The ever changing date of Easter

[askandanswer]

I found this article to be interesting and I thought others might as well. 

Mathematician reveals hidden 5.7m-year cycle behind the date of Easter

https://www.theage.com.au/national/mathematician-reveals-hidden-5-7m-year-cycle-behind-the-date-of-easter-20180328-p4z6qd.html

I wonder if we'll still be celebrating Easter next time this pattern repeats itself?

[anatess2]

Ok, my brain hurt.  @Vort is going to pull out his abacus and check the dude's math.  I'm sure of it.

[zil]

3 hours ago, askandanswer said:

reveals hidden 5.7m-year cycle

  The dude did some math to figure out how often this pattern would repeat under the current calendar system.  Not sure why this is a big deal.  The hardest thing about it is remembering all the variables.

(Of course, most humans can't figure out how Daylight Shifty Time and time zones work, so I guess when the whole planet is confused about time, this kind of thing looks impressive.)

[Traveler]

The ancients had much simpler ways of looking at things.  For example, the ancient Hebrew calendar began (first day of the year) on the first Sunday following the first new moon following the vernal equinox.   Because of this kind of reset there was no need for leap years or once a century leap year skip.   And they did not need a mathematical genius crunching numbers on a super computer to figure out when cycles repeated or if there was a flaw in their calendar.    We are so much smarter now.

 

The Traveler

[Vort]

If a cycle is six million years long, it's not a cycle. The earth's orbital speed and rate of rotation, the sun's output, the moon's orbital distance and eccentricity, and the resulting changes in tidal forces will all vary over that time period and will wreak havoc with the Gregorian calendar. Even if humans that celebrate Easter still exist* in six million years, the calendar will have been long since modified or abandoned.

*For example, six million years ago was approximately the time at which humans and chimpanzees are thought to have diverged.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Vort
Four, six, whatever

[Guest]

56 minutes ago, Vort said:

If a cycle is four million years long, it's not a cycle. The earth's orbital speed and rate of rotation, the sun's output, the moon's orbital distance and eccentricity, and the resulting changes in tidal forces will all vary over that time period and will wreak havoc with the Gregorian calendar. Even if humans that celebrate Easter still exist* in four million years, the calendar will have been long since modified or abandoned.

*For example, 4 million years ago was the order of magnitude of the time period in which humans and chimpanzees are thought to have diverged.

*cough* N.D.T. like pedantry alert.I have a feeling that by the next ice age, we'll lose much of our history and records.  Calendars will pretty much start over. Perhaps

Quote

Prophet's log Stardate: 7115.6

We've just launched the LDSS Nauvoo in hopes of reaching Alpha Centauri within one or two generations. Only those  with a full year's supply of food storage have qualified for this trip.

Despite what science fiction had us believe for the past 80,000 years, we have yet to develop an FTL drive.  And it has become apparent that warp drive will forever remain in the realm of fiction.

We have at least been able to improve battery technology as well as terraforming equipment to change the target planet's ecosystem to be within a CM ratio of 1.05.  With our prayers and hopes, we truly will boldly go where none have gone before.

 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Guest

[askandanswer]

4 hours ago, Vort said:

*For example, six million years ago was approximately the time at which humans and chimpanzees are thought to have diverged.

Sometimes I see something, or someone, that makes me think that the divergence is not quite complete yet.

[askandanswer]

4 hours ago, Vort said:

*For example, six million years ago was approximately the time at which humans and chimpanzees are thought to have diverged.

DUP

Edited March 30, 2018 by askandanswer

[Guest]

33 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

Sometimes I see something, or someone, that makes me think that the divergence is not quite complete yet.

Edited March 30, 2018 by Guest

[Vort]

15 minutes ago, askandanswer said:

Sometimes I see something, or someone, that makes me think that the divergence is not quite complete yet.

Have you ever seen pictures or video of a hairless chimp or gorilla? Pretty terrifying, actually. I can only imagine their grueling workout routine.

Oh, wait. That workout routine consists of climbing trees sometimes and otherwise sitting around threatening other chimps.

There is some evolutionarily valid reason that humans don't have that kind of musculature. Not sure what it is. Longevity? Lack of easy ability to kill someone who bothers you?

A defect in the gene that codes for myostatin makes some mammals into muscular monsters. Here's a Belgian Blue bull:

Here's a small, slender, graceful whippet (essentially a small greyhound) with the same genetic disorder (called a "bully whippet", even though they're sweet-tempered dogs):

I imagine a human with the myostatin genetic defect would look like a differently proportioned naked chimp. But I bet even the world's strongest and most able man would not last sixty seconds in an all-out, non-weapons fight to the death against an average male chimp. Maybe our ridiculously huge, bulbous brains require so much of our energy to build weapons, rockets, traps, hunting strategies, and the intricacy and beauty of human societies that we just can't afford to be that buff. Sorry, sisters.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, Vort said:

Maybe our ridiculously huge, bulbous brains require so much of our energy to build weapons, rockets, traps, hunting strategies, and the intricacy and beauty of human societies that we just can't afford to be that buff. Sorry, sisters.

Says who?  Here's a photo of my daily workout:

[anatess2]

6 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

Says who?  Here's a photo of my daily workout:

That's not impressive.  He still has hair.

 

UNTIL YOUR HAIR FALLS OUT!!!

 

[Vort]

Just now, anatess2 said:

That's not impressive.  He still has hair.

UNTIL YOUR HAIR FALLS OUT!!!

IT'S OVER 9000!

That's so ten years ago. I want to do the One-Punch Man workout routine. Then those chimps would never dare mess with me.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, anatess2 said:

That's not impressive.  He still has hair.

UNTIL YOUR HAIR FALLS OUT!!!

That's over rated.  Seriously, I used to do 300 situps, 150 pushups, and a 5k run + workout 5 days a week when I was in high school. I didn't do squats.  Maybe I should have.  I went out for cross-country, track, and wrestling during their respective seasons for two and a half years.  I had an injury that put that to rest. 

Edited March 30, 2018 by Guest

[anatess2]

3 hours ago, Carborendum said:

That's over rated.  Seriously, I used to do 300 situps, 150 pushups, and a 5k run + workout 5 days a week when I was in high school. I didn't do squats.  Maybe I should have.  I went out for cross-country, track, and wrestling during their respective seasons for two and a half years.  I had an injury that put that to rest. 

But did your hair fall out?

[askandanswer]

11 hours ago, Carborendum said:

That's over rated.  Seriously, I used to do 300 situps, 150 pushups, and a 5k run + workout 5 days a week when I was in high school. I didn't do squats.  Maybe I should have.  I went out for cross-country, track, and wrestling during their respective seasons for two and a half years.  I had an injury that put that to rest. 

Yeah, I think when I was in high school I might have done 300 situps, 150 pushups and run 5 k. Its not hard to do when high school runs over a 6 year period.