Anything I have ever researched has taken me places that stump me, just as the two possible Russian Scientists. Rabbit holes are fun though. I really enjoy the time and effort of figuring out a puzzle such as this one.

Son~ it was fun discussing it with you as well!!

The "group" probably deserves its own thread. Whew!

Back to the the good ole LIC....

I would like to present a tutorial for this research.

To better help the reader/student who is unfamiliar with what exactly the LIC is, below is a link to an online tutorial of the Local Interstellar Medium. I hope the reader enjoys it as much as I did/do.

The majority of the interstellar gas and dust that we see was produced by star death.

Interstellar material also comes from stars which are still undergoing stable fusion reactions. Our own sun sends out streams of particles and radiation -- the solar wind -- that interact with particles flowing into our solar system. Given that all stable stars also produce a similar "wind", a substantial portion of the interstellar medium can be accounted for in this way. Clouds of interstellar dust have accreted (clumped together) over millions of years. This dust is a varied mix of compounds and elements; some interstellar clouds even contain organic molecules like acetylene and acetaldehyde, known precursors of amino acids. The atoms needed to create these clouds of molecules have generally come from past supernovae.

Many of the denser clouds become stellar nurseries

we are all made of stardust.

These isotopes are created when intense radiation hits the atoms in the upper atmosphere, suggesting that a blast of energy had once hit our planet from space.

Tazmanian devils, turtles, whales, sea lions, dolphins and fish are some of the species shown in the study to be suffering from elevated rates of cancer, in some cases threatening the very survival of the species.

In some cases, cancers could threaten populations by preventing reproduction in addition to killing individuals. Sea lions found off of California suffer widespread metastasizing genital carcinomas which prevent them from mating. Rarely seen before the 1980's, such cancers were found in over 18% of sea lions washed up on California beaches. In a separate study of sea lions killed during an unusual algal bloom, 6.3% were found to have cancer. Fortunately, sea lion populations have been growing in spite of the simultaneous increase in observed cancers. Ocean-going dolphins are also showing increased rates of genital cancers.

Cancer remains a leading killer of pets and people and it’s incidence has grown from a rate of approximately 1 out of every 500 individuals being affected in the year 1900 to a rate of 1 out of every 3 people and one out of every 5 pets (dogs and cats) being affected with cancer today.

These allow the air to flow around in a grand circle meaning birds can have fresh oxygen rich air in their lungs all the time

While my absence has been short lived, I do hope I've been missed and "a" reader out there is patiently awaiting new research into the LIC and its role playing in climate change or anything else thats going on in the world we may want to tag it in.

Im only kidding. This research is complex and mostly goes way over my head, however i enjoy learning. Whats better than learning about space, planets, ions, heliosphere, etc..... oh never mind.
Some of you may not know that what was once thought to be a "bow shock" is no longer a bow shock.

Nasa released this article on 05/10/2012, "IBEX Reveals a Missing Boundary At the Edge Of the Solar System".

"For the last few decades, space scientists have generally accepted that the bubble of gas and magnetic fields generated by the sun – known as the heliosphere – moves through space, creating three distinct boundary layers that culminate in an outermost bow shock. This shock is similar to the sonic boom created ahead of a supersonic jet. Earth itself certainly has one of these bow shocks on the sunward side of its magnetic environment, as do most other planets and many stars. A collection of new data from NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), however, now indicate that the sun does not have a bow shock."

"We've seen one after another signature of a very strong magnetic field in the galactic environment," says Nathan Schwadron, a space scientist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham who is one of the authors on the paper. "That magnetic field influences the structure of the heliosphere and the boundaries themselves. That leads to a whole new paradigm."

," The heliosphere's boundaries lie roughly 10 billion miles away from Earth, but are nonetheless crucial for understanding our place in the universe. Indeed, the heliopause provides some protection for our solar system from the harsh, radiation environment surrounding it."

