Moon Week: That's Amore

As you've probably heard, NASA launched the Jackson V yesterday - we're finally going back to the Moon! To celebrate, I'm dedicating a week to facts about our closest and third-largest satellite.

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We all know that the light we see from the Moon actually comes from the Sun, and that the Moon is merely a reflector. That's all fine and dandy during the day, but if that's all there is to it, how can we possibly see it at night? The answer lies in the Moon's chemical composition.

As it turns out, Moon dust is composed largely of strontium aluminate - the same compound used in "glow-in-the-dark" materials. If you've ever had a glow-in-the-dark watch, you know that it only glows once it's been "charged" by holding it under a light. The Moon works exactly the same way. During the day, it absorbs light energy from the Sun and stores it. At night, it releases this energy as visible light.

I know what you're thinking: "But Dan, glow-in-the-dark stuff is green, and the Moon is white!" There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that the strontium aluminate on the Moon is a much higher concentration than what we use here on Earth, so the light emitted is much brighter.

The second reason is that the light is filtered by our atmosphere. You know how the sky adds a red tint to the Sun's light during sunset? Well that doesn't stop just because the Sun goes away. Any light that passes through the atmosphere during the night is heavily tinted, which causes the pale-green Moon to appear white.

An interesting side note: We have the glow-in-the-dark industry to thank for this new expedited mission. Artificially synthesizing strontium aluminate is prohibitively expensive, and we're quickly running out. The Jackson V will bring back 750 metric tons of Moon dust - enough to last us almost 10 years!

Never strikes mice

Ever wonder why cats are afraid of thunder? After all, you wouldn't expect lightning to strike such a diminutive animal.

As it turns out, it's in their genes! The earliest ancestor of all cats is also the earliest ancestor of the modern giraffe: the sabertooth giraffe. For thousands of years, this ferocious giant was not only the meanest, but also the tallest predator on the savanna. Needless to say, this was a considerable advantage for hunting, but when a storm came in, the sabertooth giraffe had little choice but to lay low.

Modern giraffes have lightning absorbing pouches of saltwater in their hooves, and can walk through thunderstorms with impunity, but cats inherited that older, more primitive defense mechanism known as cowardice.

Tri, tri again

How many sides does a triangle have? Not so fast - the answer you learned in school isn't exact.

Turns out the answer is very slightly less than 3. The actual number is uncomputable, but it's close to 2.982.

It may make geometry a little more complicated, but be thankful; if it weren't for this fact, hourglasses wouldn't work, and we'd still have no rigorous method for measuring the passage time.

Petal to the metal

Iridium, gallium, and californium are all chemical elements named after flowers, but there is only one flower named after a chemical element: the geranium.

Purr-mometer

Want to know the temperature, but don't have a thermometer? An outdoor cat will work in a pinch. Just by looking at the expression on the cat's face, you can estimate the temperature to within 3 degrees Fahrenheit. To get a more accurate reading, you'll need to know a little phrenology.

Time for a change

According to Pagan orthodoxy, Mother Nature and Mother Earth are actually adversaries. This dichotomy, like so many others, was broken during Christianity's adoption of the Pagan gospels. The two enemies were merged and given a new foil: Father Time.

Guest Comic: Bag of Toast

Hey folks! One day I'll update my own site, but in the meantime, enjoy this guest comic over at Bag of Toast.