Ciekawostka: Earth is the only planet not named after a god

Evidence: 77 • authority: 88

After the Earth Quakes. Earthquakes rank among the most terrifying natural disasters faced by mankind. Out of a clear blue sky-or worse, a jet black one-comes shaking strong enough to hurl furniture across the room, human bodies out of bed, and entire houses off of their foundations. When the dust settles, the immediate aftermath of an earthquake in an urbanized society can be profound. Phone and water supplies can be disrupted for days, fires erupt, and even a small number of overpass collapses can snarl traffic for months. However, when one examines the collective responses of developed societies to major earthquake disasters in recent historic times, a somewhat surprising theme emerges:…

Evidence: 65 • authority: 72

In astrology, planets have a meaning different from the astronomical understanding of what a planet is. Before the age of telescopes, the night sky was thought to consist of two similar components: fixed stars, which remained motionless in relation to each other, and moving objects/"wandering stars" (Ancient Greek: ἀστέρες πλανῆται, romanized: asteres planetai), which moved relative to the fixed stars over the course of the year(s). To the Ancient Greeks who learned from the Babylonians, the earliest astronomers/astrologers, this group consisted of the five planets visible to the naked eye and excluded Earth, plus the Sun and Moon. Although the Greek term planet applied mostly to the five '…

Evidence: 65 • authority: 72

Evidence: 58 • authority: 80

In defence of racer snakes – the demons of Planet Earth II (they’re only after a meal)

Evidence: 53 • authority: 80

Is Earth the only planet with life?

Evidence: 53 • authority: 92

The pineal gland as the hegemonikon of the microcosm: anatomical and philosophical interpretations in Descartes' works.. The pineal gland, a small, unpaired structure located at the center of the brain, was first identified as a distinct organ by Galen of Pergamon, yet its function remained obscure until the early modern period, when philosophers and physicians alike try to understand its function. This paper examines René Descartes' interpretation of the pineal gland in the treatise Le Monde and within the intellectual context of the heliocentric revolution. As research investigation methods we used social-historical documentation and hermeneutic analysis on Descartes' Le Monde and L'Homme…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 92

Exploring the chaotic future and the deterministic past of the Solar System: an interview with Jacques Laskar.. Jacques Laskar (1955-) is a preeminent French astronomer and celestial mechanician whose work has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the Solar System's long-term dynamics and Earth's climate history. As a Research Director at the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research) and at the Paris Observatory, he is widely known for his 1989 numerical demonstration that the Solar System's long-term evolution is chaotic and therefore cannot be precisely predicted. He is also renowned for developing numerical astronomical solutions that underpin astronomically calibrated…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

Mercury is the first planet from the Sun and the smallest in the Solar System. It is a rocky planet with a trace atmosphere and a surface gravity slightly lower than that of Mars. The surface of Mercury is similar to Earth's Moon, being cratered, with an expansive rupes system generated from thrust faults, and bright ray systems, formed by ejecta. Its largest crater, Caloris Planitia, has a diameter of 1,550 km (960 mi), which is about one-third the diameter of the planet (4,880 km or 3,030 mi). Being the most inferior orbiting planet, it always appears close to the Sun in Earth's sky, as either a "morning star" or an "evening star". It is the planet with the highest delta-v required for tr…

Evidence: 53 • authority: 72

A classical planet is an astronomical object that is visible to the naked eye and moves across the sky and its backdrop of fixed stars (the common stars which seem still in contrast to the planets), appearing as wandering stars. Visible to humans on Earth there are seven classical planets (the seven luminaries). They are from brightest to dimmest: the Sun, the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars and Saturn. Greek astronomers such as Geminus and Ptolemy recorded these classical planets during classical antiquity, introducing the term planet, which means 'wanderer' in Greek (πλάνης planēs and πλανήτης planētēs), expressing the fact that these objects move across the celestial sphere relative…

Evidence: — • authority: 35