I remember there was a spherical monument in the Singapore Botanical Gardens that you were meant to rotate with your bare hands. This was achieved by having the monument also be a fountain so that the huge stone sphere was continually covered in a thin layer of water. And thanks to that water you could easily spin this sphere in any direction with just a bit of force. A great demonstration of just how effective water can be at reducing friction.
A fun example of "mysterious" movement, created by tiny increments of displacement accumulated over time. Welcome to the world of geology, especially structural geology and tectonics, disciplines that deal with displacement and deformation of rocks, from micro to global scales.
One-quarter inch per year is actually within the range of moving tectonic plates, though some are a bit faster. North and South America move westward, relative to Europe and Africa, at a rate of about 1 to 2 inches per year. That's not noticeable between your east and west-bound flights, or even over a typical human lifetime, even if the Atlantic Ocean has gotten 12 feet wider. But when tectonic boundaries--and motions--are closer to home (literally) people notice.
BTW, we should indeed hear and say "I don't know" more often. In fact, if somebody claims to be a scientist and never utters those words, you should question their expertise. Now, I would like to hope we could also hear that from politicians, but that might be crazy.
One of my hometown cemeteries has a headless statue from the mid to late nineteenth century. On the playground as kids we would speculate: Maybe lightning did it?
I remember there was a spherical monument in the Singapore Botanical Gardens that you were meant to rotate with your bare hands. This was achieved by having the monument also be a fountain so that the huge stone sphere was continually covered in a thin layer of water. And thanks to that water you could easily spin this sphere in any direction with just a bit of force. A great demonstration of just how effective water can be at reducing friction.
A fun example of "mysterious" movement, created by tiny increments of displacement accumulated over time. Welcome to the world of geology, especially structural geology and tectonics, disciplines that deal with displacement and deformation of rocks, from micro to global scales.
One-quarter inch per year is actually within the range of moving tectonic plates, though some are a bit faster. North and South America move westward, relative to Europe and Africa, at a rate of about 1 to 2 inches per year. That's not noticeable between your east and west-bound flights, or even over a typical human lifetime, even if the Atlantic Ocean has gotten 12 feet wider. But when tectonic boundaries--and motions--are closer to home (literally) people notice.
BTW, we should indeed hear and say "I don't know" more often. In fact, if somebody claims to be a scientist and never utters those words, you should question their expertise. Now, I would like to hope we could also hear that from politicians, but that might be crazy.
Great read! I've never heard of these.
One of my hometown cemeteries has a headless statue from the mid to late nineteenth century. On the playground as kids we would speculate: Maybe lightning did it?
Incredible
Interestng, except it's Occam's_razor