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I've not watched this yet - but posting it here, because it seems interesting. Plan on watching it during my lunch at work.

This does look interesting. I'll have to give it a watch.

You have arrived on Earth. But within a few minutes, you have died from dysentery.

That aside, I watched this and ... yes, the rest of the solar system is highly hostile to the human species. Some of it may be theoretically survivable, but I would rather stay here on Earth, where we stand the greatest chance of survival for the longest time.

But if we - as a race - can think about, and afford, living on another planet, then why can't we fix the damage we have done to this one?

It was pretty cool - because on some of the planets where it says you survive 3 minutes - it will do "But if you landed on the moon nearby, here's how long you'd last..."

There was info in there, I was not aware of (such as the speed of some of the storms, the types of gases some are made up of and how much, etc).

Once it gets past all the different planets and/or moons, the second half is boring, because it starts talking about SpaceX and going to other planets for real, as an idea.

I agree about the second half being boring. It feels more like an ad for Elon Musk and SpaceX. But if you persevere through it, it talks about what NASA is doing, which is pretty cool.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 11:16 am It was pretty cool - because on some of the planets where it says you survive 3 minutes - it will do "But if you landed on the moon nearby, here's how long you'd last..."

There was info in there, I was not aware of (such as the speed of some of the storms, the types of gases some are made up of and how much, etc).

Once it gets past all the different planets and/or moons, the second half is boring, because it starts talking about SpaceX and going to other planets for real, as an idea.

I think you are talking about the Jupiter segment. I haven't gone through the whole thing, but there is a problem with their Jupiter segment. At 11:54, they mention being 12 miles from the planet's theoretical surface. First of all, gas giants don't really have a surface. Second, Jupiter has a radius of ~70,000 km or 43,000 miles. I'm not sure where they are getting 12 from. It's spoken and in the graphic. It doesn't look like a misplaced decimal point either.

notbobsmith wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 12:45 am

Tawmis wrote: ↑Wed May 28, 2025 11:16 am It was pretty cool - because on some of the planets where it says you survive 3 minutes - it will do "But if you landed on the moon nearby, here's how long you'd last..."

There was info in there, I was not aware of (such as the speed of some of the storms, the types of gases some are made up of and how much, etc).

Once it gets past all the different planets and/or moons, the second half is boring, because it starts talking about SpaceX and going to other planets for real, as an idea.

I think you are talking about the Jupiter segment. I haven't gone through the whole thing, but there is a problem with their Jupiter segment. At 11:54, they mention being 12 miles from the planet's theoretical surface. First of all, gas giants don't really have a surface. Second, Jupiter has a radius of ~70,000 km or 43,000 miles. I'm not sure where they are getting 12 from. It's spoken and in the graphic. It doesn't look like a misplaced decimal point either.

It was Jupiter - I knew which planet (from watching the video) but didn't wanna spoil it for anyone who hadn't watched it. But was saying I didn't know how rapidly the storms blew on Jupiter, or the frequency of the lightning strikes. I think they say 12 miles from the surface, because they're unsure (because nothing's gotten close enough to any form of "surface" of Jupiter, so it's guesstimating where this surface MIGHT be). Regardless, I think Jupiter's is one where you survive like 2 minutes? And don't even make it far.

I was going to ask if we know if gas giants have a surface. After all, no-one has ever been down there to check and verify (and no-one is ever likely to, given how poisonous the atmosphere is).

But then again, since gas giants are ... made of gas, and are therefore not solid ... um. *blush* Oops. Don't mind me. I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

I know science is all about verifying facts and not taking anything as a given (or believing what we're told, etc.) -- but in this case, can we "take it as read" that Jupiter doesn't have a surface? (And even thinking about that makes me feel a bit dumb, sorry).

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:18 pm I was going to ask if we know if gas giants have a surface. After all, no-one has ever been down there to check and verify (and no-one is ever likely to, given how poisonous the atmosphere is).

But then again, since gas giants are ... made of gas, and are therefore not solid ... um. *blush* Oops. Don't mind me. I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

I know science is all about verifying facts and not taking anything as a given (or believing what we're told, etc.) -- but in this case, can we "take it as read" that Jupiter doesn't have a surface? (And even thinking about that makes me feel a bit dumb, sorry).

I mean, it may have a surface. It's just beyond miles and miles and miles of storms and gas.
But NASA says it doesn't - https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/jupite ... d%20either.

But then, you know, at one time the world was flat (... looking at you out there who still believe that....) and Pluto was a planet.... and... we didn't know Jupiter did indeed have rings, until 1979 (according to NASA)....

There's so much we don't know about our solar system.

Considering the massive size of Jupiter, what if there is something the size of Earth's moon sitting in the middle of that massive gas storm?

