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The New York Times On Earth's Magnetic Flip-Flop

Posted by timothy on from the all-topsy-all-turvy dept.

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.

9 of 519 comments (clear)

  1. robot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    robot

  2. Re:First Post? by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    if you're talking about the moral compass...

  3. TMBG Explain by Eclypser · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    The sun is a mass of incandescent gas A gigantic nuclear furnace Where hydrogen is built into helium At a temperature of millions of degrees Yo ho, it's hot, the sun is not A place where we could live But here on Earth there'd be no life Without the light it gives We need its light We need its heat We need its energy Without the sun, without a doubt There'd be no you and me The sun is a mass of incandescent gas A gigantic nuclear furnace Where hydrogen is built into helium At a temperature of millions of degrees The sun is hot It is so hot that everything on it is a gas: iron, copper, aluminum, and many others. The sun is large If the sun were hollow, a million Earths could fit inside. And yet, the sun is only a middle-sized star. The sun is far away About 93 million miles away, and that's why it looks so small. And even when it's out of sight The sun shines night and day The sun gives heat The sun gives light The sunlight that we see The sunlight comes from our own sun's Atomic energy Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine. The heat and light of the sun come from the nuclear reactions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and helium.* The sun is a mass of incandescent gas A gigantic nuclear furnace Where hydrogen is built into helium At a temperature of millions of degrees

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    The comment has already been made. Let's move it along people. Nothing to see here.
  4. Moral compass is an oxymoron by Nordicfire · · Score: -1, Offtopic
    A compass requires poles to operate.

    Since there are no moral absolutes, moral poles are set by individuals.

    Therefore, a universal moral compass cannot exist.

    QED.

    1. Re:Moral compass is an oxymoron by WormholeFiend · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      You sound just like Mok :

      Evil spelled backward is "live," and we all want to live, don't we?

    2. Re:Moral compass is an oxymoron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      If there are no moral absolutes, then a society has no justification for making laws. Laws are supposed to be based on the few things that we can almost all agree are wrong.

      I concede that you cannot make a universal blanket statement about any action, even something as heinous as murder, as in saying "all murder is wrong." This is obviously (to most people) not true. However, most people would also agree that it is absolutely wrong for me to torture and murder someone simply because I thought it might be fun. In this case, the murderer is universally wrong, regardless of whether (s)he feels morally justified in his/her own mind.

      The problem in this country (the US) is that laws often don't respect the morals of the society that they are supposed to represent.

      I'm sorry, but cultural and personal relativism just does not hold water. If you still insist on believing in a lack of moral absolutes, please respond with your name and address (or just address will suffice) so that I can come by and rob you, since I know that you won't be angry.

    3. Re:Moral compass is an oxymoron by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      > I'm sorry, but cultural and personal relativism just does not hold water.

      That's okay, different cultures and different people will still have different morals than others, whether you are sorry or not. Opinions vary wildly about things such as sodomy, abortion, types of punishment, etc. The universe doesn't care what you do, and no gods exist to care either. A better term for absolute morals might be actions detrimental to humankind, because not everyone agrees on the morality of those acts either.

      And nobody said or implied the poster wouldn't be angry if you robbed him. He just might kick the ever-living shit out of you.

  5. What about the Terrorists? by wyluli · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Have we figured out a way to postpone this incase of a Terrorist attack?

  6. Re:MOD THIS RUSH LIMBAUGH FAN DOWN by ThaReetLad · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    you said that the poster was riled therfore it must have been the truth, but you've just replied that slander also riles contradicting your original post. I was not coming down on either side of the argument since I have no idea who Peter Jennings is. I was simply pointing out the falacy of your argument.

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    You can't win Darth. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine