[TinyTree]

There is something I'd like to see: some version of "gold" if you will, like boardgamegeek.

That is, I'd like to be able to post a question, or a theory, and then post gold which will be claimed by the first person to answer the question.

Thus, you might get a gold piece for posting 20 notes or something. Then, you can offer that gold piece up as an offeratory for someone willing to research a subject you have questions about- which would stimulate discussion.

For example, while driving home the other day I saw a strange phenomena on the moon- the side opposite the crescent was lit up! The far edge had some light. I came up with some theories on how this is possible, but would like to offer up a gold for someone willing to research and post the results of their research.

Similary, I have been wondering about how metals reflect light- how can they be shiny with a particular angle incident to the surface, when the surface is composed of billions of atoms which have no geometric relation to each other on a fine grain scale? It doesn't make any sense that the light would reflect "like a mirror" off something which does not have an underlying geometric form.

Anyway, boardgamegeek uses it to great affect- people can offer up gold (any amount) and then give it to the poster who best responds to their request.

It is a way to stimulate discussion, and it works.

[AntonioLao]

Originally Posted by TinyTree

while driving home the other day I saw a strange phenomena on the moon- the side opposite the crescent was lit up!

What you have witnessed are earthshines - the faint light reflected from the Earth on the darkside of the moon.

[TinyTree]

Originally Posted by AntonioLao

What you have witnessed are earthshines - the faint light reflected from the Earth on the darkside of the moon.

Note- the light I saw was not radially symmetric- that is to say- if the earth is shining specifically on a thin wedge of the moon, your argument would make sense. But that would imply the earth reflects nonuniformly, which I don't believe. If you imagine the moon as a circle, and the bottom right of the circle is brightly lit due to the sun, the overall moon has a bit of shininess to it due to reflecting earthshine, and the top left of the moon had a thin line of higher brightness.

I don't think it was earthshine. The most logical things I could think of were:

- The mountains on the far side of the moon were catching light, and reflecting it down on the far edge of the moon.

- There is interstellar dust above the surface of the moon, reflecting light down onto its surface.

- It was an optical illusion, caused by the differential in the shading between the edge of the moon and the background behind it. Thus, my eye "created" the visual highlight when in fact it did not exist. I would have liked to have gotten a photo of it.

- It was caused by gravity pulling light onto the moon's surface. This, I doubt highly.

[subversion]

Originally Posted by TinyTree

There is something I'd like to see: some version of "gold" if you will, like boardgamegeek.

That is, I'd like to be able to post a question, or a theory, and then post gold which will be claimed by the first person to answer the question.

Thus, you might get a gold piece for posting 20 notes or something. Then, you can offer that gold piece up as an offeratory for someone willing to research a subject you have questions about- which would stimulate discussion.

For example, while driving home the other day I saw a strange phenomena on the moon- the side opposite the crescent was lit up! The far edge had some light. I came up with some theories on how this is possible, but would like to offer up a gold for someone willing to research and post the results of their research.

Similary, I have been wondering about how metals reflect light- how can they be shiny with a particular angle incident to the surface, when the surface is composed of billions of atoms which have no geometric relation to each other on a fine grain scale? It doesn't make any sense that the light would reflect "like a mirror" off something which does not have an underlying geometric form.

Anyway, boardgamegeek uses it to great affect- people can offer up gold (any amount) and then give it to the poster who best responds to their request.

It is a way to stimulate discussion, and it works.

but I thought knowledge <i>was</i> gold