So here we go, my friend Jennifer posted this in response to my carrot – orange question. “Your philosophical ways got me thinking...earlier today, I was wondering how do crumbs and various other debris get into the clean silverware drawer? Answer me that, will ya!” Well Jennifer that is a good question, obviously there is a great answer that explains this phenomena. You did leave it a bit open to my interpretation by not clearly defining what the debris was. I used my vast understanding of debris coupled with knowing your geographic location. We put those metrics together with the fact you are married, happily (that makes a difference) and have two wonderful daughters. Had you been married with a boy and girl the crumbs and debris would have a different makeup altogether. The other response to carrot posting was from Don, he wanted to know “How come lint collects in your navel, but not other places on your body”? Both these question start out with similar causes and they will diverge later. I will start with Jennifer’s question and then move onto Don’s.
Well as you may or may not know there are approximately 40,000 tons of mass are added to the earth by way of space dust each year. I suspect that this accumulation has contributed in a couple of ways. First and foremost, if the earth is getting heavier every year by 40,000 tons then it is obviously going to have an effect on the gravitational characteristics of the planet itself. When mass increases at that rate it is bound to have an impact on how things work here on the planet. I even suspect, and have hypothesized that this accumulation of space dust and the corresponding and somewhat linear increase in gravitational pull over the hundreds of millions of years was what actually killed off the dinosaurs. I mean think about it, with their incredible mass it would not take much of a change in gravity to bring them down, the giant beasts simply could no longer grow to the sizes they had in the past when there was less gravity.
Anyway, I digress a bit, my first point is that with the additional weight of the dust the gravitational characteristics of the planet have changed. Things of a certain mass today weigh more today than the exact same object weighed yesterday. When we pull in on a daily basis the changes are minute but still measurable. So back to the dust itself that is being deposited here on earth. There are many kinds of dust coming from outer space. We have your garden variety Cosmic dust, that is a dust primarily composed of particles, that while in space which are only a few molecules to 0.1 mm in size. Cosmic dust can be further distinguished by its astronomical location; for example: intergalactic dust, interstellar dust (potentially concentrated in a nebula), interplanetary dust (such as in a circumstellar disk) and circumplantetary dust (such as in a planetary ring). So, there is some high order math that is involved. I can then punch in the approximate square footage for your house (since you are married with children I can deduce your home is 6000 square foot) and that along with some more complicated metrics I can produce the resultant amount of actual comic dust that is in your home.
So the amount of debris in your silverware drawer has very little to do with the actual comic dust accumulating, the resultant changes to the gravitational pull actually have more to do with it then anything else. Of course I have no doubt that you have some minute amount of asteroidal dust from the Kuiper belt in your house but that is not what is in your drawers. But, we cannot rule out the zodiacal dust descending from the heavens, there is a small but measurable amount of that everywhere on earth. This cosmic dust is of such importance that NASA plans to launch a probe called the “Terrestrial Planet Finder”. Some of the work this probe will be looking for is signs of water, a requirement for Earth-like life, and ozone, a bi-product of oxygen that could signal plant life. But whether it sees other worlds or not may depend on our knowledge of the various types of dust. But, I guess the bottom line is this, the bulk of what is in your drawers comes from cleaning the counters and reaching in for something stored in the drawer while you have crumbs on your hands from making whatever culinary masterpiece you may be working on. When you couple that with the fact that it is not an area we ever clean, we just don’t do it. We don’t - until we notice that the crumbs and debris have accumulated to a level that starts hiding some of the utensils we store in that drawer. It is not just you Jennifer, no one likes to empty all the crap out of that drawer because it turns into a big job.
So the other part of the explanation that has to do with belly button lint and why and how it accumulates there and nowhere else on our bodies. Well we can follow along with the above explanation about cosmic dust, I mean look at the pictures – does that not look like something pulled from our belly button hole. To some degree most of what is in there is link but some of that is just plain old ordinary dust along with the comic dust from the Kuiper belt. Normal household dust is made up of a variety of things from blowing dirt, bacteria, pollen, pollutants, molds, animal dander, hair, decomposing insects, fibers, dryer lint, insulation, dust mites and their excrement, and mostly, skin flakes that humans shed – body crumbs if you will and I think you might. As you can see, you DO NOT want to eat that, or even lick your fingers when you are done pulling it out. So where does all that come from? It comes from a variety of sources including plants, roads, wind, clothes dryers, electronics, attics, basements, air conditioning and heating ducts and vents, pets, pollen, insects, carpeting, knick knacks. If you live in the south, coastal states, desert, or Southwest, you have more than your fair share of dust due to excess pollen, windy, and dry conditions. It is everywhere!
In all seriousness, we are constantly shedding material off ourselves. Clothing gets abraded through normal use. People who have "innie" bellybuttons tend to collect more of this stuff due to gravity and moisture. Your navel is one of the few places on your body where perspiration has a chance to accumulate before evaporating. Lint from your clothing, cottons especially, adheres to the wet area and remains after the moisture departs. Since most bellies move around throughout the day this accumulation is compressed, depending on the gravitation pull in your exact location and the periodicity of proper bathing. Most normal bellybuttons are self cleaning, this efficiency decreases as we get heavier because our belly buttons tend to get deeper thus allowing more accumulation to occur. So sadly now I have to tell you that the answer is not more exciting than that but now you can, if you wish, feel like a genius and share the answer with the masses!
So, the bottom line is this my friends, clean yourselves and clean your house more often and these issues will not raise to the level of having to ask for answers. I hope that this will help clear up the questions that were originated by my pondering carrots and oranges. Love you guys and thank for the fodder, I laughed the whole time I wrote this. And yes, i realize there is something wrong with me, very - very wrong with me!
Astrodial dust
Comet dust
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