Understanding the Formation of the Universe and the Development of Living Organisms and Plants by Togolok Moldo
.At the same time, observing nature, he was one of the first to give characteristics to each natural phenomenon individually — rain, water, wind, fire, and the Earth itself — in the poem "Zher jana anyn baldary" (Earth and Its Children).
Comparing these characteristics with known scientific facts allows us to speak of a fairly high degree of reliability in his judgments. Here’s how the poet describes the formation of rain:
Darya, dediz, keldirden,
Suraп budou, suu alğan.
Asmandy kurçap burkelup
Suu alğan budou kuralğan.
Makhtanbagyn jamgyrım,
Denizdin sen da suususun.
Alıp kelgen buluttun,
Suusu turusun buususuv.
The clouds begged for water
From rivers, seas, and lakes.
The clouds darken and cover the sky.
Don’t boast, my rain,
You are the water of the seas,
Brought by the clouds.
Now all children know that water exists not only in liquid form: when it freezes, it becomes ice, and when it heats up, it turns into vapor. In the form of vapor, water exists in the lower layers of the atmosphere (even in such places as waterless deserts). And water in the form of vapor is the main factor influencing the weather. From this vapor, clouds, fogs, rains, and snows are formed. On the surface of our planet, the water cycle continuously occurs: from the surface of oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, fields, and forests, water vapor rises into the air, then cools and turns into the clouds or fogs we see, after which the water vapor returns to the earth or to the seas and oceans in the form of snow, rain, or hail. Observing this water cycle, the poet believed that in the material world, quantity and quality are variable, interconnected, and condition each other. Of course, not everything in natural phenomena was understood correctly by the poet:
Tarsyldap asman atyshkan
Jaan dinin baary kuch menen.
In the sky, thunder rumbles,
In it lies the power of rain.
Thunderstorms are one of the most interesting phenomena of nature. For ages, people have been struck by the rumbling of thunder and the flash of lightning, and torrential rains accompanied by strong thunders and lightning often brought disasters. The people saw in thunderstorms mysterious forces that they could not understand. Togolok Moldo's explanations of the thunderstorm process somewhat correspond to reality.
A thunderstorm, as is known, is a natural phenomenon accompanied by either visible lightning, audible rumbles of thunder, or both simultaneously. Thunderclouds are formed as a result of vertical movements of moist air, arising from strong and rapid heating, from the rising air along the slopes of hills and mountains, from the spreading of cold air over a layer of warm air, and finally, from its ascent along the frontal surface. Thunderstorms and their accompanying phenomena (downpours, hail, squally winds) bring cumulonimbus clouds, sometimes called thunderstorm clouds. Cumulonimbus clouds have tops shaped like towers and mountains and reach enormous heights (9-11 kilometers). The upper parts of these clouds consist of ice crystals and often spread horizontally, taking on the shape of anvils. The observant poet, not knowing the scientific explanation for cloud formation, saw the cause of the gray fog, the gray day before the rain, in the action of the clouds:
Munaryk tuman kubarğan.
Zherdin juzu tunarğan.
Munun baary muruntan,
Buluttun kuchu kuralğan.
The light mist of fog has faded,
The earth has disappeared, become murky,
All this
Was created by the power of the clouds.
Describing lightning, the poet did not attempt to explain its nature, limiting himself only to the external picture:
Bulut kechup buzuluп
Birine-biri urunup
Kün kurkurup tarsyldap,
Chagylgan uchup jarkyldap,
Bulut kechup belunup
Kyzyl munar kerunup.
Colliding with each other,
The clouds disperse,
Thunder rumbles,
Lightning flashes,
In the gaps of the clouds
A red glow flares up.
The Mechanism of Lightning Formation
The mechanism of lightning formation is very complex and diverse. This physical phenomenon, occurring mainly in the middle and upper layers of the atmosphere, is still not fully studied. We know that lightning arises in the process of separating positive and negative electric charges — such processes include friction, the fragmentation of raindrops, as well as the freezing of droplets and the melting of crystals. Under the action of air currents, charges of different signs concentrate in opposite parts of the thundercloud, thus creating a potential difference. When it reaches a certain (sufficiently large) magnitude, an electric discharge occurs between these parts of the cloud — lightning. The voltage reaching the breakdown value forms several separate discharges, which are preceded by the appearance of faintly glowing narrow long ribbons (streamers), known as leaders.
A leader represents a flow of fast electrons that, under the influence of a high-intensity electric field, produce impact ionization of the molecules and atoms of air. As a result, a channel of high conductivity is formed in the atmosphere.
From a certain volume of the negatively charged lower part of the cloud, the leader creates a channel directed toward the ground, with a diameter of several centimeters and consisting of impulses that jump from step to step, each of which is about fifty meters long. Thus, an ionized path the thickness of a pencil is formed in the air. When the leader reaches the ground (or protruding ends of lightning rods, iron masts with grounding, located on high smoke stacks of thermal power plants, factories, and plants), a main discharge occurs from it to the cloud, which we see as a bright flash of lightning. This discharge flows so quickly that it creates the illusion of movement of the discharge from the cloud to the ground.
The color of lightning is mainly whitish, combining the spectra of oxygen and nitrogen; sometimes the color of lightning acquires various shades, depending on the nature of the underlying surface and surrounding objects (for example, against the background of yellowish artificial lighting, lightning may appear bluish; if the surrounding light has a bluish tint, then lightning may look yellowish). The "red glow" in Togolok Moldo's verses is the spectrum of hydrogen. This shade is observed only when very humid air is maximally ionized.
The current strength in the lightning channel is very high. This strength is sufficient to supply electrical energy to 20 thousand
houses. The power of electrical energy realized during thunderstorms reaches millions of kilowatts.
According to the poet's representation, powerful mudflows are formed by winds, which, in turn, are said to have formed from lightning.
In laboratory conditions for producing lightning, it has been proven that the electric discharge itself does not cause wind.
During a thunderstorm, powerful upward and downward air currents are usually observed. The downward air current reaches the surface of the earth and spreads across it at high speed — a gusty wind rises. The temperature of the air decreases during this — a person perceives this as freshness, relief after a hot sultry pre-thunderstorm day.
Sudden heavy rains are observed when a strong upward movement of air in the thundercloud leads to an excessively large concentration of water droplets and their subsequent very intense fall as rain over a limited area.
The poet describes this phenomenon as follows:
Arykhtar tolup zhimyldap,
Li sayyn tegup shybyrgak,
Mundurdun baary sed bolup.
Talanyn baary kvl bolup,
Agyi suular shar bolup.
Water has filled the ditches,
Snowflakes have begun to fall.
A mudflow has rushed.
The fields have turned into lakes,
Flowing waters — into streams.
It is known what great disasters mudflows represent for people.
On June 3, 1977, a heavy rain for 15-20 minutes caused a powerful mudflow in the south of the republic, causing enormous damage to the city of Kyzyl-Kiya (houses, industrial and other facilities were destroyed, there were human casualties), cotton and tobacco fields in the Naukat, Suzak, Dzhala-Abad, Frunze, and Lenin districts.