· 

Goldilocks

The Goldilocks and Three Bears

 

This fairy tale starts with a curious little girl who enters the house in the wood where she finds some food to eat, a chair to sit on and a bed to sleep in. Every item she uses is one of three similar items where the other two are just not right for her. Such behavior inspired today's perception of the so-called Goldilocks effect, where everything must be 'just right'. When we look for planets in our Universe, where some form of life may be found, we are looking for planets with just right dimensions, just the right distance from the nearest star, etc. - shortly planets in the Goldilocks zone.

 

When the Goldilocks in the story falls asleep, the residents of the house come back, find her in the bed. She wakes up and jumps out to escape through the window!

 

Or something like that. Actually, there are dozens of versions of Goldilocks written and published and, as you may already expect, I choose three interesting facts about this fairy tale.

arthur-rackham-three-bears
The Three Bears by Arthur Rackham