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Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Fri Mar 26, 2021 11:39 pm
by Refractordude
There is just something about this I do not like. I feel humans have gone far enough in the disrespect of nature. I think the Sun should be left alone. What say you?
https://www.popularmechanics.com/scienc ... -research/
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 12:46 am
by notFritzArgelander
I think some people need to be reminded that they are not gods.
That said, technically he's not dimming the Sun at the source but rather suggesting full planetary sunscreen.
I think it is a self defeating idea. The resources required would be huge, likely impossibly. The unintended side effects are likely to be costly too.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 2:49 am
by notFritzArgelander
In ancient Rome a triumphant general being awarded the honor of a formal triumph was often followed by a slave who would whisper to him: "memento mori", remember you will die. I would suggest that it would be a good thing if our triumphant tech folks would have a similar reminder except for the fact that from Caesar onward it didn't seem to help in Rome either.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:10 am
by StarBru
I agree the sun should be left alone and that we are not gods, however, sometimes research can bring ideas and discoveries not thought of in the original research. This would benefit us if we found a way to "clean" our atmosphere without detrimental effect or consequences.
I think a full planetary sunscreen is a really bad idea. Reminds me of the 1970's TV pop culture catchphrase: "It's not nice to fool (with) Mother Nature."
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:13 am
by MrShorty
Didn't Montgomery Burns try to block the sun in order to sell more electricity?
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 2:08 pm
by SkyHiker
Well then, what's the alternative? Large parts of the world may become uninhabitable soon. Once the ice has melted there is no clear path to freezing it again, and once we get there the loss of reflectivity has an accelerating effect. Humanity does not seem to be willing to implement global climate accords, we can't just sit around and do nothing.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:48 pm
by Ylem
MrShorty wrote: ↑Sat Mar 27, 2021 3:13 am
Didn't Montgomery Burns try to block the sun in order to sell more electricity?
Yes he did
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:44 pm
by messier 111
who will pay the bill
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:04 pm
by Arsene37
Hi !
messier 111 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:44 pm
who will pay the bill
Who pay the bill, each time ?
Arsène
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 11:52 pm
by notFritzArgelander
I think that the bill is unpayable in money and resources for ideas like this and colonizing Mars. Technology is stretched to its economic (again including resource budgets apart from mere finance) so that I expect that ITER (the internationally funded tokamak to test fusion) will be the last gasp of big science projects to be achieved. Perhaps I should start another thread on why I expect that the future of huge science and technology projects is dreaming rather than realizing.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Sun Mar 28, 2021 12:18 am
by NGC 1365
Are we really going to trust mankind to fix this, leave nature alone, don't add to the problems.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 1:34 am
by mikemarotta
Not true.
I could not read the story linked from Popular Mechanics because I do not have a subscription and did not want to register. However, something like that is too big to go unrepeated. So, I googled it. It is not true. It is a misrepresentation of a proposed
small experiment.
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/fac ... 310134002/
Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen ... cf9de3793b
Snopes
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gates-block-sun/
As for the other stuff... I am surprised at the comments here. It is like the people who want dark skies for their telescopes. You have to understand that we all have affordable astronomic instruments precisely because of the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, they are all (mostly) made in China. So, China will suffer pollution, etc., but we deserve dark skies? Where is the logic in that? Having cheap powerful scientific instruments - not just telescopes or hobby microscopes: kitchen refrigerators, blenders, microwave ovens, dishwashers and clothes washers ... all of it... is changing Mother Nature. Otherwise, how would you even have a fired clay dish to eat your fire-cooked meal, killed with a purposely shaped stone on a stout stick? You could not plant anything purposefully because agriculture changes Mother Nature. But Dobsonians fall over-ripe from trees, and we just pick them, gifts from Mother Nature.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 3:08 am
by notFritzArgelander
mikemarotta wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 1:34 am
Not true.
I could not read the story linked from Popular Mechanics because I do not have a subscription and did not want to register. However, something like that is too big to go unrepeated. So, I googled it. It is not true. It is a misrepresentation of a proposed
small experiment.
USA Today
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/fac ... 310134002/
Forbes
https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen ... cf9de3793b
Snopes
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/gates-block-sun/
As for the other stuff... I am surprised at the comments here. It is like the people who want dark skies for their telescopes. You have to understand that we all have affordable astronomic instruments precisely because of the Industrial Revolution. Moreover, they are all (mostly) made in China. So, China will suffer pollution, etc., but we deserve dark skies? Where is the logic in that? Having cheap powerful scientific instruments - not just telescopes or hobby microscopes: kitchen refrigerators, blenders, microwave ovens, dishwashers and clothes washers ... all of it... is changing Mother Nature. Otherwise, how would you even have a fired clay dish to eat your fire-cooked meal, killed with a purposely shaped stone on a stout stick? You could not plant anything purposefully because agriculture changes Mother Nature. But Dobsonians fall over-ripe from trees, and we just pick them, gifts from Mother Nature.
There is a distinction to be made between sustainable modifications of Nature and those that are suicidal. It isn't all or nothing at all. The scope of this (as per the scopes link) is acceptable. The idea that it could be done on a large scale is ethically repugnant to many.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 10:38 am
by mikemarotta
notFritzArgelander wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 3:08 am There is a distinction to be made between sustainable modifications of Nature and those that are suicidal. It isn't all or nothing at all. The scope of this (as per the scopes link) is acceptable. The idea that it could be done on a large scale is ethically repugnant to many.
I understand. We recycle here at home, also. Life is a lot better since we cut down on wanton pollution, and China could do the same, for that matter. As you note, it is not all or nothing. I just prefer to err on the side of civilization and shy away from romanticizing capital-N Nature. We have a
cat. Usually do. Been up to four at one time. But as much as I enjoy Miss Sunny, I remain cognizant of the fact that for most of human history, we were
cat food.
Re: Bill Gates Wants To Dim The Sun
Posted: Thu May 20, 2021 1:38 pm
by John Donne
Dimming the Sun is a DIM-WITTED idea...
Polute the atmosphere to mitigate the effects of polution...?
I wonder if Gates has an interest in the vitamin and supplement markets. Vit D3 sales will be worth billions.
I fart in his general direction...
Yes he did 