Something I’ve never seen in a sci-fi series or movie before

I was thinking about the Moon and what the sky would look like if the Moon were closer to us. It would look really cool, no doubt. I imagine a Moon many times larger than it currently is, rising in the sky with a breathtakingly amazing beauty.

But the consequence of such beauty would be enormous tidal forces. Tides on Earth would be vastly larger than they are now. How much larger depending upon exactly how much closer the Moon was. Here’s a cool article at scienceblogs.com which discusses exactly how much larger the tides would be.

One thing I’ve consistently seen in this and similar writings about the Moon’s increased effect on tides if it were closer to Earth, is how it would be a disaster for coastal cities around the world. But obviously if the tides were that much stronger none of those cities would have been built in the first place, so it would not be a disaster.

But imagine living on a planet with a close-by moon where there are 500-foot high tides every day! I think that would be kind of cool. Think about how unique life forms might have evolved which could live in such extreme tidal zones. Think how perhaps an advanced civilization might have somehow been able to harness that massive energy and build structures to withstand such enormous tides. I love thinking about this. If nothing else, it would be a really cool setting for science fiction.