cosmic rays

nothing to do with marijuana in this thread, unfortunately.

this topic struck interest in me the moment i heard it. it's a theory that invisible cosmic rays that come from outer space come down to Earth, where they are inhaled by human beings, World wide.

the astronomers believe that these cosmic rays have the ability to destroy chromosomes in the dna strand...thus, altering the persons dna.

suddenly this thought of being able to produce cosmic rays clouded my head. what if, we could find someway to produce them. do you have any idea what you could do with them?

you could destroy inheriatble diseases through generations, such as cancer, diabetes, etc.

the thought of even becoming a super human wouldn't be far fetched if we could produce them.

anyone like to shed some light on this?

Cosmic rays are very high-energy charged particles, and are believed to be primarily remnants of the Big Bang. They move at nearly the speed of light and carry enough energy to smash molecules to pieces. We currently do not possess the technology to produce charged particle bursts with similar energy levels - it would take a particle accelerator the size of the Earth to do it. Even if we could, we probably wouldn't want to, except under very carefully controlled conditions. There would be no way to control the effects on biological systems, and the potential for doing more harm than good is clearly present. It would be like trying to adjust the contrast on your TV by firing cannonballs at the controls. Imagine the energy of a bullet concentrated into a space the size of a proton. That's a typical cosmic ray.

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Originally Posted by Ganj

you could destroy inheriatble diseases through generations, such as cancer, diabetes, etc.

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but can it get ya high? haha sorry im just wondering...try anything once

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Originally Posted by Killa.Kali

but can it get ya high? haha sorry im just wondering...try anything once

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Yes, where are the IMPORTANT answers here??? LOL

Beebs...you continue to amaze me with your knowledge about....well, everything! LOL My knowledge mainly consists of useless trivia,
so please take this as a compliment!

haha...thanks for the information. i thought the idea sounded too good to be possible.

No need to produce them when cosmic rays are everywhere already - if one wants extra exposure, book lots of airline flights, especially those travelling near the poles, with as many connections as possible to maximize flight time; earn more frequent flyer miles.

Computers (and devices containing them) are increasingly effected by cosmic rays as they get faster / circuits get smaller and smaller - fortunately, the effects (often random bit flips) are nearly always transparant to the user who never notices anything amiss; most folks are used to their computer locking up / misbehaving once in awhile for seemingly mysterious reasons already.

On a related topic, there many studies / experiences that suggest very limited exposure to various toxins, including radiation (I think that's the idea you may be getting at in regards to cosmic rays), etc may actually be healthy; "hormesis" - google for more information.

Ron

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Originally Posted by Beeblebrox.420

Cosmic rays are very high-energy charged particles, and are believed to be primarily remnants of the Big Bang. They move at nearly the speed of light and carry enough energy to smash molecules to pieces. We currently do not possess the technology to produce charged particle bursts with similar energy levels - it would take a particle accelerator the size of the Earth to do it. Even if we could, we probably wouldn't want to, except under very carefully controlled conditions. There would be no way to control the effects on biological systems, and the potential for doing more harm than good is clearly present. It would be like trying to adjust the contrast on your TV by firing cannonballs at the controls. Imagine the energy of a bullet concentrated into a space the size of a proton. That's a typical cosmic ray.

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hahaha i just pictured that and that is hilarous. lol

There's not a huge amount of evidence that the hormesis hypothesis is correct, but there is some, yes. Nevertheless, even in the absence of a benefit to the individual, there is little doubt that low levels of radiation, called background radiation, are a large part of the very driving force of evolution itself. Organisms have evolved a large number of defenses against low-level radiation, such as the ability to repair DNA, but still ionizing radiation induces mutations from time to time, and if these mutations prove beneficial to the organism in some way, it may have some slight reproductive advantage over other organisms. In this way, evolution slowly progresses and new species arise. In a very real sense we owe our existence to radiation, including the incessant bombardment of cosmic rays.

what kind of radiation do cosmic rays emit?

Cosmic rays are made up of any number of different charged particles, from electrons to light atomic nuclei. When they impact another atom or molecule, they can emit nearly any sort of radiation, including fast neutrinos, and gamma rays.