Paleontologist Peter Ward atthe University of Washington at Seattle even suggested genetic engineeringhumans for the types of brain or nervous systems that help one to go intohibernation. Researcher Mark Roth of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center inSeattle and his colleagues are conducting research to put humans into a hibernation-likestate by having people inhale hydrogen sulfide. Although suspendedanimation remains out of reach, scientists have actually made progress inthe field. To save onresources during the long voyage to the outer planets, crews relied onhibernation. These subterranean seas arekept warm by the incredible tidal forces churned up by Jupiter's gravitationalpull. Lifeon alienmoons has long been a staple of science fiction, and the recent sci-fiblockbuster "Avatar" is set on a jungle moon of a fictional planetorbiting the real Alpha Centauri A.Īlthough wehave no way of peering into Jupiter to look for life, most planetary scientistsdo believe oceans exist beneath Europa's surface. While"2001" suggest that alien life might exist, "2010"portrayed aliens evolving right in our own solar system, both deep in theatmosphere of Jupiter and the underground oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa. The largest and most energetic inertialconfinement fusion system built to date, the National Ignition Facilityin California, is set to begin experiments this year to reach the long-soughtgoal of "ignition," producing more energy than was put in to startthe reaction. Still, the strategy the Sakharov drive employed ? inertialconfinement fusion, which uses lasers to heat and compress pellets of fuel ? could see a majoradvance in 2010. Scientistshave yet to master thermonuclearpower.
TheSakharov drive, named after Russian nuclear physicist and political dissidentAndrei Sakharov, uses this energy to heat and expel liquid hydrogen andpotentially methane, ammonia and even water. Innuclear fusion, atomic nuclei are forced to fuse together, which can generatean extraordinary amount of power when a fraction of the mass of these atomsgets converted into energy, following Einstein's famous equation: E=mc^2.
In"2010," the lead characters venture out to Jupiter employingspacecraft equipped with "the Sakharov drive," which uses "a pulsedthermonuclear reaction to heat and expel virtually any propellantmaterial."
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