"Changes in the pressure or magnetic field of the local interstellar cloud could also cause the boundary locations to move. The scale length for changes in the local interstellar cloud is not known. The Sun is very near the local interstellar cloud boundary and will cross into another interstellar medium environment in a few thousand years, and scale lengths for variations may be smaller near this boundary"

"Now IBEX has surprised astronomers by showing that this force field-like structure, the heliosphere, is an unexpectedly dynamic, unpredictable boundary."If we've learned anything from IBEX so far, it is that the models that we're using for interaction of the solar wind with the galaxy were just dead wrong,"

"Sun's protective 'bubble' is shrinking.The protective bubble around the sun that helps to shield the Earth from harmful interstellar radiation is shrinking and getting weaker, Nasa scientists have warned."

In a briefing today at NASA headquarters, solar physicists announced that the solar wind is losing power."The average pressure of the solar wind has dropped more than 20% since the mid-1990s," says Dave McComas of the Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas. "This is the weakest it's been since we began monitoring solar wind almost 50 years ago."

"The solar wind is 13% cooler and 20% less dense." "What we're seeing is a long term trend, a steady decrease in pressure that began sometime in the mid-1990s," explains Arik Posner, NASA's Ulysses Program Scientist in Washington DC.

It's hard to say. We've only been monitoring solar wind since the early years of the Space Age—from the early 60s to the present," says Posner. "Over that period of time, it's unique. How the event stands out over centuries or millennia, however, is anybody's guess. We don't have data going back that far." Flagging solar wind has repercussions across the entire solar system—beginning with the heliosphere."

Every planet from Mercury to Pluto and beyond is inside it. The heliosphere is our solar system's first line of defense against galactic cosmic rays. High-energy particles from black holes and supernovas try to enter the solar system, but most are deflected by the heliosphere's magnetic fields."

The solar wind isn't inflating the heliosphere as much as it used to," says McComas. "That means less shielding against cosmic rays."In addition to weakened solar wind, "Ulysses also finds that the sun's underlying magnetic field has weakened by more than 30% since the mid-1990s," says Posner. "This reduces natural shielding even more."

there are controversial studies linking cosmic ray fluxes to cloudiness and climate change on Earth

The cause of the surge is solar minimum, a deep lull in solar activity that began around 2007 and continues today. Researchers have long known that cosmic rays go up when solar activity goes down. Right now solar activity is as weak as it has been in modern times, setting the stage for what Mewaldt calls "a perfect storm of cosmic rays." "We're experiencing the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century," says Dean Pesnell of the Goddard Space Flight Center, "so it is no surprise that cosmic rays are at record levels for the Space Age."

Mewaldt lists three aspects of the current solar minimum that are combining to create the perfect storm: 1. The sun's magnetic field is weak. "There has been a sharp decline in the sun's interplanetary magnetic field down to 4 nT (nanoTesla) from typical values of 6 to 8 nT," he says. "This record-low interplanetary magnetic field undoubtedly contributes to the record-high cosmic ray fluxes." [data] 2. The solar wind is flagging. "Measurements by the Ulysses spacecraft show that solar wind pressure is at a 50-year low," he continues, "so the magnetic bubble that protects the solar system is not being inflated as much as usual." A smaller bubble gives cosmic rays a shorter-shot into the solar system. Once a cosmic ray enters the solar system, it must "swim upstream" against the solar wind. Solar wind speeds have dropped to very low levels in 2008 and 2009, making it easier than usual for a cosmic ray to proceed. [data]

Continued....

3. The current sheet is flattening. Imagine the sun wearing a ballerina's skirt as wide as the entire solar system with an electrical current flowing along its wavy folds. It's real, and it's called the "heliospheric current sheet," a vast transition zone where the polarity of the sun's magnetic field changes from plus to minus. The current sheet is important because cosmic rays are guided by its folds. Lately, the current sheet has been flattening itself out, allowing cosmic rays more direct access to the inner solar system."

But of course at the end NASA lets us know there is nothing to be worried about. lol Oh.. no biggie. Go watch American Idol. Which I do love American Idol. I love living... and do not worry about tomorrow. However... lets be honest. Just say we don't know what will happen... but we will enjoy learning while we can.

