Donut Earth

Planet Doughnut
What if the world was shaped like a doughnut? Imagine for a moment that the inside of the world is hollow and the “donut hole” of the Earth floated away long ago. On the outside of Donut Earth, things would be pretty similar to the way they are now, with land, water, air, and mountains. But the landmasses would be different, with their own unique history. All the world’s rivers would flow to the outer edge, while humans on the inner edge could look up at the sky and see the distant surface of the other side of the Earth. Also, there would be distinct differences in the strength of gravity. Imagine going to the inner edge, where the center of the donut used to be, and relaxing in a low gravity zone. Here, one could jump ten feet up in the air with ease. Even better, space travel would be easy through the center of the Donut Earth, where one would be essentially weightless, with the Earth revolving around. This donut of a world would also have plenty of land and water, much more than the current Earth, which means there would be more of the Earth to enjoy. One major difference, however, is that night and day would be completely different, where the Sun’s light would shine only on the outside edge of Donut Earth, or Donut Earth would need to revolve on more than one axis. Either way, days would be different than they are now. In addition, world trade and the entire human experience would be radically different. In fact, humans probably would not exist on Donut Earth, but instead another intelligent species. But if humans did exist, then perhaps we would spend our days on the sunny side of the inner edge of Donut Earth, or exist entirely on the outer edge, where the sun would shine much like it does now. World trade would also be different in that rockets could travel easily along the missing inside of Donut Earth. All in all, Donut Earth would be a strange place.
Revisions
I added a short section about how humans may not form on a donut-shaped Earth, but instead other forms of life. As for a deletion, I deleted the short phrase concerning the Sun and whether it could be shaped like a donut. Substitution wise, I replaced the phrase “Even stranger,” with “One major difference, however, is that,” as this revised phrase better clarifies the sentence. For the most part, the revisions clarified the meaning of the paper, while expanding on the ideas behind it. The revisions better defined my purpose.

MT. Tuka-Taka

A cloud washes over Mt. Tuka-taka like an ocean wave, engulfing the mountain in white. The cloud rolls up the slope of Tuka-taka in a desperate attempt to reach the top before it flows to the other side. Like a sandcastle at a beach, the mountain is caught in the unrelenting clouds, yet the mountain continues to stand as the clouds are forced around it. Snow also covers the mountain in white, flowing off the top in great stripes. It is as if the mountain became a volcano, and erupted snow down its sides. And on one of these sides (the less cloudy side), a lone farmer walks with his goats.
The farmer also sees the snow on the mountain, but is unaware of the battle between sky and mountain occurring above his head. The farmer continues walking through the snow with his goats as they ascend to the cave where he stores his cheese and wine. While walking, the farmer contemplates the snack he will have when he reaches the cave that his grandfather once owned and which he now owns with his brother. “I will try the goat cheese with cranberries first,” the farmer thinks to himself. After all, that is why he is herding eight goats to the cave. Above him the sky turns white: a monstrous cloud has rushed over the edge of the mountain and now hangs in the air, rolling slowly upwards. To the distant observer, this is another beautiful cloud formation, a battle in the war between mountain and cloud. But the farmer knows differently: this is the beginning of a blizzard.
The farmer knows that there are only two options: he can travel back to his house, or he can continue to his cave. The farmer decides on the cave, as it is only a half-kilometer around the side of the mountain, while his home is more than four kilometers away. The farmer hurriedly herds his goats towards the cave, hoping that the blizzard will not overtake him. First snow, and then sleet, begins to fall on the mountain and farmer. Luckily, the farmer makes it to his cave in time to see clouds completely engulf the mountain, a signal that the blizzard has begun. Snow falls heavily while the farmer retreats to the back of the cave to build a fire and enjoy vittles stored in the cave. The farmer is not worried about the blizzard outside, as he knows that in this battle, the mountain will emerge victorious over the clouds threatening to engulf it.
Time Picture

The Park Puzzle

As the population of the United States grows larger, our land area remains the same. Cities, towns, and suburbs sprawl ever faster into the surrounding semi-wilderness, where previously only a few families lived. Increasingly, farmland is converted to city streets and small urban parks where every plant did not start its life there. As this happens, more people travel outside of the cities on vacations to wilderness. This creates a conundrum; as more people vacation in the same national park, the park becomes overcrowded and like the city they came from. In addition, when the city folk come, they bring trash, noise, kids, pushy people, and disrespect for animals. However, they often leave with a respect for nature and fewer kids (lol) (though they still leave trash and are still noisy). Clearly, there must be a way to allow the most people to enjoy national parks while still keeping them wild.
One current program is “Leave no Trace.” This is actually a Boy Scout-inspired idea. The idea is for individuals to carry their trash to trash receptacles (even if they are hiking or backpacking) in order to keep the parks free of trash. This works well for hikers and backpackers, who tend to have a greater interest in and respect for nature, but has little effect on the majority of visitors who come to take pictures of the Grand Canyon and Yosemite, but not actually enjoy the surrounding park. These visitors stay in hotels and apartments, and leave trash around the park (and more of those kids). “Leave no Trace” doesn’t affect these people, so it is not a great solution to keeping parks wild.
Another solution is to limit the amount of people who can enter a park. This is typically on a first-come, first-serve basis, and has been employed at Yellowstone and other popular parks. This doesn’t allow everyone to visit a park, and turns the park into a regulated human experience, instead of a wild trip through nature where you are your own master. However, the limiting system does keep the number of people down so that park staff are not overwhelmed and can effectively clean up the mess of each day.
As you can tell, there is not a clear and easy solution that allows everyone to visit national parks while keeping them wild, but I leave it open to the reader to come up with a better solution.