The Sun, galaxies and cockroaches

The Sun is our good and trusted friend although it will eventually engulf the Earth. That's something "really good friends" sometimes do, but with time and care. Bon appétit. According to the eminent physicist Stephen Hawking, nuclear catastrophes, wars or our actions by polluting this planet may however make it inhabitable long before the Sun takes over. The mid-nights in the northern hemisphere prove that the sun is persistently checking on us - its future snack.

And then, before we go any further, if you think you are allergic to chocolate, you actually may be allergic to cockroaches. According to the FDA, every 100g of chocolate contains about 60 cockroach particles; every chocolate bar about six (see abc-NEWS for full report). Cockroach allergy was first reported in 1943, but was really proven to exist in 1959. However, it is not only chocolate that contains pieces of cockroaches and their droppings - read the report and empty your fridge.

So, our friend is a yellow dwarf of spectral class G2V. Its surface temperature is about 5505C, and its mass is about 2 x 1000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 kilogrammes, take or leave a few. In about 5 milliard years, again take or leave a few, it has consumed most of its hydrogen fuel and will start burning heavier atoms and expanding; it will become a red dwarf. That will be about the time for starting the countdown for the Earth, and our relationship will be shifting to the next level. The Sun is entering an expansive phase; our Earth will be having some good time, but just briefly. Of course, there is a chance that some black hole may take its advantage and do it first. The nearest known black hole,V4641 Sgr, is about 1600 light years away, but it only is the nearest we know. Being swallowed by one of them would be an ultimate crushing experience, I guess. Vaya con dios, sayonara. These two choices are so far apart as can be. Wheter to be burnt in a bright flame, or to be shrunken into something smaller than we can imagine provide us a rather wide scale if there was a chance to pick up one. If you would like to get some new perspectives, read about space-time continuum, related to the black holes. Do it and get confused. Good for your psychiatrist.

For now, I don't reckon there is much sense to feel sorry for the mother Earth and its "siblings" that will go too. Anything, even slightly resembling human intelligence has existed only less than 2,5 million years, and before the time is up, there is plenty of time for the "humans" to evolve back into eyeless cockroaches that are able to travel to distant galaxies with no space suit and take a nice tan caused by high radiation. Now the Sun keeps us in proper course, and is not bad at all if we don't go too close. It makes us squint our eyes, and may give freckles to some, but so what. However, when it itself gets freckles, the consequences may concern us all. The first reports of sunspots come from about 2400 years BP, and were done by a Chinese astronomer Gan De. The sunspots and the solar wind have been claimed to be responsible for interferences in the magnetic field of the Earth, and thus for a number of problems with transmission that is broadcast over the air. Radio, TV, mobile phones, Internet and even the length of mini skirts have allegedly been affected. As the cycle of sunspots seems to be about eleven years, and as now in 2012 we are approaching the high season, or Solar Max, the skirts should be lengthening soon, or then shortening; who would know the mechanism of interference there?

If the jogging shoes and socks were much closer to the Sun, they would definitely be incinerated and useless; the important brand tags would be gone. However, by keeping them at a decent distance, they only dry comfortably. Most likely, the sunspots do not interfere with their function or length. Good for the brand. Solar wind consists of charged particles, electrons, protons and some other heavier ion stuff, blowing off the Sun especially during the periods of a Solar Max. However, the solar wind has little to do with drying socks. Though, the actual wind that we and the socks encounter is also caused by the Sun. As the sunshine doesn't heat all parts of the Earth (sea, land and atmosphere) equally, lighter warm air rises, and heavier cold air from cooler regions replaces it making a wind blow. So, if you get hot and sweaty in summer and try to cool down the heat in a cool wind, it is the Sun that does them both. Its role is somewhat ambivalent. The effect of the Sun and other makers of the weather can be studied here. Good for Crystal Wicker.

Regarding cockroaches, the solar wind actually has a role in the protection of our human presence. Real cosmic radiation that comes from the explosions of supernovae and from outside our galaxy is mainly responsible for the mutations in the genome of all species; it is a major factor in adaptive evolution. In part for the solar wind, only a small fraction of cosmic radiation enters the biosphere, and if the circumstances remain such as they are, cockroaches may have to wait another couple of millions of years before having any chance. Anyway, rumour has it that they are very patient. Good for them.

January 15th, 2012, at 10:00am, the Sun was shining at about 30 degree angle in Manchester, UK (53o28'N 2o14'W). Although there is no snow, extremely few cockroaches stay mobile in the outside temperatures of North West England in winter. Good for us. 

The Sun is a great heating device. Unlike in Nordic countries, here in Manchester the Sun warms up our apartment also in winter. Most winter days, there is no need to use electrical power for heating, and at night a bit cooler bedroom is a guarantee for a good night sleep. Cosmic radiation of course penetrates me and Pirjo all the time, but we don't feel a tickle. Instead, our computers and especially big memory banks (as Google's) may feel a tickle or two. According to a controversial theory, cosmic rays may affect computers' memory modules by causing "mutations", i.e. errors in the data of memory chips. For defence it has been suggested that, not only servers, but also home computer users should start using Error Checking and Correction (ECC) memory modules, or then store them vertically (smaller target), live under sea level, build an apartment inside a mountain or get one at lower levels of a multi-storey building. Also, it might be a great idea not to move to Chernobyl or Three Mile Island. Pirjo and I have considered not to move to Chernobyl, although, based on our lively moving history, our relatives may find it hard to believe. Neither are we going find a place underground. Sleeping in upright position is out of question. I have a strong feeling my personal memory modules work just fine. Good for me.