One day, we may know for sure, but I doubt it will be this life time (for myself, anyway, the old man that I am)

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:18 pm I was going to ask if we know if gas giants have a surface. After all, no-one has ever been down there to check and verify (and no-one is ever likely to, given how poisonous the atmosphere is).

It would actually be the pressure. Jupiter's core is surrounded by metallic hydrogen. The pressure required to make hydrogen behave that way is millions of times Earth's atmosphere. Anything will be crushed long before you reach that point.

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:18 pm But then again, since gas giants are ... made of gas, and are therefore not solid ... um. *blush* Oops. Don't mind me. I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

I know science is all about verifying facts and not taking anything as a given (or believing what we're told, etc.) -- but in this case, can we "take it as read" that Jupiter doesn't have a surface? (And even thinking about that makes me feel a bit dumb, sorry).

Tawmis wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:33 pm

Rath Darkblade wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:18 pm I was going to ask if we know if gas giants have a surface. After all, no-one has ever been down there to check and verify (and no-one is ever likely to, given how poisonous the atmosphere is).

But then again, since gas giants are ... made of gas, and are therefore not solid ... um. *blush* Oops. Don't mind me. I haven't had my morning coffee yet.

I know science is all about verifying facts and not taking anything as a given (or believing what we're told, etc.) -- but in this case, can we "take it as read" that Jupiter doesn't have a surface? (And even thinking about that makes me feel a bit dumb, sorry).

I mean, it may have a surface. It's just beyond miles and miles and miles of storms and gas.
But NASA says it doesn't - https://science.nasa.gov/jupiter/jupite ... d%20either.

But then, you know, at one time the world was flat (... looking at you out there who still believe that....) and Pluto was a planet.... and... we didn't know Jupiter did indeed have rings, until 1979 (according to NASA)....

There's so much we don't know about our solar system.

Considering the massive size of Jupiter, what if there is something the size of Earth's moon sitting in the middle of that massive gas storm?

One day, we may know for sure, but I doubt it will be this life time (for myself, anyway, the old man that I am)

The article you posted actually does mention having a small solid core of metal and rock, which would make sense since it would be composed of the same stuff as the rest of the solar system. The gas giants are further out where the solar system is colder and the gases can condense. That's why the inner planets are just rock and metal. The point that I was making was the video said it was 12 miles to the surface. 12! 12 miles just takes you into Earth's stratosphere. Jupiter is tens of thousands of miles of gas. I'm not sure what they were talking about here. 12 thousand might make more sense, but even that doesn't for the size of Jupiter.

As for how scientist know things: it comes down to using what is known to explain something. For example, Jupiter has the most powerful magnetic field in the solar system. On Earth, we get ours from a iron-nickel core. Where does Jupiter get its field? The metallic hydrogen I mentioned. If you look at a periodic table, hydrogen is in the same column as the alkali metal (lithium, sodium, potassium, etc.) which should mean that it should have similar chemistry. But hydrogen doesn't behave like a metal... unless you compress it to very high pressures. So metallic hydrogen explains Jupiter's magnetic field. Why can't it have an iron-nickel core like Earth? We know the density of Jupiter, and a metal core big enough would make the planet more massive than observed.

It all comes down to research and data. From the article you mentioned, it looks like they went by gravity and magnetic field readings from a probe and made a determination that it likely has a core of rock.

As for Pluto being a planet, in that case, we didn't really have a definition for a planet except for "spherical body that orbits the sun". The problem arose when we found lots more bodies that were similar to Pluto. Some even larger. So the two options were to add lots more planets or define a planet that excludes these bodies, including Pluto.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:33 pm But then, you know, at one time the world was flat (... looking at you out there who still believe that....)

Oh boy. Don't get me started on the flat-earthers. *sigh, cracks knuckles* Where should we begin?

Let's start with the obvious: no-one in antiquity or the middle ages (or Columbus himself, come to think of that) believed that the earth was flat. It was obvious: they could see ships disappear beyond the horizon, and they could see ships come back from beyond the horizon.

If the earth was flat, why didn't ships simply drop off the edge as soon as they reached it? Why didn't sailors scream in panic when the ship went *PLUMMET*? It didn't take some Mr. Clever Clogs to figure out that the earth wasn't flat.

So where does this "Flat Earth" business come from? Blame Washington Irving, an early 19th-century American author. His 1828 book, "A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus", presented the entertaining story that Columbus had to overcome the opposition of those who believed the Earth was flat. (He wasn't the first to tell the story, but his book popularized this myth).

The really stoopid part is that so many people now believe that the earth is flat ... and that the whole "round/elliptical" thing is just a conspiracy.

Tawmis wrote: ↑Thu May 29, 2025 6:33 pm One day, we may know for sure, but I doubt it will be this life time (for myself, anyway, the old man that I am)

You're not old. You're just very well preserved.

This is also fun: