nHiHIW,
I havereadwithinterestthefeatureonpage 15 in issue
131 ofHowIt Works. ThefeaturebyMindyWeisberger
is interesting,butwhatshedoesn’tmentionis thefact
thattherearesomerarelivingremainsofstromatolites
whichsurvivetothisday.Theyaremostaccessibleat
SharksBayonthenorthwestcoastofAustralia,and
lesssoata remotecoralcayin theBahamas.
AsMindywouldprobablybeaware,aspartoftheir
photosynthesisingprocessthecyanobacteria,which
togetherformtherock-likestromatolites,giveoff
minutequantitiesofoxygen.Withtheirwidespread
presencearoundtheworld3.5billionyearsago,it is
acknowledgedthattheyraisedtheEarth’satmospheric
oxygenlevelsto 20 percent,andassuchwerethe
precursorstothedevelopmentofothermorecomplex
lifeforms– includinghumans.
PeterStaveleyThankyouforyourcommentsononeofour
previousissues.Inissue131’sGlobalEyewe
learnedaboutstromatolitesandhowanalysis
ofAustralia’sancientrockrevealeda snapshot
ofwhatmicrobiallifewasaround3.5billion
yearsago.
Whilethisstoryfocusesononestudy,there
areexistingstromatolitesdottedaroundthe
world.Stromatolitesarelayeredbiochemical
structureswhichusuallyforminextremely
saltylagoons.Whilenearlyextinctinmarine
environmentstoday,therehavebeenexamples
foundinAustralia,theBahamas,theIndian
OceanandtheUS.Studying
stromatolites
096 How ItWorks http://www.howitworksdaily.com
The science
of Star Wars
IN B OX
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HowIt Worksmagazine @HowItWorksmag [email protected]If you have any questions or comments for us, send them to:nHiHIW,
I’m11 yearsoldandhavebeengettingyour
magazineforsixyears.I’ma hugefanofsci-fi
suchasStarWarsandmyquestionis:what
wouldhappenif a physicalobjectwentoverthe
speedoflight.Keepupthehardworkandkeep
themagazineasgoodasever!
AlfieInStarWarsthereis analternative
dimensionreferredtoas‘hyperspace’.How
doyougetthere?Youhavetosendyour
spaceshiptravellingfasterthanthespeed
oflight.Thiseffectlooksawesomeinthe
moviesand,asit hasforyou,canleaveus
wonderingwhatit wouldactuallybeliketo
travelthisway.In issue 133 ofHowIt Works, theimagespreadentitled
‘Facecreamgetsa close-up’onpagessixandseven
showedtantalisingtessellationsofnaturallyoccurring
crystalsin a popularfacecream.Thearrayofintermingling
coloursaretheresultofa phenomenoncalledbirefringence,
wherebylightis splitintotwocomponents.However,the
imagewasincorrectlycreditedin thetext:thephotographer
andcopyrightholderofthephotois KarlGaff.Correction
Letterofthemonth
Physical objects cannot endure light speed,
provedbyEinstein’sequationE=mc².WithE
representingenergy,mthemassofanobject
andc thespeedoflight,theequationshows
thatasa physicalobjectgainsenergythrough
motion,it needstogainmass.Bythetimean
objectreaches 90 percentofthespeedof
light,itsmasswoulddouble.If anythingcould
achievethespeedoflight,itsmasswould
becomeinfinite.Astheequationshows,an
infinitemassrequiresinfiniteenergyto
achievethespeedoflight.Inreality,aninfinite
energysupplycannotbelocalisedtoonemass,
butspreadacrossinfinitespaceandtime.Not
onlycouldanobjectnotexceedlightspeed,it
wouldn’tevenreachit.
If youmanagedtocombatthisimpossibility
andreach 90 percentofthespeedoflight,
yourvisionwouldturntoa tunnelviewasall
lightwouldappeartocomeonlyfrominfront
ofyou,likea spotlight.Thishappensbecause
lightphotonsfromallaroundyouwouldallbe
viewedinoneplace,a phenomenoncalled
relativisticaberration.‘Hyperspace’is a fictionalsub-regionofspacethatexistsalongsideourown©GettyWIN!
Howdidouruniverse
Whydostars cometoexist?
beyond shine?Istherelife
Earth?InSecrets
Universe,world-renownedofthe
astronomerPaul
the Murdintells
storiesofkey
astronomicaldiscoveriesSECRETS
THE OF
UNIVERSEStromatolites can be found in the shallow
waters of Shark Bay in Western Australia© Ailsa Harvey© Karl Gaff