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Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft has detected strong winds near Venus's equator:
Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft orbiting Venus has spotted extremely strong winds near the planet's equator blowing at speeds of over 178 mph (286 km/h). The newly discovered, high-velocity winds could provide important hints about the dynamics of the Venusian atmosphere.
[...] Strong winds were imaged by Akatsuki's IR2 infrared camera in mid-2016. Using a novel automated cloud tracking method, a group of researchers led by Takeshi Horinouchi of Hokkaido University in Japan was able to distinguish winds exhibiting a maximum rotational speed near the equator. They refer to this phenomenon as the equatorial jet.
"Here we report the detection of winds at low latitude exceeding 80 meters per second using IR2 camera images from the Akatsuki orbiter taken during July and August 2016," the scientists wrote in a paper published on August 28 in Nature Geoscience [DOI: 10.1038/ngeo3016] [DX]. "The angular speed around the planetary rotation axis peaks near the equator, which we suggest is consistent with an equatorial jet, a feature that has not been observed previously in the Venusian atmosphere."
A special NASA test chamber apparatus is helping scientists explore the mysteries of Venus right here on Earth. The chamber is located at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. It is hoped that this new vessel will help prepare the space agency for missions to extreme worlds.
GEER, the Glenn Extreme Environment Rig, is a high-tech pressure vessel capable of simulating the pressure, temperature, and atmospheric gas mix of Venus, or any other extreme planetary environment, for an extended period. Engineers at the NASA Glenn Research Center where GEER is housed, as well as scientists from nearby Case Western Reserve University, recently conducted a long-duration experiment in GEER that could yield important new information about the Venus environment.
[...] Surface radar images of Venus and the resulting topographic maps show an abundance of volcanoes and lava flows on the planet's surface. [Ralph] Harvey and his graduate student Brandon Radoman-Shaw, in cooperation with researchers and engineers at NASA Glenn, conceived of an experiment in which they took a suite of minerals that represent the key minerals in basaltic volcanic rocks – pyroxene, olivine, feldspars, and others – as well as some glasses, and placed them inside the GEER chamber. There, the minerals were exposed to a high-fidelity simulation of Venus' surface conditions – not only of the physical conditions but also of the atmospheric composition as well.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday September 05 2017, @04:15PM (9 children)
Well, we need to send windmills to Venus.
And fit them with giant visible-wavelength lasers to beam all that power to earth.
Not only will the windmills eventually stop the Venusian atmosphere, but imagine how great it will be when anyone on Earth can harvest that Venusian energy just by putting light-to-electricity converters on their roof!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @04:30PM (1 child)
Why does the wireless power transfer beam need to operate at a visible wavelength? Any frequency which passes through both atmospheres should be sufficient, right?
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Wednesday September 06 2017, @03:36AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 05 2017, @04:48PM (6 children)
light-to-electricity converters
Very funny! But you know there would be no market for such a ridiculous device, right?
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @04:52PM
I just had the most amazing idea for a device that removes the magnetic field from electromagnetic radiation leaving only the electric field which is then used for electric current. Patent pending.
(Score: 3, Funny) by bob_super on Tuesday September 05 2017, @04:55PM (4 children)
Until the light collector market grows, we can use Venusian windmills which produce coal as an output, and ship that coal to Earth.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @05:16PM
Send the surplus population of poor people to Venus and crush them into coal under Venusian atmospheric pressure. If poor people are poor then they want to be crushed into coal else they should have gotten tech jobs and become rich people.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 05 2017, @06:00PM (2 children)
Until the light collector market grows..
Hmm, maybe I didn't make myself clear. Some people are saying that the light-to-electricity converter market is already saturated [reneweconomy.com.au].
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 2, Troll) by bob_super on Tuesday September 05 2017, @07:33PM (1 child)
In a couple states in a sunny country with very strong incentives, market penetration of Solar panels reaches 35% of "suitable" residential buildings.
Saturation indeed ...
I'm talking Venusian panels, sir, they also work at night! Early evening, for a few extra hours, when the people go home and the grid needs help!
How's the AU grid doing? Don't answer that, Australians or Canadians proving that anything works, whether it's gun control or Health care, is irrelevant and impossible for the US to do.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 05 2017, @07:46PM
WTF? Troll?! I swear! I didn't do it!
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..