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Title text:
They're up there with coral islands, lightning, and caterpillars turning into butterflies.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3135/
There are places in the solar system where the tide rips new mountains up every go around.
That’s metal AF
Io.
I remember never believing my parents when they explained it to me as a kid. Clouds being caused by cigarette smoke was reasonable but the moon pulling out the ocean seemed too outrageous.
As a child, my friend was told by her mother that wind occurs because people group up and blow really hard.
aw fuck. i missed a chance to say "people suck" when asked that. does anyone have a way to get me back to say 2012?
Been trying to learn about the tides around here so I can tell what I'm seeing on the water. Imagine my joy when I found a Casio, which I collect, with tide and moon phase indicators!
And that's when I learned the Gulf Coast is strange, has diurnal tides (twice a day) the watch can't predict. Took me an hour and a half to figure out it would never function. The moon phase works!
Huh. TIL that there are three common types of tidal cycles and which one you get depends on geography, location, ocean currents. https://beltoforion.de/en/tides/tidal_cycles.php
And yeah, dinural is apparently the most rare of the three. Wild.
Thanks. I didn't know either that there are places, where the sea level does not rise and fall twice a day.
the Gulf Coast is strange, has diurnal tides (twice a day)
Diurnal tides are once a day (semidiurnal is twice a day). By the Gulf Coast, I guess you must mean the Gulf of Mexico. I'm living on the other side of the world in the other diurnal region, so I assume our tides are synchronised!
Gulf of America, you extreme left Antifa socialist!!1!one
Tidal prediction requires a harmonic analysis of observed tides, and its location specific. Not sure how a watch is supposed to do that other than holding a database of tidal coefficients.
This video contains a lot of interesting history of tidal analysis and prediction:
There are adjustments you can make on the watch. Requires tables and whatnot. That's why it took me so long to figure out it wouldn't work!
Tides go in, tides go out, you can’t explain that.
Casio can't!
Now if you want strange tides look at Southampton. Not very big tides given its in the middle of the channel but the graph is an interesting one to look at.
"Tide comes in, time goes out - you can't explain that!"
That's some next level transformation, tide becomes time.
FlatEarthersSayWhat
They'll just say the moon pulls the water around as it circles above the flat disc or something idk
But the moon alone doesn't orbit at the same rate as the tides. Alternatively they are fucking morons and shouldn't be respected so who cares.
"The earth tilts when the moon hits far end of earth during moonset and that's why there is low tide. A high tide happens during moonrise when the moon drags it up slightly."
Thats just the tilting from where the elephants shrug
Everyone was taught the tides look like two giant water bulges going around the earth in line with the moon.
That representation is oversimplified and false.
This is how the tides look like at a global level. It’s messed up.
Imagine being out exploring new islands, not realizing its low tide. You setup camp for the night on an island that's relatively flat and close to current sea-level. Then while you're sleeping the tide comes in and washes your whole camp out to sea...
Come to the beach here in Bordeaux (well, on the coast) and see tourists set up their stuff at low ebb but forgetting they have to watch out for the flood.
There's an island near me that has a pedestrian causeway at low tide. There are huge signs warning to check tide times or get cut off, but still people don't get it.
if you are exploring islands you probably have a solid idea of how tides work.
You probably should, but that doesn't mean you do. It's not like anyone makes you take a quiz to go wander around outside.
Plenty of people get themselves into trouble all the time exploring places/things they know nothing about.
It's not like anyone makes you take a quiz to go wander around outside.
I knew it! I am so not answering any more of his questions, next time I go out.
i lived near the beach for a while and, uh, i have seen tourists do the stupid. i posit they count.
And when Mercury is in retrograde, you can make an excuse for anything being kind of shitty or off.
There better not be mercury in my Gatorade!
Y'see, that's not quite how it works.
No, no, no; We're just giving Mercury a retro-grade.
I'm thinking maybe a C to C+ at best. I mean it's kinda 'retro', but that's definitely not the first description that comes to mind.
Just scoop it off the top, jeez.
Nah, that's just Poseidon having a bad mood today. Just have to sacrifice your first child to make it stop for 10 years.
"Their moon is tidally locked" is an absolutely metal thing to say about a planet.
I wonder if anyone has ever done the math on how much (in L or kg) water is moved by the moon each day. It's got to be something absurd.
I have to assume it's about one moon's worth, divided by the distance squared.
Just wanted to mention I see your pfp on every post.
Thank you for keeping lemmy alive and making like 4% of the total posts. Seeing you post brightens up my day.
No homo.
I think lightning would be crazy to anyone who never experienced a planet with it. Like, "WTF, sometimes your sky does what?"
In the Bay of Fundy, Canada we have the highest tides in the world (53 feet high). It's enough to make some of the tributary rivers flow backward with the rising tide. I've seen it my whole life but it still amazes me to see a harbour completely empty of water with boats sitting on the bottom waiting for the tide to come back in.