useless facts

[Sonic]

Post your useless facts here!

Just watched a BBC show on water management (not as dull as it sounds) and one of the facts struck a chord with me;

[I]The 10 trillion tonnes of fresh water stored in man made resevoirs, mostly in the northern hemisphere, has increased the speed of the spin of the planet. Days are now 8 millionth of a second shorter - fact! :D

It has also shifted the axis of the planet.

Here's the link if your interested;

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_n7_v149/ai_18051356/

Now fill my head with yet more trivial knowledge so I can sound amazing and awesome in conversations.

[Mark in Oshawa]

That is weird. Why would resevoirs cause the planet to spin faster? The water was not stolen from the Southern Hemisphere or something..

[Kneeslider]

That's interesting...

Are they saying that it is caused by the mass of the water in the reservoirs, and water is evaporated near to the equator, then deposited for longer nearer to the poles, thus, due to the conservation of angular momentum, speeding up the rotational rate? A bit like an ice skater increasing his spin speed by pulling his arms and legs inwards?

I always thought that the tidal interaction of the sun and the moon slowed down the earth's rotational rate?

[steve_spackman]

I always thought that the tidal interaction of the sun and the moon slowed down the earth's rotational rate?

As did i...

[Wade91]

according to this site http://stopthespin.org/why.php the earths spin is increasing in speed and the earth will eventually throw us all off

the site also tells how to stop the spin

you just get in your car and make sure you are facing to the east, and when the clock strikes three FLOOR IT, once you get to the highest speed in which you feel comfortable lightly applay the brake, and gradually come to a stop

according to the link though http://stopthespin.org/action.php the last "stop the spin day" was March 10th 2004, (the day that they were asking everbody to partisapate)

i wonder if they solved the problem that day :s

[Mark in Oshawa]

according to this site http://stopthespin.org/why.php the earths spin is increasing in speed and the earth will eventually throw us all off

the site also tells how to stop the spin

you just get in your car and make sure you are facing to the east, and when the clock strikes three FLOOR IT, once you get to the highest speed in which you feel comfortable lightly applay the brake, and gradually come to a stop

according to the link though http://stopthespin.org/action.php the last "stop the spin day" was March 10th 2004, (the day that they were asking everbody to partisapate)

i wonder if they solved the problem that day :s

I knew you would add something to the conversation, and you didn't let me down Wade...

[Sonic]

according to this site http://stopthespin.org/why.php the earths spin is increasing in speed and the earth will eventually throw us all off

the site also tells how to stop the spin

you just get in your car and make sure you are facing to the east, and when the clock strikes three FLOOR IT, once you get to the highest speed in which you feel comfortable lightly applay the brake, and gradually come to a stop

according to the link though http://stopthespin.org/action.php the last "stop the spin day" was March 10th 2004, (the day that they were asking everbody to partisapate)

i wonder if they solved the problem that day :s

LOL! How long till we all get thrown off? If its more than a biilion years there ain't gonna be many humans around to see it happen!

[MrJan]

Cyndi Lauper used to be called Sindy Lawyer until someone misread her bad handwriting.

Gok Wan suffered from a similar fate.

[ShiftingGears]

according to this site http://stopthespin.org/why.php the earths spin is increasing in speed and the earth will eventually throw us all off

the site also tells how to stop the spin

you just get in your car and make sure you are facing to the east, and when the clock strikes three FLOOR IT, once you get to the highest speed in which you feel comfortable lightly applay the brake, and gradually come to a stop

according to the link though http://stopthespin.org/action.php the last "stop the spin day" was March 10th 2004, (the day that they were asking everbody to partisapate)

i wonder if they solved the problem that day :s

LOLOLOL
Clearly that site is taking the piss.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Crab sticks don't actually contain any Crab, so for legal reasons they have to be called Crab Flavoured Sticks or Seafood Sticks.

[Sonic]

Here's another one fact fans;

Stewardesses is longest word you can type using only your left hand on the qwerty system (assuming you don't cheat).

[edv]

If you went out into space, you would explode before you suffocated because there's no air pressure.

[christophulus]

I love useless facts. QI is a great source of such things!

The ones that get me are the science ones. For example:

*a car traveling 100 mph would take more than 29 million years to reach the nearest star.

*If you started counting, and said one number every second, it would take you 33 years to get to 1 billion.

[Langdale Forest]

1, 2, 1 billion.

3 seconds.

[Sonic]

Yet more;

The right lung takes in more air than the left.

Or how about....

A normal rain drop falls at about 7 miles per hour.

[Easy Drifter]

How fast does a gay raindrop fall?

[Sonic]

How fast does a gay raindrop fall?

Good point well made!

[Steve Boyd]

That's interesting...

Are they saying that it is caused by the mass of the water in the reservoirs, and water is evaporated near to the equator, then deposited for longer nearer to the poles, thus, due to the conservation of angular momentum, speeding up the rotational rate? A bit like an ice skater increasing his spin speed by pulling his arms and legs inwards?
In that case melting the polar ice caps will have the opposite affect.
Just wait until the environmental lobby get on to this - we're ruining the planet in so many ways & now we're making the days longer!

[Mark in Oshawa]

If you went out into space, you would explode before you suffocated because there's no air pressure.

Or if you went to a deep sea dive with the old fashioned diving helmet and suit on and your air line was cut at a depth of 300 feet, all your body parts would get squashed into the helmet...Saw that one on Mythbusters...

[Sonic]

Or if you went to a deep sea dive with the old fashioned diving helmet and suit on and your air line was cut at a depth of 300 feet, all your body parts would get squashed into the helmet...Saw that one on Mythbusters...

Cool! I love that show - never get to see it though. Always on at like 2pm when I'm at work.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Cool! I love that show - never get to see it though. Always on at like 2pm when I'm at work.

It is worth taping, and if they do the myth, you will see how they figured it out. Basically tho, the effect is dramatic....