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India To Send Surveyors To Find Out If Everest Shrunk From Nepal Earthquake (phys.org)

Posted by BeauHD on from the honey-I-shrunk-Everest dept.

OffTheLip writes: Recent scrutiny into the officially recorded height of the world's tallest mountain will lead to a re-measurement. A 7.8-magnitude earthquake in Nepal in 2015 is being eyed as the reason. India's surveyor general Swarna Subba Rao said, "We will remeasure it. Two years have passed since the major Nepal earthquake and there's doubt in the scientific community that it did in fact shrink." A team will depart once winter passes to take measurements to determine the current height of Everest. "The exercise will require a month of observation and roughly another fortnight for the data to be officially declared," reports Phys.Org. "The earthquake, Nepal's deadliest disaster in more than 80 years, is also believed to have shifted the earth beneath the capital Kathmandu several meters to the south."

57 comments

  1. A New Number One! by Princeofcups · · Score: 1, Funny

    K2! K2! K2! We want measurements now!

    --
    The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
    1. Re:A New Number One! by dwywit · · Score: 1

      I like to move it, move it!

      --
      They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
    2. Re:A New Number One! by DickBreath · · Score: 0

      They may want measurements now, right now! But I hope they first took time to consult with Trump to find out which conclusion the surveyors are supposed to announce.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    3. Re:A New Number One! by unixisc · · Score: 1

      India should avoid measuring it, otherwise the new crown will belong to both Pakistan and China, on whose border K2 lies

    4. Re:A New Number One! by laie_techie · · Score: 1

      K2! K2! K2! We want measurements now!

      There are 2 number ones: one for elevation, one for height. Everest (or K2) is indeed the highest elevation on earth. Mauna Kea ("White Mountain") on the island of Hawaii, however, is the tallest mountain on earth (the base is miles below sea level).

    5. Re:A New Number One! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They'd still be bowing to it as god if not for the British.

    6. Re:A New Number One! by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      Chomolungma ("Mt Everest") would need to lose over 200m of height to be lower than K2.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. Fortnights! by Notabadguy · · Score: 1

    I enjoy it when "Fortnights" make it into subject lines and article summaries. I also enjoy "Forsooth" and "Begorrah."

    The occasional "Limey!" But I haven't seen one of those in a fortnight.

    1. Re:Fortnights! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There should totally be an edit of Total Recall just for you. Quaid stammers he's visiting Mars for a for for fortnight fortnight fort night forrrrtnnnnnight.

    2. Re: Fortnights! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I also propose that we use units of furlongs per fortnight for speed.

    3. Re:Fortnights! by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 0

      Well now, it was but 3 score and 4 years ago when mighty Everest was conquered, seems fitting that a fortnight be used to attest the mount's stature of 4,838 fathoms!

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    4. Re:Fortnights! by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      Q. How many inches per second is an atto parsec per micro fortnight?
      A. Surprisingly close, very close in fact, to one.

      Atto parsecs per micro fortnight is my favorite unit of velocity.

      Google for: "attoparsec per microfortnight to inches per second"
      Get answer: 1.00433

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
    5. Re:Fortnights! by gnick · · Score: 1

      Atto parsecs per micro fortnight is my favorite unit of velocity.

      Wouldn't that just be "picoparsecs per fortnight"?

      --
      He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse.
    6. Re:Fortnights! by DickBreath · · Score: 1

      picoparsecs per fortnight is to be avoided for being more concise.

      The commonly used furlongs per fortnight (yes, really, google it) is to be avoided due to familiarity.

      --

      I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
  3. George says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It didn't shrink.... it's just cold up there.

    1. Re:George says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...my name is Costanza. I'm unemployed and I live with my parents. My tiny fleshlight was really cheap because of the size.

    2. Re:George says... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Biggest mountain on the planet and still it has to worry about shrinkage.

      Paraphrasing:
      "You didn't see the real me! You know how laundry shrinks? Well this is the same thing!"

  4. Glad to see they have their priorities right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds like a good way to spend some money. After all, this has to be one of the top ten problems facing the earth. Kudos to all involved!

    1. Re:Glad to see they have their priorities right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You snark now but after Bezos, Musk, and Zuck automate every job out of existence, you'll be begging for busywork like mountain surveying.

  5. ACHTUNG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    GNU is *NOT* UNIX!!!

    1. Re:ACHTUNG!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      HEIL TRUMPER

  6. Alternative Fax! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Because you can't handle the truth!

  7. Satellites? by hawguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It will take a month of observation then 2 weeks to process the data? I thought this sort of thing was done by satellites these days.

    1. Re:Satellites? by religionofpeas · · Score: 1

      I would have thought there would be a permanent GPS station on the summit.

    2. Re:Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know how I know you don't know how things work?

    3. Re:Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you're the one who smashed the weather station with a cricket bat.

    4. Re:Satellites? by dwywit · · Score: 3, Funny

      They have to do the needful.

