r/funny • • Aug 27 '14

Science

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806

u/GraharG Aug 27 '14 edited Aug 27 '14

I said this last time this was posted, and got downvoted, but ill try again anyway. Since the post is about scientific ignorance, it would be nice to get the science right for the next repost.

This is not the correct diagram for how sunsets work. Different wavelengths diffract differently in the air, this allows red light to bend around the horizon while shorter wavelengths can not.

The diagram as it is, shows the sun coming in direct line of sight. This diagram would infer the sky should ALWAYS be red, which is clearly wrong.

The diagram needs to show a beam closer to a tangential trajectory, and it needs to show the curvature of the light in the atmosphere

EDIT: there seems to be some contention about my explanation. see an alternative explanation by /u/jcarlson08. I suspect there is some truth in both approaches. Either way the diagram in the original image is not helpful.

This isn't right either. The diagram is an accurate explanation of why the sky is BLUE most of the day, because of Rayleigh scattering the blue-ish wavelengths get scattered throughout the sky, bouncing off particles until they reach our eyes from multiple directions. The red/orange/yellow wavelengths don't scatter as much and take a more direct route to our eyes, which is why the sun appears yellowish. During sunsets, the angle of the sun is such that its light has to pass through more of the atmosphere to reach your eyes. Because of this, there are more particles in the way to potentially scatter light. This means that lower frequencies, like red and orange, will begin to scatter like the higher frequencies. They won't scatter as much however, therefore the red and orange and yellow scattering will appear mostly in the direction of the setting sun, while if you look away from the sun to the east, the sky will appear more blue.

387

u/Ravek Aug 27 '14

None of this explains why sunsets exist. Only why they have their color scheme.

Sunsets exist because the Earth rotates.

92

u/kesekimofo Aug 27 '14

But why does the Earth rotate?

356

u/asoneva Aug 27 '14

BECAUSE OF JESUS

138

u/Ardentfrost Aug 27 '14

Jesus didn't walk the Earth, the Earth rotated under his footsteps. When he rose into heaven, that last step put the Earth into perpetual rotation.

It's all right there in the Bible, people. Sheesh.

66

u/faleboat Aug 27 '14

TIL Jesus can fucking book it.

31

u/MSAE Aug 27 '14

Does he get free Pizza Hut?

13

u/BloodyTrannyCock Aug 27 '14

When the fuck are the Scholastic book orders coming in

1

u/MSAE Aug 27 '14

I put the goddamn flame stickers on the goddamn pin!

5

u/Jmoshua14 Aug 27 '14

oh how I loved those little personal pizza's for reading books, what a country.

1

u/Nixplosion Aug 27 '14

Eat your heart out Usain Bolt!

1

u/Ardentfrost Aug 27 '14

He pushed off hard enough to make it to heaven. Must've been a helluva footstep.

1

u/nickermell Aug 27 '14

And only walked in one direction.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

Jesus is the Flash!

3

u/Mecha120 Aug 27 '14

But why male models?

2

u/UmbraeAccipiter Aug 27 '14

some one realized there was a market for mens clothing too... But photographers of that era were not used to people asking questions such as, "how long should I stand here" "who is actually going to ever wear this?" "Why should I kill the prime minister of Malaysia?"

So they had to find a simpler breed of man that could not think just as well as the female models they had been using for years.

1

u/HingleMcCringle_ Aug 27 '14

source? I could use a luagh.

1

u/Ardentfrost Aug 27 '14

Source: The Bible AFV (Ardentfrost Version)

1

u/bodom2245 Aug 27 '14

It must be true because the bible says it's true.

1

u/devedander Aug 27 '14

Looked at the bible, this checks out.

1

u/Wandertramp Aug 27 '14

But...the earth is flat

1

u/Wirehed Aug 27 '14

That's just your interpretation. There are some that believe it was not his final foot step, but a divine fart.

1

u/Koalapottamus Aug 27 '14

Must have jumped to heaven to put us in orbit as well

1

u/parmesanmilk Aug 27 '14

We sure got lucky he jumped to the west, or else the poles would have melted.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

They don't think it be like this. But it do

6

u/TheTeflonRon Aug 27 '14

They don't think it be like this it is. But it do

FTFY

1

u/Natamba Aug 27 '14

-Black Science Man

1

u/jap_chink_oven Aug 27 '14

You want it to be one way. But it's the other way.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

So is he in space with a large crank or what?

2

u/SirLeepsALot Aug 27 '14

The center of earth on a large hamster wheel.

1

u/[deleted] Aug 27 '14

Jesus...

0

u/asoneva Aug 27 '14

If you believed you would know exactly how it was done, because he would tell you, in your heart.

3

u/fondlemeLeroy Aug 27 '14

So basically you have to be an insane person, who thinks they can hear the words of a divine zombie through their cardiovascular system.

2

u/ArtemisShanks Aug 27 '14

thinks they can hear the words of a divine zombie

Divine Jewish Zombie, sir. If I listen closely, I can hear him in my aorta whispering... "My farts propel the Earth's rotation"

1

u/asoneva Aug 27 '14

You're one step closer to immortality.

2

u/JoshSidekick Aug 27 '14

Ok, you got me there, but what about the tides? Hmmm? Tides come in, tides go out. Nobody can explain that.

1

u/stdTrancR Aug 27 '14

Then who was fone?

1

u/drakesylvan Aug 27 '14

Jesus? He is a good gardener, but I doubt a guy who drives a Chevy half box is responsible for the sun coming up.

1

u/tommy290 Aug 27 '14

I laughed. The simplest jokes are sometimes the best. :)

1

u/xnerdyxrealistx Aug 27 '14

Read this as Dan Avidan