Answered Questions

Thank you for being patient with all your questions. I've read that 2012 is supposed to be a solar maximum with solar storms that will cause harm on earth because of some sort of magnetic field reversal. If solar flares were to take place during this supposed magnetic reversal would it really effect life on earth as much as these crazy doomsday people claim?

Would it effect life? Probably not. Both magnetic field reversal (every few hundred thousand years) and solar maxima (every 11 years) have happened to Earth regularly throughout its history. It is indeed pretty crazy to suggest we are facing some sort of doomsday, and besides the chances of a magnetic... More

Hello, I was wondering what would specifically be the best course of action when it comes down to becoming an astrobiologist? I've read that you have to take biological and physical science courses but what would be best? For example, double major in Physics and Biology or receive a PhD in Astronomy and a Bachelor's in Biology or etc?

Answer: There is no single path to becoming an astrobiologist. Most astrobiologists today did their university work before the field even existed. While you are correct that you need to study both physical and biological science, I can’t tell you which science courses to take. In the University of... More

First off, I would like to thank you for proving that the 2012 doomsday claims are untrue. I am only 16 years old, and after seeing things like the history channel documentary and the trailer to the movie 2012 that says "Find out the Truth, search 2012" I became very scared. Seeing your website made me feel much better about this issue. However, there is one claim that is still on my mind a little. Even though you said that the Pole Shift theory was absurd, I heard about this episode of NOVA.(http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/about.html). If the Pole Shift theory is absurd, what is that episode claiming?

Thanks for reading my comments debunking the 2012 hoax. The NOVA show is about changes in the magnetic poles, not the rotation poles. On the NOVA website, the key paragraph is: “At the present rate, Earth's magnetic field could be gone within a few centuries, exposing the planet to the... More

I hope you have a moment to answer this one. There is a big speculation about behavior of the next solar cycle. Lots of scientists are making connections with currently low activity of the sun with Maunder, Dalton minimums and similar things. The question is: The pattern on the graphs of ice ages are clearly indicating that it is time for another ice age, we can be entering in this ice age at any moment in time now. By these graphs the warm period has expired. At least what these graphs are showing is that it is time for a change in temperature. Why is nobody even trying to relate these two in all of speculations?

Ice ages of the sort we have had several times in the past million years are thought by scientists to be primarily due to slow variations in the Earth’s orbit and the tilt of its axis, not to changes in solar activity. Of course, solar activity does have a small... More

Are we due for a dramatic climate change on Dec. 21, 2012 for the first time in 5200 years followed by a minor ice age and if so, will this end life on earth? I read this on a university's website (http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/5200event.htm) and it says there is scientific proof we are due for a big climate change for the first time in 5200 years.

Your question is interesting because it illustrates how easily scientific information can get garbled in the retelling. There is no prediction of climate change on Dec. 21, 2012 followed by a minor ice age. What the 2004 press release on the Ohio State website says is that one of their... More

Is it true that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid millions of years ago? Do you have evidence with that claim? Do you believe that asteroids are huge? So why until now there are no evidence found of such asteroids that struck the earth?

Asteroids and dinosaurs are both fascinating topics, and there is much for you to learn. Staring with asteroids, we have measured the sizes of thousands of them: these are not assumptions but actual measurements. I don’t know what you call huge; for the near-Earth asteroids, the size ranges from about... More

If I have the location of a sonic boom and a witness to a meteor/meteorite falling across the sky during the day as well as witnessing the "fire" going out on the fireball... Can I hunt for the meteorite closer to the sonic boom witness reported or would I have better luck searching the area where the witness saw it pass a quarter of a mile in front of her car and watch the flames go out? I want to find the asteroid piece. Is it likely that the witness saw this farther away than they realized and that it landed nearer the people who heard the sonic boom that shook their home?

Meteors can be deceptive, whether seen in the daylight or at night. You see them when they are quite high, usually between 20 and 100 km altitude. Witnesses often report that the meteor is close when it is really as much as 100 km away. Many times people think it... More

How large would a man made object perhaps something like a space station have to be to have its own gravitational field. And if left unattended for a long enough period of time could it draw in smaller objects from space that might ultimately encompass the station completly.

Everything in space has its own gravitational field, and it would attract other objects toward it if it were alone in space. The Space Station, however is not alone; it is orbiting close to the Earth with its much large gravitational field. Consequently, things are not attracted toward the station,... More

What exactly does an astrobiologist do that is different from the conspiracy theorists you so delicately trash? Do you both not conjecture on wild ideas and attempt to paste past events/experiments onto unknown possibilites?

I am not sure if your question is serious, but I will try to answer. Scientists (including astrobiologists) make observations of the natural world and attempt to find rational explanations. Very little of this is speculation, and we try to stay grounded in the facts. We also constantly test our... More

At about what time will the polar caps melt and when they do will it flood the earth?

Melting of polar ice is one of the worst potential consequences of global warming. First, global warming is affecting the high latitudes most, with rises of several degrees happening there. Second, as the ice melts it exposes darker land or ocean underneath, and that increases the absorption of sunlight. This... More

According to Dr. Walt Brown, some meteorites that are supposedly 4.5B years old have microbes in them. Isn't the dating methodology more than likely amiss if supposed 4.5B year-old meteorites have microbes in them.

