What Does Van Allen Do?

Split into two distinct belts, the entire Van Allen radiation belt extends to 7 earth radii. The most dangerous belt is the inner belt, which lies 1.1-3.3  earth radii away. With high concentrations of energetic protons, energies would typically exceed 100 megavolts (MeV). An astronaut, much less any living thing, would be lucky to survive more than a few minutes.

Given the intense proton radiation, space flight without extreme amounts of armored protection on the space vehicle would almost be impossible. In 1958, with the first satellite Explorer I checking for cosmic rays , its Geiger-Müller tube registered off-scale with radiation while traveling through the inner belt. Subsequent measurements have registered over 400 MeV (400 million volts--can penetrate 143 mm lead). [(1968) The Radiation Belt and Magnetosphere ]

Gamma-ray energies from radiating nuclei range to over 1,000000 eV (1 MeV) for Cesium-137.  Alpha particles from naturally decaying species, typically have 4 MeV of energy. The energy released when an atom of uranium-235 and plutonium-239 fissions (naturally or induced) is about 200 MeV (200,000,000 eV), or about 50 million times the energy released in burning an atom of carbon.

An asteroid collision with earth would affect climate negatively for years. It could kill hundreds or thousands more than any earthquake, tornado, tsunami, or nuclear fallout. So many have been cauterized with its ‘end-of-the-world’ effects on us, and with the highly slim chances of its occurrence, that few ever worry---at all.

Working for NASA on astronaut visual communications, the Chief Scientific Visualization engineer discovered something he really didn't know about abortion, of all things.

In [About TED], Alexander Tsiaras sets things straight for the unknowing entrepreneur. He has been working on robotic pods for astronauts, and delved into the topic of pregnancy and fetal birth with visualization. But his group used photography never before seen.