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The New York Times On Earth's Magnetic Flip-Flop
TolkiEinstein writes "The New York Times reports that, relatively speaking, compasses may soon point South. It's long been known that Earth flips magnetically every half-million years or so, and, with the north pole's magnetic field at about 10-15 percent [less than] its strength of 150 years ago, many geologists feel a flip is coming up. Computer simulations also suggest that the current state of the magnetic field is indicative of an upcoming flip. Though it would take hundreds of years to complete, the impact on life may be significant but not catastrophic, including phenomena such as power-outages, satellite malfunctions and disruptions in the rhythmic functions of some animals such as loggerhead turtles. The EU plans to launch a trio of satellites in 2009 to assume polar orbits & monitor the field." (Cross your fingers for some nice solar wind.) Update: 07/13 17:02 GMT by T : Note: the summary here originally misstated the Times' article; the field 's strength has decreased 10-15 percent, rather than to 10-15 percent.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Modded funny, but you just watch - people WILL blame the government when it happens. No matter how much you try to explain, no matter how clear the explainations are, a significant number of people are going to blame the government.
It's also the case that whoever is in office is going to get burned by the problems - blamed for "lack of preparedness" or "failure to respond to the situation" etc, etc. And there will be calls for huge governmennt expenditures to "fix" or "solve" the problem.
Someone watched "The Core" one time too many. Earth's magnetic field does nothing to deflect UV radiation. I would recommend lead-lined clothing, not more sunblock. :)
!#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
This will again turn into another non-event like Y2K and everything else these the-sky-is-falling people love drumming up to keep people afraid.
The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself...oh, and also Carnies. Circus folk. They're nomads you know. Smell like cabbage...very small hands....
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
You wouldn't go to sleep one night with your compass pointing north and suddenly have it point south when you woke up.
No. In fact, frequently the opposite is what actually happens.
~Philly
(please mod funny)
If you need to ask, you don't deserve the mod.
Have you noticed how many foolish ideas have flourished in this supposed hotbead of intellegence this morning? According to the last poll responses, I'm guessing the average IQ is above 130 here (and well above most of your bosses).
Even if some posts are in jest, we've had folks questioning the results of a simple magnetic shift affecting the direction of the coreolis affect, (toilet flushes), tilt of the earth (seasons), loss of the atmosphere, and viability of all satellites in orbit.
Even if it happened over a couple years (which it doesn't), the only affect I've seen which is certain to happen is that the Government will be blamed for it.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Poor editing, or should I say the apparent total lack of, is among the reasons Slashdot will always remain relegated to a novelty site of sorts; among the reasons I won't buy a membership here.
... now relaxing knowing the pole reversal is likely not going to happen anytime soon.
I don't understand why the Slashdot staff doesn't at least briefly research considered submissions to ensure they're are not dups and, more importantly, are accurate; spell checking submissions before posting them would be helpful too.
End of my rant