They say we will know when its real bad because there will be beryllium all about. Well... I remember reading an article that said scientists are puzzled how such high concentrations came to be in the ice cores and tree rings. Makes me wonder.

Hundreds of years ago, cosmic ray fluxes were at least 200% to 300% higher than anything measured during the Space Age. Researchers know this because when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere, they produce an isotope of beryllium, 10Be, which is preserved in polar ice."

Beryllium is another thread.. can't go down that rabbit hole right now. Here are a couple of links if anyone is interested.

Now IBEX has surprised astronomers by showing that this force field-like structure, the heliosphere, is an unexpectedly dynamic, unpredictable boundary."If we've learned anything from IBEX so far, it is that the models that we're using for interaction of the solar wind with the galaxy were just dead wrong,"

According to Svensmark, cosmic rays seed low-lying clouds that reflect some of the Sun's radiation back into space, and the number of cosmic rays reaching the Earth is dependent on the strength of the solar magnetic field. When this magnetic field is stronger (as evidenced by larger numbers of sunspots), more of the rays are deflected, fewer clouds are formed and so the Earth heats up; whereas when the field is weaker, the Earth cools down."

Interestingly we were able to observe different kinds of new particle formation events. A few of the events appear to be related to ion-induced nucleation or ion-ion recombination to form stable neutral clusters. In these cases, a small but significant fraction of new particle formation could be explained by ion processes"

"ESA’s quartet of satellites studying Earth’s magnetosphere, Cluster, has discovered that our protective magnetic bubble lets the solar wind in under a wider range of conditions than previously believed." www.esa.int...

This interstellar cloud has been given a variety of names by the scientific community such as Local Fluff and 'G Cloud' but the metaphysical community have referred to this as an 'Etheric' cloud and more recently it has been acknowledged as the arrival of primordial 'Adamantine' particles. It is widely accepted by those who understand the implications, that it is the arrival of this interstellar molecular cloud that has been effecting the sun in the last few decades as the sun has passed through into the outermost tenuous regions of this cloud, populated with more dense filaments of plasma. It is fair to say that astronomers are not able to judge accurately astronomical distances in space, or distinguish the arrival of a moderately dense, but still not inconsequential cloudlet, hence over the last 30 years or so, the estimated time of arrival of a dense interstellar cloud has been stated to be up to 50,000 years. Therefore, there has been confusion because it seems that a cloudlet has arrived and some astronomers believe we entered the tenuous outer edges of a moderately dense cloud in the early 1990s. The arrival of an interstellar cloud of dense dusty plasma or an 'etheric cloud' is understood to be the most significant driver for massive evolutionary change within our solar system. The following quote from a metaphysical source indicates that the astronomical community had been aware for many decades that our solar system was being approached by an interstellar molecular cloud but from a metaphysical viewpoint, humanity must expect there to be significant consequences for the spiritual evolution of mankind." www.susanrennison.com...

A recent research by the Radio Astronomy Centre, National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) has found that there has been a steady weakening of the Sun's magnetic field and its associated solar wind in the interplanetary space. According to the study, these changes can have a greater impact on the earth's atmosphere than previously thought. If such a steady weakening of the Sun's magnetic energy continues for one or two solar cycles, it may lead to a 'mini'-ice age kind of situation, similar to that which occurred in the 17th Century, states the study

space.mit.edu... "A strong, highly-tilted interstellar magnetic field near the Solar System" M. Opher, F. Alouani Bibi, G. Toth, J. D. Richardson, V. V. Izmodenov, T. I. Gombosi "Magnetic fields play an important (sometimes dominant) role in the evolution of gas clouds in the Galaxy, but the strength and orientation of the field in the interstellar medium near the heliosphere has been poorly constrained." "We conclude that the interstellar medium field is turbulent or has a distortion in the solar vicinity."

