|
Ask Professor
Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
Our biology class is studying tides. Google returns zero
results when I search for "canadian rhythms". Does this mean canadian
rhythm is a myth?
- Beatnik
Dear
Beatnik,
Perhaps, but you might try googling on "circadian rhythms"
just in case.
- Professor
Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
Q: Do you know any ten letter words that rhyme with
"cadastre"?
- Puzzled
Dear
Puzzled
A: So glad you asked. Aspidastra.
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
Is it true that the phase of the moon at the time you're
born is as important as the sun sign in determining
personality?
- Starstruck
Dear
Starstruck
Actually, it's even more important! For example, those born
under a waning crescent moon are likely to be saturnine, sanguine, and to
use a lot of odd words to make themselves appear smart, whereas those born
under a full moon are inordinately fond of pies. The sun sign only
determines career, marriage, wealth, and the
like.
- Professor
Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
If a great white shark got in a fight with a crocodile,
who would win?
- Innocent
Bystander
Dear
Innocent Bystander
Amazingly, this has occurred. In the ensuing battle,
the Indonesian Archipelago was created, so I guess you could say it was a
win for lovers of satay chicken.
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
Thanks for "aspidastra", it fit. Do you know a ten
letter word meaning "point about which tides progress in the open
ocean"?
- Puzzled
Dear
Puzzled
Yes of course I know - they don't call me "Mr. Amphidrome" for
nothing! Now, what was the question?
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
In the word littoral, is the accent on the first or
second syllable?
- Teacher
Dear
Teacher
Either way you say it, you will lose the attention of your
entire class. I suggest you substitute the words "nearshore zone".
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
I have some tidal constituents in "kappa phase". How can
I convert these to normal phase?
- Analyst
Dear
Analyst
A: Finally, a real question! A kappa phase lag K at longitude L
can be converted to the more familiar g (referenced to Greenwich) by the
formula: g = kappa + sL, where s is the species (one for diurnal, two
for semi-diurnal, three for ter-diurnal, etc.) and L is positive
(negative) for longitudes west (east) of Greenwich. There is a good discussion
of this in the NOAA tidal glossary. Note that for any given site,
the conversion term, sL, is the same for all members of a given species
- thus, for example, 70º is added to all diurnal constituents (s = 1)
at 70ºW to convert them from kappa phase to Greenwich phase.
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
What in God's Name is a synodic month?
- Power
Ranger Blue
Dear
Power Ranger Blue
In God's Name, there are four types of month that are
relevant to the tidal gravitational potential. The moon completes a single
orbit of the earth in a sidereal month, equal to 27.3217 days (mean solar
days). During this time, the perigee has moved about 3º in its
rotation of earth; consequently the time between the moon successively
being at perigee is 27.5546 months (the anomalistic month). Similarly,
during this time the lunar ascending node will have undergone a regression
of about 4.5º (thereby reducing the length of time between successive
passages of the moon through the ecliptic), thus defining the slightly
shorter nodical month of 27.2122 days. A synodic month is the time between
successive full moons. Because the earth progresses in its orbit around
the sun while the moon is orbiting the earth, it takes longer than a
sidereal month for the lunar phases to repeat. The synodic month is
29.5307 days.
-
Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Loeb
Thank
you. Now what in God's Name is the ecliptic? Please
answer using only words found in The Macquarie Dictionary, New Budget
Edition.
- Power Ranger Blue
Dear
Power Ranger Blue
Imagine the sun was in the middle of a sphere as big
as all creation. Place a little blue earth somewhere not too far away from
the sun. Now draw a line (in your imagination) from the earth straight
through the sun and beyond to the inside of the sphere on the other side.
Still with me? As you know, the earth goes around the sun once per year.
Over the course of the year, the point where the line hits the sphere
would trace out a big circle. The big circle, the apparent path of the sun
around the sphere over the course of earth's annual orbit, is known as the
"ecliptic".
- Professor Loeb
Dear
Professor Leob
How big is all creation?
- Power Ranger
Blue
Dear
Power Ranger Blue
About ten times bigger than the New Budget
Edition.
- Professor Loeb (p.s.,
the name's Loeb)
Dear
Professor Loeb (sorry)
In my imagination, the ecliptic is about
to slice through the exact point where you are standing. Do you carry
insurance?
- Power Ranger Blue
Dear
Power Ranger Blue
Apology accepted. And yes, New England Life, of
course. Why?
- Professor Loeb
--ooo--O/O--ooo--
Professor Loeb is happy to answer your tides or
marine-related questions. Simply send an email to john.luick@austides.com
. John will refer your query to Professor
Loeb. Please, no more unsolicited marriage proposals (without photos) or inquiries regarding the availability of condos at "Tides
of Hollywood Beach". We will not use your real name on
"Ask Professor Loeb".
Professor A. Loeb, a self-appointed
expert on practically everything, holds the Uberstauft
Chair of Vacuum Physics at the University
of Weezel.
|