Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Canada Loses North Pole

Posted by timothy on from the loser-canadians dept.

An anonymous reader submits "The Earth's roaming magnetic pole has moved out of Canada and into international waters as it heads towards Siberia. The magnetic pole has been within Canada's current boundaries for at least the past 400 years and left sometime in the past year after rapidly picking up speed in 2001. If it keeps to its current course and expected speed, it should reach Siberia by the middle of the century. There's speculation that December's tsunami causing earthquake may have been one of the factors causing the pole to move more quickly than predicted."

59 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny


    Good day, gentlemen. As you are no doubt aware, I have perfected a device capable of manipulating the earth's magnetic field. This device has already shifted the position of the earth's poles by a significant margin, and will continue to do so, eventually forcing the poles to swap positions entirely. For this reason, I've christened this latest caper 'Operation Roly-Poley'...

    You see, gentlemen, Operation Roly-Poley will continue to destabilize the magnetic field of our fragile world, causing geological and meteorological disturbances on a global scale...that is, of course...unless you pay me...

    One hundred billion kajillion fafillion dollaaaars!
    (cue dramatic music)

    Gentlemen, you have my demands...peace out.

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      On the whole, I found your post quite soothing.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... by Ajmuller · · Score: 4, Funny

      Can you arrange to have the north pole moved to my house?
      I'll charge a 10$ admission fee and cutyou in for 40% of all profits.

      Right here please.
      http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.800293,-74.11986 0&spn=0.004181,0.005092&hl=en

      I suspect we will have a substantial volume as this is located in suburban New Jersey and will attract more visitors than the middle of some frozen tundra.

      Will the north pole melt? I can have a suitably large refrigeration device constructed if necessecary.

    3. Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... by identity0 · · Score: 3, Funny

      [Soothing Female Voice]
      Coordinates... confirmed.

      Warhead arming... confirmed.

      Lauch sequence... Start.

      3... 2... 1...
      [/Soothing Female Voice]

      Finally, a Slashdotter I can moderate to hell!

    4. Re:Mr President, Dr. Evil is on the line... by Too+Much+Noise · · Score: 1

      Hello Dr. Evil,

      We understand that you are, or will soon be, the recipient of a payment totalizing one hundred billion kajillion fafillion dollars. We have taken the liberty to help you with calculating the amount of tax due for the said sum, which amounts to one hundred billion kajillion fafillion dollars minus one. Please send a check or a truck with the appropriate amount of due tax to the usual PA address.

      Kindly,
      The IRS

      P.S. Remember to also file in your state tax return.

  2. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    in a shocking turn of events, Santa Claus takes advantage of his new out-of-borders workshop and cuts elf wages by 50%

  3. I didn't know it. by Seumas · · Score: 3, Funny

    I didn't realize that Peter North was Canadian.

    1. Re:I didn't know it. by dimator · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm knew I wouldn't be the only one that thought of good ol' Pete.

      --
      python -c "x='python -c %sx=%s; print x%%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))%s'; print x%(chr(34),repr(x),chr(34))"
    2. Re:I didn't know it. by BobNET · · Score: 1

      Heck, here he's a politician!

    3. Re:I didn't know it. by Musagetes · · Score: 1

      In all seriousness, he is a Canadian and I saw him at the mall once. 8^)

    4. Re:I didn't know it. by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Funny

      In other news the scientist claimed North pole was not moved after all. That his pet husky dog moved the measure stick when he had his back turned.

  4. So will santa be changing accents? by Pinefresh · · Score: 3, Funny

    no more "ho ho ho eh"?

  5. Canada didn't lose it by NitsujTPU · · Score: 4, Funny

    Canada didn't lose it, they merely outsourced it offshore.

  6. Canada Loses North Pole by unitron · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Canada Loses North Pole"

    Why does everyone always blame Canada?

    Maybe they didn't lose it, maybe it was stolen, maybe it snuck off on it's own, maybe it's just on summer vacation.

