reply to post by Oozii
I don't know about you, but gamma ray bursts give me the heebie jeebies. They can also occur within our galaxy when a super massive star starts to
collapse and form a black hole. When it does this, it can generate a gamma ray burst along the axis of rotation.
These are very high energy events, and if Earth was hit by one it would be very bad news. Our ozone layer would be ripped off and our sun's UV light
would make life on the surface very difficult.
It is ironic that Fermi is the name of the telescope to find this. There is something called Fermi's Paradox, which basically states "Where is
Everybody", referring to alien extraterrestrial intelligence. Quote: "The apparent size and age of the universe suggest that many technologically
advanced extraterrestrial civilizations ought to exist.
However, this hypothesis seems inconsistent with the lack of observational evidence to support it."
Some physicist claim that galaxies actually "sterilize" higher life forms in this fashion and may have led to previous mass extinctions on Earth
Even with our current technology we could build generation star ships and populate many earth like planets within a few hundred thousand years. So
given the age of our universe, where is the heck is everybody?
However, these gamma ray bursters from stars have to be relatively close to us, say 20LY, but the effects would be dramatic. I would guess only
bacteria living underground would survive and eventually evolve again and spread to the surface.
This current discovery from NASA poses no threat to earth, the jets are more or less perpendicular to the plane of our galaxy. Whats more dangerous
are those big stars nearer to us about to go supernova, if we get caught in any gamma ray bursts they generate, it will be a bad day.
I suppose humans could survive this by building underground shelters and storing stockpiles of food and seed. But I can't help wonder if galaxies are
constantly sterilizing planets by these high energy and deadly bursts. Maybe that explains why SETI hasn't found anything yet, and why ETs aren't
applying for green cards.
It also tells us how special we are in this vast universe. Maybe with better understanding of these phenomena, we could take steps to ensure the
continued survival of our species and the human spirit.
Couple more links: www.wired.com...