Short circuit the Earth???
Moderator: Alyrium Denryle
Short circuit the Earth???
I was watching this show on The Science Channel today and it was talking about weather phenomena. One scientist was talking about the effect of the ionosphere on the Earths weather patterns. He said that if you took a long cable that was grounded and flew it up to the ionosphere it would essentially "short circuit" the planet and theoretically FUBAR the Earths weather. I had never heard this before. Anyone know if this is potentially true or was this guy full of shit?
It depends on what he means by "short circuit" and FUBAR. NASA already launches wires into storm clouds to provide a channel for the lightening that doesn't come close to the rockets. If you have a voltage difference, and you reduce resistence enough then current will flow.
But there is a limit to how much current you can flow on any cable, if you put too much through then the circuit fries and the flow of current stops. NASA does have some handwaving peices about short circuiting the positive and negative belts of the ionosphere, but even nanotubes can't carry sufficient current to quickly discharge that type of potential.
But there is a limit to how much current you can flow on any cable, if you put too much through then the circuit fries and the flow of current stops. NASA does have some handwaving peices about short circuiting the positive and negative belts of the ionosphere, but even nanotubes can't carry sufficient current to quickly discharge that type of potential.
Very funny, Scotty. Now beam down my clothes.