    --

    I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.

    1. Re:Canada Loses North Pole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Why does everyone always blame Canada?"

      Because Canada is the source for all of the moral degeneracy in the world. I can think of no country that hates freedom more.

      It's time we liberate Canuckistan.

    2. Re:Canada Loses North Pole by smithmc · · Score: 1


      Maybe it got tired of watching Terrance & Philip all the time, with their weird flapping heads.

      --
      Downmodding is the refuge of the weak. Don't downmod, make a better argument!
    3. Re:Canada Loses North Pole by Bloater · · Score: 1

      And their beady little eyes.

    4. Re:Canada Loses North Pole by Old+Wolf · · Score: 2, Funny

      I was just aboot to say the same thing!

  7. An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by CyricZ · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Several writers have suggested that a "polar shift" may occur in the near future. While I'm not a geophysicist myself, perhaps that is what we are seeing: a reverse in polarity of the north and south magnetic poles.

    --
    Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
    1. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by HD+Webdev · · Score: 2, Informative

      Several writers have suggested that a "polar shift" may occur in the near future. While I'm not a geophysicist myself, perhaps that is what we are seeing: a reverse in polarity of the north and south magnetic poles.

      It will happen in the close future. Actually, it'll flip-flop back and forth a few times before settling down in a reverse manner.

      While it's doing that, we'll be exposed to quite a bit more radiation than usual since the magnetic field is what stops most of the nasty radiation.

      This may explain quite a few questions about significant mutations and the fact that they often happen quite quickly.

      I do have the feeling that the magnetic field has quite an effect on the brain (intelligence in particular...the brain relies on electricity and magnetism effects this) and that the lessening of the field (what happens before a reverse) may effecting us quite a bit now.

      The magnetic field North-South was quite strong when recorded civilization did some incredible things that modern technology still hasn't completely puzzled out. The field is much more weak now than it was when they did those incredible things.

      Oddly enough, even with the extremely large population we have, we don't have nearly as many (proportionally) 'out of the box' thinking people that existed in previous recorded history.

      Here is a good link http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/

      BTW: I'm much more concerned with a polarity shift or no shielding at all than a random asteroid mucking up our planet.

      --
      This is not a dream, not a dream...we are transmitting from the year 1-9-9-9.
    2. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by RockModeNick · · Score: 2

      To play devils advocate - do you have statistics on "out of the box" thinking for different periods in history? I think the way modern progress is made, by teams and groups of researchers doing much more much faster in many differnt places all at once is making much, much faster progress than at any period in history - specifically becuase it does not depend on a "breakthough" by one specific amazing thinker. Perhaps modern advancement just requires so much more knowledge and work than a single person seeing things in a rush of insight is likely to have, and thus modern progress is accomplished differently.

    3. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by ChiPHeaD23 · · Score: 1

      I do have the feeling that the magnetic field has quite an effect on the brain (intelligence in particular...the brain relies on electricity and magnetism effects this) and that the lessening of the field (what happens before a reverse) may effecting us quite a bit now.

      Yeah, and that's why everyone who undergoes an MRI scan immediately becomes either a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon. Remember to attach a magnet to your tin-foil hats, everyone!

    4. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by Radical+Rad · · Score: 2, Funny
      While I'm not a geophysicist myself, perhaps that is what we are seeing: a reverse in polarity of the north and south magnetic poles.

      God I hope not. I'm way too old to learn how to read maps upside down.

    5. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by osmic234 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Several writers have suggested that a "polar shift" may occur in the near future. While I'm not a geophysicist myself, perhaps that is what we are seeing: a reverse in polarity of the north and south magnetic poles.

      For what it's worth, I am a geophysicist...

      If by "polar shift", you mean a magnetic reversal, then one will happen, sooner or later. The main field appears to be weaking slowly at the moment. On the other hand, the actual location of the magnetic pole is continually shifting.

