Do We Really Need the Moon? might seem like a silly question for a werewolf, but not so much for humans. The traditional werewolf and a wolf did feature in a documentary presented by Maggie Aderin-Pocock, along with lots of magnificent moon facts and greenygrey images. It’s available on the BBC iplayer (just in the U.K. I think) until Tuesday, and may be elsewhere on the internet?
Moon Documentary Facts and Images
Hi, it’s Stephen Werewolfing, satirical science correspondent at the Greenygrey inspired by legendary astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. I was limited to ten greenygrey images and moon facts in my assignment, but could have got much more, as the moon documentary was that interesting and greenygrey. The first three greenygrey images were within the first 42 seconds.
I think ten greenygrey images is too much to load onto you in one go, so here’s the first five, with another five in the second instalment of this howlingly Hawkingish high-five x2:
Moon Facts and Images
1. The moon is 14,000 miles away from earth. We only see one side of the moon because it takes exactly as long to rotate once on its axis as it does to circle the Earth. The Dark Side of the Moon made famous by Pink Floyd has more craters, meaning it has stopped a lot of asteroids hitting Earth, helping to preserve life on the planet.
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2. The moon was created after an impact between another planet and a planet that is now our planet Earth. The debris dislodged in the collision coalesced into a ball. The moon was initially much closer to Earth, and must have looked like a gigantic orange disc in the sky from our planet.
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3. Moon tides might have started life on Earth. Darwin thought life started in warm little ponds, and many scientists now think he was right. In a simple chemistry experiment in the documentary they replicated tidal power, sunshine and a process of mixing and drying to create Ribonucleic acid (RNA), one of the main building blocks of life.
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4. While there is no evidence that the full moon has any direct effect on animals or humans, it is brighter than the moon at other times, so nocturnal animals can be more active when there’s a full moon. It can also provide a time cue, and coral mainly spawns on or around the full moon.
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5. By sending laser light photons to the moon, and measuring those returning, they can tell how far the moon is travelling away from the Earth now. They have found a clear pattern showing the moon still travelling away from Earth at 3.78 centimetres a year, about the same speed as finger nails grow.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed the first trip to the moon, and are looking forward to the second…
mistYmuse 