Like you needed more evidence to support your belief that I'm a big loser. However. Monday in Astronomy, we learned about precession: "the slow, conical motion of the Earth's rotational axis, due to the gravitational pullings of the Sun and Moon." Prof. White explained it, "It's like the Earth has love handles. It does have an equatorial bulge, it's like love handles. So when the Moon is exerting force on the Earth, it's like your girlfriend coming up behind you and grabbing your love handles, and you go 'Ooh!' in surprise, as you straighten up."
I guess. But the interesting part, to me, is that every 13,000 years (half a precession cycle), the seasons switch, due to where the North Celestial Pole is pointing (now near Polaris, but then it'll be around Vega). In 13,000 years, December 21 will no longer be the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, it'll be the dead of summer! (Vice versa for the southern hemisphere.) For some reason this is just awesome and crazy.
Today, however, we learned about Newton and Einstein, and what kinds of people they are. Apparently Newton was never recorded to have smiled in public; he died a virgin; he was only known to have had one love-interest in his whole life, and it's thought that he was only able to hold hands with her once. Einstein, on the other hand, was "lusty" (Prof. White's word, not mine): Dr. Jay (calling him this at his own desire, not my own) said that once, Einstein had the predicament of choosing between two of his lovers who just happened to be mother and daughter.
Both intriguing and disgusting to think about.
P.S. If you're in college and you're friends with me, go sign up at thefacebook and waste all your time like I am. Yay!

Comments (1)
That's the worst explaination of precession that I could ever imagine.
Did he mention that the earthquake that causes that tsunami caused a little bit of it's own precession?
Posted by Brad | February 3, 2005 1:24 AM
Posted on February 3, 2005 01:24