The Bible is old. It’s been around for a while now, and there’s really nothing new you can learn from reading it over and over again. It’s just the same old thing re-translated and reprinted a million times over, and with all the sex and violence in it, it just doesn’t really make for good morning reading.
Science, on the other hand, is awesome. You learn a new thing every day; useful practical stuff you can actually apply, or fun trivial stuff that make you think. Science makes a heck of a lot more sense, answers a heck of a lot more questions, and the ultimate proof of superiority: it has way cooler words.
Once in a while we need a dose of cool science, to start our day with awesomeness, and to brighten up a boring afternoon like this one. So every so often I’ll be posting a Nerd Word, something from a random branch of science that I, and perhaps other nerds like me, find utterly fascinating, with a little trivia on what it means.
And today’s Nerd Word is: Spaghettification.
It’s a real scientific term, believe it or not, that describes how objects in a very strong gravitational field (of a second object) are stretched long and thin, much like spaghetti.
Spaghettification occurs because the gravitational force exerted on one body by a second body is not constant across its length; for instance, the moon’s pull on the hydrosphere is stronger on the oceans nearer to it, and weakest on the opposite ocean, explaining the tides. In other words, if a human body were falling to earth upright, the gravitational pull on his feet is actually greater than that on his head. The reason we don’t notice this is because of the internal forces that keep our bodies together, because we are too small, and because Earth’s gravity is too weak for us to measure the difference anyway.
But take this same human body and put it near a black hole, where the gravitational force is so immense that it doesn’t matter how small you are. The force pulling at the body’s feet will be so much greater than that pulling at his head that his feet will actually fall faster, overcoming the internal forces holding him together, causing him to stretch. Even the most rigid object, say, a diamond, will stretch when exposed to tidal forces strong enough to overcome the resistance.
And the reason we get a thin string of a spaghettified object instead of a stretched out version of the same width is because gravity pulls all sides of the object towards a singular point, as opposed to a flat surface. This means the left and right side of an object move along different lines that converge towards this singularity, causing the object’s width to shrink the farther it falls.
This image from wikipedia illustrates it nicely enough.
Spaghettification. Man, Science is awesome.
Wikipedia is boring – too technical. I hope to see an article about singularity that the layman can relate to. 🙂
I think for more in-depth discussion on things like gravitational singularities, Wikipedia is useful and interesting enough. I don't think there is a need to discuss any more detail than is necessary to illustrate the general awesomeness of science. For more in-depth discussions on Nerd Words, I would recommend science books or magazines. =) We're not writing textbooks after all.
@francis – I make a truly horrifying collaborator, believe you me. It baffles me daily how I manage to get my own two hands to work together when typing anything, honest. ^^
@frank
Ah you're an astrophysicist or just someone who fancies it? I was supposed to major in physics but I got sidetracked into computer engineering for a while. 🙂 You can check Pecier's (physics major) and my recent discussions <a href="http://(https://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/10/12/falling-in-love-the-physics-of-attraction/)” target=”_blank”>(https://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/10/12/falling-in-love-the-physics-of-attraction/) regarding gravitation, which is relevant to singularities. I might even make a future article regarding blackholes too, but usually I try to make them less technical. Then again, if somebody requests something more technical, I won't back out from that challenge. 🙂
@jong
Layman's article for space-time singularities? Sure I'll take that. But I'll need to get my creative writing skill juices flowing again. After my last article (https://filipinofreethinkers.org/2009/10/16/sorry-guys-im-reconverting) left me a bit dry of those juices. 🙂 The technical article isn't so hard since I just basically flood the thing with equations and geeks go "ahh" and "uh-huh". But you can hold that layman's article on me. 🙂
@frank
Maybe sometime we can write an article together. The less equations (or none at all) the better. How's that? 🙂
@wes
Congrats! I met Pecier a few days ago and he also has a copy of that book and he's reading it also.
@francis f241vc15 – just a fan of astronomy, actually. and paleontology, geology, biology and an whole bunch of stuff. but i'm probably nowhere near as hardcore as you guys, as the slightest hint of an equation puts me off entirely. if an equals sign isn't followed by a parenthesis, i'm out. =)
F241vc15 : The challenge is to write about space-time singularity in a way that captures the layman's interest and satisfies his understanding. Up to it? 🙂
science geeks unite! hehe 🙂
@francis: I finally finished that Physics of the Impossible book, hehe. after years of being ignored in my bookshelf, hehe. Maybe jong would find that book a good read, its got good chapters on space-time discussions from the wizard of string theory himself 🙂
@Frank: I was the one who requested the singularity article, not Geri. And I promise I won't be bored to sleep. You have such a way of making 'boring' nerdy topics interesting for us laymen. Please? 🙂
@Geri – I think if I were to write a detailed article on gravitational singularity, I'd get carried away and write enough to bore people to sleep. ^^ Nerd alert!
I am definitely agreed that the bible is old. But we cannot change the facts that the bible today circulated in more than 1000 language of the world still indestructible. Another thing that we need to consider is the unity of the Bible. Although written by some forty different authors over the period of about 1600 yrs, the bible is one book. It has one doctrinal system, one moral standard, one plan of salvation, one program of the ages. Its several accounts of the same incidents or teachings are not contradictory, but supplementary.
Also, the bible produces a highest result in all walks of life. It has led to the highest type of creations in the field of arts, architecture, literature, and music. And a lot of things that we can experience and learn if we open our mind to see the true essence of the word of God.
Hi Frank. I really love this post. You have this simple and cute way of creating an attitude towards the adventure of science with an awe inspiring character. Keep it up. We'll be reading more from you.
FSM is also the first thing that popped into my mind when i read the word Spaghettification. LOL
I thought it was about the Flying Spaghetti Monster. 🙂
Reminds me of that term in writing, spaghettying, which I read from Jon Franklin's Writing the Story. In the context of writing, spaghettying happens when you work without a focus or an outline — at first you have control over the topic threads and then suddenly they get twisted out of control into what reads like verbal spaghetti.
And although I get your point about the new learning you get out of science, reading the Bible for the first time, especially if you're one of those nominal Christians, is similarly entertaining, if not shocking: A bear killed 42 kids? Lot had incest with both his daughters? Who were offered to the mob to be raped? WTFuck!
In any case, this looks like the start of a beautiful segment 🙂
@jong – ah, sorry, I'm blind. ^_^ Seems there's at least one other astrophysics nerd in here. =) Maybe when I'm bored enough at work I'll write a long article about black holes. =)
Science FTW!
I believe a Baptist Church in North Carolina is about to burn non-King James versions of it this Halloween. And every Christian denomination has their own interpretation of its doctrines, which stories to take literally, which figuratively. There is no "one" way, truth or life. The fact that there is no one Christian church shows this.
Also, the Bible has been used as justification to stifle science, art and literature, condemning paintings and books as anti-christian, and burn scientists as witches and heretics.
I have no problem with people being faithful, just as long as they are not blind.
Could you please talk about singularity (space-time) on your next installment of Nerd Word? Special request. 🙂
OO nga no! Spaghettification = conversion to Pastafarian 😀