Martin Rowe's Blog, page 4
May 15, 2024
Andromeda is Coming!
𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗔 𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚!
The ‘Andromeda’ galaxy, which is about twice the diameter of our galaxy, the ‘Milky Way’, will collide with us in approximately 4.5 billion years. Because the ‘Andromeda’ galaxy is of a greater mass and density than us, it is predicted that it will cannibalise the ‘Milky Way’. So are we all doomed? According to NASA, it is estimated that the merger of these two galactic behemoths will totally change the appearance of our night sky but will likely leave our solar system unharmed.
Great news right? Unfortunately, in 4.5 billion years when this merger happens, it is predicted that our sun will have nearly depleted its hydrogen fuel source and will have morphed into a red dwarf, growing in size out past Mercury, Venus and yes, you guessed it….. Earth!
So, one way or another we’re going to have to get humanity off this ball of rock! What do you think? Will humanity be able to survive these coming apocalypses, or will we be long gone by then?
The ‘Andromeda’ galaxy, which is about twice the diameter of our galaxy, the ‘Milky Way’, will collide with us in approximately 4.5 billion years. Because the ‘Andromeda’ galaxy is of a greater mass and density than us, it is predicted that it will cannibalise the ‘Milky Way’. So are we all doomed? According to NASA, it is estimated that the merger of these two galactic behemoths will totally change the appearance of our night sky but will likely leave our solar system unharmed.
Great news right? Unfortunately, in 4.5 billion years when this merger happens, it is predicted that our sun will have nearly depleted its hydrogen fuel source and will have morphed into a red dwarf, growing in size out past Mercury, Venus and yes, you guessed it….. Earth!
So, one way or another we’re going to have to get humanity off this ball of rock! What do you think? Will humanity be able to survive these coming apocalypses, or will we be long gone by then?
May 14, 2024
Book Review
Quantum Supremacy by Michio KakuMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
As always, I do love a Michio Kaku book, and this one is no different. I feel his skill often lays in the fact that he himself is a dreamer and is able to paint a compelling picture of what our world would look like should something come to pass. 'Quantum Supremacy' does just that as it explores the technology hotly tipped to succeed micro-processors, which is quantum computing. His mastery and ability to simplify the complex processes of the quantum world leaves the reader highly informed on the topic once the book reaches its end. I would recommend this to anyone with an intertest in science non-fiction, or anyone who is curious about how we currently think a quantum computer will be developed and used. Highly recommended.
View all my reviews
May 13, 2024
The Northern/Southern Lights
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗔𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗥𝗔 𝗕𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦/𝗔𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦
This week, in the UK, we were treated to a spectacular show in the night sky! So as this is still very fresh in people’s minds, and current, why not explore that 😊
The northern lights (aurora borealis) and the southern lights (aurora australis) are predominately seen around the Antarctic and Arctic extremities of our planet, often manifesting themselves as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers in our nights sky.
They are disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by solar winds altering the trajectories of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, in the Earth’s magnetospheric plasma. As these particles move into the upper layers of out atmosphere, known as the thermosphere/exosphere, the excitation of causes them to emit light of varying complexity and colour.
So how did we in the UK see them so clearly when we are a considerable distance from the Arctic circle? There will have been an increase in the Suns activity, and subsequently the speed of these solar winds, which will have been caused by ‘coronal holes’ or ‘Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s)’. These are both caused by disturbances in the Suns magnetic field.
Did you see the light show this weekend? 😊
This week, in the UK, we were treated to a spectacular show in the night sky! So as this is still very fresh in people’s minds, and current, why not explore that 😊
The northern lights (aurora borealis) and the southern lights (aurora australis) are predominately seen around the Antarctic and Arctic extremities of our planet, often manifesting themselves as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers in our nights sky.
They are disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by solar winds altering the trajectories of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, in the Earth’s magnetospheric plasma. As these particles move into the upper layers of out atmosphere, known as the thermosphere/exosphere, the excitation of causes them to emit light of varying complexity and colour.
So how did we in the UK see them so clearly when we are a considerable distance from the Arctic circle? There will have been an increase in the Suns activity, and subsequently the speed of these solar winds, which will have been caused by ‘coronal holes’ or ‘Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s)’. These are both caused by disturbances in the Suns magnetic field.
Did you see the light show this weekend? 😊
May 12, 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE
𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬’𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗪𝗡 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 – 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘!
Hi everyone,
Compassion’s Cry (Book 1) and A Symmetry of Sentience (Book 2) are now ONLY £3.99 on Kindle 😊
My reader freebie, ‘Humanity’s Dawn: The Extended Timeline (1961-4545)’ is now finished and has been successfully uploaded to Bookfunnel. The problem I am still having is setting up the distribution automations on Mailerlite (any fellow authors HELP please 😊)!
I will continue to preserver with this and will hopefully be able to get it out to you soon. This will be FREE and EXCLUSIVE to followers who sign up to my quarterly newsletter 😊
I hope to commission my local printer to create me some banners, business cards and postcards in the not too distant future so I can start looking at doing some book fayres in the summer.
