Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for April 23, 2018

“Do these mountains make my continents look fat?”

When we say “late 1960s”, do we mean long-haired men were allowed in Disneyland after Walter’s 1966 death?

I thought the earth gained mass from being bombarded with cosmic dust daily.

I think it gains mass from cosmic dust and meteors and loses it from hydrogen (mainly) going from our atmosphere into space. Not sure whether the net balance is positive or negative. Anyone know about this?

In Earth by Brian Koberlein/15 December 2015

We generally think of the Earth as having a constant mass. On a basic level that’s true, but the Earth’s mass does change very slightly. So is it’s mass increasing or decreasing?

Earth gains mass through dust and meteorites that are captured by its gravity. If you watched the recent meteor shower you know this can occur on a regular basis. In fact from satellite observations of meteor trails it’s estimated that about 100 – 300 metric tons (tonnes) of material strikes Earth every day. That adds up to about 30,000 to 100,000 tonnes per year. That might seem like a lot, but over a million years that would only amount to less than a billionth of a percent of Earth’s total mass.

Earth loses mass through a couple of processes. One is the fact that material in Earth’s crust undergoes radioactive decay, and therefore energy and some subatomic particles can escape our world. Another is the loss of hydrogen and helium from our atmosphere. The first process only amounts to about 15 tonnes per year, but the loss from our atmosphere amounts to about 95,000 tonnes per year.

So it’s most likely that Earth is losing a bit of mass each year, but if the rate of meteors is on the higher end of estimates, then it could be gaining a bit of mass.

Another one of those scientific questions that has no consensus yet; Earth’s net mass gain or loss.

But you can be that, whether earth is gaining or losing, somebody’s going to say it’s our fault.

Ripley’s got one wrong. A group of Veterans went to Disneyland in 1974 on motorcycles. Not a Biker Gang, just vets on hogs. A few had long hair, but most of the guys still sported military cuts. We were told “your kind” are not allowed and were told (rather rudely) to never come back. We haven’t. (By the way, Hubby’s hair is still long at 66).

Wrap Texas? Why hasn’t it been done yet? There should be enough left to do LaLaLand

Gain mass, losing mass, or neither – all three would be interesting and could be an item in this strip.

Texas should be covered with a heavy bolted down steel mesh.

The Earth may be losing mass but mankind easily balances that with manufactured trash!

“And the sign said long-haired freaky people need not apply!”

When you speak of the heavenly bodies they are capitalized like Earth, Mars, Sun. When you speak of the ground it is earth.

I suppose any privately owned business could have dress codes and grooming standards. I don’t think any publicly owned company would. Their motive for being in business is to make money; regardless of their customers looks. The only exception I’ve seen is no shoes and no shirts. This is usually at restaurants and could be a health department requirement.

Around 1970, I was denied entry into Knott’s Berry Farm, supposedly because I was wearing flip-flops. I told them I was not planning to go on any rides, but they still claimed it was “unsafe.” I think it had more to do with my long hair, and that I was darkly tanned (with a black mustache) and accompanied by a pale-skinned blonde. I got pulled over by cops many times, because my (used to be)black mustache and dark skin made me look like I was Mexican. I am half white and half Japanese, and almost paper- white where the sun doesn’t get me.