Jun 19 2012: I am no astrophysicist, so I trust you. I just want to express that Earth might be going down a very dangerous and slippery path. +1 to you for sharing the science.
Earth's atmosphere will have gone the way of Venus', owing to a run-away greenhouse effect. Average temperature is north of 300ºC, and pressure well above 70 bar. Some people initially survived in domes, a few more in extra-terrestrial installations, but in a couple hundred years the first faded away and the second, not having yet reached the point where they can live and progress fully autonomously, are quickly following. What follows is fantasy, since there is no one to recount it.
The climate change was too fast for all but very few organisms to adapt, so life mostly disappeared, except for a few extremophiles which were already adapted to a hot sulfur-rich atmosphere and some fungi which managed to float around in the higher altitudes. Essentially we're back to Achaean. It will take at least another 30m years for photosynthesis to reappear and begin the oxygenation of the atmosphere, and the cycle to start again.
Mar 19 2012: I was going to add a comment congratulating TED for bringing in a guy who is so against the views usually exposed in its conferences -- not many organizations dare to so openly invite "the enemy" to participate.
Then I saw your comment and thought I'd reshape my comment as an answer instead.
You may disagree with Mr. Pickens' statements, his values, even his views of the world. Being European, his US-centric chauvinism makes me cringe -- but it is nevertheless a very important viewpoint from a person who knows the industry better than anyone.
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A comment on Conversation: Fill in the Blank - What the World needs now is __________ ?
A reply on Conversation: How do we make a kickstarer/crowdfunding website for innovators from the developing nations ?
To be eligible to start a Kickstarter project [...]
—[...]
—You are a permanent US resident with a Social Security Number (or EIN).
—[...]
IndieGogo seems to be more open, even if it only operates in USD.
A reply on Conversation: What do you think the world will be like in the year 3012?
A comment on Conversation: What do you think the world will be like in the year 3012?
A comment on Talk: William Noel: Revealing the lost codex of Archimedes
A comment on Conversation: What do you think the world will be like in the year 3012?
Earth's atmosphere will have gone the way of Venus', owing to a run-away greenhouse effect. Average temperature is north of 300ºC, and pressure well above 70 bar. Some people initially survived in domes, a few more in extra-terrestrial installations, but in a couple hundred years the first faded away and the second, not having yet reached the point where they can live and progress fully autonomously, are quickly following. What follows is fantasy, since there is no one to recount it.
The climate change was too fast for all but very few organisms to adapt, so life mostly disappeared, except for a few extremophiles which were already adapted to a hot sulfur-rich atmosphere and some fungi which managed to float around in the higher altitudes. Essentially we're back to Achaean. It will take at least another 30m years for photosynthesis to reappear and begin the oxygenation of the atmosphere, and the cycle to start again.
A reply on Talk: T. Boone Pickens: Let's transform energy -- with natural gas
Then I saw your comment and thought I'd reshape my comment as an answer instead.
You may disagree with Mr. Pickens' statements, his values, even his views of the world. Being European, his US-centric chauvinism makes me cringe -- but it is nevertheless a very important viewpoint from a person who knows the industry better than anyone.