomsday in 2012 😉
Continue reading “2012 Doomsday Article Now Available in Portuguese”

Upcoming Radio Interviews for July

Following all the fun from chatting on Terra Chat with Colin Knight on June 8th and then Paranormal Radio with Captain Jack on June 10th, I’ve been invited back to discuss the 2012 craziness plus some other great topics. I’ll give more details closer to the time, but here’s what I have so far:

July 10th, 10pm US Eastern Time (July 11th, 3am GMT) – “2012 – Cosmic occurances Planet X,” Terra Chat at Blog Talk Radio. Hosted by Colin Knight.
July 31st, 9pm US Eastern Time (August 1st, 2am GMT) – TBA, Paranormal Radio (WPRT Radio). Hosted by Captain Jack.

Thank you to both Jack and Colin for inviting me back, I’m very excited to be talking with them again this month…

Watch out Phoenix! Don’t Scratch the CD!

Abrasive – Phoenix sprinkles regolith into the oven (NASA/UA)

I’ve just written an article over on the Universe Today about the stunning discovery that Mars regolith actually bears very close resemblance to terrestrial soil. This is very cool as this shows Mars may be capable of sustaining life (as we know it) and it has implications for the future of manned Mars missions (we might be able to use this mineral-rich soil for growing plants for instance). So rather than replicating the article here, I urge you to pop over to the Universe Today article (Phoenix: Mars Soil Can Support Life) and enjoy (I was quite proud of pointing out the huge difference between “soil” and “regolith” in the final paragraph!). But that’s not the point of this Astroengine post, I have a far more pressing issue to voice…
Continue reading “Watch out Phoenix! Don’t Scratch the CD!”

Carnival of Space Week 60 – Slacker Astronomy

For the big week six-oh, we take a novel approach at doing the Carnival, and I must admit, I found it quite entertaining. Over at Slacker Astronomy, the 60th Carnival of Space, our host Michael takes the week’s news from the blogosphere and literally hard-wires it straight onto the web. Every week we send Fraser our little messages with a link to our little works of web space text, and each week those messages get lost in the host’s inbox. Not any more! For the world to see, Michael has lovingly displayed our messages, plus links. Good on you Michael, I was wondering how this week’s Carnival could stand out from the crowd. Some great entries too! Plus my entry is right near the top! Happy days 🙂

Are Primordial Black Holes Antimatter Factories?

Could small, primordial black holes be efficient antimatter generators? It is well known that cool planetary bodies, surrounded by equal numbers of protons and electrons in thermal equilibrium, will eventually become positively charged. Why? Because electrons, with their low mass, have a higher velocity than the larger protons. Although they undergo the same gravitational acceleration, electrons are able to attain “escape velocity” more readily as the more massive protons get stuck in the gravitational well. The result? The planet has a net positive charge as more electrons, than proton escape into space.

Primordial black holes are thought to exist in our Universe (left-overs from the Big Bang), and although they may be small, they may influence ionized cosmic clouds in the same way, more electrons escape than protons left behind. However, should a threshold be reached, the extreme gravitational force surrounding the black hole could set up a powerful electrostatic field, kick-starting a strange quantum phenomenon that generates the electron’s anti-matter partner (the positron) from the vacuum of space…
Continue reading “Are Primordial Black Holes Antimatter Factories?”

Why is the LHC so Important? I’ll let Brian Cox Explain…

I’ve only just stumbled on this fantastic presentation Brian Cox did in Monterey, California in March this year explaining the stunning science behind CERN’s newest addition. I have followed the progress of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) intently and I personally cannot wait until the accelerator is turned on. There has been much debate about the safety of the LHC and there have been some seriously nutty theories about the bad things that the LHC could (never) do. So, rather than waste any more time on the (impossible) negatives, let’s take a look into how the LHC is going to alter mankind’s view on the Universe forever with the help of Brian Cox at his best…
Continue reading “Why is the LHC so Important? I’ll let Brian Cox Explain…”

AstroPhoto #2: Low Elevation

In 2002, I spent five months on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard archipelago, studying the aurora and upper polar atmosphere. It was one of those life-changing experiences I will never forget. One day, during 24 hour daylight in Arctic spring, I found some time to have a walk across a plateau near the town of Longyearbyen, to collect my thoughts. Till that point, I didn’t realise just how flat and desolate Plateau Berget was. Fortunately, the weather was clear and the Sun was shining, so I explored across several kilometres of ice and snow, seeing mountains in the far distance (reminded me of the Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Hoth battle scene). Eventually I stumbled across the SvalSat installation where I took several pictures of the satellite dishes. This is one small dish, at low elevation, watching for one of the few polar orbiting communications satellites. Such wonderful memories…
Continue reading “AstroPhoto #2: Low Elevation”

No Doomsday in 2012: The Reason Why Science Will Not Win

Why Planet X is not Nibiru... — Why Planet X is not Nibiru…

I’ve been busy compiling two new articles about the 2012 doomsday scenario. This time I’ve investigated why Planet X is not the same thing as the Sumerian planet “Nibiru”, and why a “killer solar flare” will not be possible in the year 2012. This brings the 2012 series up to its fourth edition, and the feedback has been very interesting. Probably the most important thing I want to emphasise about this whole 2012 prophecy stuff is that I am not trying to stamp on anyone’s beliefs. There are many reasons why 2012 may hold significant spiritual or religious meaning, and I am not disputing this in any way. I want to present the science facts, not the science “facts” that seem to overwhelm many of the end of the world scenarios. Alas, I suspect that I’m fighting a losing battle. I got it wrong, debunking the doomsayers who are doing this for financial gain are not concerned whether their evidence adds up, they are using one tool that I cannot influence. Fear.
Continue reading “No Doomsday in 2012: The Reason Why Science Will Not Win”