Flat Earth.

 Hello all, I'm back once again.

Today we're going to look at a bit of a polarizing subject, whether or not the earth is flat. 

It's a bit strange to discuss, but let's go;

In case you haven't heard by now, the "Flat-earth Theory" is a belief in which one actually thinks that the earth is indeed, flat. Attempts and reasons to debunk a round earth range from stupendous, like that a typical map of the earth is flat, to absolutely deranged, such as the "Pac-man Effect" (a theory that states why people don't just fall of the end of a flat earth is because once one reaches the edge, they are instantaneously teleported to the other side). Despite substantial evidence towards the contrary, many people are convinced that our planet is not spherical at any point. Hell, some of them have made proper models of what our earth looks like:

So, if you're one of those kin, let me explain why you're wrong:

An excellent video by Kurtis Baute singlehandedly debunks the whole flat-earth conundrum, using a sundial, a bike and an orange. In the video, Kurtis travels to one of the flattest areas on earth, a highway in Regina, Saskatchewan. He sets up an odometer (device for measuring distance in vehicles) on his bike and sets off for 138km towards the, quote un-quote, "nearby" town of Stoughton. He explains along the journey how taking a spherical object, like an orange, and putting two identical sticks through it, that if the sticks are lined up properly, one stick's shadow would be shorter than the other stick. So, if the stick on the right (when looking at it directly) has a short shadow, the one on the left is going to be longer by default. This works with basic shadow physics, where the sun hits on one side of the orange, leaving one of the sticks with a short shadow and the other one with a longer shadow, since not as much of the sunlight is hitting the other side of the orange.

Upon reaching Stoughton, Kurtis sets up a sundial there, while one of his friends sets up a sundial back in Regina. They then measure the shadows at the exact same time (since it's a sundial, duh), Kurtis's being 66.1 cm and his friend's being 70cm exactly, giving it a 3.9cm difference. Since this works the same as the orange and the sticks, it proves that the earth is, in fact, a sphere.

To finish off, he takes the measurements and does some terrifying, complex and outrageous math and determines that the circumference of the earth is about 33,120km. Now, this math is only off by 17% of the actual circumference, which is 40,075km, but the close proximity of math adds up and solves that formulae.

Personally, I don't really have a problem with someone that thinks the earth is flat. Hell, I'm pretty sure my dad thinks it's flat. At the end of the day, everyone has their beliefs, but most can be disproved. Except, the evidence shown, which is substantial, is usually shot down and denied. I think flat earthers are just a bit deranged. Not much, mind, but to shoot something down like pure, tasty scientific evidence is a bit delusional.

Anyway, that's me. Stay safe boys.

- M.V

Astronaut Suit Design.

 Hello all, welcome to another lockdown post.

Today is about an ASTRONOMICAL topic, the design of astronaut suits.

Now, let's get into it.

Essentially, the suit, called the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (or EMU for short), is comprised of an outer and inner layer. 

The inner layer is made of a soft fabric which has tubes weaved through which feed water straight to the astronauts. This is necessary to maintain body temperature as the astronauts work.

The outer layer is comprised of two parts, the leggings and the upper body bit. The upper body unit is a rigid piece, while the leggings remain the same.

That then brings us to the helmet:

The helmet is made up of several (confidential) materials. The yellowish tinted glass is the visor, which helps when dealing with the sun. If more cover is needed, there is an added sunshield that flicks down exactly like the visor.

Now, there's a few reasons why the space suit is needed:

1. The astronauts need oxygen in space, since there's literally nothing in space.

2. They need it to withstand the everchanging temperature in space.

3. They need it to protect themselves from radiation.

The equipment needed for a spacewalk also has to be tethered to the suit itself, so they don't go flying off to kingdom canal.

Safety measures for the astronauts include:

• Various check overs for life support systems and such.
• Communications check.
• Fitting so there is a little bit of pain for extra security.
• Using safety tethers.

Anyway, that's me.

Stay safe boys.

M.V

Prince Rupert's Drop.

Hello all, welcome to my current lockdown post about a little thing called Prince Rupert's Drop.

Basically, Prince Rupert's Drop occurs when molten glass is added to cold water. This creates a little tadpole shaped droplet with a long, skinny tail. 

The interesting part comes with how the glass breaks. When the bulbous part of the glass is hit with anything, from a hammer to a bullet, it will NOT break. However, when the tail is hit, the whole thing will explode into millions, or probably thousands, of tiny little glass specs.

It's a strange phenomenon, so let me explain.

From the moment the molten glass comes into contact with the water, the outer layer of the glass immediately begins to solidify and cool down, whereas the inside will remain hot. As time goes on, the inside will also begin to cool down. The problem is, the outside has already solidified, so instead of coming together as one singular unit, the inside will start to push in against itself and compress. This is where its strength comes from, since the inside cannot push against the outside, causing both to compress inwards. The inside will then harden in this state of high compressive stress.

Now, when the tail bit is cut or hit, the energy stored in the tail will break off down the line, causing the rest of the glass to feed off of that energy and, in result, explode.

The speed of which, also, is about 1900m/s or about 1.9km/s.

Now, if one would like to try it, here's some obvious safety equipment:

- Safety Glasses.

- Closed towed shoes.

- Long Sleeved Shirts.

Alright that's me.

Thanks for reading and stay safe boys.