This Week 1–6 January 2023

This Week 25–31 December This Week 8–14 January 2023

This Week 1–6 January 2023

Short science fiction by Torn MacAlester

Feature The Kardashev Scale

The Kardashev scale is a means of conveniently measuring the power output of a civilization. The scale traditionally has three levels, called I — planetary, II — stellar , & III — galactic.

A Type I civilization has a power output of approximately $10^{17}$ Watts. This is a factor of ten thousand times greater than the Earth civilization’s current power output of $10^{14}$ Watts.

The recent breakthrough with fusion power may put our civilization on track for becoming Type I sooner than without it. Check out my article on the Kardashev scale here.

Below, Michio Kaku comments on the the Kardashev scale and our trajectory to reach Type I within about a century.

This week’s discord chat

Week of Jan 1 2023 [1st at 1 PM EDT (6 PM GMT), 4th at 9 PM EDT (5th 2AM GMT)]

The Kardashev Scale Torn’s Discord Server Thunder Moon Tussle Trailer Thunder Moon Tussle by Torn MacAlester available on Amazon.com

Thunder Moon Tussle received a five star review

This Week’s Short Fiction by Torn MacAlester

This week, I offer a glimpse of a volcanic winter setting in: The Mountain

A new novel by Torn MacAlesterThe long awaited sequel to Thunder Moon Tussle : Mask of the Joyful Moon Coming SoonWater on the Moon

Its not so outrageous as it seemed at first glance. The Moon has water in unusual places.

https://www.sciencealert.com/water-from-the-sun-has-been-found-on-the-moon

The solar wind is composed of mostly hydrogen. The rate of solar wind flow is $\inline 10^{-14} M_{\bigodot } yr^{-1}$ . That is the same as $\inline 4\times 10^{35}$ protons per second streaming away from the sun in all directions, or $\inline 2\times 10^{25}$ protons impacting the Moon’s surface per second.

Many lunar rocks are oxides, providing the source of oxygen. If every proton impacting the Moon’s surface turns into water molecules, then we have on order $\inline 10^{25}$ molecules or 200 grams of water being formed every second just below the Moon’s sunlit surface.

This water would be formed inside the rocks and regolith with a depth depending upon the incident energy of the protons.

Realistic Large Scale Space Construction

Interesting web page with large scale space structures and current technology readiness level (TRL) estimates:

https://www.factoriesinspace.com/large-space-structures

To date, the largest structure built in space is the International Space Station (ISS). ISS took over a decade to build and required over a decade to assemble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html

The follow-on space stations that are expected to be built in the coming decade are all smaller but are expected to be commercial outposts.

https://www.space.com/nasa-commercial-space-station-rely-on-market-demand

But the really big space stations that could have there own spin gravity remain on the far horizon. Two examples are the Stanford Torus Space Settlement, and the O’Neill Cylinder.

Space Cities Out of Asteroids and Graphene Bags? Intriguing O’Neill Cylinder Study

Volcanos

Recently, both Volcanos on Hawaii’s big island stopped erupting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/13/science/mauna-loa-volcano-eruption.html

The Hunga-Tonga volcanic eruption of last January continues to provide a wealth of new science. Volcanos continue to surprise us. And this eruption is no exception. In the article below, the authors explain how the eruption effected Earth’s ionosphere more than many solar storms.