Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Squaring the Circle: Earth and Moon are 60 million years older than we thought, Dante and Math


     The big buzz (Aldrin) of the day yesterday:

 EARTH AND MOON 60 MILLION YEARS OLDER

     Sixty million years, give or take 20 million years is a really big deal. The push to ever older ages for rocks on the earth by these French researchers is quite a statement.


     The discovery of older inclusions of xenon gas in Australian and South African rocks points to a much older earth and moon. 60,000,000 years is a huge deal, even to geologists. Many more years for processes to happen. . .





     And this article about Dante and mathematics is worth a look. The question of "squaring the circle" is at the center of Jones' work:
DANTE'S MATHEMATICS




     The tie in? Besides the great rota of life?

      The look at Dante's poetry from a mathematical perspective points to a time when math/science and poetry/the arts were more intricately linked. My question? How and why did they get so separated? Is it merely the increase of the amount of  information so we "can't" keep both parts intricately linked?

      Looking forward to a Wednesday meeting here.  As always, I appreciate your wisdom and insight...about science, words, squaring the circle, and any and all tie-ins.

 Mid-weekly, tri-angling squaring the circle,

 Steph
(aka Word Woman)

MAIZIE MAY 
     
     
at

12 comments:

  1. janJune 11, 2014 at 5:23 PM

    On my iPhone at EWR, so I'm not sure what the problem is, but the Dante math link isn't working. I do like the Apollo 8 Earthrise photo, tho Buzz wasn't involved in that.

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    1. Word WomanJune 11, 2014 at 5:46 PM

      I relinked the DANTE MATH article, jan. Hope you need not be at Newark Airport too long.

      Yeah, I knew it wasn't Buzz's but the buzz is it word played itself right in there;-).

      Thanks for letting me know about the link.

      Delete
  2. legolambdaJune 11, 2014 at 5:59 PM

    Steph,

    4.6 billion is the new 4.54 billion?

    I understand that, given this new research, Creation Scientists are now readjusting their age-of-the-earth estimate upwards, to 60,006,000 years... although they are not all that enthusiastic about that second "6" creeping into the estimate. If a subsequent earth-age readjustment results in a third "6" coming into play, they will likely become very disillusioned with the entire process and revert to their 6,000-year-old fallback.

    Nice Maizie photo. Glad to hear she's doing better.

    LegoLucifer

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  3. Word WomanJune 11, 2014 at 6:12 PM

    Ha, Lego! 6004 I believe. ;-) It cracks me up that the extra 4 years creeps in there. +/- 20,000,000 years is close enough for me.

    Thanks about Maizie. Still some residual infection but overall she is better.

    Steph

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  4. Word WomanJune 11, 2014 at 10:32 PM

    At least I got an interesting ad this time, for MathType 6.9, a program that promises equations anywhere and everywhere!

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  5. PaulJune 11, 2014 at 10:32 PM

    More on squaring the circle:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiana_Pi_Bill
    Ah, the mysterious possibilities of a dull pencil. And the mystery of transcendence.

    "Hope you need not be at Newark Airport too long" made me chuckle. I was there once years ago. I believe we have a consensus.

    Do they make get well cards for dogs? They should.

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    1. Word WomanJune 11, 2014 at 11:11 PM

      Paul, the Indiana Pi bill and squaring the Circle was interesting. The NZ references too. . .

      Yeah, Newark never inspired much except getting out of Dodge. Hope you are going somewhere fun, jan.

      Many thanks for the well wishes for Maizie, Paul. I will pass them on to her so she may take paws ;-).

      Delete
  6. Word WomanJune 13, 2014 at 1:09 PM

    This June Honey Moon was spectacular here. How about in your neck of the woods?

    http://earthsky.org/tonight/june-full-moon-mirrors-path-of-december-sun#.U5tLgRnnbqB

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    1. Word WomanJune 15, 2014 at 4:05 PM

      Of course, honey moon for a meadery! Good timing.

      Delete
  7. janJune 15, 2014 at 3:11 PM

    I was in Asheville, NC, which was stormy and overcast, so I missed it. Naturally, my friend with a meadery posted it to his Facebook page.

    Just learned about ringwoodite today. Sounds like big news. Why is it breaking now?

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    1. Word WomanJune 15, 2014 at 4:04 PM

      Ringwoodite was my topic for next week, jan!
      It's a polymorph of our old friend olivine.

      Interesting article. . .Yeah, for something that has been known since 1969, why is it surfacing now ?! More investigation needed.

      All that Bowen's reaction series stuff from long ago: (Wiki)

      "In Earth's interior, olivine occurs in the upper mantle at depths less than about 410 km, and ringwoodite is inferred to be present within the transition zone from about 520 to 660 km depth. Seismic discontinuities at about 410, 520, and 660 km depth have been attributed to phase changes involving olivine and its polymorphs.

      The 520-km discontinuity is generally believed to be caused by the transition of the olivine polymorph wadsleyite (beta-phase) to ringwoodite (gamma-phase), while the 660-km discontinuity by the phase transformation of ringwoodite (gamma-phase) to a silicate perovskite plus magnesiowüstite. "

      So at 520 km deep ringwoodite appears. And in a few meteorites...but a whole other water layer deep in the earth--that's amazing!! (worth two !!)

      Delete
  8. Word WomanJune 17, 2014 at 9:12 PM

    A new Tuesday post is up! Tuesday just didn't seem like Tuesday without it. . .

    Enjoy...There's even a "Top Ten" list.

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