Category: Natural History

The Advent of Parallax Distance to Measure Immense Distances in Space

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Stellar parallax is a measurement technique developed by Friedrich Bessel to measure far away objects in deep space. The process of stellar parallax involves measuring an object from two separate vantage points hinging upon the fact that the object being observed will appear to move a lot more than objects further behind it (e.g. if an observer closes one eye and views their finger in front of a building, and then repeats this act with their second eye closed and the first eye open, the observers finger will appear as though it has moved much further left or right, relative to the other objects behind it). Because Bessel developed a method of calculation to take advantage of this phenomena, astronomers now have the ability to map grand distances with relative accuracy. Bessel worked out that if an observer took an image of a star when the Earth was at either side of its orbit around the sun, it would be possible to observe the star shifting in its position. By knowing how much a star shifts, it is possible to calculate the distance the star is from its observation point on Earth. Bessel surmised that the relatively close star 61 Cygni must be 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) kilometers away from the Earth because of his parallax distance method. This technique unfortunately is severely limited as the diameter of the Earth’s orbit is only 300,000,000 (300 million) kilometers which means that the parallax method can only measure objects up to a factor of 1,000,000x (1 million) the Earths orbital rotation, allowing for a maximum distance of 300,000,000,000,000 (300 trillion) kilometers which is only a tiny fraction of the size of the Milky Way Galaxy or the universe as a whole

Snow in Iran During the Summer

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Iran experiences snow during the winter every couple of years and even during the summer on occasion due to the topography and geography of Iran which includes high altitude mountains. Iran is a mountainous state referred to as a “plateau”. Mount Damavand, the highest peak in Iran, is a primary example of Iran’s ability to produce snow. With an elevation of 18,403′ in height, Mount Damavand always has snow to some degree, even if relatively minute, with snow occurring even during the peak summer months of June, July, and August

The Effects of North African Sand Upon the Amazon Rainforest

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In the Danakil Desert of East Africa, sandstorms which occur become so large that they envelop all of North Africa, carry across the Atlantic Ocean and end up settling into South America, acting as the perfect fertilizer for the Amazon rainforest

The Defiant American Natural Landscape Art Form and Luminism

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Artists in the America’s who continually pushed further west, pioneered the technique of “luminism” which used light effects and concealed brush strokes to create paintings which were considered so overwhelming detailed that opera glasses were needed to fully appreciate their true beauty. The American landscape was psychologically bore out of feelings of inferiority and competition with the European continent, as the Americas at this time were not the industrialized indomitable power they are today, but rather a fairly poor country still developing itself and not yet having reached the same milestones which Europe had already accomplished. During the 18th and 19th century, those living in the Americas rejected the notion that Rome, Italy was the center of art and that the best landscapes with the highest and most spectacular mountains were only found in places like France and Switzerland, as the west had its own mountains and its own unique monoliths and animals which could be depicted and celebrated to create American pride within the American landscape

The Ancient City of Cappadocia in Modern Day Derinkuyu, Turkey

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The underground cave site of Derinkuyu, Turkey, commonly referred to as “Cappadocia”, is an underground network of caves and tunnels which date back to the prehistoric era, as evidence of stone tools have been uncovered at the site. Experts believe that 20,000 – 60,000 people inhabited the Cappadocian caves with indication of air vents and water wells making it theoretically possible to live underground for extended periods of time, spanning years even. Stone wheels made of volcanic basalt were fashioned to create what’s referred to as “self sealing doors”. The rocks would be rolled in front of a pathway making entry impossible for invaders due to the inability to gain leverage. The only possibility of entry would be to cut through this wheel, often up to 1’ thick in width, which would waste valuable time giving those upon the other side time to prepare a counter attack

The Commonality Between Herbivores and Size

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The largest land animals on Earth today are all herbivores, but this was also true during the age of the dinosaurs. In descending order, the 5 largest living herbivores are the African elephant, the African bush elephant, the Asian elephant, the white rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus. The only living animals which are larger in size than these creatures are whales. Whales are not herbivores, but being a herbivore within the ocean is actually quite uncommon. The only reason whales are able to become larger than the largest land-dwelling mammals is because of the way that the ocean displaces gravity, therefore providing resistance to the pull which would under normal circumstances cause whales to collapse under their own weight. The primary reason the largest land animals are herbivores is because of food resources. There are a staggering amount of plant resources made abundant for herbivores in comparison to the relatively small amount of protein rich resources available to carnivores. Plant resources are also quickly renewable unlike protein resources. Herbivores are apt to survive predation as they increase in size whilst carnivores actually become hindered as they increase in size due to the fact that they become slower and less agile making their ability to catch prey severely reduced

Hugh Everett’s “Many World’s” Theory

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Hugh Everett designed the Many World’s Theory which states that if in the first world a particle is found on the left side, in the second world that same particle is found on the right side, with both findings being equally valid. Everett’s main conclusion was that when a particle splits in 2 to act as a wave, the universe also splits into 2 pieces, only going through 1 of the 2 available slits, but doing so in separate universes. The Many World’s theory is now generally accepted as fact by most physicists, however Everett died before receiving the recognition he deserved for his work. Everett’s theory was treated with a frosty reception when it was first released, as most scientists considered such a theory to be science fiction and speculation rather than proper observed and analyzed fact

The Future Abeyance of Total Solar Eclipses

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In the distant future, approximately 1,000,000,000 (1 billion) years from now, total solar eclipses will not occur, only partial eclipses and annular eclipses will develop. The reason for this change is because the moon is moving away from the Earth at approximately 3 centimeters per year

The Original Intent of the Field of Archeology

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Archeology first began with a quest to discover one master truth above all others which was to find direct evidence of Jesus Christ. During the 17th century, fossils and other archaeological evidence of life prior to human beings were erroneously identified and explained as animals which were not able to make it onto Noah’s Ark and therefore perished in the great flood. Spear tips and dagger points were often incorrectly identified and explained as thunderbolts from heaven or meteorites during this period

Ansel Adams’ Genius and Process

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The American photographer Ansel Adams pushed the mechanical process of photography into an art form during the 1920’s. Adams’ method was to work backward from the image he had visualized within his mind and then anticipate the moment when the light and subject could be seen at their most illuminating. During Adams’ day, color photography was considered crass, as color photography was thought not to contain nuance and the subtlety which matched the real world. Black and white photography allowed for a beautiful range of tonalities which was abstract but still considered to be realism artwork during the period. Today, with much more sophisticated technology and color materials, the world can be photographed accurately with many different nuances. Ironically, black and white now appears as an abstract artistic medium in comparison to full color photographs