Questão 46 - USP FUVEST - Simulado Oficial - 1ª Fase (1ª edição) 2026

    Returning to my hometown is an occasion not to worry about street parking or dinner reservations. But on April 8 — thanks to the region’s position in the path of the total solar eclipse — I’ll be among the throngs of out-of-towners donning funky glasses to watch the sun disappear behind the moon’s shadow. In a small town in the USA a judge has already declared a state of emergency in anticipation of the population doubling or tripling in the days leading up to the eclipse. Maybe you don’t plan to be among the solar pilgrims battling highway gridlock. Maybe you are wondering if people have lost their minds. Why all the fuss about a predictable alignment of the Earth, moon and sun?

    Here’s a reason to give in to eclipse-mania. Post-pandemic, many of us feel less a part of our communities. In a polarized world, we lack common cause. Amid this disconnection and alienation, a solar eclipse is an opportunity not only for awe and wonder— but for binding ourselves to the past and future of humanity.

     People have been looking up to the stars for answers for millennia, whether it was to know the will of their gods or to navigate their ships across unknown seas. The solar eclipse carried omens for the ancient Mayans and Greeks. We can only imagine what it might mean to our descendants in the future, or to the artificial intelligence overlords that might govern them. What we do know is that total eclipses will recur for the next half-billion years, and that as long as people inhabit Earth, these events will be a spectacle if only for their rarity.

    Total solar eclipses happen about once every year to three years, but most are visible only from the poles or the middle of the ocean. From any specific location, they can be seen just about once every four centuries. They are one thing about the foreseeable future that, despite the dramatic technological and planetary changes ahead, will remain consistent with our past. This is why a trip to see the eclipse will be a trip home even for those not raised in the path of this year’s event. It will be a chance to be reminded of our place in the solar system and the cosmos — something that, no matter how stark our differences, we still share.

Disponível em https://www.washingtonpost.com/. Adaptado.

De acordo com o texto, no futuro da humanidade, a observação de fenômenos como eclipses