Slashdot Mirror
Quake Changes Earth's Rotation, Moves Islands
kernel panic attack writes "This week's deadly Asian Quake and Tsunami may have been so powerful,
that it changed the rate of Earth's rotation. In a Reuters article,
a NASA geophysicist theorizes that the quake compacted the Earth enough
to speed up the planet's rotation by 3 microseconds. A second
article
says the quake moved undersea tectonic plates by up to 98 feet, shifting
islands near Sumatra out to sea an unknown distance. Also, a
USGS team wants images from commercial satellite operators to
help pinpoint coastline damage. Lastly, an interesting article from the Australian Spaceguard Survey about the need for a Tsunami warning system in the Indian Ocean. The author comments that tsunami warnings may not help much, as people often flock to the coastline to see the giant waves." The current estimated death toll is now nearly 70,000; Amazon and Google, among others, have added front-page links to simplify donating to the disaster relief effort.
I'm not surprised that it sped up the rotation by 3 microseconds(not much), but I'm wondering if this really has any secondary effect on the planet. Like "The Day After Tomorrow"-like effects. And I don't mean special effects laced with bad screenwriting.
Does this mean we are going to switch to that guy's alternative calendar now?
I thought Quake was set on Mars, not Earth.
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." -Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
3 microseconds faster! 3 microseconds!? That quake is robbing me of SLEEP. I want a 25 hour day dammit, so I can sleep in ONE HOUR extra each day... although, I might not get into the swing of resetting my watch.
"a NASA geophysicist theorizes that the quake compacted the Earth enough to speed up the planet's rotation by 3 microseconds."
Thats alright, it all works out in the end. You see everytime we launch a explortion vehicle we loose a nanoscopic amount of rotation speed.
You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
According to the article, the impact is 3 microseconds/day.
Only a fool would try to fly by pulling their hair upwards. Everyone knows you have to throw yourself at the ground and miss to fly.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
As if there wasn't too little time in the day already.
Great now we'll have Leap-Second
because now i have to reset my watch to account for the correct time. DAMN YOU!!! DAMN YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!
I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
yes. but relative to a big chunk of land, new york weighs little, and while it would slow the earth down, it is probably an immeasureable amount.
still, i'm going to lose some weight, so i can help the earth pick back up some spin.
F'en stingy Americans! How dare you raise millions and millions of dollars privately!?! Clearly your taxes are too low!
On the GPS?
You press the degauss button. It'll look funny for a few seconds but then it'll click and be fine.
If quake changed the earth's rotation, what will Doom do? Throw us out of the solar system?
Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
But if one were, he'd be about 100 feet farther away now.
Have fun: Join D.N.A. (National Dyslexics Association)
Actually, if that one Iraqi had been Saddam Hussein, that particular war would have been a complete success on both sides!
How do you think people would feel if there was a nuke parked beside any volcano, fault line, etc? And also one that had to be detonated instantly, without human oversight and control?
Clearly, this is a job for Skynet!
The northern hemisphere is heavier, and as such, forces all continents to move "downwards". It's called gravity.
Why else would all the continents have tips on their upper part, as if the mass was dripping down? (turn your maps upside down to see this!).
Happy Holidays!
http://www.origamy.com.br/xmas2005
No more Food, I mean Oil, uh, I mean Kickbacks, for you Kofi!
Not since the 1800s, when the hall of records was mysteriously swept away.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.