Researcher and author Marshall Klarfeld discussed the ancient Researcher Robert Felix spoke about climate and the possibility we could be heading into an ice age. According to a study, the Himalayas have lost no ice in the last 10 years, and glaciers are growing in areas such as Mount Everest, he noted. Ice age cycles occur around every 11,500 years, and one sign that one is impending is increased volcanic activity, particularly underwater, he stated.

Two vulcanologists published a paper in 2008 suggesting that as climate change continues, the next decades could see more volcanic activity in regions such as Iceland that are now under ice. Read more at cleantechnica.com...

Based on readings from more than 30,000 measuring stations, the data was issued last week without fanfare by the Met Office and the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit. It confirms that the rising trend in world temperatures ended in 1997.

The evidence linking space weather and terrestrial weather is growing. The idea here is that cosmic rays can ionise dust particles, which then attract water vapor triggering the formation of clouds.

During the time it takes you to read this article, something will happen high overhead that until recently many scientists didn't believe in. A magnetic portal will open, linking Earth to the sun 93 million miles away. Tons of high-energy particles may flow through the opening before it closes again, around the time you reach the end of the page. "It's called a flux transfer event or 'FTE,'" says space physicist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "Ten years ago I was pretty sure they didn't exist, but now the evidence is incontrovertible."

"We used to think the connection was permanent and that solar wind could trickle into the near-Earth environment anytime the wind was active," says Sibeck. "We were wrong. The connections are not steady at all. They are often brief, bursty and very dynamic."

There are many unanswered questions: Why do the portals form every 8 minutes? How do magnetic fields inside the cylinder twist and coil? "We're doing some heavy thinking about this at the Workshop," says Sibeck. Meanwhile, high above your head, a new portal is opening, connecting your planet to the sun.

sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov... six images from SDO, chosen to show a representative image about every six months, track the rising level of solar activity since the mission first began to produce consistent images in May, 2010. The period of solar maximum is expected in 2013. The images were taken in the 171 Angstrom wavelength of extreme ultraviolet light.

Raymond Bradley of UMass, who has studied historical records of solar activity imprinted by radioisotopes in tree rings and ice cores, says that regional rainfall seems to be more affected than temperature. "If there is indeed a solar effect on climate, it is manifested by changes in general circulation rather than in a direct temperature signal." This fits in with the conclusion of the IPCC and previous NRC reports that solar variability is NOT the cause of global warming over the last 50 years. Much has been made of the probable connection between the Maunder Minimum, a 70-year deficit of sunspots in the late 17th-early 18th century, and the coldest part of the Little Ice Age, during which Europe and North America were subjected to bitterly cold winters. The mechanism for that regional cooling could have been a drop in the sun’s EUV output; this is, however, speculative.

Indeed, the sun could be on the threshold of a mini-Maunder event right now. Ongoing Solar Cycle 24 is the weakest in more than 50 years. Moreover, there is (controversial) evidence of a long-term weakening trend in the magnetic field strength of sunspots. Matt Penn and William Livingston of the National Solar Observatory predict that by the time Solar Cycle 25 arrives, magnetic fields on the sun will be so weak that few if any sunspots will be formed. Independent lines of research involving helioseismology and surface polar fields tend to support their conclusion. (Note: Penn and Livingston were not participants at the NRC workshop.) “If the sun really is entering an unfamiliar phase of the solar cycle, then we must redouble our efforts to understand the sun-climate link,” notes Lika Guhathakurta of NASA’s Living with a Star Program, which helped fund the NRC study. “The report offers some good ideas for how to get started.”

A radiometric imager, deployed on some future space observatory, would allow researchers to develop the understanding they need to project the sun-climate link into a future of prolonged spotlessness. Some attendees stressed the need to put sun-climate data in standard formats and make them widely available for multidisciplinary study. Because the mechanisms for the sun’s influence on climate are complicated, researchers from many fields will have to work together to successfully model them and compare competing results. Continued and improved collaboration between NASA, NOAA and the NSF are keys to this process. Hal Maring, a climate scientist at NASA headquarters who has studied the report, notes that “lots of interesting possibilities were suggested by the panelists. However, few, if any, have been quantified to the point that we can definitively assess their impact on climate.” Hardening the possibilities into concrete, physically-complete models is a key challenge for the researchers.

