ARE YOU THERE, MARS?”

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4295, 2 March 1901, Page 8 (Supplement)

ARE YOU THERE, MARS?”

A SIGNALLING FLAG AS BIG AS IRELAND WANTED. EVOLUTION OF THE MOON. In the course of a lecture at the Royal Institution, Sir Robert Ball referred to Mr Nikola Tesla’s statement that he had received a message from Mars. Whether there were beingsi in Mars capable of sending intelligent messages, Sir Robert arm Id not say, but he gave some idea of the kind of signal that we should have to send in order that iu might be observed by the Martians. A flag as big as Ireland would be required, and a gigantic flag-staff would be necesary, and even then the signal would only be visible as a tiny spook. As to the nature of the message tho Martians would bo likely to send to us, ho did not think it wotdd ho anything grandiose; it would most likely take the form of the three simple words, “Are you there Sir Robert then dealt with the subject of Ids lecture, “The Evolution of the Moon.” Years ago, he said, tho earth and tho moon formed part of tho same original firc-cloud or nebula. A portion became detached and gradually receded from the other portion, and thus the moon and the earth came into being. The moon had cooled much more rapidly than the earth, being a smaller body, and its crust was now quite hard. There-were no oceans on the moon, and its internal heat;, had all radiated into space. Tho moon always turned the same face towards tho earth, and tins was accounted for by the fact that the time taken for the rotation of the earth on its own axis was equal to that of its revolution round the earth. The distance of th© moon from tho earth was gradually increasing. It was now 240,000 miles distant. The tides were caused by tho moon, and by acting as a drag on the rotation of the earth tho tides were increasing the length of tho day. The change was exceedingly small. In one thousand years it amount to tho fraction of a second, yet mathematicians had proved that millions of years ago the earth spun round on its axis much faster than it does now, and that millions of years hence the days would ho even fifty or sixty times as long as they were now. Once upon a time the earth produced tides on the moon, but there was now no water on the moon’s surface.