 A stone covered with moss I saw at Anna Ruby Falls. There is a famous saying/myth that goes 'A rolling stone gathers no moss.' The stone seen in today's image is stationary, so it has a tendency to gather moss. But suppose the stone was rolling? Would it gather moss? It all depends on your definition of the word gather. One definition of gather as it relates to a rolling stone would be collecting or catching moss as the stone rolls. The other (archaic) definition means to grow moss as the rock rolls. There was an episode on MythBusters that tested this myth. To test the 'collect' meaning, the experimenters went to a hill, rolled some stones, and verified that a rolling stone can, in fact, can catch moss while rolling. Then, they decided to check the 'growing' meaning, and for this experiment, they built an irrigated barrel, split in two, with three rocks in each half; one half spun continuously while the control half remained still. They applied some moss paste to all the rocks, and ran the experiment for six months (which turned out to be the longest experiment in MythBusters history). The results? All of their stationary rocks grew moss, while none of the rolling rocks grew moss. So, if you interpret the spirit of the myth to be the growing of moss as the stone rolls, then the myth is true; otherwise, a rolling stone can, in fact, collect moss as it rolls. |
||
| < | main | comments | archives & galleries | prints | RSS | coolphotoblogs • listed • VOTE | Doors of Prague | hire me | > |
| facebook page | flickr | reading | about | share this! | Tweet | ||
| Copyright © 2006-2011 Erudite Expressions | contact me | ||
| ||