Some years ago my friend and colleague Paul Hodge, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at the University of Washington, wrote a book called Higher Than Everest: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Solar System, that took the reader out to some of the most dangerous, gorgeous, and adventurous places in the solar system. I gobbled that book up because I could sit there and read it and dream about what it would be like to visit those worlds. To be sure, it would be the most extreme touristic adventure you could imagine: traversing the baking hot plains of Mercury, finding a way to dip into the Venus atmosphere and study that incredible surface; exploring Mars; braving the extreme hazards of the Jovian and Saturnian systems; warming up to Uranus and Neptune; and making one’s way to Pluto and the hinted-at treasury of other worlds that exist beyond Neptune. It would be the trip of a lifetime, if only one could fit all of that into one lifetime!
A computer-generated scene of the Galileo probe passing Io during its mission. Courtesy National Geographic.
Well, fast-forward more than a decade, and National Geographic TV has created a series called “A Traveler’s Guide to the Planets” that extends the adventure of planetary exploration into the video realm and really makes you feel like you’re there on those other worlds.
It’s a three-night series that begins on February 14th. The folks at Nat Geo were kind enough to send me copies of two of the programs (about Jupiter and Saturn, respectively, which air on the 14th) for preview. The presentations cover the exploration of the planets in a pretty exciting and visually stimulating way. For example, there are some really nice CG sequences set on Jupiter’s moon Io that look for all the world as if you’re standing right there, witnessing those volcanic eruptions against the backdrop of Jupiter rising over the not-too-distant horizon.
The presentations also include interesting interviews and commentary from planetary scientists like Torrance Johnson and Bob Pappalardo — both of who have worked extensively exploring the planets using remote probes such as the Voyager and Galileo spacecraft. Each hour takes you TO the planets, exploring via CG and animation just what it would be like to visit those worlds. That’s one of the coolest parts of the series — and I hope that “you are there” feeling will inspire people to learn more about the worlds of the solar system.
I’ve often wondered what our next generation of planetary explorers will find when they finally get themselves (or their spacecraft) “out there” again – with the newest instruments to help them gather data. I’m sure they’ll find wonderful things — as this series illustrates. I hope that at least some of the audience members who see these shows will be inspired enough to join those missions of the future! There’s much to learn from the past, as these programs demonstrate — and more to find in the years to come!
In light of last week’s horrible earthquake in Haiti, I thought I’d talk a little about the forces of nature behind such events. Despite what you may have read or heard on TV via the mouth of a certain science-ignorant televangelist, earthquakes are entirely natural events that happen when some part of Earth’s surface experiences violent vibration. What causes the vibration?
The vibration is caused when energy is released in Earth’s crust. This energy may be generated when segments of the crust are somehow jostled. A nearby volcanic eruption can release energy that vibrates Earth’s crust. In some rare cases, an underground explosion or collapse of an underground cavern can also cause an earthquake.
The most destructive quakes — like the one in Haiti — are caused by dislocations of the crust. At first, the crust will bend (and remember, the crust is made of rock and rock can bend before it will break). Eventually, if the stress is strong enough, if the energy released is strong enough, the rocky crust will snap. When that happens, you get vibrations called seismic waves. These seismic waves travel out from the place where the crust broke, and they shake the upper part of the surface. That shaking is what damages and/or destroys buildings, highways, and bridges. Some earthquake waves can actually be heard, but mostly they can be felt. The U.S. Geologic Survey has a wonderful primer on earthquakes that I recommend you check out.
Earthquakes are part of a larger process that modifies the surface of our planet over time — that process is called tectonism. It’s the faulting or folding or other deformation of the outer layer of a planet. Tectonism is driven by forces within the world it affects (and yes, other places have tectonism). Earth, for example, has tectonism driven by heat from the core, which affects the layers above it. Our planet’s continents ride on rock plates that move against each other as the planet turns. Motions of the plates reverberate through the layers of rock they carry, and this can cause earthquakes (through a complex chain of events). They also (over millions and millions of years) can do such things as form mountain ranges (the Himalayas are a good example).
Plate tectonic movements measured by GPS devices. Courtesy NASA. Click to tectonify.
How do we know all this? Scientists monitor the motion of Earth’s crust through a variety of methods including seismic sensors (such as GPS ground sensors, see the map at left) and core samples of rock that have been drilled out. By looking at the rocks in the cores, they can understand the formation history of the rocks and any stresses that have been applied to them by movements of the crust. They can also look at surface features and by understanding how they were formed, also understand the crustal movements that caused them to form. It’s pretty standard geology work.
Earthquakes, as terrible as they can be, are a natural phenomenon caused by natural processes within our planet. We see evidence for quakes elsewhere in the solar system, as well. Understanding earthquakes helps us understand the interiors of the worlds they affect and the science is fascinating.
The effects on humans on Earth when a quake hits are not so fascinating. They’re downright sad and horrifying. All the understanding of the science doesn’t help us when we are confronted by the pain and suffering these geological actions cause. What we as humans living on an earthquake-prone planet should do is help those who are affected by others who are hurt or damaged during a quake. What we shouldn’t do is make hateful statements that contain NO scientific accuracy about why earthquakes occur. That’s what the televangelist I referenced above did. He proved his ignorance and hateful politics pretty well by blaming the earthquake on what he thinks is voodoo (he has no evidence for this). He really thinks that the actions of Haiti’s earlier inhabitants in seeking political freedom caused the earthquake. He also has no evidence for that statement either.
I mean, this guy actually believes what he’s saying? If so, he’s been pwnd by some pretty serious ignorance. And that calls into question the accuracy of everything else he “preaches”.
As a representative of the Christianist faction in American politics, this “man” comes across as representing millions of people who are Christians, who ARE scientifically literate and, as far as I know, DON’T hate on the basis of tectonic motion.
Why anybody would take this jerk seriously, particularly in matters of science, is beyond me. I wouldn’t go to a banker for medical advice. I wouldn’t go to a scientist to learn about theology. It’s been made abundantly clear that I certainly shouldn’t ever go to a preacher to learn about science. Above all, I wouldn’t trust a hateful man who primarily makes his money off of other people’s faith (and lives in wealth and luxury on the proceeds of his “work”) to know anything about human dignity, morality, ethics, and sympathy — much less science or natural processes.
Earthquakes are not caused by voodoo. Quakes are not the actions of a deity whose creator-followers make him out to be petulant and angry. In fact, there’s no scientific proof that deities are involved in earthquakes. Anybody who tells you that some annoyed sky daddy causes earthquakes to punish people with suffering and death is an idiot. Pure and simple. Earthquakes are an entirely natural process that occurs on Earth. Science has done an excellent job of telling us how they work and what causes them.
If you want to help people affected by the Haitian earthquake, there are a number of places online to guide you to the right place. The Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders are good places to start. I’m sure there are others — so, if you can help in a positive way, please do.
