Tides

Although tides are best appreciated from a comfortable beach chair, truly understanding the motion in the ocean requires a trip to the moon. As you may have noticed, the moon is Earth’s only natural satellite, locked in orbit by the Earth’s gravitational pull. But the moon has a gravitational pull of it’s own, which tugs on the planet’s oceans; the water on Earth’s moon-facing side – or sublunar point – bulges out slightly, while the water on the opposite side – or antipodal point – is pulled slightly “in,” towards the Earth’s core.

Marijuana

The story of marijuana is old indeed, and starts with one of the earliest domesticated crops: the Cannabis plant. Cannabis has been cultivated for millennia in Asia and the Middle East, as the fiber beneath its bark can be refined into soft, durable hemp. Though this fiber was the main selling point, ancient farmers soon discovered one could smoke Cannabis flowers and their attached leaves and stems for interesting psychological effects; archeological evidence shows intentional inhalation of cannabis smoke as early as the 3^rd millennium BCE.

Though these pioneers of pot most likely smoked unprocessed Cannabis, today’s stoners have additional options, like kief, a powder sifted from leaves and flowers; hashish, concentrated flower resin; and hash oil, extracted from cannabis leaves. These processed Cannabis variations offer benefits like ease of use when cooking weed-infused foods, or increased levels of Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana’s main psychoactive ingredient.

Scientology

In 1950, science fiction writer Lafayette Ronald Hubbard – better known as L. Ron Hubbard – created a self-help program called Dianetics. The program’s popularity grew, and Hubbard soon found himself leading an international movement. The Dianetics method quickly evolved into more than self-help, and Hubbard officially incorporated the Church of Scientology in 1952.

Scientologists contend that belief in God or gods is a personal matter, but do accept a pervading spiritual force called Theta. Theta is present in all beings, and all humans are actually immortal spirits called thetans. Throughout time, thetans are reincarnated, not only as humans, but also aliens on distant planets. The eventual goal of Scientology is to free oneself from reincarnation through a process called auditing.

The happiest of Labor Days to all! learnalittle returns on Wednesday.

Brain

Today, learnalittle has brains on the brain.

The brain is the central component of the nervous system, governing every thought and function in our body. This magnificent organ is enclosed in the cranium, protected by cerebrospinal fluid and a membrane system called the meninges. The brain itself is composed of two hemispheres that control opposite sides of the body (the left hemisphere governs the right side), joined in the middle by the corpus callosum – a thick bundle of fibers that allows the hemispheres to communicate.