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Dear Reader, in case you have not noticed, but " I am back " !!!! |
Steps to the Moon !
Consequently I have been working on and can now release the
5th edition of THE MUNCH REPORT,
the page that expresses silly thoughts on the world's most profound questions such as " Is there life outside Venice ? " or indeed beyond the Milky Way, and if, would it have free wifi and no taxes for everyone .
And whilst I have been spending lonely hours at night on a small sailing boat in the middle of the Atlantic, it should not surprise anyone that I started to talk to the the only companion there was :
THE MOON .
Of course he does not speak english proper, so it needed all my skills as " Interpreter of Oz " to understand
what he was mumbling about.
But the story that began to unravel in our conversation has been stuck in my head ever since, and therefore I have decided to repeat his concerned views and even fears exclusively on this new home page,
With a second part in the next home page to follow in October 2013.
WHY THE MOON IS SCARED .
Once upon a time....
there was a sun ! It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago and is therefore slightly older than Earth although our scientists believe the development of both happened in tandem. The gravitational collapse of a very large space in the universe left a solar nebula containing gas, ice grains and dust.
Are you aware of the process it took to form Earth ?
there was a sun ! It formed approximately 4.6 billion years ago and is therefore slightly older than Earth although our scientists believe the development of both happened in tandem. The gravitational collapse of a very large space in the universe left a solar nebula containing gas, ice grains and dust.
Are you aware of the process it took to form Earth ?
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Well, it's what I call the "snowball effect" , and this is how it works.
It starts with snowflakes that in a vacuum (as experiments in 'Spacelab' with sugar have proven) attract each other and start to glue together ( cohesive clumping ). Combined with dust, they become bigger and bigger, until stones, then rocks, and then boulders are formed. |
...roling snowballs
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They continue bumping into each other, and with the developing gravitational force as they start spinning, finally attract even bigger objects, until...well,
until you have a planet ! The scientists call it 'accretion'. It is like rolling a little snowball in the snow downhill, and it becomes bigger and bigger. EASY PEASY ! |
...well that must hurt !
Now we have a sun, we have planets, but what about the Moon, our MOON ?
Well, here science seems to be at its end. Nobody seems to know for sure.
Even the MOON doesn't remember anything, saying :
And why don't you yourself remember your own birth, you were present !
I took his point as I was in no mood to argue.
Anyway, different theories by different people have emerged over the past years,
but so far a relatively new one seems to stick.
The moon was part of the Earth. Well, at least half of it .
The theory, which is called the GIANT IMPACT THEORY, states that the Moon formed through accretion after a Mars-sized freak asteroid / planet hit Earth and threw a massive amount of matter back into orbit.
Makes sense to me !
So we have OUR MOON.
When was it the last time you watched him ?
I mean really watched , not looked at for some seconds or so, but for quite some time during a lonely night .
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We easily forget , in fact not all of you might know, what fundamental impact our natural satellite has on us, and - if I might add - of course on my beloved Venice. One could go as far as saying that without the Moon, mankind, in fact all life on Earth would not exist, and therefore Venice neither. How come ???? |
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Well, in the early stadium of our solar system the Earth's day was probably just 4 hours long, ie it rotated once every four hours.
Maybe children might have liked that, because it would have felt like in a roller-coaster, but
life itself would have been quite impossible.
Through the formation of the Moon and its gravitational force, the Earth's spin has slowed down.
Even just 410 million years ago , there were 400 days in a year, and a day was only 21.8 hours.
And only then conditions for forming any kind of life were established.
Maybe children might have liked that, because it would have felt like in a roller-coaster, but
life itself would have been quite impossible.
Through the formation of the Moon and its gravitational force, the Earth's spin has slowed down.
Even just 410 million years ago , there were 400 days in a year, and a day was only 21.8 hours.
And only then conditions for forming any kind of life were established.
Spring ( top ) and Neap ( bottom )
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So far, so good. Now comes the crunch.
The Moon is not only responsible for life-creating conditions on earth, but also creates ocean tides, the regular up and down of ocean waters along the coasts of the world, sometimes more , sometimes less, sometimes high and sometimes low. It is a pull effect by the Moon's gravity from one side of the Earth to the other , and is either re-enforced or weakened when the sun is also lined up against the Earth in the same way as the Moon ( Full Moon and New Moon ) or not. This gives us a higher tide ( Spring ) or a lower one ( Neap ). But why is all this part of the story ? |
......keep on running...tide is coming !
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Because like Vishnu in the Hindu religion,
the Moon "as the Creator" also seemingly happens to be the "Destroyer".
He is the ultimate force behind the
Acqua Alta of Venice,
and therefore he starts , so he says, to feel the ever increasing wrath of tourists , conservationists and politicians alike....
the MOON, the one who should be ultimately blamed for the destruction of the most beautiful city in the Universe,
VENICE, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE !
the Moon "as the Creator" also seemingly happens to be the "Destroyer".
He is the ultimate force behind the
Acqua Alta of Venice,
and therefore he starts , so he says, to feel the ever increasing wrath of tourists , conservationists and politicians alike....
the MOON, the one who should be ultimately blamed for the destruction of the most beautiful city in the Universe,
VENICE, UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE !
..WET FEET ALL AROUND !
NO WONDER THE MOON IS SCARED !