Spudboy100@aol.com posted this URL:
> http://xxx.lanl.gov/PS_cache/astro-ph/pdf/0110/0110162.pdf
This is a *very* interesting paper and if correct (the math is
beyond me), could well explain many aspects of the Fermi Paradox.
> Lets go back to the Fermi question of why are there not signs of intelligence
> among the heavens? The best answer I think, is the awareness of gamma ray
> bursts being produced by black holes and colliding neuron stars.
The only failure I see in the paper is that the connection between
distant GRB from which they draw some conclusions about energies
and frequency and local massive star to black hole collapse events
seems a bit tenuous.
We need to do some research to determine which has greater energies --
neutron star collisions or massive star collapses. The frequency
of the former should go up over time while the later should go down.
The 2-day exposure to high energy cosmic rays producing muon fluxes
that deliver 270x the lethal radiation dose for humans is nasty.
Deinococcus radiodurans would probably survive but not much else.
The interesting implication is that we are unlikely to survive
in our present form long enough to see the oceans evaporate
or the sun become a red giant. It also implies that advanced
civilizations *really* don't want to be in the wrong position
(within the cone of extinction) for these events when they
occur. The radiation damage that results would sharply
constrain the amount of memory at your disposal (due to the
need for redundancy to survive the radiation dose).
What wasn't discussed is what kind of atomic signature such
events would leave. How do we test for this?
Robert
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