Sadly, scientists have found no meteorites with microbes in them. If this were true, it would be one of the most spectacular discoveries in astrobiology. The best case for fossil evidence of life in a meteorite is from the Mars rock ALH84001, but that is a relatively young rock compared... More

Many of people and some of scientist say that the video recorded in 1969 on moon is a big fake As the flag was moving due to air wind and we all know that there isn't air on moon. Could u tell me the proves about that mission and why the flag was moving???

I have answered this question before; most recently in posted answers from December 17, 2008 (where you should have looked it up using the search engine on our website). It has always been a crazy idea to suggest that we didn’t go to the Moon and thus that the 400,000... More

Some scientists are talking about a massive solar storm in the future. Is it true that the sun has been acting unusually in the past 100 years? If a solar storm bigger than usual will take place, how is this going to affect our planet? AND My husband says there will be a huge solar storm that will cause floods and winds and destroy many cities. Where can I go to be safe? AND I've seen pictures that showed these firey things coming out of the sun and it incinerated earth AND Is our magnetic field strong enough right now to protect us from the solar storm? How do you suggest my family prepares for this? AND They say flares are emitted by the sun and cause havoc on earth, like tsunamis, earthquakes, and strong winds. AND Can a solar storm effect people somehow? AND Sir Can Our Sun Produce a Killer Flare?

Many people are writing to me expressing concern about solar storms. These are not something to worry about. First, please note that solar storms are on the Sun, not the Earth. They cannot produce rain or wind or floods or earthquakes or any of the other disasters mentioned in these... More

Why are there so few photos of planets in our solar system, but there are many photos of galaxies outside of our solar system?

Probably there are more pictures of galaxies than planets because there are many billions of galaxies to photograph and only about a dozen planets in our solar system (counting the giant planets, the terrestrial planets, and the dwarf planets). However, there are thousands of excellent planet photos from space... More

If you werent prepared to the thing that fly in to jupiter this morning, how can you be sure this is not gonna happen to us?

We can’t be sure; that is why we are conducting the Spaceguard Survey to find and track near Earth asteroids (see impact.arc.nasa.gov and neo.jpl.nasa.gov or Google “NEO” or “Spaceguard”). But of course, Spaceguard is concentrating on objects that come close to the Earth. We are not surveying near-Jupiter space, but... More

There is plenty of credible evidence to support that Extraterrestrial life forms have been visiting Earth. It's up to the leaders of the world to decide when to officially acknowledge and disclose the truth. NASA Astrobiologists want to discover ET life on "their" terms, so you continue to deny the reality and ridicule UFOs. Even the Vatican has been making statements lately which seem support openness to the idea of Extraterrestrial life and how humanity should except it.

Astrobiologists have a major professional interest in extraterrestrial life. There is nothing that most astrobiologists would rather do than discover evidence of extraterrestrial life. But we are scientists and we know there is no credible evidence of UFOs as alien spacecraft or of alien visitations to Earth. Wanting it does... More

How do you detect planets around other stars?

There can find a comprehensive answer to your question on Wikipedia under planet detection or detection of extrasolar planets (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_of_detecting_extrasolar_planets). Thanks to Google and Wikipedia it is now quite easy to look up science topics like this. Briefly, most exoplanets have been detected so far from their gravitational effect on... More

Is there a plan in place for Nasa to send a mission to Enceladus and Europa in the near future? Since these are the 2 bodies in the Solar System that are believed to have significant ocean of water or water-ice, wouldn't the astrobiological community be excited about confirming it or devising a mission to detect possible existence of microorganisms?

Last February, after a long study, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a joint mission to the Jupiter system, including a spacecraft to orbit Europa. You can read about it at (opfm.jpl.nasa.gov/europajupitersystemmissionejsm) or on the NASA and ESA websites. This is a big mission, and no launch date... More

As the average 15 year old I find it difficult to understand your answers about the so called 2012 doomsday. I have heard many theories one saying that the U.S project Philladelphia or something traveled into the future and there was nothing left in 2012 the earth was destroyed. Could you give me the simple answer are we or are we not going to die in 2012 I would rather take my own life than suffer a doomsday. ..AND.. hello I am really scared with the news that the world is going to end on 12 21 2012....I have been looking it up to try to find some information that is from a valuable source. Please help me!!!!

I received these two questions within a few minutes of each other, and they make me angry at the liars and fools who keep posting claims of a 2012 doomsday. Nothing will happen in 2012. There is no planet Nibiru, no planet alignment, no crossing the celestial equator, no change... More

For almost a year now, my husband and I have noticed a bright star (unsure if it can be classified as a star) in the sky that seems like it gets brighter and brighter as the evenings pass. We're now noticing it in the southeast skies after 9 or 10pm pst. I've been searching the internet to see if anyone knows what it is. Some speculate it's Venus or Mercury. Some say it's a satellite. So, what could it be? And why does it seem like it's getting brighter and brighter?

You have been seeing Jupiter, which is now near opposition (and hence at its brightest because it is closest to the Earth). I am curious about your account of searching the Internet and finding conflicting suggestions. It is easy to find the positions of the planets, for instance at the... More