I'm always brimming with questions and mulling thoughts around. I was constantly that kid with questions in class that wanted to make sure I understood the assignment or wanted to know more in general. I also loved (and continue to love) asking my dad questions; he's like a walking wiki site. :) So, here, for day 28, I give you a list of questions I wonder about:
1. How do candles work? How is the wax the fuel?
2. Why can't you find the big dipper in the wintertime? Where is it in the night sky?
3. Why do people think they can drive in the rain/fog without their lights on? (ok, that's rhetorical)
4. How long did it take Adam to name all the animals?
5. Did the animals have a different sort of communion or even communication with man before the Fall?
6. What makes a fruit a "superfruit"? (example: acai, mangosteen, dragonfruit)
7. Why don't we ride cows? Are they not trainable for this sort of thing?
8. If we are so far from stars in our galaxy and those outside our galaxy that it would take a very long time, maybe years, before we saw their light go out, how long would the sun be gone/extinguished before we realized it?
9. If "no one can hear you scream in space," then why are we listening for extra-terrestrial evidence?
10. Why do we carry umbrellas in rainstorms, particularly lightning storms? Aren't they made out of metal, which attracts electricity?
These are the sorts of things I ponder. What kind of questions do you ponder?
Lost in thought,
Jane
1: Yes, the wax is fuel. It is because it burns. Slowly. The wick "wicks" up the fuel, the melted wax. It also serves to control the rate of the burn. Think of a kerosene lantern - were it not for the wick slowly sucking up the kerosene, the fuel would be consumed rapidly and ineffectively. The wax are kerosene are comparable. However, having your fuel as solid state housing is a fantastic thing.
ReplyDelete2: Because the sun outshines it. The Big Dipper is in the daytime half of the sky in the winter time. Think about it.
3: I'd chalk it up to forgetfulness. Ever driven without your lights on? You may not even realize they are off when you're in the city and there are many other lights. But don't give those people with their lights on too much credit, their cars probably do it automatically.
4: Contrary to my 5 year-old nephew's opinion, I don't actually know everything. But don't let that get back to him.
5: Doubtful. Animals lack the necessary physical features to produce speech. Think of how many sounds are formed with your lips. Now find the lips on a dog. They don't have any. Or eyelids, but that's beside the point. Nevertheless, we can communicate with them, and they with us.
6: Two-part answers. One, an abundance in certain nutrients, like xanthones in the mangosteen. Two, marketing.
7: Because we have cars. I suspect that at some point in history this was tried. It no doubt ended with the poor saps were viciously, and rightfully, ridiculed into giving it up. And cows are slow, inactive creatures, and none to bright.
8: 8 minutes.
9: Sound requires a medium to travel through, which makes "outer space" unsuitable. SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project) "listens" to electromagnetic radiation
10: To avoid getting wet. No one believes they will get struck by lightning because your chances are slim. In the middle of a rainstorm, your chances of getting wet are near 100%. Basic risk/reward. And the amount of metal in an umbrella is insignificant compared to your typical surrounding, plus, you're still lower to the ground than say a streetlight.
The sun is very close to us (like 11 min by how fast light travels, but I guess that's not really *close* at all) All the other stars are really far away! Like, years, as fast as light travels! I see someone already beat me to answering this question. That was the only one I knew, because I love reading about space. He/she was right, it would take about 8 min for us to realize it.
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