For many northerners, staying tanned is a socially significant sun related matter. When we lived in Kuwait, getting somewhat tanned was no problem. Constant sunshine was actually a bother if you had to walk from one building to another in an office outfit. In summer, when daily temperatures went up to 50C, walking two hundred meters was no fun.

Beaches in Q8 were almost empty as the people down there are not exactly "swimsuit material". Showing off a trained body, male or female, is a cultural issue. Appreciating sunshine is a cultural issue too; too much is too much, although there are exceptions. For avoiding misunderstandings, the man on the right is not tanning himself. Oh, my God...but good.

Tee-off time for a golf round was before 6am as already at 9am it was too hot to play. At some point there was a chance to get some extra radiation also from other sources but the Sun and other galaxies. During the Second Gulf War, we were aware of the threat of dirty bombs, but eventually Saddam didn't have any. Nevertheless, the bunkers at our golf course wouldn't have been for much protection as their roofs were pretty non-existent. No matter what, my golf ball took shelter quite often; water hazards were no problem in the Q8 desert.

Although, it is out of the context of this talk, I would like to provide you with a golf experience; it just shows how dry it was. It's a short video that was taken some ten years ago in Kuwait. At that time we worked there. Our offspring was visiting us over the Christmas time 2002, and I played quite a number of golf rounds with our son Miika. Well, Kuwait, or Q8, is almost completely sand; water for irrigating such waste areas as golf courses is strictly regulated. You'll see that fairways down there are not so green. Actually, everyone had a small piece of AstroTurf hanging on a golf bag, and all the strokes outside greens, or browns, were executed on it. Putting surfaces were pure sand too. After the hole was finished, we always brushed the sand of the "browns" smooth for the next group. There was no way to avoid having close acquaintance with local farmers as they often drove their cattle over the fairways. 

I'm not going to talk much about Global Warming, although it has so much to do with this topic. The Big GW is something we people are responsible for, and the cockroaches are completely innocent. If the sea levels were going to rise some eleven meters during the next one hundred+ years, perhaps The Summer Olympic Games would be held somewhere where the Winter Olympic Games are held at the same time. I would like to see 100 meter hurdles race to be done on skis. What about pole vault? The Olympic Games wouldn't be held in Los Angeles, New York, Sydney or London, that is for sure, as the competitors and the audience would need scuba diving equipment. I have a feeling that the Dutch buried an idea of dry Olympic Games a long time ago. On the other hand, hypothetical 2112 Games spectator stands would be underwater, and the audience would have a completely new perspective to the events. Instead of doves and pigeons, in the opening ceremony, there would be a school of herrings and breams released. I don't scuba dive, but good.

As a friend, the Sun has an assisting and informative role too. If you have any to add, please let me know: 

1) As a showcase light, it illuminates the Moon for everyone to admire it at night. If you don't remember which way does the crescent show when the Moon is growing or shrinking, just remember that the Moon is a cheater: When it looks like the letter D, it actually is not "Diminishing", but growing. The social life of wolves and people is invigorated by the sunlit Moon as their howling keeps the other wolves alert and many people awake. Perhaps the wolves find it good.

2) Together with the shadow of the Earth, it provides us with info about the course of months, and together with the shadow of an odd pin it tells us the time of day. This of course is something you might need if you don't have a watch. For setting up a solar clock you need to know where north is, and for that you may need a watch. Why, just read a bit further. So, if you don't know the points of compass, you need a watch for defining them. But if you have a watch, you don't need a solar clock. Life is sometimes a bit complicated. 

3) Because at noon the Sun is in south, in the northern hemisphere you can use your wrist watch as a compass: Hold the watch horizontal and point the hour hand at the sun; the bisector between that point and the noon on your watch points to the south. Surprisingly, north is in the opposite direction.

4) Daytime, the Sun allows us to charge the batteries of our flash light as we don't need it. If available, we can do it by using a solar panel charger. Electricity, provided by solar panels, may also help us in drying the previously mentioned jogging shoes and socks at night. Good for them.

5) Excessive sunshine is a great means for fading too bright coloured furniture and wall paper.

6) Cockroaches don't like sunlight. They have a good tan already, and allegedly their social life is minimal. On the other hand, according to literature, some so-called intelligent species communicate by filing their extensions. Who knows if it is good for anyone, or then yes.

Kuwait is one of the most polluted areas in the world. According to my car dealer, this is the reason why cars in Kuwait do not have catalytic converters; no use crying over spilt milk. Anyway, the setting Sun created extraordinary light effects over Kuwait City. During our four year stay in Q8, we didn't see cockroaches any more often than here in UK; perhaps they all were gassed. Gas, or petrol, in Q8 was 0.006 Kuwaiti dinars per a litre at that time; it was equal to 15 Euro cents. Are you still smiling? It was pretty good for us.

A "grand-ad" (he's in advertising) of future cockroaches, taking in some healthy radiation. 

And then, if you didn't happen to know: Amazon.co.uk is selling an adorable toy item, "Solar Bug, Crazy Cockroach - Eco Friendly Toy, Black". Psychological warfare has already begun. However, at least one counter force has taken an early action. An organisation called The Fright Fest at Great America had in 2011 already the 21st annual celebration where cockroaches are consumed alive by people with special needs. The "Madagascar hissing variety" that they use is about the size of a mouse. So, our future friends are evolving already. Now we have to only wait and see; it will be a long wait, and that's not good.

Bon appétit, sunshine.