The Earth and Moon have been locked in a gravitational dance for billions of years. Each day, as the Earth turns, the Moon tugs upon the oceans of the world, causing the rise and fall of tides. As a result, the Earth’s day gets a little bit longer, and the Moon gets a little more distant. The effect is small, but over geologic time it adds up. About 620 million years ago, a day on Earth was only 22 hours long, and the Moon was at least 10,000 km closer than it is now. Evidence for this evolving dance in the geological record only goes back about two billion years. Beyond that, the Earth was so very different that there simply isn’t enough evidence to gather. So, instead, we must rely on computational models and our understanding of dynamics. We know that when the Earth formed, it had no large moon. Then, about 4.4 billion years ago, a Mars-sized protoplanet named Theia collided with our world to create the Earth-Moon system. What’s interesting is that most of the computer simulations for this collision generate a Moon that is much closer to the Earth than we’d expect. Early Earth didn’t have vast oceans, so there were no water tides to drive the Moon to a larger orbit. So how did the Moon get to its present distance? The potential structure of a lava planet. Credit: Farhat, et al A new study argues that back then the Earth did have tides, but they were made of lava, not water. Just after the Great Collision, Earth would have been covered in an ocean of hot lava. With the Moon so near, the lava would have experienced strong tides. Since lava is much denser than water, the effects of the tide would have been much greater. The Earth’s rotation would have slowed down much faster, and the Moon would quickly become more distant. Based on their simulations, the authors argue that the Moon’s distance would have increased by 25 Earth-radii in just 10,000 to 100,000 years. This would explain how the Moon moved towards its present distance range rather quickly. The idea of tides on an ocean world also has implications for planets around other stars. Planets that form very close to their sun would be extremely hot, and many of them could have lava oceans for a billion years or more. Simulations of such worlds show that lava tides would accelerate the spin dynamics of such a world and could cause them to become tidally locked on a million-year timescale instead of a billion-year timescale. If this model is correct, it would have a significant impact on potentially habitable worlds. Most exoplanets orbit red dwarf stars, since red dwarfs make up about 75% of the stars in our galaxy. The habitable zone of red dwarfs is very close to the star, meaning that many of them would have begun as lava worlds. This would mean most potentially habitable worlds would have one side always facing the sun, while the other side is forever in the cold. Life on these worlds would be very different from what we see on Earth. Reference: Farhat, Mohammad, et al. “Tides on Lava Worlds: Application to Close-in Exoplanets and the Early Earth-Moon System.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.07285 (2024). The post Early Earth's Oceans of Magma Accelerated the Moon's Departure appeared first on Universe Today.

Preview his update of "And You And I" from the 1972's 'Close to the Edge.' Continue reading…

Big news for Koe Wetzel fans who live in Houston. Koe Wetzel's Riot Room is an experience unlike any other. Koe Wetzel brought his wild East Texas spirit to the heart of Forth Worth. Wetzel opted for a location in the West 7th instead of the historic Fort Worth stockyards. Given that Koe is a mix of a little honky tonk and a little bit of a party boy, the location is a perfect fit for the blend of these two vibes. Wetzel's description of his bar was spot on during his recent interview with Theo Von for the This Past Weekend Podcast. "It's kind of like a honky tonk during the day, with food. Then, about 9 o'clock, it turns into a club, man. It's like a Texas club, I guess, a cowboy club, I don't know. We got bottle service. It's a riot. It's a good time." As someone who has visited Riot Room a handful of times, I can confirm it's a dang good time. However, for those Koe Wetzel fans who have yet to make the trip to Fort Worth, you're in luck because Wetzel is opening a second Riot Room location in Houston. He announced the expansion earlier this year: "What’s up guys, Koe Wetzel here. We are here at the Riot Room in Fort Worth, Texas. And I just wanted to say that Houston, Texas, we are coming to you. Koe Wetzel’s Riot Room Houston, Texas, we will see y’all there.” https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6oV1Nrs2ag/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=7b8a42f2-727d-4239-9476-cb32c01d37e8 He and his business partners aim for a grand opening at the beginning of 2025. "We just opened up a second location, or about to, in Houston. Hopefully, getting it up by February." Von then hilariously says he's jealous that Wetzel has such a successful operation. Von notes that if he were going to open a bar or restaurant, it would have to be a place where people have to cry to feel better about themselves every now and again. Wetzel then says the inspiration behind his opening the Riot Room was simple. "That's what I said when I opened it up. I wanted a place I could go f***ing party and worry about going to jail. Like nobody can kick me out of the motherf***er, and maybe sometimes I need to kick myself out of there, bro. You just see me dragging myself out..." https://www.instagram.com/p/DDbRM7MMuef/ For a while, there was speculation that Wetzel might be opening a third location in Nashville after The Nashville Business Journal reported the hospitality group Wetzel works with bought the property of what was formally Dogwood in Midtown. However, that speculation was short-lived, and Wetzel shut down the rumor. "False."  Even though Wetzel is not a fan of opening a location in Nashville, I think Nashville would love a Riot Room. Regardless, I can't wait for Wetzel to unveil what the Houston location looks like. The vibe of his Fort Worth location is top-notch, so I am interested to see if they keep the same feel or give the other location a different theme. Houston, your time to riot is right around the corner. Check out the whole podcast episode while you're here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnOrhJ4kgMg

