earth
Tag archives for earth
Avoiding Armageddon!
Posted by Ethan on May 8, 2008 Let’s say we’re having a nice day here on Earth; the Sun is shining, the clouds are sparse, and everything is just looking like a peach: And then Lucas goes and tells me, Oh my God, Ethan! It’s Armageddon! An asteroid is coming straight for us! You’ve got to stop it! Really? Me? Well, how…
How Come We Have A Moon?
Posted by Ethan on April 30, 2008 But I didn’t want one! Stop your whining, Earthlings. We have a serious question to answer, courtesy of Tamara: What’s the moon like below its surface, moving into the interior? And what’s the current thought on its formation? Well, we do know a lot about the Moon’s insides the same way we know about the…
Why Do We Only See One Side of the Moon?
Posted by Ethan on April 29, 2008 And if the band you’re in starts playing different tunes I’ll see you on the dark side of the Moon. One of my favorite readers, Zrinka, asks us why we’re only able to see one side of the Moon from Earth. Seriously, look at the different phases; we always see the same side of the…
How to Destroy the Entire Universe
Posted by Ethan on April 23, 2008 Since the dawn of time man has yearned to destroy the sun. – C. M. Burns There’s no need to stop at the Sun, though. Since yesterday was Earth day, I thought it was only appropriate to spend today telling you how not only to destroy the Earth, but to effectively destroy the entire Universe.…
Happy Earth Day in Pictures!
Posted by Ethan on April 22, 2008 As you may have noticed from yesterday’s unusual post, today is Earth Day! I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite pictures from space of it, including the famous photograph from Apollo 8 known as Earthrise: This combination shot made from NASA’s Terra satellite and NOAA’s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite: The known satellites…
Sometimes we need to look Down!
Posted by Ethan on April 21, 2008 What makes earthquakes? Although there are many causes, including volcanoes, the most common thing that causes them are tectonic motions, which also cause tsunamis. But as valuable as it is to understand other planets in our solar system and in other star systems, sometimes it’s important to understand what’s going on inside our own planet.…
Why Explore Space/the Universe?
Posted by Ethan on April 11, 2008 Fraser Cain over at Universe Today sent out a question to the Astronomy/Astrophysics/Space communication community today. And he asks: Why should we spend our time/money/resources on exploring space when there are so many problems here on Earth? This is something that, for better or worse, I had a knee-jerk reaction to. Here’s what I wrote…
How did Life on Earth Originate?
Posted by Ethan on February 26, 2008 I was thinking about the timeline that brought us here, today, from the origin of the Universe up through the present day. I realized that the most uncertain thing that we know of, the step that we have the least information about, is the origin of life on Earth. All hypotheses about how life on…
Total Eclipse of the Heart Moon!
Posted by Ethan on February 18, 2008 As Bonnie Tyler sang, and later The Dan Band (with more cursing), Once upon a time there was light in my life But now there’s only love in the dark Nothing I can say A total eclipse of the heart Well, it isn’t the heart, but this Wednesday night, beginning at 10 PM Eastern Standard…
That Bloody Moon!
Posted by Ethan on February 14, 2008 The closest you’re going to get from me on Valentine’s Day is something red, dear readers. As the Moon is now a waxing gibbous and will be for the next week, it will brighten the sky for the majority of the night. But before sunrise, it will dip below the horizon and set. The funny…
