Leading researcher of the Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Astro Space Center of FIAN delivered a lecture on the "terrible isolation" of earthlings and the prospects for discovering life in the Universe in Togliatti.
Boris Stern, a well-known Russian astrophysicist, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, a leading researcher at INR RAS and the Astrospace Center of Lebedev Physical Institute, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Troitsky Variant"
Once Boris Stern lived in the city of Zhigulevsk, but he visited Tolyatti for the first time. “It would be nice if this time was not the last,” the lecturer commented on this fact at the beginning of his speech on exoplanets - cosmic bodies that revolve around stars outside the solar system.
The scientist spoke about how the first exoplanets were discovered and how since then the hope has not died that in the end earthlings will find a "comrade" planet in space - one on which life will be possible. In general, according to Boris Stern, one of the noblest tasks and even, perhaps, the raison d'être for humanity is to spread life to other planets.
“We are in terrible isolation in the Universe, where intelligent life is a terribly scarce thing,” the scientist said, “and its spread is the only way to make life eternal.
Boris Stern stopped at the stages of studying exoplanets starting from the 80s of the 20th century, when it was believed that there was simply no place for planets like the Earth in systems that were not similar to the Sun. He stopped at the work of NASA's Kepler space observatory, thanks to which in 2009 about a thousand "lands" were found, recalled the discovery of a space body the size of the Earth near the red dwarf Proxima Centauri in the habitable zone in 2016 and about 7 such planets in the same place already in 2017.
“Fifty years ago, I was sure that no exoplanets would be discovered in my lifetime,” the 67-year-old scientist admitted.
Boris Stern explained why, despite such a rapid development of the topic, the possibility of the existence of life on exoplanets still seems unlikely to scientists. The fact is that both the generation of the star's magnetic field and the convective motions of Proxima Centauri are stronger than those of the Sun. This means that exoplanets, which, moreover, are located closer to Proxima than the Earth to the Sun, take on a powerful blow of X-ray and ultraviolet radiation, stellar wind.
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What happens on Earth when the solar wind "blows" it, we know - magnetic storms and aurora borealis at latitudes unusual for them (for example, in September 2017, this happened in the Samara region). However, the Earth has a strong magnetic field that “repels” the solar wind. In addition, our planet rotates on its axis faster than exoplanets. The latter, however, next to their red dwarf have a hard time - in the sense that the stellar wind "blows" the entire atmosphere from them.
“So Mars used to have oceans, lakes and rivers,” Boris Stern gave an example. - But since its magnetic field is weaker than the earth's, the solar wind simply "blew" all this from the planet, burned it out.
Continuing the theme of Mars, the scientist said that its colonization is real, and movement in this sense can be expected in 20 years. Stern also added that it is possible to colonize Mars by “burying 10 meters underground”, arranging exploration through the catacombs, since such deeper, the radioactive situation there is already "more suitable". However, this project will require trillions of dollars.
When the audience asked who, in his opinion, would begin to colonize Mars first - NASA, ESA, Roscosmos or Elon Musk, Stern replied that, most likely, it would be NASA together with ESA. Well, Musk will probably "take on some part."
Boris Stern also found it logical to assume that the first lunar village would be Chinese, and described China as "the present Soviet Union", that is, a country that has the motivation to become the first in advanced fields of knowledge. And even if the first village on the moon is not formed by the Chinese, then the race in which they today involve the West, according to the scientist, is very useful.
In general, according to him, at present mankind has everything to carry out more active spacewalk - both means and technologies. However, all projects, including the upcoming launch of the James Webb Telescope in 2019, the E-ELT telescope under construction with a mirror the size of a 12-story building, and a space interferometer for studying gravitational waves, which NASA and the European Space Agency are planning to create together, are calculated nevertheless, to obtain results that we can already see, at least the next generation of earthlings. Meanwhile, the distances in space are so enormous that even the fastest space probe available will take hundreds of thousands of years to reach the nearest exoplanet. Start projects with such a payback period, investing trillions of dollars in them,no one on Earth has enough altruism, said Boris Stern.
According to the scientist, the prospects for earthlings in this regard are rather gloomy. The technological power of a person greatly outstrips the development of his mind, and in the absence of altruism and in the presence of a desire to get from life as much and as quickly as possible, this means the end of civilization.
- I agree with Stephen Hawking that either we will rush into space, or we will degrade and perish, - the scientist summed up.
After the lecture, Boris Stern answered the questions of the audience, laughing at various "gravity" and speculations on overcoming the speed of light, expressed doubts that it is possible to travel between Universes through "wormholes" without being "flattened", did not support the reasoning that our planet could be inside a black hole, doubted the imminent start of the production of antimatter, and also categorically rejected the option of the existence of a reality in which there is a dead Schrödinger's cat, simultaneously with the reality where he lives.
Some of the listeners, inspired by the space theme, tried to talk about their experience of contact with beings from Alpha Centauri, but Boris Stern suggested that the “aliens” apparently just had a good sense of humor.
