Moon Memes

The bell curve of astronomical understanding strikes again. On both extremes, you've got people who think "the moon gives off light" - either because they never progressed past kindergarten science or because they've ascended to understanding blackbody radiation. Meanwhile, the average IQ crowd clings desperately to "the moon only reflects the sun's light" like it's their personality. Technically, the moon does emit its own thermal radiation (albeit at a chilly ~120K), just like every object above absolute zero. The truly enlightened physicist knows this, while somehow circling back to the same conclusion as the person who thinks the moon is a giant lightbulb.

The bell curve of intellectual enlightenment strikes again. The 68% in the middle—our perfectly average humans with their 100 IQ—correctly understand that the moon merely reflects sunlight. Meanwhile, the statistical outliers on both ends confidently proclaim "the moon gives off light" with matching conviction but wildly different reasoning. The left side believes it because they never passed elementary science, while the right side understands blackbody radiation—that even cold objects emit infrared radiation according to their temperature. They're technically correct in the most insufferable way possible. Nothing says "I have a physics degree" like correcting people about thermal emission spectra at parties.

The physics here is absolutely magnificent ! A shrunken moon would still maintain its original mass (conservation of mass, folks!) but with drastically reduced volume. This creates an object with density comparable to a neutron star! Throwing this ultra-dense mini-moon would create an impact equivalent to millions of nuclear bombs. The atmospheric entry? That's where it gets spicy! The mini-moon would generate so much friction it would create a plasma sheath hot enough to ionize air molecules. But unlike typical meteors, its extreme density means it wouldn't lose much mass during entry. Earth would essentially get punched by a cosmic bowling ball with the mass of our actual moon. So would it burn up? Not even close. We'd be looking at an extinction-level event that makes dinosaurs feel lucky. Gru's villainous plan is basically "advanced planetary destruction with extra steps."

This is what happens when physics nerds take Archimedes too literally! The meme combines Archimedes' famous quote about moving the Earth with a lever with actual gravitational physics. The diagram shows the Earth-Moon barycenter (the center of mass of the Earth-Moon system) which could theoretically serve as a fulcrum for an impossibly long lever. The formula in the title (F=G•M₁•M₂•R⁻²) is Newton's law of universal gravitation, which explains why this cosmic lever system would be governed by the gravitational attraction between the masses. Technically correct? Yes. Practically feasible? Not unless you're planning to violate several laws of physics before breakfast!