      Another poster gave a link to http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/reversals.ht ml. If you look at some of the quicktime animations of a reversal in progress, you can see what happens to the field at the Earth's surface. The dominant feature of the current field is a dipole field - which is why the field can be nicely approximated to a bar magnet. As a reversal takes place, the dipole component of the field falls in strength, and quadrapole and then octopole features start to dominate - meaning there won't be an actual pair of poles.

      The original poster said;

      There's speculation that December's tsunami causing earthquake may have been one of the factors causing the pole to move more quickly than predicted.

      This is mentioned in the original article. Although not impossible, I would tend to think it's pretty unlikely (but my speciality is seismology now, not geomagnetism). Big subduction zone earthquakes, which produce a significant vertical movement of mass, do affect the earth's moment of inertia. This leads to (small) changes in rotation speed and the orientation of the rotation pole. This is because the moment of inertia is dependant on the mass distribtion of the entire earth.

      The magnetic field is produced in the liquid outer core. It's in constant motion. There's also a difference in the net rotation of the core relative to the rest of the earth, which causes a continual westward drift of the field. This means the poles are always moving. Ships have been measuring the declination between geographic and magnetic north for centuries - the movement of the magnetic pole isn't uniform.

    6. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by HD+Webdev · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and that's why everyone who undergoes an MRI scan immediately becomes either a rocket scientist or a brain surgeon. Remember to attach a magnet to your tin-foil hats, everyone!

      You've watched too many 1950's monster movies.

      An aligned magnetic field over the lifetime of a person is nothing like one huge dose of a circular magnet and radio waves.

      In the same manner, a person who has always had a healthy diet will not be the same as a person who has only had an unhealthy diet and then eats one meal with 10,000 the RDA of important vitamins.

      --
      This is not a dream, not a dream...we are transmitting from the year 1-9-9-9.
    7. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by HD+Webdev · · Score: 1

      To play devils advocate - do you have statistics on "out of the box" thinking for different periods in history?

      There aren't any statistics except for hard to prove information that intelligence in general has been losing ground.

      A large reason for not being able to prove it is because there isn't a control group to compare all of us against. If the Earth's magnetic field and it's shielding do effect the human brain in any way, it's a world-wide phenomenon. (There are many other factors that effect the human brain of course. I do realize this.)

      I would throw the question back at you and ask what close group of people in the last few decades have been able to do what (for example) a single person like Leonardo DaVinci was able to do in his time? There should be countless examples because our population is MUCH higher than in that time and there is more readily accessible data for us to grow up with and learn from.

      --
      This is not a dream, not a dream...we are transmitting from the year 1-9-9-9.
    8. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by RockModeNick · · Score: 1

      Of course, everybody is getting dumber, especially now, as law protects people from stupidity - like not weating seatbelts, or helmets. Also, it's statistically shown that non college graduates are outbreeding college graduates several to one. This is part of the reason for the (to use a simpsons' word) dummening of the human population.

    9. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by EvilSuggestions · · Score: 1

      Well, the "dummening" of the population of which you speak must be confined to only the population of this fair website, as the exact opposite trend has been noticed by numerous researchers on human IQ for many years. To quoth the 'pedia: "The Flynn effect is the continued year-on-year rise of IQ test scores, an effect seen in all parts of the world, although at greatly varying rates. ... The average rate of rise seems to be around three IQ points per decade."

      --
      "There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance, and only I have managed to erase that line." - Dr. Science
    10. Re:An upcoming shift of the magnetic poles? by EvilSuggestions · · Score: 1

      > But... I thought the average IQ was always 100.

      IQ tests have two numbers used in their scoring process. One is the raw score (basically some value based on how many answers you got right or wrong) and the other is the "normalized" score (an adjusted score based on how others did on this particular test) and that's the one that's one that always has an average of 100. Normalization is the process of giving the proposed IQ test to a sample population and then using their scores, a gaussian distribution curve, and some statistical gymnastics to generate a raw score->normalized score translation table.

