Recent content by Smatter

Thanks for the reply. To be clear I'm pouring the berries into the middle of hot porridge so it naturally forms a sort of berry "hill". I think you're right though, there must be liquid from the porridge seeeping into the interstices in the berry hill and they must be cold enough to freeze that...

I noticed something when making my breakfast that seems totally counterintuitive. If I add frozen berries that are separate in the pack to my porridge, as I'm heating it, the berries instantly form a solid, icy mass that I can lift out as one block. I can't understand why the berries all...

Thanks everyone for your helpful replies, and particularly to Janus for putting a few more numbers to it. What I'm thinking now, which is what started me asking the question in the first place, is that the 6% variation due to distance from the Sun is not exactly insignificant compared to the...

Thanks DH but that really only restates what I've already said. What I'm looking for is numbers (preferably simple or simplified) that prove that the distance from the Sun is a relatively insignificant factor in the equation.

OK, the prevailing wisdom says that the tilt of the Earth relative to the plane of the ecliptic is the main reason for the Earth's seasons. This is caused by, among other things, the variation in angle at which the sun's light hits the Earth, the day length and distribution of land/sea masses...