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What's the stupidest space-related thing you've ever heard someone say?


SlabGizor117

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"would it be possible to walk on the sun?"

"I don't know, but if they do it, they should do it at night, because otherwise it'll be too hot and there'll be too much light."

I don't find it all dumb, but some things just don't make sense.

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I come to my class one day.I ask my friend that is sitting next to me "Is the Sun a planet or a star?"

Of course i knew the answer, i just wondered if he would know, but he wasn't eager to learn anything new.

Anyways, he replied to me "A planet, of course!". That moment i facepalmed my self.

For the rest of the fourth period, it tried to at least convince him, but his big ignorance got in the way.I even told him all the facts i could possibly find, but he thought all of that to be a big lie.Him being a religious person, he also believed the theory that "the Sun will die in 4-5 billion years" is all just bolony as well.But of course, he didn't have a clue on how stars form and die.

Seriously, everything i say that supports the fact that the Sun is a star, he just ignores me totally, even laughs at me histerically.

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I am trying to find something interesting on Yahoo Answers. It have actually really surprised me! People there are not (usually) asking stupid questions there. Some stupid Yahoo things were however found:

What would happen if we nuked sun? some people been saying obama wants to nuke the sun.

My astronomy teacher told me Jupiter was moved out of orbit and now will crash into the sun, what will we do? Will this harm earth?

Why is the time different in China than in USA? If the sun is so big then why doesn't all its light reach the whole of earth?

If the moon falls, will everyone die?

Can I safely look on a picture of black-hole?

I don't hate people asking things like "Why is the sky blue?", but these makes me feel like... I even don't know.

Btw: I hate "documentaries" about how asteroids destroy Earth.

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In discussion the other day, I was told that "NASA has proved that the earth stopped (turning) for Joshua." (at the Battle of Jericho), and that I should believe this because it was, and look it up, "on the internet".

The first thing is no surprise, this person heard it during a sermon at church. The second is disturbing, he really believed, truly, that the earth had actually stopped spinning for a day and "even turned backwards for a while" and this person is a degreed engineer.

Ok, one of the least talented engineers I've met and from a badly rated southern college, but still....

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It has been proven that the earths rotation did switch at some point......

I'm reading it as you mean the rotation reversed at some point. While I cannot quote you any sources on the topic, this is most likely an impossibility. Rotational axis can change, and poles can shift, but that's not the same.

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It happened to venus possibly and I would not be surprised if it is true.

Prevailing wisdom is that Venus' axis flipped somehow.

There are arguments that it could have simply reversed because of it's tremendously slow rotational speed.

Obviously we don't actually know either way, but short of some cataclysmic event, I can't imagine the forces necessary to cause this change just sauntering by one fine evening.

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In discussion the other day, I was told that "NASA has proved that the earth stopped (turning) for Joshua." (at the Battle of Jericho), and that I should believe this because it was, and look it up, "on the internet".

The first thing is no surprise, this person heard it during a sermon at church. The second is disturbing, he really believed, truly, that the earth had actually stopped spinning for a day and "even turned backwards for a while" and this person is a degreed engineer.

Ok, one of the least talented engineers I've met and from a badly rated southern college, but still....

Well, that's what the Bible says, believe what you want.

For those who care, here are the verses:

Isaiah 38:8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.†So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.

*Optional nitty-gritty explanation:*

We are informed by Herodotus that the sun-dial was an invention of the Babylonians (Herod., 2:109), from whom it would readily pass to the Assyrians. Ahaz may have obtained a knowledge of it, or an actual specimen, when he visited Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus (2 Kings 16:10), and, on his return to his capital, have caused one to be erected there. Sun-dials are of several kinds. The one here spoken of seems to have consisted of a set of steps, with a perpendicular gnomon or pole at the top, the shadow of which receded up the steps as the sun rose in the heavens, and descended down them as the sun declined. We must suppose that the sign was given in the forenoon, when the shadow was gradually creeping up the steps. Hezekiah thought that a sudden jump in the same direction would be as nothing compared with a reversal of the motion, and therefore required that the shadow should go back, which it did. How the effect was produced, whether by an eclipse as argued by Mr. Bosanquet ('Transactions of Society of Bibl. Archaeology,' vol. 3. pp. 34-40), or by refraction, or by an actual alteration of the earth's motion, we are not told; but there is reason to believe that the cause, whatever it was, was local, not general, since the King of Babylon subsequently sent ambassadors, to inquire concerning "the wonder that was done in the land" (2 Chronicles 32:31). The sun returned ten degrees. We must not press this expression as indicating a real alteration of the sun's place in the heavens. The meaning is that the shadow cast by the sun returned.