I just came across a paper written recently that I want to present to this research thread.

It stands to reason research is ongoing as to what the composition is exactly, of the LIC, not to mention the Cluster of Local Interstellar Clouds (CLIC) as well.

I have read so much I believe I am as confused as they are with all their studies and instruments. There is a debate and hopefully sooner than later it will all be understood.

When one thinks of the LIC, some may think of it as a cloud..... thats it.. just a cloud, however it is composed of different materials and density in regions, as far as I can understand of course.

Some of it does indeed go waaay over my head but I am trying hard to understand. Bare with me.

The LIC can be complicated ... its so complex, however I do want to know if anyone knows exactly where the Sun is. They say it is on the "edge"

Lets see what Priscilla C. Frisch has to say about it in her paper called, "The Heliosphere—Blowing in the Interstellar Wind"" written possibly on Jan. 4 2013

Cloud edges are interesting properties of the ISM that are difficult to study, and the Sun is near a cloud edge

The LIC belongs to an ISM flow (the cluster of local interstellar clouds, CLIC) with an upwind direction in the local standard of rest (LSR) that is within 15 degrees of the center of the S1 shell, directed towards the center of the Loop I superbubble [5, 37]. The properties of the edge of the LIC depend on the adjacent ISM. The CLIC is embedded in the hot Local Bubble plasma. Since neutral gas fills 25%–40% of the sightlines towards nearby stars, or less if clouds consist of randomly distributed uniform spherical objects, the LIC may be bounded by million degree tenuous plasma. For this scenario, the LIC edge may consist either of a hot evaporative conductive interface, or of a turbulent mixing layer [5]. Both phenomena disrupt the velocities disrupt cloud edges

The CLIC is decelerating. This property is shown by the velocity distribution of clouds in the flow, some of which are accelerated towards the Sun, relative to the mean flow velocity, in both the upwind and downwind directions [5, 37]. In a decelerating flow, velocities in cloud boundary regions may be disrupted by collisions between clouds that create density enhancements similar to the Leo clouds discussed in Meyer et al. [10], or by other instabilities.Fluctuations in interstellar electron densities are identified over scales of ∼ 10 4km through 10 AU by their effect on radio wave propagation [38]. Radio scintillation data showing that electron scattering screens are present within 10 pc has been interpreted to indicate the presence of local cloud collisions [39]"

"Based on the trend for the ecliptic longitude of the LIC velocity vector to increase with time, it should be considered a real possibility that the Sun has sampled turbulence in the LIC velocity over the past several decades

There is no information about the scale size of the turbulence in the LIC, so according to these arguments, a plausible case can be made that this nominal 4.6 km s−1 turbulent component samples turbulence in the ISM between the Sun and the upwind edge of the LIC. In such a case, a systematic variation in the flow direction is possible."

Three sets of data suggest that the Sun is in a fragment of the shell of the Loop I superbubble: (1) The Loop I model of Wolleben [55, 56] identifies two radio continuum shells (called “S1” and “S2”) at different distances and locations. The Sun is located in the rim of the S1 shell according to his model, a result that agrees with prior estimates of the Loop I configuration [57]. (2) Interstellar clouds within about 20 pc of the Sun, e.g. the CLIC, have a bulk velocity in the LSR that is within 15◦ of the center of the S1 shell, suggesting a dynamical expanding shell configuration [56, 5]"

If the Sun is in such a shell, it should be apparent in both the local interstellar magnetic field and the distribution of nearby interstellar material. The properties of these subshells are compared to the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) and the distribution of interstellar Fe + and Ca + within ∼ 55 pc of the Sun. Although the results are not conclusive, the ISMF direction obtained from polarized stars within ∼ 30 pc is consistent with the ISMF direction of the S1 shell. The distribution of nearby interstellar Fe + with log N(Fe + )< 12.5 cm−2 is described equally well by a uniform distribution or an origin in spherical shell-like features. Higher column densities of Fe + (log N(Fe + )> 12.5 cm−2 ) tend to be better described by the pathlength of the sightline through the S1 and S2 subshells.

