At work today we were talking about Rosetta and the Philae lander when a project coordinator piped up with a general statement about how fast the asteroid must be going. I corrected him and pointed out it was a comet. He asked about the difference. I explained.
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I explained about composition and how that led to low gravity hence the potential issues with the malfunctioning downwards thruster and the possibility that the harpoon wouldn't work (sorry, I jinxed it). I explained about the way the craft was using the gravity to bring in a soft landing using basic physics. I explained about orbits and how comets lose material as it is heated by the sun and how that was already happening. He looked suitably impressed.
- Mark H
He then proceeded to tell us all a little science fact we might not have been aware of: stars don't actually twinkle. He then explained why and finished it off with "so now you know something too." He did not seem to get that the stares and silence from me and some other colleagues were not the result of us digesting this amazing information and seemed very pleased to have "enlightened" us. Emails of a suitably derisory tone were deployed around the office.
- Mark H