DAVID BIANCULLI

Founder / Editor

ERIC GOULD

Associate Editor

LINDA DONOVAN

Assistant Editor

Contributors

ALEX STRACHAN

MIKE HUGHES

KIM AKASS

MONIQUE NAZARETH

ROGER CATLIN

GARY EDGERTON

TOM BRINKMOELLER

GERALD JORDAN

NOEL HOLSTON

 
 
 
 
 
'One Strange Rock' Offers a New View of Planet Earth
March 26, 2018  | By David Hinckley  | 4 comments
 

National Geographic loves nothing more than taking something we all think we know and giving us a whole different perspective.

One Strange Rock, a reference to the planet we live on, continues that tradition with a marvelous 10-part series that kicks off Monday at 10 p.m. ET.

One Strange Rock explores the planet the way BBC America’s recent Blue Planet II explored the oceans.

With spectacular imagery and a canvas that ranges from things we take for granted to things we never knew existed, it’s a reminder of the extraordinary natural phenomena that came together to let us be here at all.

Will Smith opens the first episode of One Strange Rock by gently correcting our perception of the sun.

Most of see it as our big warm friend rolling across the sky, he says. In reality, it’s “a monster” that bombards us with, literally, death rays.

The sun’s radiation would cook everything on Earth that didn’t live underwater, were it not for the protective atmospheric blanket called the ozone layer.

Yes, that ozone layer, the one in which we have been punching holes with man-synthesized chemicals. The ozone layer keeps the sun’s radiation from burning through, which is good, because if it ever did, that would be the end.

The ozone layer isn’t our only shield. Earth also has a magnetic field sheathing us. That field is illustrated here by spectacular footage of the aurora borealis, a/k/a the Northern Lights, photographed from an orbiting space station.

Much of One Strange Rock draws on the reflections of astronauts, who have seen Earth in a way most of the rest of us never will. Seeing it as they have seen it is, among other things, a humbling experience. For the next few minutes it’s hard to feel very important.

The sun’s third weapon, in any case, is heat. Earth defends itself against that one by filling its atmosphere with oxygen, which began bubbling up out of the sea hundreds of millions of years ago as a waste product.

It was also around 400 million years ago, incidentally, that the first aquatic vertebrate left the water and started crawling around on land. The rest is history. Slow-moving history, perhaps, but history.

Lest anyone doubt the potential impact of the sun’s heat, One Strange Rock notes that the planet Venus, whose atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, is boiling hot. It’s hotter than Mercury, even though Mercury is closer to the sun, because the carbon dioxide traps all that heat.

With all these elaborate checks and balances that sustain life on Earth, it might seem like our Strange Rock occupies a fragile and precarious position.

Yes and no, says this series, whose future episodes move on from the sun onto topics like air. We certainly could be susceptible to a natural catastrophe, but because Earth is a living, breathing, changing entity, it is also capable of healing its wounds.

Like, say, those weakened spots in the ozone.

One Strange Rock is One Fine Ride.

 
 
 
 
 
Leave a Comment: (No HTML, 1000 chars max)
 
 Name (required)
 
 Email (required) (will not be published)
 
FJUTQ
Type in the verification word shown on the image.
 
 
 Page: 1 of 1  | Go to page: 
4 Comments
 
 
For your next business need or special project, We is your to-go manufacturer in China. We offer the best-quality cutting inserts ideal for any application.
May 31, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
We carry a full stock of carbide inserts for turning, milling, threading, drilling and grooving, with competitive lead time within 3 working days for standard type., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Mar 7, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
Estool offers cutting inserts that provide 100% satisfaction. We have an annual production of more than 20 million pieces. The quality and quantity is not a problem for us. We only used high technology machines to produce cutting inserts., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Mar 1, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
Estool CNC inserts are divided into positive-angle inserts and negative-angle inserts. A positive-angle insert means that the insert has a back angle, which is a common single-sided insert. Negative angle insert means that the insert does not have a back angle and both sides of the insert can be used., welcome to our website to learn more about carbide inserts:https://www.estoolcarbide.com
Jan 29, 2024   |  Reply
 
 
 
 Page: 1 of 1  | Go to page: