The Living Earth and the Cosmos
Journey from the microscopic mechanics of a blooming flower to the gargantuan physics of a dying star. Master the interconnected systems that govern our atmosphere, our forests, and the vast reaches of space.
Like Duolingo, but for The Living Earth and the Cosmos. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
79 levels across 8 sections, about 158 minutes end to end, roughly 32 days at five minutes a day. It moves through The Sky Above: Cloud Dynamics, The Architecture of Trees, The Strategy of Flowers, Our Solar Neighborhood, Planetary Science, Stellar Evolution, Galactic and Cosmic Scales, and The Tools of Observation. It assumes you already know the basics.
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Key ideas in The Living Earth and the Cosmos
- Atmospheric stability and cloud layers
- Atmospheric instability and vertical growth
- Anvil formation at the tropopause
- Anvil shape and storm maturity
- Anvil formation and maturity
- Sundogs and haloes are caused by light refracting through hexagonal ice crystals
- These optical phenomena only occur in high-altitude cirrus-type clouds
- Distinguishing between atmospheric stability and instability based on cloud shape
- Different cloud directions at different heights reveal wind shear
- Observing multi-level cloud motion helps predict arriving weather fronts
- Identifying the significance of the anvil shape in storm development
- Interpreting cloud motion and wind shear to predict weather changes
- Darker clouds are denser and hold more water, blocking more sunlight
- Recognizing ice crystal signatures in high-altitude clouds
- A deep blue-black base indicates high moisture and imminent heavy rain
- Judging precipitation risk based on cloud density and light absorption
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives The Living Earth and the Cosmos the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When ye spot clouds growing rapidly upward like the masts of a Great Galleon, what does it tell ye about the air?
Get it right to open this lesson and 78 more in the app.
Where The Living Earth and the Cosmos takes you
- 1
The Sky Above: Cloud Dynamics
- Cloud Spotting for Weather Prediction
- The Physics of Cloud Creation
- Atmospheric Optics and Light
- 2
The Architecture of Trees
- Internal Hydraulics and Nutrient Transport
- The Wood Wide Web
- Resilience and Adaptation
- 3
The Strategy of Flowers
- Floral Morphology and Pollination
- The Chemistry of Attraction
- 4
Our Solar Neighborhood
- Solar Anatomy and Influence
- Lunar Dynamics and Tides
- 5
Planetary Science
- Terrestrial Worlds: Comparative Geology
- Gas Giants and Atmospheric Extremes
- Icy Moons and Ocean Worlds
- 6
Stellar Evolution
- The Birth of Stars
- Nucleosynthesis: Forging the Elements
- Stellar Endpoints
- 7
Galactic and Cosmic Scales
- Galactic Morphology
- The Expanding Universe
- 8
The Tools of Observation
- Spectroscopy: Reading Light
- Modern Astronomy Techniques
8 sections · 20 units · 79 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
The Living Earth and the Cosmos is taught in the The Pirate style: arr, learning be an adventure!. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start The Living Earth and the Cosmos today.
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