Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology => Topic started by: thedoc on 16/10/2015 15:50:02

Title: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: thedoc on 16/10/2015 15:50:02
Michael asked the Naked Scientists:
   How is it possible that there was no rainbows before the great flood. Did something happen to the way light came to earth.
What do you think?
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: chiralSPO on 16/10/2015 16:05:50
There have been rainbows since rain has existed.
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: evan_au on 17/10/2015 02:50:28
Perhaps a new symbolic spiritual significance was attached to a pre-existing physical phenomenon?
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: RD on 17/10/2015 03:08:54
Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?

There can be rain & light but no rainbow possible if the sun is higher than 42o above the horizon. This angle is defined by the refractive-indexes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refractive_index) of water and air.

[ BTW "religious education" is an oxymoron ]
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: Bored chemist on 17/10/2015 13:14:17
Before you ask how something happened, you ought to ask if it happened.


There is no  very strong reason to suppose there was a flood,and no reason to suppose that rainbows didn't exist before some point in histroy- except , of course, they needed rain and sun.
So there's no real reason to believe that there is a phenomenon here that requires explanation.
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: PmbPhy on 17/10/2015 16:34:37
Michael asked the Naked Scientists:
   How is it possible that there was no rainbows before the great flood. Did something happen to the way light came to earth.
What do you think?
The Bible doesn't say that the rainbow that God "set in the clouds" was the first rainbow to ever exist. Obviously they've existed billions of years on Earth before man got there. If an author of one of the Biblical books said that then they wouldn't accept it since all people have seen rainbows all of their lives so they'd know that the author was writing a non-truth. Therefore it was meant to mean on that day he made a rainbow. In fact the existence of spherical drops of water for there to be a rainbow and if the conditions have to be just right to see a rainbow. But they've existed on Earth long before man had been here.

Quote from: Bored chemist
There is no  very strong reason to suppose there was a flood,and no reason to suppose that rainbows didn't exist before some point in histroy- except , of course, they needed rain and sun.
So there's no real reason to believe that there is a phenomenon here that requires explanation.
See:

 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/evidence-suggests-biblical-great-flood-noahs-time-happened/story?id=17884533

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/great-flood.htm

I'm certain that there are many more examples like this from cultures around the world.
Title: Re: Could there be rain and light but no rainbows?
Post by: Bored chemist on 17/10/2015 17:12:28
Michael asked the Naked Scientists:
   How is it possible that there was no rainbows before the great flood. Did something happen to the way light came to earth.
What do you think?
The Bible doesn't say that the rainbow that God "set in the clouds" was the first rainbow to ever exist. Obviously they've existed billions of years on Earth before man got there. If an author of one of the Biblical books said that then they wouldn't accept it since all people have seen rainbows all of their lives so they'd know that the author was writing a non-truth. Therefore it was meant to mean on that day he made a rainbow. In fact the existence of spherical drops of water for there to be a rainbow and if the conditions have to be just right to see a rainbow. But they've existed on Earth long before man had been here.

Quote from: Bored chemist
There is no  very strong reason to suppose there was a flood,and no reason to suppose that rainbows didn't exist before some point in histroy- except , of course, they needed rain and sun.
So there's no real reason to believe that there is a phenomenon here that requires explanation.
See:

 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/evidence-suggests-biblical-great-flood-noahs-time-happened/story?id=17884533

http://science.howstuffworks.com/nature/climate-weather/storms/great-flood.htm

I'm certain that there are many more examples like this from cultures around the world.
Yes, obviously there have been floods in the past, but the one being talked about here is the biblical one and that's just plain silly.
For example, if you calculate the rainfall rate needed to flood the world to the tops of all the mountains in the time allotted, it would be so high it would sink the arc anyway.
Similarly, there is no possible way for all the water to suddenly come into being, nor is there anywhere for it to go afterwards.
So, since there can't have been "the flood"- there can't have been a rainbow (first or not) after it.

So, this whole thread is based on something that simply can not ever have happened.
If this were "thenakedtheologists" forum that would be fine, but this is meant to be a scientific site.