The location of the Sun in the rim of the Loop I superbubble has been inferred from radio continuum data, kinematical data on the flow of local ISM away from the center of Loop I, data on gas-phase abundances in local ISM, and the coincidence of the velocity of ISM inside and outside of the heliosphere. Loop I is an evolved superbubble shell formed from stellar evolution in a subgroup of the Sco-Cen association, ∼ 4 − 5 Myrs ago (e.g. de Geus 1992; Frisch 1995, 1996; Ma´ız-Apell´aniz 2001). Both the original dimensions found for the Loop I bubble observed in 820 MHz (Berkhuijsen 1973), and more recent studies of Heiles (1998a,b, H98a,H98b) and Wolleben (2007), place the Sun in or adjacent to the rim of a magnetic superbubble shell for an assumed spherical geometry.

Both the kinematics and abundance pattern of local interstellar material (LISM) suggest that the Loop I remnant has expanded to the solar location (Frisch 1981). LISM abundances of the refractory elements Mg, Fe, and Ca, show the characteristic enhancement indicative of grain destruction in interstellar shocks (Frisch et al. 1999).

The evolved shell is thicker near the ISMF equatorial regions, where field strengths are larger due to flux freezing, than the polar regions of the shell where thermal pressure provides the main support for the shell. In media where magnetic pressure is weak, e.g. the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure β > 10, the evolved bubble is more symmetric. Supernovae in Sco-Cen Association subgroups have contributed to the3 evolution of the Loop I superbubble during the past ≤ 14 Myrs. The Loop I superbubble (and S1, S2) expanded in a medium with a density gradient, because the initial supernova occurred in the molecular regions of the parent Scorpius-Centaurus Association subgroups, while the subsequent bubble expansion occurred in the low density interior of the Local Bubble cavity (Frisch 1981, 1995; Fuchs et al. 2006). In this case the external plasma β may have varied irregularly across the expanding shell, so that the topology of the present day S1 and S2 shells may deviate from axial symmetry as well as sphericity. The ISMF direction at the heliosphere provides the most direct measure of whether the Sun is embedded in the shell of the Loop I superbubble. Several phenomena trace the field direction – the weak polarization of light from nearby stars (Tinbergen 1982; Frisch 2007a, hereafter F07), the flield direction in the S1 subshell of Loop I (Wolleben 2007), the 3 kHz emissions from the outer heliosheath detected by the two Voyager satellites (Gurnett et al. 2006, F07), the observed angular offset between interstellar H o and He o flowing into the heliosphere (Lallement et al. 2005; Pogorelov & Zank 2006; Opher et al. 2007), and the 10 pc difference between the distances of the solar wind termination shock detected by the two Voyager satellites (e.g. Stone 2008). The orientation of the plane midway between the hot and cold dipole moments of the cosmic microwave background is also within ∼ 15 ◦ of the local ISMF direction (F07). 1

Cosmic rays pour down on Earth like a constant rain.

Cosmic rays are mostly high-energy protons, with some electrons, positrons and heavy nuclei mixed in. Their energies range over 14 orders of magnitude, with the most energetic cosmic rays flaunting a billion times more energy than is possible in man-made particle accelerators on Earth.

At present, the average human receives the equivalent of about 10 chest X-rays per year from cosmic rays.

"The increase in ultraviolet light is extremely damaging, and might be especially lethal to single-celled organisms," says Adrian Melott of the University of Kansas.

At sea level, the majority of cosmic ray secondaries are highly penetrating muons. About 10,000 muons pass through our bodies every minute. Some of these muons will ionize molecules as they go through our flesh, occasionally leading to genetic mutations that may be harmful.

