h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In case you didn't know this...


The sun is white.


No, really. It isn't yellow, it's white.

We think of it as yellow possibly in contrast to the blue of the sky or because when we see a setting sun it looks yellow/orange due to atmospheric effects.

Incidentally, barring unforeseen circumstances, it will swell up into a Red Giant and go supernova within the next 5-billion years or so.

The Earth is in the habitable zone around the Sun, but it is not in the continuously habitable zone; it will become too hot for life in the next billion years or so, long before the sun dies.

the word biosphere is often used to describe the distance from the sun where water exits as a liquid, this is not true

the earth is not in the "bio sphere"

if it were not for earths atmosphere water would boil on the surface of the planet as it does on the moon

biosphere is the slice of the earth, where life can exists

Hmm... I've never related 'biosphere' to distance from the sun.

I guess it's like the term 'jet streams'. It's often used to refer to the condensation trails left behind jets when the atmosphere is cold and dry.

People are often just wrong.

Front page QotD.

I can't remember if this has been mentioned before, but it's worth repeating if so.

The 'highest' point on Earth is the peak of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador.

The peak of Mt. Everest is merely the highest point above sea level.

Because of the equatorial bulge of the earth, Mt. Chimborazo is 3219 meters farther from the earth's center than Everest.

Flatfish are actually born with one eye on each side of their head like other fish. But as they grow into adults, one eye gradually moves around until both eyes are on the same side enabling the fish to lie on it's side and see around it.

Much the same behaviour has been observed in students at Manchester University.

Similar behaviour was seen in Yangtze river dolphins due to the extreme cloudiness of the river water due to pollution and stirred up silt. The only direction their eyes could even function was upwardly so their eyes migrated to the tops of their heads.

(From what I remember from reading Douglas Adams - Last Chance to See.)


(although now that you mention it I have noticed similar trends in students here stateside.)

The oldest discovered mummy to date is 7060 (or so) years old; it was found in South America.

Interesting, seeing as todays guide entry is about the Chinchorro embalming people around 6000 BC.

Yeah, I noticed. It's a funny coincidence; I was actually reading about Peru on wikipedia, after having watched The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Which, by the way, sucks, and should not be watched, by anyone. Ever.

The second person to walk on the moon was Buzz Aldrin.

They make a hell of a mess for something that doesn't explode.

PP

Who was the third person to walk on the moon?

The third person to walk on the moon was Pete Conrad, Apollo 12. But that's a useful fact because somebody asked for the information.

The last person to step onto the moon was Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17. The last person to walk on the moon was Eugene Cernan, Apollo 17. He stepped onto the moon before Schmitt, but Schmitt was the first person into the LEM after the final EVA.

(In case you were wondering about why someone might need to point out that astronauts don't explode, Mr. Pink Paisley was replying to post number 400 concerning nuclear weapons. )

All of these facts could be useful. I like to be prepared just in case I get get captured by a tribe of bloodthirsty cannibalistic trivia aficionados. Any one of these 'useless facts' could be the difference between being in the pot or out!

Mr X: If the guide entry is correct, your date for the earliest mummies is off by about 1000 years. Unless of course you meant 7060 years BC.

Actually when they explode, astronauts make a hell of a mess (but I was referring to nuclear bombs).

And they left footprints all over the moon.

(BTW. Do you know why a woman has never been to the moon?













Because it doesn't need dusting yet).



PP