Blue planet
IT IS a question that has troubled thinkers throughout history: 鈥淲hat if the entire Earth was instantaneously replaced with an equal volume of closely packed, but uncompressed, blueberries?鈥� Now we have an answer, thanks to Anders Sandberg at the University of Oxford, who has published a fruitful analysis on the preprint server .
A person standing on the surface of Earth when it turns to blueberries would first feel a drastic reduction of gravity, reports Sandberg. The blueberries would compress rapidly, resulting in 鈥渂asically the worst earthquake ever, and it keeps on going until everything has fallen 715 kilometres鈥�.
At the same time, the blueberries would heat up rapidly. 鈥淭he end result is a world that has a steam atmosphere covering an ocean of jam on top of warm blueberry granita.鈥�
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According to Sandberg, the physics of blueberry Earth is actually 鈥渇airly normal鈥� compared to some exotic exoplanets. Maybe a blueberry planet is out there 鈥� somewhere in our pancake-shaped galaxy.
Space race
MORE galactic weirdness: Jeff Dickens is still a little puzzled by our item on cosmological unit pedantry over parsecs (28 July).
鈥淭oby Bateson has weeded out another case of nominative determinism in the pages of New 杏吧原创, where he learns that one David Potter works at the UK鈥檚 only legal cannabis farm鈥�
He writes: 鈥淚 am surprised you made no mention of the recent Han Solo film, seemingly written to ensure that the apparently annoying use of parsec in the original movie acquired a rational explanation.鈥�
In a neat piece of retconning (the literary practice of rewriting the past to explain away plot holes), the 鈥淜essel Run鈥� is declared to be measured in units of distance, not time.
鈥淚 strongly suspect there exists a Venn diagram of readers who are pedantic about cosmological units, those who are pedantic about Star Wars, and those, like me, who can be pedantic about both,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut what are the relative numbers? Is the overlap large or small?鈥�
Large or small, Jeff, our inbox suffers equally: the Venn diagram of Feedback readers and pedants is clearly a perfect circle.
Fin-agled
A SHARK that was smuggled out of an aquarium in a baby stroller has been found alive after a two-day search. Staff at the San Antonio Aquarium in Texas spotted a man lifting the 40-centimetre-long horn shark out of an open tank on 28 July. He then wrapped it in a wet blanket and placed it in a bucket inside the stroller.
After being confronted by the aquarium鈥檚 general manager, the man and two accomplices fled, but their vehicle was soon tracked down. The shark was returned to the aquarium in 鈥渧ery good condition鈥�.
Gnus and reviews
SPEAKING of excursions, many of us are off on our travels at this time of year, and the animal kingdom is no exception. Yet the swift and the swallow have no way of checking on the desirability of their destination. If they could log into TripAdvisor, we imagine it might go something like this:
Yalu Jiang estuary, China, from user A. Godwit
鈥淎 large group of us had a two week layover en route to Alaska. Despite concerns about the political situation just over the border in North Korea, we felt very safe. Sadly the selection of shellfish in the breakfast buffet was very poor, and I left starving. Two stars.鈥�
Sefton Park, Liverpool, from user Goosie_G
鈥淲e鈥檙e not really ones for going away at the holidays, but we decided to visit the pond here during our 鈥渟taycation鈥�, as it鈥檚 just a short flight from Prince鈥檚 Park. We were having a lovely day until someone told me to 鈥榞o home鈥�. I was born here pal! Just because we鈥檙e called Canada Geese doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e not British.鈥�
Spitsbergen island, Norway, from user White_Bear
鈥淚 decided to venture further south this summer, as all my usual haunts have gone into liquidation. Was utterly famished the whole time. Ran into some locals, very unfriendly. Not pleased to see me at all. One star.鈥�
Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, from user StarChild2015
鈥淭his was my first time walking the Serengeti and I believe it鈥檚 a MUST for everyone. Yes it鈥檚 hot, dry and dusty, but it鈥檚 all about the atmosphere and the vibe and being around like-minded individuals. On the trail, you can be free, truly free, to be who you are. Especially if what you are is a wildebeest.鈥�
Roach Motel, under the fridge in the kitchen, from user GregorSamsa
鈥淚 recently discovered this small boutique motel during one of my nightly walks. I must say it looks very inviting. I think it will be good, as it was so full I couldn鈥檛 get in. Nobody looked like they were about to leave any time soon.鈥�
Ria Formosa Nature Reserve, Portugal, from user Little_Bittern
鈥淭his year we headed to the Algarve for sun, sea and sand. What a blast! Loads of ex-pats there, no need to learn the lingo. Friendly locals, plenty of eating spots. Had a dance with another long-legged bird, and next thing I know, I鈥檝e got six mouths to feed.鈥�
Next week, we review the Tinder profiles of parasites and hosts seeking compatibility online.
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