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Building a Miniature Magnetic Earth

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the don't-bring-your-laptop-near-there dept.

Doofus writes "There was an interesting story on NPR this morning about a geophysicist who has constructed a miniature earth to model the earth's dynamo effects. Dan Lathrop, a geophysicist at the University of Maryland, has constructed a 10-foot diameter stainless steel sphere. He intends to fill the sphere with molten sodium and spin the sphere to examine the propensity for the system to generate its own magnetic field. The article includes both video, in which Lathrop spins up the sphere, and audio, including the conversion of magnetic wave functions in prior experiments into audible sound: literally the music of the spheres."

11 of 150 comments (clear)

  1. Hollow earth! by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wait, don't fill it up with anything. The model is accurate right now!

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    1. Re:Hollow earth! by bsDaemon · · Score: 4, Funny

      INFIDEL!! The Earth can't be both flat AND hollow! I'll kill you!!! I'll kill you all!!!

  2. Re:This isn't new by The+Ultimate+Fartkno · · Score: 4, Funny

    WTF? Mythbusters created their own planet? Where the fuck do I sign up? I've been worshiping Kari for a long time now, but I didn't know her deity status had been made official!

  3. thats a lot of sodium... by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Funny

    A 10-foot sphere filled with sodium? Damn... talk about playing with fire.

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    1. Re:thats a lot of sodium... by hkfczrqj · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dan Lathrop works at the University of Maryland... probably you already have other reasons to stay out of thar region of the US.

    2. Re:thats a lot of sodium... by Firehed · · Score: 5, Funny

      if you're messing with large quanties of liquid sodium you'd think they'd have done their homework and know what to use

      A new pair of running shoes?
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  4. On top of things... by Otter · · Score: 4, Funny
    Sodium becomes liquid at stovetop temperatures and conducts electricity well, but it's flammable. A sodium fire can't just be put out with water. Water can actually make things worse -- Lathrop's team has disabled the sprinkler system.

    My first thought upon reading the summary here was "Man, I really hope they disabled the sprinkler system...

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  5. Re:This isn't new by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Funny

    > An interesting story on NPR this morning, about
    > a geophysicist who has constructed a miniature earth

    "Everything was modeled with exacting proportionality, including Pamela Andersons fake breasts, approximately 1cm in diameter on the beach-ball sized planet."

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  6. Re:nooo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    shouldn't you be commenting on youtube videos or something?

  7. Class D fires by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Class D fires are not fun.

    You're not doing them right, then.

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  8. They're testing it now with water... by dpbsmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope they remember to dry it out before they put in the sodium.

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