Timeline for Could an underground civilisation deduce the size and shape of their planet?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
36 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 11, 2021 at 19:56 | answer | added | Vashu | timeline score: 2 | |
| Oct 10, 2021 at 20:53 | comment | added | John | If they create seismic monitoring and are spread across the globe it will be inevitable, that is how we mapped the interior of the planet. without computers it may not give them shape however. | |
| Oct 10, 2021 at 20:14 | comment | added | Spencer | @Katai Also, if they were under an ocean, all of their water would be salty. Since salt water is denser than fresh, a fresh aquifer would have to be inland. | |
| Oct 10, 2021 at 20:11 | comment | added | Spencer | @Katai If these are karst caves, then there are likely to be deep shafts they could drop the rock down. They could also use stone for building materials, and also burn limestone to make cement. | |
| Oct 10, 2021 at 18:54 | comment | added | Katai | @Spencer As someone below already pointed out, even if you dig a tunnel you still only have limited room to store all that dug-out rock. So, technically, they can dig tunnels, yes - but the options are limited (it's basically just reshaping the available area). Also, for the sake of this scenario, they can't just dig to the surface (for whatever reason; perhaps they are under an ocean, etc). | |
| Oct 10, 2021 at 14:07 | comment | added | Spencer | Can they dig their own tunnels? | |
| Oct 9, 2021 at 17:14 | answer | added | Davislor | timeline score: 1 | |
| Oct 9, 2021 at 5:10 | comment | added | DKNguyen | I imagine something is possible with S-waves and seismic monitoring. | |
| Oct 9, 2021 at 2:23 | answer | added | Dewi Morgan | timeline score: 9 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 19:54 | answer | added | John Doty | timeline score: 6 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 18:34 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Oct 8, 2021 at 14:53 | answer | added | Josh King | timeline score: 3 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 14:25 | vote | accept | Katai | ||
| Oct 8, 2021 at 13:57 | answer | added | PcMan | timeline score: 49 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 13:17 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | I voted that way because the OP's description of them knowing about g, yet not knowing about where the air comes from made clear that their understanding of science is limited in certain areas. "Could" is dependant on their sciences and so, remaining moot ie. unspecified by the OP, I must vote opinion-based as frankly it's anyone's guess if they can figure it out or not - given we don't fully understand the limits of their sciences and understanding. As the OP asked me in a comment "How would you figure this out?" - which isn't what the question asked and would be off-topic anyhow. @KeizerHarm | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 12:48 | answer | added | 10ebbor10 | timeline score: 32 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 12:38 | comment | added | KeizerHarm | In response to whoever close-voted for opinion-based: the question is could they deduce the shape of their planet, not would they. Are there experiments that yield a circular planet, given this math knowledge and these constraints. Can't get any more fact-based than that. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 12:21 | comment | added | EdvinW | @ARogueAnt. I took "They're aware of the gravitiational constant, but unaware of the importance of the life-giving breeze?", which was a response to cave-dwellers not knowing about possible routs to the surface, to imply that oxygen would originate from outside. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 12:17 | answer | added | EdvinW | timeline score: 5 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:52 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | @EdvinW I made no assumptions, I specifically asked for clarification in my first comment. No-one seems to be in the category "people assuming they must have air from the surface?" which makes your comment rather odd, can you clarify what you're referring to? | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:15 | review | Close votes | |||
| Oct 9, 2021 at 1:50 | |||||
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:14 | answer | added | Freedomjail | timeline score: 11 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:08 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | Well, speaking for myself, I'd definitely not enjoy the heat a few Km underground and would be highly motivated to go "up" where it's cooler. I'm pretty sure I'd discover the surface sooner or later. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:06 | answer | added | L.Dutch♦ | timeline score: 14 | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:06 | history | edited | Katai | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:03 | comment | added | Katai | @ARogueAnt. I just mentioned the gravitational constant, because I thought it would be relevant enough for this problem and it would be something you could figure out even underground. It's not that they don't have other knowledge - it's more that I specifically mentioned that one variable due to potential relevance. You could think of it like this: imagine you (with your current knowledge), suddenly get teleported into such a setting. How would you figure this out? Could you? How would you learn about this new place you're in? I'm working backwards here - they have the knowledge they need. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:01 | comment | added | EdvinW | Why are people assuming they must have air from the surface? We could easily imagine subterranean organisms that make oxygen (or whatever else people need) through chemosynthesis. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 11:01 | comment | added | Katai | @L.Dutch No. They do not receive any natural light from the sky, at least as far as they know - and any water or air comes from parts they cannot really reach (holes in walls, tiny tunnels, etc). So water would mostly come from underground streams or lakes, but the source of those streams would be unreachable. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:59 | history | edited | Katai | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:57 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | They're aware of the gravitiational constant, but unaware of the importance of the life-giving breeze? They're curiosities are strange and selective if they've not figured out basic chemistry and what sustains their lives. Unanswerable unless we know what else they're also unaware/unconcerned about. Even then it would seem to come out as opinion-based if they are so selective in their awarenesses. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:56 | comment | added | L.Dutch♦ | I mean, do they have wells from where they can see natural light coming down from the sky? | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:55 | comment | added | Katai | @L.Dutch I'm not sure what you mean - are you asking if the surface itself has water connected to the cave systems? It might, but any way to reach or see the surface is just off-limits / unreachable, for any reason. I'll edit my question to make it a bit clearer. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:53 | comment | added | Katai | @ARogueAnt. Unspecified, but I would say from other tunnels and holes that just aren't accessible directly or known of. | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:44 | comment | added | Escaped dental patient. | Where do the gasses they breath come from? | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:40 | comment | added | L.Dutch♦ | Do they have wells opening in the surface? | |
| Oct 8, 2021 at 10:32 | history | asked | Katai | CC BY-SA 4.0 |