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120 - Bearing Gifts

El Cid

on Oct. 25, 2016

Are you a citizen of Asgardia yet?

Well, why the hell not?!!

Asgardia is the first official nation in space, founded by Russian billionaire philanthropist Igor Ashurbeyli. It's a utopian mega scheme, still very much in the brainstorming stage, but they plan on eventually applying for membership in the UN, among other things. But before any of that happens, they need enough citizens to be considered a respectable space nation, and to be a citizen, all you need to do is apply at their website. Since its October 12 inauguration, Asgardia's population is still just shy of 500,000 citizens… and Americans are second place in terms of membership, only slightly ahead of Turkey. That's just not right.



Seriously, though, I don't plan on signing up any time soon. It's a neat idea, but I'm not so sure that I like the way their space government is shaping up. “Governed by a council of 12 members?” So who are these jerks, and what if I don't like them? What about taxes? And, for that matter, I'm none too keen on sending my personal information to some shady Russian astrocult.

But anyhoo, I thought it was at least interesting enough to mention. While I think Asgardia may be at least a couple centuries ahead of its time, it's entirely possible that, when and if human civilization branches out into space, virtual nations like Asgardia could spring up all over the place as a viable alternative to centralized geographically bound citizenship.



A couple weeks ago, I shared some of my favorite comet photos from the Rosetta mission to comet 67P/C-G. I guess it would also be in order for me to share with you my favorite comet. Its name is Comet Lovejoy (officially C/2014 Q2, named after its discoverer Terry Lovejoy). It has a blue-green glow caused by organic molecules interacting with the sun's UV rays, and the compounds ejected in its coma and tail are a potent mixture which includes a type of simple sugar and ethanol – yes, the same ethanol you find in alcoholic beverages. During peak activity, Lovejoy ejects the alcohol equivalent of as much as 500 bottles of wine per second into space.