Hope you all have a great week?
Kind Regards,
Martin
Hi everyone,
Compassion’s Cry (Book 1) and A Symmetry of Sentience (Book 2) are now ONLY £3.99 on Kindle 😊
My reader freebie, ‘Humanity’s Dawn: The Extended Timeline (1961-4545)’ is now finished and has been successfully uploaded to Bookfunnel. The problem I am still having is setting up the distribution automations on Mailerlite (any fellow authors HELP please 😊)!
I will continue to preserver with this and will hopefully be able to get it out to you soon. This will be FREE and EXCLUSIVE to followers who sign up to my quarterly newsletter 😊
I hope to commission my local printer to create me some banners, business cards and postcards in the not too distant future so I can start looking at doing some book fayres in the summer.
Hope you all have a great week?
Kind Regards,
Martin
May 9, 2024
Did you know?
𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪 – 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗜𝗡 𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗟𝗬 𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗧𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙?
If anybody has ever asked, “what’s eating you recently”? the answer to that is quite simple; it’s your own brain! 😲😲😲😲
The process is called ‘Phagocytosis’ and it is when cells envelop and then consume the smaller molecules and cells within the brain.
Panic not though, for this process isn’t harmful and actually helps to preserve the old grey matter! 😊
If anybody has ever asked, “what’s eating you recently”? the answer to that is quite simple; it’s your own brain! 😲😲😲😲
The process is called ‘Phagocytosis’ and it is when cells envelop and then consume the smaller molecules and cells within the brain.
Panic not though, for this process isn’t harmful and actually helps to preserve the old grey matter! 😊
KINDLE PROMOTION
𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬’𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗪𝗡: 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗞𝗦 𝟭 & 𝟮
𝟯𝟯% 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (£𝟯.𝟵𝟵 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why not use the upcoming weekend to introduce yourself to the highly reader rated ‘Humanity’s Dawn’ trilogy. ‘Compassion’s Cry’ (Book 1) and ‘A Symmetry of Sentience’ (Book 2), which are now ONLY £3.99 each………….. The adventure starts here 😊
Also available in print, on audible and iTunes, and both books are FREE to download on Kindle Unlimited at the links below 👇
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CH373JS7
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CSZMMDCF
𝟯𝟯% 𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗟𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗨𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (£𝟯.𝟵𝟵 𝗘𝗔𝗖𝗛)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why not use the upcoming weekend to introduce yourself to the highly reader rated ‘Humanity’s Dawn’ trilogy. ‘Compassion’s Cry’ (Book 1) and ‘A Symmetry of Sentience’ (Book 2), which are now ONLY £3.99 each………….. The adventure starts here 😊
Also available in print, on audible and iTunes, and both books are FREE to download on Kindle Unlimited at the links below 👇
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CH373JS7
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CSZMMDCF
May 7, 2024
How the Earth was First Measured
𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗦𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗦 – 𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗛𝗘 𝗠𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗥𝗖𝗨𝗠𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗛
It is a common misconception that Christopher Columbus discovered the Earth was round. It should more accurately state that he contributed to the rediscovery of this fact. The ancient Greeks knew this to be true through scientific deduction, and no one more so than Eratosthenes, born in 276 B.C.E, and credited with the title ‘Father of Geography’.
So how did he make this incredible deduction I hear you ask?
When he was appointed to the position of ‘Chief Librarian’ and the great library of Alexandria he heard of a place in modern day Aswan (Egypt) where the midday sun cast no shadow on a stick when placed in the ground (effectively a makeshift sundial). He then measured, on that exact date and time, the same effect from Alexandria and observed there was a 7.2 degree (1/50th of a circle) difference.
From this he extrapolated the distance between them and concluded that the Earth’s circumference was in the region of 250K stades, what we now know to be 28,000 kilometres. Modern measurement tells us that the exact distance is 24,900 kilometres, which means his approximation was well within the ballpark. Not bad hey?
He basically used the geometry we get taught in school and college! So how’s that grey matter then? Do you think you could do better with such a calculation?
It is a common misconception that Christopher Columbus discovered the Earth was round. It should more accurately state that he contributed to the rediscovery of this fact. The ancient Greeks knew this to be true through scientific deduction, and no one more so than Eratosthenes, born in 276 B.C.E, and credited with the title ‘Father of Geography’.
So how did he make this incredible deduction I hear you ask?
When he was appointed to the position of ‘Chief Librarian’ and the great library of Alexandria he heard of a place in modern day Aswan (Egypt) where the midday sun cast no shadow on a stick when placed in the ground (effectively a makeshift sundial). He then measured, on that exact date and time, the same effect from Alexandria and observed there was a 7.2 degree (1/50th of a circle) difference.
From this he extrapolated the distance between them and concluded that the Earth’s circumference was in the region of 250K stades, what we now know to be 28,000 kilometres. Modern measurement tells us that the exact distance is 24,900 kilometres, which means his approximation was well within the ballpark. Not bad hey?
He basically used the geometry we get taught in school and college! So how’s that grey matter then? Do you think you could do better with such a calculation?