      The Flynn Effect shows when you attempt give a test to a more recent sample poplation that those used for the normalization process. The sample populations keep scoring better each year, so the mean raw score keeps moving upward. And it's not that the tests are getting easier. If you were to give a 1995 IQ test to a sample population in 2005, odds are that you'd likely see a higher average raw score for the current group than when the test was originally normalized in 1995. If the test author uses the new sample population data to generate a new score translation table (but keeps the test the same), the process is called renorming or renormalization. Most of the time, renorming yields lower normalized scores.

      --
      "There is a thin line between ignorance and arrogance, and only I have managed to erase that line." - Dr. Science
  8. in siberia by howman · · Score: 2, Funny

    the north pole follows you...
    it had to be said.

    --
    flinging poop since 1969
  9. End of the world... by Elliot+Anderson · · Score: 4, Funny

    And Canada is like... "whats going on ey?"

    1. Re:End of the world... by NanoGator · · Score: 4, Funny

      "And Canada is like... "whats going on ey?""

      I'm sorry, sir. But if you're going to make lame stereotypical cracks about Canada, you'll also have to write them in French.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:End of the world... by Punboy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Le monde finit. Les Canadiens disent ce qui continue, eh?

      --
      If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
    3. Re:End of the world... by Sepper · · Score: 2, Informative

      Le monde finit. Les Canadiens disent ce qui continue, eh?

      It's actually funnier if you can speak french...
      (It's so badly translated, it doesn't make sense...)

      --
      I live in Soviet Canuckistan you insensitive clod!
    4. Re:End of the world... by Lord+Pillage · · Score: 1

      Agreed. Horrible translation.

      --
      try { Signature mysig = new CleverAttempt(); } catch(NonCleverSignatureException e) { postanyway(); }
    5. Re:End of the world... by PakProtector · · Score: 1

      I speak Latin, and I think you said, "The world is ended. The Canadians wonder why to go on?"

      --

      Edward@Tomato - /home/Edward/ man woman
      man: no entry for woman in the manual.
      "Qua!?"

    6. Re:End of the world... by Sepper · · Score: 1

      I speak Latin, and I think you said, "The world is ended. The Canadians wonder why to go on?"

      Actually it says something along the lines of:"The end world. The Canadiens says what is continue, eh?"

      ...Something along that line...

      --
      I live in Soviet Canuckistan you insensitive clod!
    7. Re:End of the world... by PakProtector · · Score: 1

      I got the gestalt of it, and that's what counts in translation.

      Thank you, by the way, for your translation.

      --

      Edward@Tomato - /home/Edward/ man woman
      man: no entry for woman in the manual.
      "Qua!?"

    8. Re:End of the world... by Punboy · · Score: 1

      Tell that to my french teacher, who translated it. And she's a native french speaker.

      --
      If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
    9. Re:End of the world... by ch3 · · Score: 1

      I'm not a teacher but I do speak french as a primary language. I'd translate to:

      La fin du monde: Les canadiens disent "Hey, que se passe-t-il?"

      Where's your teacher from? ;)

    10. Re:End of the world... by taekwonchef · · Score: 1

      First hockey, now the poles. Can't the Canadians get a break, eh.

    11. Re:End of the world... by T.Hobbes · · Score: 1

      Le fin du monde. Et Canada est comme.. "ques-qui ce passe, eh?"
      Mon ortographie est probablement mauvaise, mais tout-le-meme c'est proche.

    12. Re:End of the world... by Punboy · · Score: 1

      She probably didn't understand what the original statement was trying to say. She's from Grenoble I believe.

      --
      If you like what I've said here, and want to read more, go to http://www.krillrblog.com
    13. Re:End of the world... by Lost_Wolf · · Score: 1

      If your teacher writen french is that bad.. she is not French..

  10. Re:I don't think so. by Winterblink · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's probably why the word "current" was used.

