Two world-renowned scientists have described colonising Mars to escape the climate change problem on Earth as "unrealistic".
British astrophysicist Martin Rees and American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson spoke on Wednesday during the second day of the World Government Summit, hosted by Dubai.
The duo disagreed with SpaceX founder Elon Musk and late physicist Stephen Hawking’s idea of using Mars as a backup planet.
Mr Musk is working towards sending a million people to Mars by 2050 using his Starship fleets. He hopes to send the first un-crewed cargo flight to the planet within this decade.
Dealing with climate change on Earth is a doddle compared to making Mars habitable
“Mars is a very hostile environment,” Mr Rees said. “What I certainly don’t buy is an idea espoused by Elon Musk and by my late colleague, Stephen Hawking, that we should expect that literally millions of people will go and settle on Mars as a way of escaping Earth problems.
“I think that's a dangerous delusion because dealing with climate change on Earth is a doddle compared to making Mars habitable.”
He said living on Mars is “no better than living at the South Pole, the ocean bed or on top of Everest”.
However, Mr Rees said he did believe that humans could be living on space stations in future.
The mysterious Red Planet
It is believed Mars was once very similar to Earth, but now it has a very thin atmosphere mostly made up of carbon dioxide, and is uninhabitable. Spacesuits and special habitats would be required.
Mr Tyson said terraforming Mars – changing the atmosphere enough to support life – would be needed to call the planet home, but it would be a huge task.
“If you want to do that [terraform Mars] to escape climate change and problems here on Earth, consider that whatever it takes to turn Mars into Earth, that's probably a bigger task than to turn Earth back into Earth.
“Both of us align in disagreement with Elon Musk and with the late Stephen Hawking on that.”
Climate change on Earth is caused by deforestation and fossil fuels releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere. This causes average temperatures to increase, the polar icecaps to melt and sea levels to rise. Another cause for concern is an increase in extreme weather patterns.
In 2017, the UAE also announced plan to build a human settlement on Mars by 2117.
However, space officials later said the main goal of the project was to help guarantee jobs in Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) for the next 100 years.
Mr Rees also addressed space tourism, saying “it would never be safe” and should be called "space adventure" instead.
Several private firms are working on making space tourism flights possible, including SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has signed on for the world’s first lunar tourism flight and will take eight civilians with him for free.
Plans for a space hotel and a commercial space station had also been announced.
“To go into space, there's never going to be a routine,” Mr Rees said.
“If this is done, I think it should be done by private players – then they're going to do it cheaper than Nasa or the European Space Agency, and they'll be taking the risk.
“If I was an American, I wouldn't support the manned space programme. It’s expensive because they have got to be so safe. They should leave it to people who are prepared for adventure and take risks.”
Mr Tyson, however, said space tourism could become safe one day, in a similar way to how aviation evolved.
“It's not hard for me to imagine the day when space adventure becomes so safe that you bring grandma and the kids, and no one is worried that you'll never come back,” he said.
2021 World Triathlon Championship Series
May 15: Yokohama, Japan
June 5: Leeds, UK
June 24: Montreal, Canada
July 10: Hamburg, Germany
Aug 17-22: Edmonton, Canada (World Triathlon Championship Final)
Nov 5-6 : Abu Dhabi, UAE
Date TBC: Chengdu, China
A cryptocurrency primer for beginners
Cryptocurrency Investing for Dummies – by Kiana Danial
There are several primers for investing in cryptocurrencies available online, including e-books written by people whose credentials fall apart on the second page of your preferred search engine.
Ms Danial is a finance coach and former currency analyst who writes for Nasdaq. Her broad-strokes primer (2019) breaks down investing in cryptocurrency into baby steps, while explaining the terms and technologies involved.
Although cryptocurrencies are a fast evolving world, this book offers a good insight into the game as well as providing some basic tips, strategies and warning signs.
Begin your cryptocurrency journey here.
Available at Magrudy’s , Dh104
A Bad Moms Christmas
Dir: John Lucas and Scott Moore
Starring: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Susan Sarandon, Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines
Two stars
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre V6
Power: 295hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 355Nm at 5,200rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
Price: Dh179,999-plus
On sale: now
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
BMW M5 specs
Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor
Power: 727hp
Torque: 1,000Nm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Is it worth it? We put cheesecake frap to the test.
The verdict from the nutritionists is damning. But does a cheesecake frappuccino taste good enough to merit the indulgence?
My advice is to only go there if you have unusually sweet tooth. I like my puddings, but this was a bit much even for me. The first hit is a winner, but it's downhill, slowly, from there. Each sip is a little less satisfying than the last, and maybe it was just all that sugar, but it isn't long before the rush is replaced by a creeping remorse. And half of the thing is still left.
The caramel version is far superior to the blueberry, too. If someone put a full caramel cheesecake through a liquidiser and scooped out the contents, it would probably taste something like this. Blueberry, on the other hand, has more of an artificial taste. It's like someone has tried to invent this drink in a lab, and while early results were promising, they're still in the testing phase. It isn't terrible, but something isn't quite right either.
So if you want an experience, go for a small, and opt for the caramel. But if you want a cheesecake, it's probably more satisfying, and not quite as unhealthy, to just order the real thing.
CABINET%20OF%20CURIOSITIES%20EPISODE%201%3A%20LOT%2036
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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Oppenheimer
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Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
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The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Dunki
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U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES
UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
- Saturday 15 January: UAE beat Canada by 49 runs
- Thursday 20 January: v England
- Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh
UAE squad:
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles
Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly,
Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya
Shetty, Kai Smith
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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