May 6, 2024
The Coriolis Effect
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗟𝗜𝗦 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧
The ‘Coriolis Effect’ is an inertial force exhibited on an object that is moving in a given direction on a rotating body. Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
A common myth is that this effects which direction your sink will drain depending on which hemisphere you are in. This is not true as the ‘Coriolis Effect’ is simply too weak to effect such a small body of water. This would be true if you had a bath the size of the Atlantic ocean though!
So how does this work in our solar system? We can state that whilst you remain in our solar system it is possible to experience the ‘Coriolis Effect’ as it rotates. However, if you were to step away from our solar system, and place yourself at a point of zero acceleration, you would observe the planets rotating, but you would not observe the ‘Coriolis Effect’. This is due to our solar system, as a disk, being 63 degrees misaligned from our galaxy’s core, and therefore does not impact on our solar system.
What about the universe? The universe doesn’t rotate, expanding in all directions. Within this universe physics teaches us that time travel in a forward direction is theoretically possible, but not into the past. What if the universe did indeed rotate? Well, that would be interesting, as our physics tell us that backward time travel would then be theoretically possible.
What interesting Sci-Fi plots and technologies do you think can be drawn from this natural inertial effect?
The ‘Coriolis Effect’ is an inertial force exhibited on an object that is moving in a given direction on a rotating body. Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
A common myth is that this effects which direction your sink will drain depending on which hemisphere you are in. This is not true as the ‘Coriolis Effect’ is simply too weak to effect such a small body of water. This would be true if you had a bath the size of the Atlantic ocean though!
So how does this work in our solar system? We can state that whilst you remain in our solar system it is possible to experience the ‘Coriolis Effect’ as it rotates. However, if you were to step away from our solar system, and place yourself at a point of zero acceleration, you would observe the planets rotating, but you would not observe the ‘Coriolis Effect’. This is due to our solar system, as a disk, being 63 degrees misaligned from our galaxy’s core, and therefore does not impact on our solar system.
What about the universe? The universe doesn’t rotate, expanding in all directions. Within this universe physics teaches us that time travel in a forward direction is theoretically possible, but not into the past. What if the universe did indeed rotate? Well, that would be interesting, as our physics tell us that backward time travel would then be theoretically possible.
What interesting Sci-Fi plots and technologies do you think can be drawn from this natural inertial effect?
May 5, 2024
WEEKLY UPDATE
𝗛𝗨𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗬’𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗪𝗡 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞𝗟𝗬 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 – 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘!
Hi everyone,
This week I will be permanently lowering the price of Kindle Book 1 and 2 from £5.99 to £3.99, that a 33% reduction. I have been doing a bit of market research recently and need to do this to remain competitive and more attractive to new readers.
I hope to have the reader freebie of the ‘Humanity’s Dawn Timeline 1961-4545’ available around the second week of May. This will be FREE and EXCLUSIVE to followers who sign up to my monthly newsletter 😊
I hope to commission my local printer to create me some banners, business cards and postcards in the not too distant future so I can start looking at doing some book fayres in the summer.
This week I will mainly be re-reading my book on Mailerlite (a mailing list application) so I can remember how to setup a newsletter sign up and distribution chain when Juliette is done with editing my Timeline Freebie! 😊
Hope you all have a great week?
Kind Regards,
Martin
Hi everyone,
This week I will be permanently lowering the price of Kindle Book 1 and 2 from £5.99 to £3.99, that a 33% reduction. I have been doing a bit of market research recently and need to do this to remain competitive and more attractive to new readers.
I hope to have the reader freebie of the ‘Humanity’s Dawn Timeline 1961-4545’ available around the second week of May. This will be FREE and EXCLUSIVE to followers who sign up to my monthly newsletter 😊
I hope to commission my local printer to create me some banners, business cards and postcards in the not too distant future so I can start looking at doing some book fayres in the summer.
This week I will mainly be re-reading my book on Mailerlite (a mailing list application) so I can remember how to setup a newsletter sign up and distribution chain when Juliette is done with editing my Timeline Freebie! 😊
Hope you all have a great week?
Kind Regards,
Martin
May 4, 2024
FRIDAY FACTS! (A Day Late)
𝗕𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗥𝗔𝗗𝗜𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘!
Did you know that due to bananas being a high source of potassium, each banana is slightly radioactive, containing the natural isotope ‘Potassium-40’.
Don’t worry though people, as we are already approximately 280 times more radioactive than a banana, with the body containing around 16mg.
So, can you become a superhero by eating enough bananas?
Unfortunately the answer is no, as any excess potassium-40 absorbed by the human body tends to be naturally excreted within about 2 hours of consumption ☹
Did you know that due to bananas being a high source of potassium, each banana is slightly radioactive, containing the natural isotope ‘Potassium-40’.
Don’t worry though people, as we are already approximately 280 times more radioactive than a banana, with the body containing around 16mg.
So, can you become a superhero by eating enough bananas?
Unfortunately the answer is no, as any excess potassium-40 absorbed by the human body tends to be naturally excreted within about 2 hours of consumption ☹
