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Is the Earth Special?
Hugh Pickens writes "Planetary scientists say there are aspects to our planet and its evolution that are remarkably strange. In the first place there is Earth's strong magnetic field. No one is exactly sure how it works, but it has something to do with the turbulent motion that occurs in the Earth's liquid outer core and without it, we would be bombarded by harmful radiation from the Sun. Next there's plate tectonics. We live on a planet that is constantly recycling its crust, limiting the amount of carbon dioxide escaping into the atmosphere — a natural way of controlling the greenhouse effect. Then there's Jupiter-sized outer planets protecting the Earth from frequent large impacts. But the strangest thing of all is our big Moon. 'As the Earth rotates, it wobbles on its axis like a child's spinning top,' says Professor Monica Grady. 'What the Moon does is dampen down that wobble and that helps to prevent extreme climate fluctuations' — which would be detrimental to life. The moon's tides have also made long swaths of earth's coastline into areas of that are regularly shifted between dry and wet, providing a proving ground for early sea life to test the land for its suitability as a habitat. The 'Rare Earth Hypothesis' is one solution to the Fermi Paradox (PDF) because, if Earth is uniquely special as an abode of life, ETI will necessarily be rare or even non-existent. And in the absence of verifiable alien contact, scientific opinion will forever remain split as to whether the Universe teems with life or we are alone in the inky blackness."
I always simply blame gravitation for Womens monthly problems, not the moon. This way i know for sure i am right.
Hivemind harvest in progress..
To be fair,...
Why be fair? Many of the problems that science has in communicating facts is this notion that we have to be "fair". And by being "fair", we're giving superstition and myth the same credibility as science.
Sorry, if one is going to claim that this planet was created by a mythical being, they should be shot down as fast as an adult claiming that Santa Claus brings toys to children on Christmas Eve.
Or for that matter, why are the Greek and Roman myths considered to be fairy tales by everyone and yet, the Bible is considered by many to be fact - and folks who try to be "fair and balanced" give the same voice to those people.