The Power of Time
September 5, 2023
•11 min read
Let's explore amazing examples of things being worn down over time!
Time has the power to change just about everything, and seeing its effects unfold right before your eyes can be a truly mind-bending experience. From the real effects of too much video gaming to what a decade looks like on Mars, let’s explore some astounding sights that demonstrate the incredible power of time!
Disappearing Lakes
In the space of just three years, the lake in the image below straight-up disappeared, being replaced by a brand-new landscape of wildlife. While the photos may look like two completely unrelated locations, the treeline in the distance remains the same, like a signpost through time. Of course, lakes don’t just disappear without reason, and a lack of adequate rainfall over time emptied this particular lake out, turning it into a fertile paradise!
Tree Eating A Gravestone
When it comes to the effects of nature over time, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better example than the image below from St Andrews Churchyard of Grimsby, Ontario, Canada. This gravestone, thought to be from the 1800’s, has slowly been consumed by a neighboring tree! Because most trees can’t move their roots, they sometimes have to grow around solid objects in their way.
Pillar of Toronto
Canada is also home to a unique example of the power of time. One stately, limestone column, located at a busy intersection in downtown Toronto, has helped support that Victorian-era building for over 125 years! But as patrons and pedestrians have touched it, leaned on it, and rubbed against it, the soft rock has slowly been worn down into an almost unrecognizable shape!
Worn Out Apple Keyboard
The old 2003 Apple keyboard in the image below is displaying some serious wear and tear. It’s not just the symbols on the keys that have been worn off. The sheer amount of typing on certain high-usage keys has worn them down to the point where they look like they’ve been melted! Almost 20 years of furiously typing emails is likely to blame.
Tower of Pisa Worn Marble Steps
From the outside, Italy’s famous Leaning Tower of Pisa looks like a victim of time already, but the inside is where it gets interesting. This iconic landmark has seen so much foot traffic over the years that its marble stairs spiraling up to the top have been worn down by people’s footsteps!
Rock Carved Steps
But it’s not just foot traffic that can wear down steps. Just take a look at the image below. While it may look like the stairwell carved into this rock has been worn down by visitors, the deep puddle marks on each step tell a different story.
Statue Rubbing
Some people just can’t resist petting a nearby dog, even if it’s a statue! This brass dog in one of Moscow’s Metro Stations shows considerable wear from passing patrons who have rubbed this good boy’s nose for luck.
Dogs Over Time
But not all dogs can look pristine forever. Portraits by Amanda Jones capture dogs in their youth as puppies, directly compared to their years as senior dogs. The image below, for instance, shows Amanda’s dog Lily the dachshund, captured on the left at just 8 months old, compared to 15 years old on the right!
Screen Burn-In
Despite having been around the block a few times, classic retro games like Pac-Man can still be addictive and fun. One unusual TV screen proves that fact better than anything! The owner played Pac-Man on it so much that the map of the game was burned onto the CRT TV screen!
Aging Whisky
Retro video games are great and all, but alcohol arguably holds the title when it comes to getting better with age! The images below from the Glengoyne Distillery in Scotland demonstrate the procedure for aging whisky in casks over 30 years.
Worn Out By Students
Many organizations claim they get good business, but one store can really prove it! The bell next to the door of this shop has knocked against the wood so many times that it’s worn a hole right through the top.
Pipe Calcium Build-Up
While some things wear down over time, others build up, like the mineral deposits in the pipe below! Believe it or not, that thick crystal-like layer built up in just 6 months!
Shaky Crosswalk Tracks
It doesn’t take a road-markings expert to know that guide tracks over crosswalks definitely shouldn’t look like the one in the image below. But this mess isn’t intentional, nor is it the result of a shaky-handed painter.
Mars Rover After 10 Years
But time doesn’t just hold power over Earth; we can see its effect on Mars too! The Mars Rover, which landed on the red planet in 2004, went equipped with a camera. After 10 years of hard work, its anniversary photo shows the changes the planet has made to the Rover’s base area.
Faded Coke Can
Back on planet Earth, while there’s no red dust the weather in Texas still managed to break down the color of a soda can left exposed to the elements. The technical term for this kind of color fading is photodegradation, where ultraviolet rays in sunshine break down the chemical bonds in pigments, fading the color of an object.
Bike Store Worn Out Wall
The brick corner wall in the image below forms part of the exterior of a bike store that has been around for approximately 30 years. Customers visit with their bikes, and many of them park on the exact same corner. As countless pedals of happy customers have struck the same bricks, part of the corner has slowly worn down into a groove, making it an even better home for parked-up pedals!
Flagpole Hook After 20 Years
If you’re going to fly a flag, you might want to double-check your hoisting equipment to ensure your flag doesn’t literally go flying! At least, that’s the conclusion drawn from the incredible example of wear and tear in the image below.
Worn Out Shop Floor
There are over 46,000 convenience stores dotted about Great Britain, and while a lot of them look similar, you can see how the one in the image below stands out. The store, found in London, has two distinct patches on the floor that show where people have been standing and waiting to pay over the course of years.
Buddhist Monk's Footprints
But that worn-down shop floor is nothing compared to the devotion of Buddhist monk Hua Chi, whose exact footprints have been ingrained into the wooden floor of his temple!
Des empreintes de pieds gravées dans le plancher en bois par par Hua Chi, un moine bouddhiste de 70 ans. Il aura passé sa vie à prier corps et âme au sein du temple de Tongren, situé dans la province de Qinghai en Chine. Au rythme effréné d’environ 3000 prières par jour durant…
Scorched Grass
Some marks of time passing can prove to be a little more destructive than others, like the scorch line burned into dry grass in the image below. While there’s no arsonist to blame, the cause of the burn comes from the glass bowl of the light above it.
Zlatni Rat, The Beach That Changes Shape
While old father time is responsible for a lot of change, mother nature also has a shared hand in speeding along some of the more drastic transformations. Like those of Zlatni Rat Beach in Croatia. Back in 2018, a powerful storm managed to shift huge amounts of the beach’s sand, turning the straight tip into an almost 90-degree bend virtually overnight!
A change in prevailing wind direction often causes the end of spits to become hooked (also known as a recurved lateral). If you want your students to see a textbook example of this, show them this from Zlatni Rat Beach in Croatia. #geographyteacher #geography