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Bad News for Earth's Magnetic Field

Posted by timothy on from the or-at-least-fans-of-it dept.

jabex writes "Scientific American's website has an article about the overdue magnetic field flip. According to research published in the journal Nature, it could take anywhere from 2000-10000 years to complete. That's a long time without a protective magnetic field."

12 of 102 comments (clear)

  1. The Earth's magnetic field is overrated by Rapid+Home+Offer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who needs the Earth's magnetic field, anyways? As long as I have my ozone layer, and my handy dandy lead codpiece, everything is going to be okay.

    (Doesn't everybody have a lead codpiece?)

    1. Re:The Earth's magnetic field is overrated by Ieshan · · Score: 3, Funny

      Protection from a tinfoil hat, you say?

      Brings a whole new meaning to the term dickhead.

  2. cautionary notice of threatened death. by mkavanagh · · Score: 5, Funny

    any mention of a certain bullshit hollywood production with the shittiest scientific basis for a film since the neverending story will result in death. of the poster. thanks for not getting yourselves killed.

  3. not to worry! by Tumbleweed · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm sure the Highlander will invent a shield to protect us when the time comes.

  4. mutations? by nomel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe all the particles from the sun that will hit us will cause mutations! Maybe that's what happened before.

    I can see it now...
    "Play hard, play tough. Nike lead lined athletic wear."

  5. are we sure Halliburton by morelife · · Score: 4, Funny

    or one of its subsidiaries isn't doing this remotely?

  6. Way Overdue by jazman_777 · · Score: 5, Funny

    The magnetic field flip, the super-volcano in Yellowstone, the San Andreas Fault, the demise of SCO. Have I missed anything? A Red Sox or Cubs World Series winner?

    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
  7. I for one... by wronskyMan · · Score: 2, Funny

    welcome our new cosmic ray overlords! (Well, for at least a couple thousand years)

    --
    --- You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad- Neal (not Cowboy) Boortz
  8. If we have no magnetic field... by Jorkapp · · Score: 2, Funny

    Without a magnetic field, we will have (comparatively) little protection against gamma rays from the sun. There are only 3 solutions to living on earth without a magnetic field:

    1) Living above ground with SPF 10000 sunscreen being constatly applied
    2) Living above ground with a Class 5 hairiness - like those seen on Steve Allen and CowboyNeal
    3) Living below ground

    Since I hate putting on sunscreen, option 1 is ruled out. Since I don't like Steve Allen, option 2 is also ruled out.

    Thus leaving us with option 3. Underground living. It seems bearable. As long as CS is still playable under 30m of bedrock, I'm happy.

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
  9. Re:no magnetic field, really? by meringuoid · · Score: 2, Funny
    How do you get ions to reverse polarity??

    Normally you'd begin by modifying the deflector dish.

    --
    Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  10. Re:Can GPS substitute? by thomastheo1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    what if you have to navigate a wal-mart parking lot on a a cloudy day?

  11. Re:Can GPS substitute? by sharkdba · · Score: 2, Funny

    Starts at night, guesstimate the time and use the sun during the day

    You have the stars at night.

    --
    The purpose of life is to find the purpose of life.