It’s common knowledge that it takes a photon about 8 minutes to travel the 150 million km to the earth from the surface of the sun, but did you know that it takes A MILLION YEARS to travel the 696 thousand km from the center of the sun to the surface? The reason is not due to the sun’s gravitational field, but due to the path the photon takes, zigzagging randomly as it is absorbed and reemitted by plasma particles. This was one of the interesting facts from the How…read more
In 2001 I moved to a coastal town in Northern Italy and was instantly captivated by the mystery and majesty of the neoprene clad freedivers that frequent the rocky shoreline in search of the tranquility, beauty and fish that await below the surface. A quick internet search clarified that I was in one of the historical epicenters of the sport, and the waters around Portofino had been used for decades for record attempts. Altavista also brought Luc Besson’s 1988 epic The Big Blue to my attention, and I was instantly…read more