Skip to main content

The Altcoin Rises

O n May 11 2020, the crypto world experienced the phenomena knows as Bitcoin halving . For those who are still a little looney-toons regarding this phenomena, here's the lowdown . Moral of the story is that, as the Bitcoin supply decreased and it's 21 million market cap slowly approached, it was widely accepted that the low supply and high demand will increase the price of the cryptocurrency back to its previous highs. Basic business right? Wrong! Source: Equity Trust Company BTC prices actually fell and after briefly holding steady, are only just rising above the 10000 USD range. Surprise eh? Well, we are not done yet. Because while the most valuable crypto coin wasn't showing it's expected gains, some other cryptocurrencies shot to outer space. There was no SpaceX rocket nor a Tesla Roadster involved. These "altcoins" bumped up in their market value thanks to the entire underlying system of cryptocurrency: investor speculation.  But what exactly are these ...

Why Living on other planets is more tempting than Cinnabon..

While spreading jelly on toast watching telly of North Korea nodding its head to Trump's US, and vice versa, a groan came out from my mouth. I thought World War 3 was a sure hit. What with me being lazy over my future prospects something exciting could have come out from the war. Of course, I would die 
( and so would the rest of the world) but I also wanted to walk slow-mo with bullets hitting me and watching the enemy factory being blown up by my obnoxious laughing gas schadenfreude. But Putin with his ultimate smile won me over and the likelihood of nuclear annihilation soon perked me up. I love Russia. No hard feelings eh?

Unlikely as it might sound.... what if a few obnoxiously rich humans survived and got on to the next Musk rocket to outer space? Where would they go? Of course, they would be happy. A world without Bieber's song on the radio, without Kardashians doing their millionth plastic surgery and without watching Liverpool having to fret over its goalkeeper conundrums. If any Kop fan survives he would surely be happy Ramos didn't make it. It would a blessed world indeed. But the ironic part is would there be a world. The good feelings of escaping paparazzi hell-bent on taking their next undie photoshoot would soon vanish when the food runs out, or the oil, and the water, and then whatever comes next. Humans would be..well...extinct, and aliens will be laughing with joy over the demise of this gifted species.



Image result for living on other planets

Which is why living and finding life on other planets is tempting as f**k. That is probably one of the few things why NASA's budget keeps running. If we can find hospitable places within our solar system we could just about find away from escaping many crazy politicians pressing the wrong buttons. And don't forget escaping the Kardashians. If we could find life on other planets we would able to harness resources to increase our already depleting reserves of chocolates. Or candies. Yum.


Back in the times when smartphones or proper mobile phones didn't exist, life on planet's both inside and outside of our Solar System were more difficult to find than Amelia Earhart. But on January 9, 1992, astronomers ( the guys who look like doctors but have a slightly better handwriting) announced a momentous discovery. They found 2 planets orbiting some big glowing thingy, 2300 light-years away ( about the radius of 'Friendzone Land'). Of course, they didn't call it 'some big glowing thingy', they probably would have lost their jobs, they called it a star and the 2 planets were the first properly confirmed 'exoplanets'. No why is this so momentous? Cuz they proved there are other systems like ours and the possibility of other planets similar to Earth made them more giddier than receiving presents from Santa.


 Image result for exoplanets


Ever since then, more than 3500 such planets have been found in over 2400 systems. Sadly Amelia is still lost. Maybe she met some aliens and went to another planet. Optimism is key when the Kit Kats in your fridge have vanished without a trace.


Over the years several expeditions have speculated and found traces of water on 2 of Jupiter's moons: Enceladus and Europa. The possibility of both having literal oceans under the ice-crust significantly improves the chances of finding life. 

And, if we Homo Sapiens ever make it there, at least one problem would be chalked off our list.


Image result for enceladus          Related image

But living on other such planets or moons so far away from the earth is going to blow away the definition of 'absurdly comically expensive'. So what we need is somewhere close to our Earth. So any one-way trips would be cheaper. And we would be able to watch Mother Earth going supernova in infinite resolution. 

That leaves us with Mars and possibly the Moon.

Over a series of missions, many space expeditions have uncovered the intricacies of the Red planet. Thanks to the work put in by the enlightened apes 

( scientists) as well data collected by those flying metal canisters called satellites, it has been reasonably inferred that over a billion years ( the time it takes to get out of 'Friendzone Land') ago Mars contained 3 important ingredients to make a 'living' soup recipe.

