In November, 1884, the New York Times ran a pretty interesting story... An astronomer, known only by the name "Arndt," claimed to have discovered a cubic planet, just beyond the orbit of Neptune. Less than 100 years later, another discovery was made. This time, by a person who not only named the earth , but who also had maps, and sketches of its alien life forms. This is 'What If,' and here's what would happen if the world was a Cube. All planets are round, But have you ever wondered why?
Let's go back in time, say, 4.5 billion years ago. A big cloud of gas and mud , called a nebula, collapsed to make a hot star which, through its gravitational pull, attracted all nearby matter, and formed an outsized rotating disk around its center. After quite just a couple of collisions, the matter orbiting the young sun evenutally grew into massive bodies, with strong gravitational centers. They formed planets. Inside any given planet, gravity pulls equally from all sides towards its center.
This accounts for their spherical shape. So because the Earth we live on is a sphere, and its gravitational pull is the same wherever you go, it means that as long as you're on a flat surface, you will be standing straight and tall... But what does one think happens once you skew the distribution of gravity? So, you want to live life on the edge? Then pick a side! The Earth has six faces now, but sadly, none of them are any fun. That's because anywhere you go is going to feel like you're climbing up a steep hill. On the cubed Earth, gravity is strongest at the middle of every of its faces, therefore the further you're faraway from the middle , the more you'll feel its pull. Hope you didn't take standing tall for granted! The landscape along the Earth's edges would be rocky and barren, since all the water would be pooled at the middle of every face. And the atmospheric quality along the Earth's edges and corners would be too thin to support life – or non-existant. We'll come back to that later. The new climate would depend upon how the world rotates. If our cubed planet rotated on an axis through two of its faces, then the climate would be quite like how it's immediately on Earth, only more extreme. The top and therefore the bottom faces would be polar, while the remaing four sides would enjoy an equatorial climate. However, if the world was a cube that rotated through its corners, then all sides would have a temperate climate. You could say goodbye to extreme temperatures and precipitation. Sadly, that means saying goodbye to your equatorial fantasy world too. On the plus side, you might just be able to walk into outerspace. Since our atmosphere is held down by gravity, and since gravity is now pulling from the middle of every of Earth's faces, it means the atmosphere would be thicker where gravity is strongest, and thinner towards the edges. What's more, if the cubic Earth had the same volume as our rounded world today, then its sharp, steep corners would actually poke out beyond our atmosphere. These areas would be unprotected, and therefore uninhabitable. But who says you couldn't rent a space suit and stand on top of the world and outside of it at the same time? We'll never find out, and that's probably for the best. But we'll keep trying things out as long as you're curious.
This accounts for their spherical shape. So because the Earth we live on is a sphere, and its gravitational pull is the same wherever you go, it means that as long as you're on a flat surface, you will be standing straight and tall... But what does one think happens once you skew the distribution of gravity? So, you want to live life on the edge? Then pick a side! The Earth has six faces now, but sadly, none of them are any fun. That's because anywhere you go is going to feel like you're climbing up a steep hill. On the cubed Earth, gravity is strongest at the middle of every of its faces, therefore the further you're faraway from the middle , the more you'll feel its pull. Hope you didn't take standing tall for granted! The landscape along the Earth's edges would be rocky and barren, since all the water would be pooled at the middle of every face. And the atmospheric quality along the Earth's edges and corners would be too thin to support life – or non-existant. We'll come back to that later. The new climate would depend upon how the world rotates. If our cubed planet rotated on an axis through two of its faces, then the climate would be quite like how it's immediately on Earth, only more extreme. The top and therefore the bottom faces would be polar, while the remaing four sides would enjoy an equatorial climate. However, if the world was a cube that rotated through its corners, then all sides would have a temperate climate. You could say goodbye to extreme temperatures and precipitation. Sadly, that means saying goodbye to your equatorial fantasy world too. On the plus side, you might just be able to walk into outerspace. Since our atmosphere is held down by gravity, and since gravity is now pulling from the middle of every of Earth's faces, it means the atmosphere would be thicker where gravity is strongest, and thinner towards the edges. What's more, if the cubic Earth had the same volume as our rounded world today, then its sharp, steep corners would actually poke out beyond our atmosphere. These areas would be unprotected, and therefore uninhabitable. But who says you couldn't rent a space suit and stand on top of the world and outside of it at the same time? We'll never find out, and that's probably for the best. But we'll keep trying things out as long as you're curious.
0 Comments