Weather. It can destroy homes and harvests, shut down entire regions and re-sculpt coastlines in a matter of hours. It’s small wonder we tend to be a bit superstitious about the subject, or that we’re loath to let go of the received wisdom of family, friends and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Then again, maybe those old wives tales contain a kernel of truth. Sometimes there’s a reason to the rhyme, as I reveal in this list of …
Cosmos is back, and Neil deGrasse Tyson is tooling around the universe in Carl Sagan’s Ship of the Imagination. But suppose someone handed you the proverbial keys? Where in space and/or time would you go?
If you don’t have a ready answer, never fear. I’ve put together an itinerary that can’t fail, whether your tastes run to science or sightseeing. Sure, we might have to break a few physical laws and grow a few extra senses along the way but, hey, it’s not called the Ship of Literal Reality, is it? So hang your fuzzy planets from the rearview and strap in for a star-spanning tour, a jaunt from the local neighborhood to the unreachably distant (and disproportionately dangerous) corners of the universe, en route to…
If you’re an Aussie dag and some bogan is giving you a dunnyflushing, why not spend the time constructively? Watch which way the water swirls down the bog, and then call one of your nerdier Yank mates and compare notes on swirlie physics. Will this settle the age-old argument? Hardly. But, hey, it’s something to pass the time.
Does Water in a Drain Go a Different Direction in the Southern Hemisphere?
The Large Hadron Collider isn’t going to spawn one, and our own sun will never become one, but it’s fun to think about what might happen if a black hole lurked its way into our cosmic neighborhood. It’s the cosmological equivalent of a ghost story, pitting our bite-sized planet against the reality-bending might of the ultimate bogeyman.
So, what would happen? Let’s just say that, if you’ve ever wondered how taffy feels, you’re about to gain some insight. Still, you might be surprised at some of the crazy ways the scenario plays out—and at the mind-blowing experiences you would have if you could survive the trip.
Who doesn’t love a story about the little guy who makes it big, or the underdog that overcomes? Take these five mighty mites. What they lack in geographical size they make up for in strong economies and supersized space aspirations. As the new space race heats up, and as the airless reaches cease to be the sole province of superpowers, who knows how far their ambitions will carry them?