1.Abundance of chemical building blocks (Lego blocks with an excessive dose of protein shakes)

2. Water 
3. Energy source for reactions to actually take place. ( think volcanoes)

 It's soup probably didn't win the MasterChef: Universe edition but the soup could have been edible enough. 


Elon Musk, the new supposed 'Iron Man' has made an ambitious plan to colonise Mars and actually have a million inhabitants. I personally think that he should focus on Tesla first, but his SpaceX fireworks seem to be doing pretty okay and he is a visionary. You can read his plans here (https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/space.2017.29009.emu).

I haven't read it completely but his most important claim is the usage of InterPlanetary Transport Systems, or ITS Rockets to launch spaceships into orbit. The coolest part is the fact that these rockets, supposed to be the most powerful by the time they are made, would be completely reusable up to a claimed 100 times.

The reusability is the key factor of this mission as it could bring the cost of a trip down to $200000 per person rather than 10 billion usd. Yes you read that right. Elon Musk's space mission could reduce the cost from $10000000000 to a measly $200000. Those are bigger discounts than the one's you get at Walmart.


Image result for mars colonization spacex


But according to www.businessinsider.com the plan does not highlight details about food, water and air supply for this installation . So how does one live there? Hmmm.


The need for these essential items is likely to be a stumbling block for space housing missions. We could probably solve the radiation issue, maybe even get enough O2 to let all 7 billion of the world's population summit Mount Everest in record time. But these two inventions are likely to be ages away. And we can't even solve our own food crisis.

Maybe , just maybe if everything works out we HomoSapiens could find space living to be very exciting. It opens a whole host of possibilities. Think zero-gravity yoga. Or punching that asshole who stole your chick in high school. No atmosphere means he won't even hear you coming. And you could bury his body somewhere. After it becomes old and gets covered with some space age rock style coating you could recover it and prove that you were the first person to discover life on other planets. NASA would be destroyed because of you. What makes it worst is the fact that NASA probably helped you to get to your exo-planet. Cheers.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Everything You Need To Know About Physical Bitcoins

So you actually did it. You read more about Bitcoin Halving. You felt now was the time for you to shine and decided to invest your money into the crypto market. You thought of buying some Ethereum (ETH), maybe a little Ripple (XRP), but you said 'Nah. To hell with it', and decided to go for the real o.g. Bitcoin (BTC). Source: CoinDesk You signed up with a respectable broker who and now you have some BTC stored in a fancy digital wallet. Life is good until I tell you that your wallet isn't secure. You panik, yes, panik. "Really?", you say. And I'm like "Yes, really. You could lose all your holdings online in a snap ". Your panik intensifies. Source: Twitter Mon Dieu! My money! Non! While it's understandable to worry in a weirdly french way (unless you are french...in that case 'Bonjour'),  do remember that no security is always 100% safe. Blockchain tech is the safest that is out there, but that doesn't mean that there aren't big...

The McLaren Speedtail is Egregiously Elegant

Form follows function.   That has been McLaren's mantra ever since its humble beginnings less than a decade ago. If producing a  supercar  as your first ever car can be called humble. They made the F1 in the '90s and partnered with Mercedes-Benz to give birth to the SLR's with its various editions in the early 2000s but the proper start of the organization only began in 2010, with a car name more apt for the Musk family, the MP4-12C. However, in just 8 years the brand has gone from strength to strength. And massively improved their naming system. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the pinnacle of McLaren Automotive: the Speedtail. Source: Google Images The Speedtail is a part of McLaren's Ultimate Series lineup and it's the evolution of McLaren's DNA which began with the 12C, followed by the 650 S, the 500 series, P1, the 720 S and the Senna. As you can see, the cars in McLaren's lineup not only became a lot easier to pronounce but more importantly stuck to t...

Why the North Korean and American summit beats Peanut Butter and Pancakes

My last article described how, along with James Franco, we Homo Sapiens face extinction. But like an eager child who goes to play forgetting his undies, I forgot about the Nuclear War story.  Although this 'story' might not be as fresh as a new pair of socks, it is an added dimension to our human extinction theory. And that's why ' The Summit' ( not the Everest mind you) between 'cute as kittens' heads of 2 states is a way of vanquishing the incessant beast of mass destruction. I mean you can't enjoy peanut butter when you are toast (pun intended)  right?     The first meeting between Trump and Kim could determine the fate of not just the two countries but an entire world as well. If a war does occur the rest of the world can't just sit in their pyjamas and eat popcorn. Allies on both sides will want to get their hands on each other expensive throats. And then WW3 would hit us quicker than you can say ' World War 3'. What is scarier th...