      --
      They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
    5. Re:Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The entire Himalayan Range is growing with every earthquake, not shrinking. What a waste of time.

    6. Re:Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      There is one at the base camp.

    7. Re:Satellites? by yaznaz · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The GPS measurement have to be be evaluated against the sea level (that varies across the globe) and corrected for earth's non uniform shape. Here are some additional details on how this correction is done: https://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PUBS_... The high precision GPS recording have to be taken for a long time and then combined with standard survey methods for building baseline. And that means triangulating and correcting for atmosphere by calculating refraction coefficients by measuring pressure, humidity and temperature (typically done by releasing a weather balloon).

      Plus, there is snow on top that is subject to seasonal shifts.

      The survey will not just measure Mt. Everest height, but also conduct other geological studies.

      I think 1 month is a very efficient time frame for this effort.

      Like climate sciences, these things that appear trivial for casual observers are not. People have spend their entire lifetime specializing in these area's.

    8. Re: Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Legions of surveyors are glad to know you're wrong.

    9. Re:Satellites? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Indian Regional Navigational Satellite System (IRNSS) is a regional satellite navigation system owned by the Indian government. has completed the Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC) constellation. Measuring Everest would be a worthy demonstration project.
      NAVIC

      Some of the time probably is accounted for by taking long observations several times.
      Final observations of satellite orbits usually are published 2 weeks later, so final post processing will occur after than.
      For the highest precision GPS work surveyors are very methodical. I would expect final error on this kind of work will approach the theoretical best possible.

      More information can be found at www.ngs.noaa.gov National Geodetic Survey

    10. Re:Satellites? by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      Base camp is built on moraine. Even the yaks don't consider that stuff to be in any one place permanently.

      No, seriously, tent platforms etc constantly have to be rebuilt as the ground shifts, because the ground is loose rock and mud with moving ice along one edge.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  8. Ha suckers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I climbed Everest when it was 290025ft tall, you only managed it when it was 290022ft, you loser!

  9. Like a stack of dimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm here all night, tip your waitress.

    1. Re:Like a stack of dimes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go to bed.

  10. Where is all the information? by cyn1c77 · · Score: 1

    This article has three links. Two of them are to a Wikipedia page and one is to a BBC article from 2015.

    How much has the height of Everest changed? Where is the link from 2017 mentioning this information?

    Hello? Editors?

    1. Re:Where is all the information? by hawguy · · Score: 4, Informative

      This article has three links. Two of them are to a Wikipedia page and one is to a BBC article from 2015.

      How much has the height of Everest changed? Where is the link from 2017 mentioning this information?

      Hello? Editors?

      I think this is the missing phys.org link:

      https://phys.org/news/2017-01-everest-true-height-spurs-fresh.html

    2. Re:Where is all the information? by cdrudge · · Score: 4, Informative

      I think the first link was suppose to point to something like this article.

      As to how much the height of Everest has changed, that's what the entire point of the survey is to find out.

    3. Re:Where is all the information? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      suppose to?

      Really?

  11. "Shrank" by mrbester · · Score: 2

    Or "has shrunk". Pick one. You're not rapping with Mary J Blige.

    --
    "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
  12. So what if it *did* shrink? by Provocateur · · Score: 1

    Should we change all our maps to rename it the mountain formerly known as Everest?

    --
    WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    1. Re: So what if it *did* shrink? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      No, it'll be renamed Everer.

  13. shrunk? by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

    Try "shrank" instead. Or "has shrunk".

    Semi-literate commenters is one thing, when the editors are semi-literate, its getting out of hand.

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    1. Re:shrunk? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      We dont need that attitude here. Go back to "Ars Correctica" if you cant handle articles that still get the point accross..

      --Beau

    2. Re:shrunk? by MikeKD · · Score: 1


      Are. Semi-literate commenters are one thing
      Oh, and "it's", as in "it is getting out of hand."

  14. Aim I the only one fed up with BeauHD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    BeauHD seems incapable of writing anything worthy of reading by anyone who has even the most remote understanding of the subject of the article. I've not seen a single article he's written which hasn't made me wince. Can we have implement a vote on which slashdor editor most needs shooting?

  15. It should be getting taller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I would expect the continuing movement of the
    Indian subcontinent which created the Himalayas
      to cause rising not sinking.

  16. Wouldn't it be growing rather than shrinking? by fredrated · · Score: 1

    After all, it was created as the Indian plate crashes into the Eurasian plate, which causes the earthquakes.

  17. So, if it shrank, will they... by johannesg · · Score: 1

    ...make Everest great again?

    It would be easy enough to add a few meters to the top. And make Nepal pay for that, of course.

  18. In other news... by JustNiz · · Score: 1

    ...residents of Wycheproof are celebrating that their mountain is one step closer to being the world's largest.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

  19. My guess would be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That the earth quake lifted the surrounding mountains to make Everest look shorter.

  20. Sat-nav problems by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... several meters to the south.

    Australia just issued new maps because of 5 cm of continental drift: They've got it easy.