Of Bread and Planets
So there I was, making a loaf of my world-famous jalapeño cheddar bread, when an unusual thought occurred to me. Well, unusual for some folks, but not really for me, per se.
Here’s what I was thinking: At 115 feet long and weighing 100 tons, how did Argentinosaurus not crush itself under its own weight, especially with pneumatised (hollow) bones? More importantly, how did a creature that big get away from predators? Run? Swim? Jump? It’s fossils aren’t connected to particularly wet areas, so it wasn’t a floater, like a bored college student at the pool on spring break. Besides, to maintain that mass, it had to eat more or less constantly.
“Wow,” you say, “he thought all that while making bread?” Well, yeah, kneading is a long, tedious process that doesn’t require much brain power.
Then another unusual thought occurred to me, and this time it was unusual even for me.
Here’s what I was thinking: Suppose 100 million years ago, the Earth was smaller and thus gravity was greatly reduced, thus huge land animals didn’t weigh then what they would now? Suppose the continents don’t “float” like slag on a molten sea, but rather are ripped apart by an expanding planet?
If you’re starting to see the connection with making bread, give yourself a gold star, and then consult a therapist.
Here’s what started it all: I was reading this article about how Earth’s interior is all lumpy and bubbly, kind of like those old lava lamps that hippie chicks always had on a table in the corner next to the incense burner and patchouli oil.
I’ve also been monitoring the earthquake swarm in Ethiopia, along the Great Rift where the Horn of Africa is tearing away from
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LewRockwell.com is a libertarian website that publishes articles, essays, and blog posts advocating for minimal government, free markets, and individual liberty. The site was founded by Lew Rockwell, an American libertarian political commentator, activist, and former congressional staffer. The website often features content that is critical of mainstream politics, state intervention, and foreign policy, among other topics. It is a platform frequently used to disseminate Austrian economics, a school of economic thought that is popular among some libertarians.
