Posts Tagged ‘earth’

According to what I’ve learned, shouldn’t the Earth eventually spiral into the Sun or push itself out of orbit? Isn’t a perfect set of circumstances needed to maintain perfect orbit?

The orbital velocity of the Earth about the sun is 30 km/s. If the Earth were suddenly stopped in its tracks, it would simply fall radially into the Sun. Devise a plan whereby a rocket loaded with radioactive wastes could be fired into the Sun for permanent disposal. How fast and in what direction with respect to the Earth’s orbit should the rocket be fired?

If all the deserts on the Earth were made fertile just how many more people could it cope with?

All that space between the Earth and the sun, and the sun and other stars, and galaxies and other galaxies. What does this "space" consist of? Are there atoms in it? For that matter, are there atoms in the air?

If the earth was going to blow up leaving only one remaining ship left for a handful of survivors to escape with, and the last known physicist fell as they were running towards the pod and became trapped under fallen metal debris, could the physicist impart any wisdom to the remaining survivors that would help the future progress of humanity? Assuming that as the last physicist died, so to would all of the progress humans made in physics.

Is there something profoundly instrumental that could be said at this point or is it just too utterly impossible to convey in a few short moments?

I’ve seen it in a lot in movies. Things that fall from outer space catch fire when they get near to the earth. Why is that?