Today I Learned (TIL)
You learn something new every day; what did you learn today?
TIL in Interstellar the depiction of a black hole required completely new CGI rendering software and was so accurate that it provided enough scientifical insight to publish three scientific papers
TIL 2000-year-old graffiti was discovered in the ancient city of Pompeii, such as “On April 19th, I made bread.” and “If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girlfriend.”
TIL Thomas Jefferson was Deist, the belief that a God created the universe but hasn’t interfered with it since.
TIL Eaths magnetic poles flip on average every 200,000 – 300,000 years. Last time it flipped? 780,000 years ago.
Scientists understand that Earth’s magnetic field has flipped its polarity many times over the millennia. In other words, if you were alive about 800,000 years ago, and facing what we call north with a magnetic compass in your hand, the needle would point to ‘south.’ This is because a magnetic compass is calibrated based on Earth’s poles. The N-S markings of a compass would be 180 degrees wrong if the polarity of today’s magnetic field were reversed. Many doomsday theorists have tried to take this natural geological occurrence and suggest it could lead to Earth’s destruction. But would there be any dramatic effects? The answer, from the geologic and fossil records we have from hundreds of past magnetic polarity reversals, seems to be ‘no.’