• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

According to Marilyn, stars move

Art Vandelay

Illuminator
A
Joined
May 8, 2004
Messages
4,787
"Currently, Polaris is moving closer to the north celestial pole but will never quite reach it. In another 5000, our north star will be Alderamin". This implies that the change is due to stellar movements. But isn't it due to precession of the Earth's rotation?

And another reader criticized people who wear scrubs while commuting to work. I wonder how she knows they are going to, not from, work.
 
I dont think they are implying it is due to stellar motion, although it is also not clear that it is due to Earth's precession (which it is). Stars do move, but Polaris and Alderamin are so far from us that any visual shifts would only be visible on an even longer time-scale. So the right thing to say would be that the north celestial pole is moving towards polaris.

What is scrubs? ... I suppose the usual assumption is that people are going TO work in the morning and FROM work in the evening, although, obviously, this does not hold true for all people. Only way to be sure is to look in their lunchbox.

Hans
 
I believe "scrubs" refers to those clothes that doctors and nurses wear for surgery (often a light blue or green color fabric). But actually, I don't really see the problem. I don't think scrubs are ever really sterile, they are there not so much to protect the patient as to protect the doctor. The innards of the patient should only come into contact with sterile surgical equipment and sterilised gloves, never with the scrubs. I think the scrubs are mostly there so that if body fluids get on the doctors, they have something cheap and easily washable to get it on, rather than their own clothing. They typically wear disposable gowns over the scrubs for surgery anyways, which they wouldn't be wearing outside.
 
Scrub shirts and pants are no longer just worn in surgery. In the US, it is very common to see them as the uniform for everyone at a medical facility. Even the receptionists and data-entry people who do not ever touch a patient wear them.

They look 'medical-ly' and are fairly comfortable once broken in. I know people who wear them to sleep in. Specifically, "Monsters, Inc" scrubs.


The stereotypical nurse uniform is now just a figment of male fantasies.



About the OP, I guess the Polaris statement is a little ambiguous. If you didn't know about the Earth's precession, then you'd probably assume wrong. But then, I could argue that the title of this thread implies that stars don't ever move.
 
I know a few medical types (ER Dr., nurses) who will wear their scrubs home, and maybe stop to pick up groceries or even have a few at the pub on their way.
These are not TV's ER or MASH scrubs , all splashed with vital bodily fluids, however.
And, knowing about Simmelweis's discovery, they would never wear the scrubs into work ready to jump into the OR.

And about the pole star moving, well sure it's precession. It would be more correct to say that "the apparent position of the pole star is moving due to precession of the earth as it spins around.;'
But then she'd have to explain that to the peolpe who still don't get the 3 door problem.
But we commonly describe the phenomena produced by the rotation of the earth as " the sun is rising. " or "Beautiful sunset."
Picky, picky.
 
MRC_Hans said:
What is scrubs? ... I suppose the usual assumption is that people are going TO work in the morning and FROM work in the evening, although, obviously, this does not hold true for all people. Only way to be sure is to look in their lunchbox.
Click to expand...
This seems like a particularly bad assumption when dealing with medical workers. Do you often look in strangers' lunchboxes?

lylfyl
About the OP, I guess the Polaris statement is a little ambiguous. If you didn't know about the Earth's precession, then you'd probably assume wrong. But then, I could argue that the title of this thread implies that stars don't ever move.
Click to expand...
If you did know about precession, then the column would be covering familiar ground. Seeing as how it is specifically targeted at laypeople, shouldn't it be written appropriately? And the thread title was written to give a brief idea of what the thread is about. The OP then clarified the meaning, as the column should have.

Jeff Corey
But we commonly describe the phenomena produced by the rotation of the earth as " the sun is rising. " or "Beautiful sunset."
Click to expand...
But isn't that because it is commonly accepted that this is not the case? If you were having a discussion with someone with no knowledge of astronomy, wouldn't you be careful to point out that when you say "the sun is rising", you are speaking metaphorically?
 
Art Vandelay said:
"Currently, Polaris is moving closer to the north celestial pole but will never quite reach it. In another 5000, our north star will be Alderamin". This implies that the change is due to stellar movements. But isn't it due to precession of the Earth's rotation?
Click to expand...

Yes. Marilyn is very clumsy sometimes with her explanations.

The precession of the celestial pole is a phenomenon caused by the Earth. In the time of the early Pharoahs the north celestial pole was near Thuban in the constellation of Draco.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom