Editing 2013: Rock
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==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
+ | {{incomplete|Created by a VOLCANO AT THE SOUTH POLE - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
+ | Megan either knows enough about geology to tell on sight how this particular rock formed, or has brought this rock from a collection. Alternatively she’s simply guessing, or has heard how most rocks in that area formed. Despite admiring its formation, all she wants is to use it as a skipping stone to give it "a weird day in its life", and possibly confuse future geologists. | ||
− | Megan | + | Megan provides three informations about the rock: It formed at the south pole, during an ice age, just before multicellular life developed. Unfortunately, due to disagreements among geologists and palaeontologists about when exactly the first multicellular life emerged it is unclear which time Megan refers to - and consequently where she is and what kind of rock she is holding. There are two possibilities: |
− | + | 1. The {{w|Francevillian biota}}, living about 2.1 billion years ago, has been proposed as the first multicellular life. If Megan subscribes to this theory, then the Ice age just before would be the {{w|Huronian glaciation}} which extended from 2.4 to 2.1 billion years ago. The land which was at the South pole at that time would eventually become part of Africa [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwWWuttntio become part of Africa]. | |
− | + | 2. However, not all scientists accept the Francevillian biota as the first multicellular life. If Megan shares this view the first fossils multicellular life would be only 600 million years old (e.g. in the {{w|Doushantuo Formation}}). In this case the ice age "just before"n would be the {{w|Cryogenian}} lasting from 720 million to 635 million years ago. The land occupying the South Pole at the time became present-day Scandinavia and Baltic sea. | |
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− | Thus | + | Thus, - assuming that Megan has accurately identified the stone - she is either on the Western Africa or Northern Europe. |
− | {{w|Stone skipping}} is the art of throwing a flat stone across water in such a way that it bounces off the surface. | + | {{w|Stone skipping}} is the art of throwing a flat stone across water in such a way that it bounces off the surface. Most throws rarely result in more than one or two "skips",{{Citation needed}} so Megan skipping the stone five times is certainly an above-average throw. (It is, however, far short of the world record of 88 skips set by Kurt Steiner in 2013). |
This comic is one of many that look at everyday things from a new, philosophical perspective. | This comic is one of many that look at everyday things from a new, philosophical perspective. | ||
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
− | :[Cueball and Megan are looking at a rock that Megan is holding | + | {{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} |
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+ | :[Cueball and Megan are looking at a rock that Megan is holding.] | ||
:Megan: This rock erupted from a volcano near the South Pole when the world was frozen over, just before multicellular life arose. | :Megan: This rock erupted from a volcano near the South Pole when the world was frozen over, just before multicellular life arose. | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Cueball and Megan are standing next to a large body of water. Megan skips the rock 5 times across the water before it sinks, with a "plunk".] |
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− | :[ | + | :[Cueball and Megan looking towards the body of water.] |
:Megan: Now it'll be covered in sediment that becomes a new rock layer. It will likely stay buried until it melts down, erodes away, or the earth is consumed by the sun. | :Megan: Now it'll be covered in sediment that becomes a new rock layer. It will likely stay buried until it melts down, erodes away, or the earth is consumed by the sun. | ||
− | :[Cueball and Megan | + | :[Cueball and Megan looking towards the body of water.] |
:Cueball: Today was a weird day in its incredibly long life. | :Cueball: Today was a weird day in its incredibly long life. | ||
:Megan: Five brief skips, then eons of darkness. | :Megan: Five brief skips, then eons of darkness. | ||
:Cueball: Five is a lot, though! | :Cueball: Five is a lot, though! | ||
− | :Megan: It | + | :Megan: It ''was'' a good throw. |
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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