And when the sun stood still:

Joshua 10:13

So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.

Make of it what you will, but don't start an argument.

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... I don't really think that this is the place for that.

"2.2 Forbidden content

Messages which contain, discuss or link to the following are explicitly forbidden:

  1. Copyright infringement or software theft;
  2. Discussions of a political, ideological or religious nature;"

Then again, I'm not a mod. And now bold is stuck on.

Edited by xXIndestructibleEVAXx
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It happened to venus possibly and I would not be surprised if it is true.

You can change the rotation of an planet if you hit them with an moon sized or larger object. Its belived that Moon was created by an glancing blow by an mars sized object.

If something hit Venus on the side but more straight on this could change rotation, alto the option of multiple hits.

This is not something who is likely after the creation of the solar system, its also something you would notice far more than the change in rotation.

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You can change the rotation of an planet if you hit them with an moon sized or larger object. Its belived that Moon was created by an glancing blow by an mars sized object.

If something hit Venus on the side but more straight on this could change rotation, alto the option of multiple hits.

This is not something who is likely after the creation of the solar system, its also something you would notice far more than the change in rotation.

You don't have to chance the rotation. All an impact has to do is flip the axis. Now the planet still spins like it has always done but to an observer it looks like it's spinning in the opposite direction.

And we know an impact can significantly chance axial tilt. Uranus has been flipped to almost 98°.

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The amount of energy one would have to impart upon the Earth to still its rotation within even a single day would probably liquefy the crust.

I doubt it. I think it's more likely such an impact would replace Earth with a second asteroid belt.

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I'm reading it as you mean the rotation reversed at some point. While I cannot quote you any sources on the topic, this is most likely an impossibility. Rotational axis can change, and poles can shift, but that's not the same.

(Going a bit off topic now) I always thought it was the magnetic poles that do flip (due to them being like... well... made from the fluid like motion of rock etc, so they are rather changeable at times).

Never heard of the rotation flipping...

It never fails to amaze me that people assume they know why someone else is ignorant/uneducated. Just be careful who you blame. Blaming "education" can give a wrong impression you don't like learning. It's much better to blame "bad education". Similar for cultural and social backgrounds, people are way to quick to blame those for lack of education or wrong teachings... instead of actual bad education. :(

Edited by Technical Ben
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A coworker once told me that the Earth would have no gravity if it wasn't spinning. They stuck to their guns no matter what I said to dispute their claim.

It kind of made me cry inside.

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... I don't really think that this is the place for that.

"2.2 Forbidden content

Messages which contain, discuss or link to the following are explicitly forbidden:

  1. Copyright infringement or software theft;
  2. Discussions of a political, ideological or religious nature;"

Then again, I'm not a mod. And now bold is stuck on.

No, no I don't mean that at all I'm not trying to start a religious discussion. Like I said, "for those who care, here are the verses." As in, if you want to know what the Bible actually said, as a means of discussing the physics of it, or whatever, then you can. Like I said, that's not to start a religious discussion.

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What about switching the poles? Isn't that possible?

Magnetic pole reversal happens frequently. On average once every million years and the entire process takes roughly one to ten thousand years. But this is a natural process and has nothing to do with planetary impacts.

To get back on topic of stupid things people say many are convinced the actual planet flips but this is not the case. Only the magnetic poles flips over, the geographic poles stay exactly where they are.

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It never fails to amaze me that people assume they know why someone else is ignorant/uneducated. Just be careful who you blame. Blaming "education" can give a wrong impression you don't like learning. It's much better to blame "bad education". Similar for cultural and social backgrounds, people are way to quick to blame those for lack of education or wrong teachings... instead of actual bad education. :(

If that's aimed at me, I have no idea what you're talking about. I didn't say anyone was ignorant or uneducated.

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