Took a vacation day yesterday, did some outdoors stuff, putzed in the garage for a bit, then watched the eclipse, gotta say it WAS an experience, neighbors thought so too, even heard fireworks down in the valley. It got me to thinking, we live our plebeian lives here on earth, not really considering much more than the sun, clouds, moon and stars as far as the atmosphere and galaxy is concerned, but when the moon passed in front of the sun and daylight and warmth went away, it got me to thinking, if it was permanent….. game over! Stuff goes on up there, not just here on earth, humans are a fragile species.
Fragile doesn't begin to cover us. We are so delicate that we can't live outside of our very limited range of environments on a planet that doesn't have wild swings in those parameters. We get nowhere near boiling water, nor absolute zero. Our O2 content is reasonably stable but the pressure can't be much higher or much lower for us to survive without long term effects. Our weather is far from extreme. The storms on Jupiter have been raging for 100s of years at almost 300MPH. The temp on Venus will melt lead. While we might survive lower gravity, anything approaching double our gravity would debilitate us so badly that we'd be unable to function. We are made of paper-thin glass compared to what is out there, living in our ideal bubble of a world.
I didn't see anything that crazy All life on this rock is in a fragile balancing act........a little to much heat or cold, a little to wet or dry, and one of the bottom building blocks ger destroyed and the whole thing tumbles down. There has been alot of species come and go in the history. Some are only here a bit, some like the horseshoe crab have been around a very long time. So of the changes we can control and help limit, but it's no secret there is alot of bad things we have no control over......its not if one happens but when. But if anything it's been proven that life in some form adapts to and makes it through the bad. We as humans have been here a mere micro tick on the timeliness of earth......our best and worse access is our brain. We have clearly done more than any other animal in both good and bad ways, we are going to be our own worse enemy......and the planets. No other species as done more damage then us, and most of it in the last 200 years......the earth has proven it has boundaries and limits and when they are cross there are things that happen to reset the balance. As much as we have learned there is that much we don't know and that much that has lost and forgotten. Change has been and will be the only constant. I just hope ppl wake up on so many levels b4 it's too late and there is no way to stop the slide down the slope........cause once that starts there is only the bottom to stop the fall.......hell we might already be falling, and the problem with falling it doesn't hurt......its the always the sudden stop at the end that gets you
On a better note I found it very interesting how very little of the sun shining around the moon to keep it light out. It was interesting enough I'd consider traveling in 45 to see it again......as the next one here in Ohio I'd have to be like 120 to see and that isn't going to happen........but I wouldn't spend stupid money to go across the pounds to see one
Animals DO alter their environment. There's the classic rabbit and fox scenario where if too many rabbits breed, the fox population increases to balance them. Then, when the rabbits are eaten down to a level that won't support a large fox population, the fox numbers reduce. Same goes with hawks as foxes. Also, the wolves being reintroduced into Yellowstone altered the river, increased the beaver population and a whole host of chain reaction events. The park is getting back to the way it was before the wolves were hunted out of the park. We just do it on a much larger scale, quicker. In the end, Mother Nature rules. We are merely pawns to her whims.
I thought the same thing. Just a sliver of sun poking was enough to keep it light out, and it was almost instantly dark once it was blocked. Very cool to witness.
Saw the beginning and the end because of the clouds . But at least Saw it . In NE Pa the local TV channel has a segment called " TALK BACK 16 " where people can call in and say anything . There was one NITWIT that said . " I couldn't see anything . Why did they have the Eclipse on a cloudy day ? Why didn't they Postpone it to a better day ? WTF is wrong with people ? Can they be that STUPID ??
Didn't expect to see the solar storms, very interesting. Had to watch on the NASA channel since we were under the clouds.
The sounds like a variation of the old wives tale of the person who called in to the town and asked for the deer crossing signs to be moved so the deer would cross in a safer spot..
The earth will probably be around for a long time. Humans not so long, relatively speaking. Humans aren't as adaptable.
We went out for lunch Wednesday and a friend of my sisters put her eclipse glasses on in her house a few weeks ago. She thought they were defective because she couldn't see through them so she threw them out! I laughed because I though she was kidding.
The 2017 full eclipse that crossed over Portland was pretty darn cool. The shadows were strange, just everything was off. And then it came back on again. Can you imagine 10,000 years ago some hunter gatherer seeing this happen with no understanding? Must have been terrifying.
Yes Mark . One caller actually said that . And another said " I feel ripped off I spent $20 for a pair of glasses and it was cloudy . " . They must have been some " SPECIAL GLASSES " . for $20 . Just shows How many STUPID PEOPLE there are out there . Its a Franchise .
I'm not sure the deer story is an " OLD WIVES TALE " Joe . I Know there are people out there that are that Stupid . This person that thought they should have POSTPONED the Eclipse was serious in my opinion . Just another member of the STUPID FRANCHISE .
