Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

I was surprised to learn that Pangaea is believed to have formed and broke up at least five times so far.



Pangaea is only the name of the most recent supercontinent. The past ones all have their own names. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercontinent


Of the 10 on that list, multicellular life appears around #8 (Pannotia).


Tolkien himself was unsure if we were in the 6th or 7th age

---

I doubt if there would have been much gain; and I hope the, evidently long but undefined, gap* in time between the Fall of Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known or surmised of 'pre-history'

I imagine the gap to be about 6000 years : that is we are now at the end of the Fifth Age, if the Ages were of about the same length as S.A. and T.A. But they have, I think, quickened; and I imagine we are actually at the end of the Sixth Age, or in the Seventh.

Source - The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 211


We have basically had to conclude that Tolkien’s star Borgil[0] is Aldebaran, because Betelgeuse wasn’t a red star in the classical era[1], or before.

[0]: https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Borgil [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32478492




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: