Coral and the number 420

0:07 What can a fossilized coral from 420 million

0:11 years ago tell geophysicists about the number 420?

0:17 And I'll read that again.

0:19 What can a fossilized coral from 420 million

0:22 years ago tell geophysicists about the number 420?

0:29 So 420, we all know what that means, right?

0:31 Right.

0:31 Well this, of course, look.

0:33 We would be, you know, we'd be lying if we didn't all immediately

0:36 think that 420 is a number that means weed.

0:40 It means 'blazing it'.

0:41 Yeah.

0:41 There is a reason here in Colorado where, why the road mileage signs,

0:46 you know, you go 416, 417, 418, 419, 419.99 miles, and then 421 miles.

0:57 People are still stealing the 419.99 signs though.

1:00 Yeah, they definitely are.

1:01 (laughs) (snickers) I'm remembering there's something...

1:04 I think this is actually ocean floor, but I'm gonna say it in case it's close.

1:07 The Earth's magnetic poles flip every so often...

1:12 and you can see that in geological records.

1:16 So I'm wondering if there's something similar in coral growth?

1:19 You heard the thing about how they have

1:21 no idea when that magnetism flip would happen,

1:24 and if it happens, everything's screwed, society is screwed.

1:29 Just, it's like one of those things that you

1:31 should kind of be a little bit worried about.

1:32 It's— I remember there being conspiracy theories about it.

1:35 I remember there being some book in the public library that was...

1:40 when I was a kid that was, "Oh,

1:41 the Earth's poles are gonna flip!" Full pseudoscience all the way through.

1:45 Should not have been in that library, but...

1:48 But couldn't they?

1:48 And also— Isn't that the thing?

1:49 Maybe I'm victim to pseudoscience.

1:52 Oh, I thank you, Producer David.

1:53 Every 200,000 to 300,000 years on average.

1:56 So, I don't see why that would be number 420.

1:59 Okay, so here's what I'd like to sort of see if we can focus in on.

2:04 So, Ben said that this coral taught the scientists about the number 420, right?

2:13 That was what you said?

2:14 Yeah, what do you learn about numbers themselves?

2:17 Yeah, that's what I'm stuck on.

2:18 It's like, what could you possibly learn about a number?

2:22 I will note that they're not just any scientists.

2:26 They are geophysicists.

2:27 Oh yeah.

2:28 That was why I was on Earth's magnetic pole.

2:31 Under a strict interpretation,

2:32 I feel like the things you learn about a number is like,

2:34 I'm thinking you can learn like, "Okay, this is like a prime number", right?

2:39 And various math things like that, right?

2:43 Yeah, what's coral gonna teach you about that?

2:45 Oh, oh, here's a thought.

2:48 Isn't there...

2:50 What's the...

2:52 This is another thing where it's like,

2:53 it's not quite this, but it's in the right direction, I think maybe.

2:56 Aren't there corals that are like...

2:58 What is that geometric structure where you zoom in, and it looks the same way?

3:03 Fractal, fractal.

3:05 Yes, fractals.

3:06 Are we...

3:08 (laughs) Is— Are we in the— Is this fractal related, Ben?

3:11 You stopped mid-thought there, Sam.

3:13 Look, I'm gonna say that what you're saying,

3:15 you're saying some cool, cool ass stuff.

3:18 It has...

3:18 Ugh.

3:19 absolutely nothing to do with the answer to this question.

3:23 What?

3:23 I was sure that it was gonna be a thing where it was like,

3:28 the coral, because of its shape, proves that the number 420 is like...

3:34 you know, prime or something.

3:35 I know it's not prime, but you know what mean.

3:37 I'm gonna redirect you.

3:38 Can I— Permission to give a clue?

3:40 Permission granted.

3:41 Oh wait, I'm not in charge of this.

3:43 (Tom and Adam laugh) Okay.

3:44 You're in charge, Ben.

3:46 Sam has given me permission, and he is my employer, so I am listening to him.

3:53 Look, coral, they're kinda like trees.