Closing the landmark season with a star-studded lineup. Today, Austin City Limits announced the second half of performers for their special 50th Anniversary season, which includes Willie Nelson & Family, Chris Stapleton (which was previously announced), Norah Jones, The Avett Brothers and Sturgill Simpson presents Johnny Blue Skies; first-timers include Carín León, Mickey Guyton and Hurray for the Riff Raff. The first group included Kacey Musgraves, Juanes, Gary Clark Jr., Brittany Howard, Nickel Creek, Black Pumas, Maggie Rogers and The War And Treaty. It's an incredibly talented group, and I think it's perfect to close out this important season with the reutrn of the man who started it all in Willie Nelson: We're thrilled to announce the second half of ACL's 50th Anniversary season, with all new episodes airing in Jan 2025, featuring: @NorahJones, @WillieNelson, @ChrisStapleton, @TheAvettBros, @johhnyblueskies, @carinleonofi, @MickeyGuyton, and @HFTRR. More: https://t.co/c3w0WHysmH pic.twitter.com/Ej1ya8R29j — Austin City Limits (@acltv) December 12, 2024 Of course, back on October 17th, 1974, Willie Nelson helped launch the program, headlining the very first episode. The PBS station KLRN in San Antonio and Austin, Texas, produced the pilot episode of the incredible, long-standing variety show and music program, and the rest is history. There have been so many legendary performances on ACL over the years, and it’s one of the few musical variety shows left that brings in such a wide variety of high-quality artists every season, and allows them to display their unique and impressive talents to the world. It’s such a well-done, really amazing program, and there’s a reason it’s been running for 50 seasons now when so many other similar shows have ultimately failed. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at immediately following the initial broadcast. In terms of Willie's performance specifically, his episode will be an hourlong show to officially close out Season 50. For this special ACL Presents, a Texas-sized performance with Willie & Family was recorded outdoors at Austin’s Long Center, with the actual Austin skyline as the backdrop. The episodes will begin airing in January 2025, with Norah Jones nd Hurray for the Riff Raff's being the first one broadcast on Saturday, January 11th at 7pm CT/8pm ET. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. And if you've never seen it before, Willie's very first episode was filmed in Studio 6A at the University of Texas, and it’s jam packed with tons of great songs from earlier in his career that he doesn’t typically play as much anymore. I mean, he doesn’t even have the braids yet… this is vintage Willie at his best. He kicks off his set with “Whiskey River,” plays one of my personal favorite’s, “Funny How Time Slips Away” around the 18:50 mark, as well as “Crazy”, “Good Hearted Woman” and plenty of others. You even see the intro board at the beginning before the show goes live, too, which is pretty cool. You can watch the full episode below, and I highly recommend it. This is Willie at his absolute best, during the height of the country outlaw movement and it absolutely shows why he became the country icon that he did: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ-z1b623Qw&t=1s Season 50 Broadcast Schedule (Second Half): January 11 Norah Jones | Hurray for the Riff Raff January 18 The Avett Brothers January 25 Mickey Guyton | Carín León February 1 Chris Stapleton February 8 Sturgill Simpson Presents Johnny Blue Skies February 15 ACL Presents: Willie Nelson & Family April 4 Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years

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