Live Streaming: Great Adventure in the Wilderness

The aurora made everyone's vision much clearer and accelerated the Three Fools' progress.

The stamina of sled dogs is exceptionally good, and if they run excitedly, it's fine for them to run for most of the day. Considering the load and number of dogs, two hours later, Bi Fang pulled the Three Fools to a stop and prepared to take a break.

"Two hours, we've run at least twenty-five kilometers. That's much faster than when I walk."

Humans' normal walking speed in the snow is only about three kilometers per hour. In other words, if it wasn't for the help of the sled dogs, Bi Fang would have to walk for at least an entire day, and even that wouldn't be enough. But these three managed to cover the distance in just two hours.

"Of course, that was the speed when we started with full energy. It will slow down after this. The speed might drop by half, but it's still much faster than if I were walking alone. Perhaps we'll reach the coast by tonight."

Bi Fang patted the heavily panting Goudan, took out dog bowls, and poured some drinking water and food for each of the Three Fools. Then he sat down nearby himself, admiring the beautiful night scene while chatting with the audience.

Half an hour later, the rested Bi Fang advanced again. It was not until the third rest break that viewers began to question how regular Bi Fang's rest times were—he ran for two hours, then rested for half an hour.

If it were usual times, it would be fine, but how did Bi Fang determine the time?

"Ah, that's actually quite simple," Bi Fang pointed to the sky.

Even without a watch or the sun, Bi Fang still had many ways to determine the time, which wouldn't affect his actions due to timing issues. For instance, by looking at the moon in the sky, or by directly asking the audience in the live broadcast.

Cough cough, of course, the last method might seem like cheating unless it was an emergency. Generally speaking, Bi Fang would still opt to determine the time in his own way.

"In the wilderness, determining time usually isn't that important, because most of the time you actually don't need it."

Survival in the wilderness is not like in the city; there's no one to dictate what you must do at certain times, everything is up to you.

To survive, you just need food, water, and fire.

The acquisition of these three essentials is tied to time only slightly when hunting for food. But even then, it's not that significant; just avoid the times dusk and night when predators are most active.

Before now, Bi Fang had never encountered the polar night phenomenon, living a routine based on sunrise and sunset. But now, since he was using dogs to pull the sled, he needed to determine regular rest times through timing to increase efficiency.

"That's also why I never talked about how to tell time; it's actually quite simple."

"Sun, moon, stars—rising in the east and setting in the west without cease. The ascension and descent of celestial bodies act like a natural clock showing the time. In astronomy, by using precise instruments to observe stars, one can determine the exact time."

"But by observing the stars with a simple method, we can also approximate the time. Although the precise process is different, the basic principle is the same. Usually, you wouldn't need this in the wilderness, but it can be quite useful for those who travel at night."

[Eh, the stars can determine time?]

[I can understand using the sun, and even the moon, but aren't stars a bit of an exaggeration?]

[I always thought stars were only used for navigation. Old Fang, are you sure you're not confused or frostbitten?]

[Experience proves that all those who doubted Old Fang ultimately ended up with egg on their faces. Just humbly take out your notebook and start learning!]

Some people expressed skepticism about Bi Fang's statements. The sun and moon—a person can easily determine time by the former, and it's doable with the latter, although harder. But stars? That's preposterous!

[By the way, why isn't there a moon today? Isn't it a clear sky?]

Speaking of the moon, many viewers suddenly noticed that despite a sky filled with twinkling stars, there was actually no moon?

"Of course not, when the 'polar night' arrives. For half a month, we can see the moon, whether full or in phases, revolving around the sky all day. For the other half of the month, the moon is not visible at all. Obviously, now is the half-month when the moon cannot be seen. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to use the stars to determine the time."

[I really want to learn]

Bi Fang freed up a hand to point at the sky, "Do you see the Big Dipper Seven Stars above?"

From the first-person perspective, the audience easily found the Big Dipper Seven Stars that Bi Fang was pointing at and responded in agreement.

"As I said before, we face north, and then we imagine extending the line from the two stars that form the outer part of the Dipper's bowl five times longer to find Polaris."

"Now we use Polaris as the center of the clock face, and the line connecting it with the pointer stars as the hour hand. On the clock face, we divide it into twelve equal parts: 12 is at the top, 3 is on the right, 6 is at the bottom, 9 is on the left, and this is the Big Dipper Clock."

Since the audience's perspective was aligned with Bi Fang's, there was no chance of misunderstanding, so with his hands-on guidance, the audience easily visualized a large clock.

[The Big Dipper Clock, what a cool name]

"Since the stars rise in the east and set in the west, the hour hand of the Big Dipper Clock moves in the opposite direction to that of a regular clock. After 12 o'clock, it points to 11 o'clock, then subsequently to 10, 9, 8, 7... and so on. Although the movement of the clock's hour hand is different from that of a common clock, one can still determine a time that is almost identical to a standard clock."

"When observing, just remember the local longitude. Remember, here we express longitude in terms of time because the Earth rotates 360° in 24 hours; therefore, we can divide the local longitude by 15 to find it, recognize the 'hour' number indicated by the star clock's hour hand, as well as the month and date of the observation, and then subtract a constant, and you'll immediately get the time you need."

"This method can be written down in a simple formula, which is Capital time = 36.4 - longitude - 2(hour number + M)."

"M represents the number of months since January 1st up to the time of observation. If the result is a negative number, just add 24 hours. As for the origin of the 36.4-hour constant, it can be simply understood as a constant in the formula, you don't need to understand it."

[Impressive, though I don't quite grasp it]

[I get that Master Fang is awesome, just not how to tell time (dog head)]

"Actually, it's quite simple," Bi Fang said with a smile, "For instance, on the evening of June 1st of a certain year, at the Capital Astronomical Observatory, the longitude equals 7 hours and 45 minutes; when you see the hour hand of the Big Dipper Clock at 10, calculate what the current Capital time would be?"

Bi Fang waited for a while, but seeing that only a few in the discussion had come up with the answer, he didn't keep them in suspense. He used a tree branch to draw it directly in the snow.

"This kind of thing can actually be calculated in your head. Now we know that June 1st is 5 months from January 1st, so M is 5. The Capital time at that moment is..."

A simple formula appeared in the snow, and the audience suddenly understood.

36.4 hours - 7.8 hours - 2(10 + 5) hours = -1.4 hours.

-1.4 + 24 = 22.6 hours.

Which is 10:36 in the evening.

"Sometimes, the Big Dipper Seven Stars are not visible, but when Beta Cassiopeiae in the constellation opposite to it rises, we can also use that. We can take the line connecting Beta Cassiopeiae and Polaris as the 'hour hand.' The division of the clock face and the direction of the hour hand movement are the same as with the Big Dipper Clock."

"It's just that, in calculations, the 36.4 constant is changed to 25.5."

"Of course, if you have a 'Star Indicator Dial,' you can almost avoid calculations, just adjust the disc, and you will immediately know the time. This is more complicated; if we have time, we can make one by hand when we get back to the cabin."

"How about that, pretty simple, right?"

Bi Fang clapped his hands cheerfully and said.