In a similar vein, Melott and his colleagues found a possible link between the bobbing of our Sun up and down in the galactic plane and a 63-million-year cycle in fossil biodiversity. The hypothesis is that our solar system is exposed to more cosmic rays every time the solar system peaks out of one side of the galaxy.

"No one has calculated the full effects on the ground," he says.

In Greek mythology, Icarus (the Latin spelling, conventionally adopted in English; Ancient Greek: Ἴκαρος, Íkaros, Etruscan: Vikare[1]) is the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. The main story told about Icarus is his attempt to escape from Crete by means of wings that his father constructed from feathers and wax. He ignored instructions not to fly too close to the sun, and the melting wax caused him to fall into the sea where he drowned. The myth shares thematic similarities with that of Phaëton—both are usually taken as tragic examples of hubris or failed ambition—and is often depicted in art. Today, the Hellenic Air Force Academy is named after Icarus, who is seen as the mythical pioneer in Greece's attempt to conquer the skies. The Lament for Icarus by H. J. Draper Icarus's father Daedalus, a talented and remarkable Athenian craftsman, built the Labyrinth for King Minos of Crete near his palace at Knossos to imprison the Minotaur, a half-man, half-bull monster born of his wife and the Cretan bull. Minos imprisoned Daedalus himself in the labyrinth because he gave Minos' daughter, Ariadne, a clew[2] (or ball of string) in order to help Theseus, the enemy of Minos, to survive the Labyrinth and defeat the Minotaur.en.wikipedia.org...

Day 1 of the event began with astronaut Jan Davis discussing some of her experiences as an astronaut, and showing support for interstellar flight. Her last slide encouraged the community to continue research on breakthrough propulsion, which I found encouraging. We were treated to a number of excellent talks including a 15 year olds discovery of a Gamma Ray Burst through the use of his personal Geiger counter, Kelvin Long discussing starship designs, and the i4is, and a particularly interesting talk by Sam Lightfoot. Sam’s work examines how certain technologies, if ‘gifted’ to a culture from a more advanced culture, can have particularly negative ramifications on the less advanced culture. He gave the examples of spam, iron axes, snowmobiles, tobacco and chocolate, and several other seemingly innocuous technologies which had dramatically negative effects on the culture to which they were given.

The internal structure of these clouds is also of potential importance for interstellar mission design

. Information on spatial structure can be obtained by comparing the interstellar spectra of stars that are close together on the sky, or by observing temporal changes in the interstellar spectrum of a single star as the relative motions of the Sun and star cause the line-of-sight to probe different regions of the cloud. For denser, more distant, interstellar clouds there is now considerable evidence for significant density and/or ionisation structure on scales of tens or hundreds of astronomical units [21], which could be a potential problem for interstellar space vehicles passing through them

"Some of those cloudlets might be hundreds of times denser than the local fluff," says Priscilla Frisch, an astrophysicist at the University of Chicago who studies the local interstellar medium. "If we ran into one, it would compress the Sun's magnetic field and allow more cosmic rays to penetrate the inner solar system, with unknown effects on climate and life.

"This cloud, although low density on average, has a tremendous amount of structure to it,” Frisch said. “And it is not inconsistent with our data that the Sun may eventually encounter a portion of the cloud that is a million times denser than what we’re in now.”

"We think the heliosphere might have been much larger before we entered the interstellar cloud,” said Frisch, “but that’s something we can’t say for sure.” "But if the solar system encountered the much denser cloud, Frisch estimates that the heliosphere could be compressed to within one or two astronomical units of the Sun, not much greater than the Earth’s distance from the Sun. “There would be dramatic effects on the inner solar system,” said Frisch. “It would immediately change the whole interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium.” Researchers have predicted increases in the cosmic-ray flux, changes in the Earth’s magnetosphere, the chemistry of the atmosphere and perhaps even the terrestrial climate."

"They hope to use the Hubble Space Telescope to answer some remaining questions that will confirm whether a dense cloud fragment does indeed lie in the upwind direction."