Space: The Endless Question
In all my years I have come to realize a few things about the great black abyss that we know as outer space. It goes on forever in every direction; which means as much as we would like to be the center of the universe, we aren't. Sure, I seems harsh to say that the Earth and all its inhabitants are a meaningless speck of dust on the massive kitchen floor that is our universe. This year I have a science teacher who is a self-proclaimed "totally radical dude". He is still working toward his doctorate in Physics; I only mention it because once he has it, he will be Doctor Woods. That created a laugh of immaturity, that I didn't realize I still had.
He is a genius when it comes to almost everything in science. He also moonlights in blowing the minds of all his students day after day. Today he said that if you attached a huge mirror to the front of a rocket ship and took it to the edge of the observable universe then looked at it through a telescope, you would see dinosaurs and the Earth 60 million years ago because of how long the light takes to strike the craft. That made me wonder if time travel is just a difference in the perception of light and your distance from the source.
The light source that we have all come to know and love, the sun, takes eight whole seconds to travel from its source to its destination. That means all light is old light! There is no new light hitting the Earth, ever! I find that fascinating, as well as the fact that solar energy is used to create beautiful discharges in the sky such as the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights.
This is Ethan J Whitt, signing off, wishing all a wonderful evening.
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