LHC day.
Now. Hubling has been all of a fluster today. To be honest, he has been gaining in excitability over the past week. He can barely contain himself.
Is it that we are going away together for some couplish loving time? Could it be that he is entranced by the thought of spending a few days in the countryside writing his wondrous novel? Or is it that somewhere in the world, scientists are doing a thing?
Go on, take a guess.
So for many, many hours, more than perhaps I would care to remember, and exactly equal to the amount of time I have been trapped in a car with him, he has been telling me all about physics.
My gosh, he really loves physics.
In particular, he has been drilling into me the mechanics and properties of gravity.
I think you can probably make a wild stab in the dark as to Miss Tickle's Feeling on Physics.
Anyway. I was good and patient and I listened like a good and patient person. And slowly, I began to actually understand stuff. (Some of it.)
I would like to share the most significant bit of learning with you, my dear readers.
"So in conclusion, the force that gravity exerts is directly proportional to the mass of an object, which is why when people are in space, away from the earth, they float around."
"Yes, but they don't always though do they?"
"Yes they do, if they're in a rocket in space, they float around. You must have seen film of them shotting water pistols and stuff..."
"Yes but that's only the fun stuff for telly isn't it? They they get back to walking around and doing the work, like on Firefly."
Pause.
"What do you mean?"
"Well on Firefly and Battlestar Galactica and stuff they're all walking around aren't they?"
"But that's made up."
"What?'
"That's made up."
"So there isn't a gravity button or anything you can press in real life?"
"No."
"So those astronauts in space can't walk around, they really are floating about the whole time?"
"Yes."
Pause. I consider this.
"Oh."
So now I understand gravity. But I am a tiny bit less happy for it.
Only a tiny bit.
But still.
6 comments:
Stray is rather fond of physics too. And geometry. I pretend to be interested, but in my head I am going "la-la-la" and thinking about doughnuts. Please don't ever tell her.
PS glad for you that you are back x
Hulla is rather fond of Barbie Dolls (though usually only as a defence to our boys over interest in Lego). Like Ms MMMmmmmmmm I quietly "la-la-la" to myself, and think about ... well, you know, manly things.
Looks like things are good with you and you hubby? :) So glad to hear it!!
When Tintin went to the moon all those years ago, they had some sort of artificial gravity in the rocket. Although at some point it failed and they started floating around :-)
Scientists don't know everything. If they did, they wouldn't need to build gizmos like the LHC.
Anyway, of course there's a gravity button.
3:30 in this documentary. *cough*
Mr Farty, I knew it! And if Kylie knows it, then surely soon it will become common knowledge. It works in a rather gentler way than I imagined though, I was thinking of much more of a thud.
Post a Comment