3:56 They've got growth rings, okay?

3:59 You can look at a coral— But trees are also fractals!

4:01 I don't care.

4:03 Okay.

4:03 Okay, wait, wait.

4:04 Let's...

4:07 You said that the coral is 420 million years old, right?

4:11 And we said that we learned something about the number 420.

4:15 Surely this means that it relates to something that happens every million years?

4:21 Or like, right?

4:23 It can't be a coincidence that it's 420 million years old,

4:26 and the thing we learned was about the number 420, right?

4:29 Those things are related.

4:31 It can absolutely be a coincidence.

4:33 This is Lateral.

4:34 It can 100% be a coincidence.

4:37 I'm trying to read Ben's face, which isn't good audio.

4:40 I feel like it's getting redder and more excited.

4:43 (laughs) Because Ben did say that he thought his thing was...

4:49 I forget exactly what he said,

4:50 but he was really excited about his thing and its ability to mislead us.

4:54 He said that coral has rings.

4:56 Okay, so like...

4:58 They're like, they're growth rings like trees, but they're much, much finer.

5:01 And what, like once you get 420 of them, then something happens?

5:10 Like...

5:11 I would say, I would think about what can..

5:16 What could the growth rings reflect?

5:19 They reflect something Oh?

5:21 that happens regularly in the environment of the coral.

5:23 Yeah.

5:24 So same as trees.

5:24 It's gonna be the ocean heating and cooling.

5:27 Presumably.

5:28 That's what causes growth rings in trees.

5:29 It's the summer and winter cycle.

5:31 So I assume it's heating and cooling of the water?

5:34 No.

5:36 Oh, what if it was something about the Moon?

5:38 What if it's something about the Moon, right?

5:39 Because the Moon affects the ocean, right?

5:42 And it affects the tides and stuff.

5:44 And maybe what this teaches us— Here's what I've got.

5:48 I think that this teaches us how quickly...

5:52 something about the way that the Moon's orbit is changing,

5:54 that like the Moon is getting slightly closer to or further

5:58 from the Earth at some rate of 420 years,

6:02 and that affects the water levels and the tides or whatever.

6:05 And you can see that in coral.

6:07 Final answer, lock it in.

6:08 You're definitely on the right track.

6:10 Did the lunar month used to be 420 days?

6:13 And we can track that through coral?

6:16 That is, again, close.

6:18 It is not what the...

6:22 what we've learned about the number 420.

6:25 But it relates to the cycles of the Moon?

6:28 It's not— I would focus still on the Earth.

6:32 But it has to do with the Moon.

6:35 They're geophysicists, right?

6:37 Is that helpful?

6:39 They're geophysicists.

6:40 Ben emphasized that.

6:41 So there's something that happens.

6:44 There's something that happens as relates to the Earth and the Moon.

6:48 Could it be eclipses?

6:50 Could it have to do with how often there's a lunar eclipse?

6:53 Or earthquakes or some geophysical thing?

6:58 This statistic...

7:00 is now a little bit smaller.

7:03 Huh.

7:04 What the hell does that mean?

7:06 In the modern day.

7:07 Every 420— This number was 420.

7:10 This number is smaller now.

7:12 Okay.

7:12 Is it that something happens once every 420 years on average?

7:16 Is that what they learned?

7:18 No.

7:19 Is it that something happens every 420 somethings?

7:23 Yes.

7:24 Okay.

7:25 Is it 420 units of time?

7:28 Y–Yes.

7:30 Year, days in a year.

7:31 There used to be 420 days in a year?

7:34 Ohhh!

7:34 That's it.

7:36 Yes.

7:36 Wait, we know that from coral?

7:39 We know that from coral that there used to be 420 days in a year.

7:45 Basically they would— you could tell from the layers how many...

7:51 lunar cycles would fit into one annual year.

7:55 And this reveals 420 daily growth bands in a year,

8:00 indicating that Earth once completed a full orbit

8:02 around the Sun in about 420 shorter days,

8:06 meaning that the planet was spinning faster.

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