    --
    "I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
    -Hoban Washburn
  11. Lost North Pole by reklusband · · Score: 1

    In communist russia, north pole loses you !

  12. Ob Corky and the Juice Pigs reference by richie2000 · · Score: 2, Funny
    These cold winter nights
    Are taking their toll
    I even get excited when I see the North Pole
    See the North Pole...

    I'm the only gay Eskimo
    Only gay Eskimo
    I'm the only one I know
    The only one I know-oh-oh-oh
    I'm the only gay Eskimo
    In my tribe

    Only gay eskimo, eh.

    --
    Money for nothing, pix for free
  13. Re:I don't think so. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That's why they said the current boundaries. They were drawn recently, but the land they identify existed (and hasn't really moved) for much longer.

  14. Re:Maybe it's for the best... Let's generalize... by stoborrobots · · Score: 1

    They tried that in the Middle East.... There are (were?) two shared regions between Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq, which were set up when they couldn't agree on their shared borders. These regions continued to be hotly contested, and in many circumstances, increased the hostility between the countries.

    Sorry, I don't have a link handy to explain more...

    --
    "Go to CNN [for a] spell-checked, fact-checked summary" -- CmdrTaco
  15. Great... by lurch84 · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...now Quebec has a precident

    1. Re:Great... by toddbu · · Score: 4, Funny

      True, but did you notice that the North Pole left Canada silently?

      --
      If you don't want crime to pay, let the government run it.
  16. Last Reason by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1


    Man, this is really bad news. Without the North Pole in Canada it is going to warm up and all the snow and permafrost will melt, and uh Canada will be like a real country that has things like summer and liquid water and stuff like that and people might even want to live there even if they are not Inuits. They might even start thinking uppity like they are a real country and not just the Maple Leaf state.

    The only good thing that I can see coming from this is that the NHL has got to be cancelled permanently now because their will obviously be no more hockey players. They are all going to have to take up warm weather sports like beach volleyball and surfing in Canada now.

    1. Re:Last Reason by the+eric+conspiracy · · Score: 1

      That would explain why we're increasing our military spending and developing nuclear and bio weapons. :)

      I would say that this is also going to lead to a world-wide shortage of Maple Syrup. Definitely stock up before the rush.

  17. In other news ... by Too+Much+Noise · · Score: 1

    ... the US was reported to have gotten closer to the South pole by roughly the same amount.

  18. Re:North Pole shifting Canada into a warmer climat by commo1 · · Score: 1

    Uh...... this is the magnetic north, very little if anything to do directly with climate.

  19. Re:One more headline nitpick by tepples · · Score: 1

    Is this headline deliberately cute, or just sloppy?

    It's deliberately cute the way Precious Moments figurines are deliberately cute :-)

  20. J'essayerai by subtropolis · · Score: 1

    C'est le fin du monde. Et les Canadiens dissent..."que se produit, la?"

    --
    "Our interests are to see if we can't scale it up to something more exciting," he said.
  21. Re:North Pole shifting Canada into a warmer climat by alien9 · · Score: 1

    In fact, there is some effect, not exact directly over climate or temperature.
    Once the pole shift occurs, it is almost sure the magnetic field decreasing will modify the amount of radiation from outer space, mostly from the sun, wich hits the ground.
    The 'magnetosphere' seems to have been protecting life on Earth from outer space electromagnetic radiation. However, there is evidence that it hasn't been always that way.
    This point is assured by paleonthological register in ancient rock, permitting us to suppose an approximate cyclic behavior for the planet's magnetic field. In an interval of approx 50000-100000 years, the field is inverted, and last of these was witnessed by early humans. What consequences the increased radiation will produce in us humans, and over the whole planet and its life forms, is a complete mistery by now.

  22. How the Kremlin Stole Christmas by whytechocolate · · Score: 1

    Damn Russians -- first they spread communism, and now they're stealing Christmas!