[Rylkan]

Whee.

If the sun suddenly stopped fusing Hydrogen to Helium, how long would we have before we noticed a change in the light? (Ignoring other factors )

[Aaron]

8 minutes?

[Zoo]

I don't know the answer but I know that's not it . It's whatever time it takes -plus- 8 minutes 'cause the effect would have to work its' way to the surface.

[Rylkan]

You're definitely on the right track. Just figured it was random trivia enough to count here. If someone wants to look it up, has to do with how long it takes for a photon to escape the radiative zone of the sun.

[Zoo]

Seems everybody forgot about the topic or don't want to take a stab at it. Which I can't blame them . I found answers ranging from 100-200 thousand years, 170 thousand years on average, 10 million years, millions of years, hundreds of thousands of years, 'there's a significant time delay,' and 'a very long time'. And no sources, of course. I especially liked the page with the black background, light gray text and a font that's impossible to read to begin with, let alone in that color combination. The most credible sites were the ones claiming something in the 100-200 thousand range. So I guess that's my answer.

[Ratty]

*Googles* 40,000,000 years?

Seemed like a reliable source. Penn State Astronomy and Astrophysics. xD

I dunno, was a quick google. Gotta go to bed now. *might google some more tomorrow*

[Rylkan]

Hrmm, I didn't think the values were that different. I've always been told the time for a photon to escape the radiative zone is about 10 million years on average. I say it goes to Zoo, since she replied first and seemed to be in the same ballpark.

I was going to post before what would happen gravitationally to us if the sun turned into a black hole, but I seem to remember that being discussed on this forum somewhere before., so went with this. Guess I need to do my research more.

[Zoo]

Yeah, I probably should've, but I wasn't expecting that kind of range in answers. Only found them though because I wasn't satisfied with any of those sites' credibility. Really bugs me. The zoo has a three source rule for saying anything not in the official animal bios, but I find that my three sources tend to have used the same source themselves, so if it's wrong, all sorts of sites have used it, and -those- satisfy the rule, people think they're telling some cool fact when they're actually being misleading.


How can you tell if a scorpion is asleep?

[Aaron]

Its tail is not raised?

[Zoo]

Yep. I had a lengthy description in mind (just what I saw in my head, the scorpions we take out to show people like to sleep while we're out), then it hit me last night that there is a short answer, and it sounds like a joke :

"It's lying down."

But yeah, their body is resting on the ground, their legs look either relaxed or crumpled depending on what it looks like to you, and their tail is lying on the ground curled up to one side.

[Aaron]

Interesting! I just made an educated guess .

What invasive bird species has a population mostly confined to the St. Louis area?

[Rylkan]

All these animal questions. ::wants to go look it up since I have no way of knowing something like that::

[Rylkan]

Since this thread seems dead, new question.

In the night sky, who is the great hunter who used the jaw bone of an ox to defeat his enemies? (I may need to double check the myth, but the basic needed facts are here. )

[skenasis]

Oh, you painful creature! This was one of the things discussed at reenactment on Monday, and I can't for the life of me remember his name. All I seem to be able to remember is that there's a gold-encased pope's forearm on display somewhere or other. You can see the bones sticking out when you look at it, apparently.

[Aaron]

For the record, the answer to my question was the Eurasian Tree Sparrow. It is an example of the many invasive species that did not successfully colonize America.

It isn't Orion, is it? I do remember the story of a hunter who used a jawbone as a weapon from Latin class, but I don't think it was Orion...