What is Digg?Sponsored by Gilt Man
It's a Gilt Man's world view!
giltman.com - Get gear and gadgets at up to 70% off. Shop like a guy, dress like a man. You're invited.
114 Comments
- senectus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6The only reason it might be considered NEWS :
N - orth
E - ast
W - est
S - outh
:-P - mengus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3it's not something that will happen in thousands of years from now. the magnetic pole is drifting faster and faster each day.
here's an article from nasa:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/29dec_magneticfield.htm
and it implies a depolarization, or rather a "multi-polarization" of the earth in a few decades. - Dracos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've read about this before, and the Earth is about 100,000 years overdue for a flip.
What they don't mention in this article is that the Earth's magnetic field orientation has flipped hundreds of times, and has been tracked many millions of years ago via the rock that forms at spreading tectonic joints, such as that under the Atlantic. - cbdgr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3got to flash your compus firmware
- Trjn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"This is similar to that recent Lost theory"
I wouldn't be shocked if this was submitted because the submitter was looking for details on the Lost theory. - rianjs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"never been proved
the earths magnetic field changes strength constantly but doesn't flip"
Er, yes it has been "proven." You can see the effects of the flip in the geologic record. - MrMysterious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Sounds like a possible subplot to LOST.
- flickr, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It won't happen as long as we keep pushing the button. 4 8 15 16 23 42...
- Matt2k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2http://www.phy6.org/earthmag/magnQ&A3.htm
# The movie "The Core"
Can the Earth's magnetic field just "dwindle away," as a recent movie "The Core" proposes? And if this were somehow to happen--what dire consequences (also described in the film) could we expect?
REPLY
Sleep soundly: the premise is far fetched, and even if it did somehow happen, you would probably not notice any difference.
Could it happen? The magnetization of the ocean floor (among others) shows that the north-south "main magnetic field" of the Earth does occasionally reverse north-south polarity, at irregular intervals averaging about half a million years. Right now the intensity of this field is decreasing at about 7% per century. That is a typical rate of variation, suggesting that if a reversal happens, we will have ample notice.
However, at the reversal itself the field is not necessarily zero. Other, more complex parts of the field exist, and right now it looks as if these are soaking up magnetic energy lost from the main north-south field. At the time of reversal, the Earth may have for a while 4, 6 or more magnetic poles, and a somewhat weaker field--but it is not expected to lose its magnetism altogether.
And yet, if it ever did... would we be exposed to radiation bursts from the Sun--the kind which erupt of the order of once a year (or less) and can imperil future astronauts on their way to Mars? No, because we are shielded by the atmosphere, an absorber comparable to 10 feet of concrete. Solar bursts cannot penetrate that thickness. It is true that the magnetic field of Earth deflects the fast protons of those bursts even before they reach the top of the atmosphere--but that magnetic shield fails near the magnetic poles, yet no extra radiation is detected there at ground level.
Without magnetic protection, the solar wind emitted by the Sun would also reach the atmosphere. Could it perhaps strip our atmosphere away? Maybe, given a few billion years, but not quickly. Venus lacks a magnetic field and experiences a stronger solar wind, being closer to the Sun, yet retains a very dense atmosphere. Mars, without a global-size magnetic field, has only a thin one--but the gravity holding down its atmosphere is only 1/3 of ours.
So sleep soundly, even after you may have watched the movie. - trunkster, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3We should create an island with a protective magnetic field. Yep, came up with that all by myself.
- ezkiel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5"Oh yeah, My girlfriends ass is her new mouth :)"
Something tells me you don't have a girlfriend. - lollerskates, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Hahaha Wolverine is totally screwed.
- kakos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yes, because we have a major extinction event every 250,000 years when this flip occurs. I hate bad and alarmist science.
- ollywompus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1we all gotta die sometime. might as well be magnetic fields that kill me.. at least i'll go out X-men style that way.
- dmsteg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And in related news, A Professor John Frink of Springfield predicts that all robots in Itchy and Scratchy land will turn on humans.
When confronted on this discovery, Frink had commented "You've got to listen to me. Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok in an orgy of blood and kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving."
When asked how much time humanity had before it's impending doom, after checking his clipboard Frink responded "Well, according to my calculations, the robots won't go berserk for at least 24 hours."
Then as one of the malicious atomatons (a Scratchy) grabs a man by the throat and another (an Itchy) goes after another man, Frink was quoted as saying "Oh, I forgot to, er, carry the one." - Tobey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We'll probably all be dead by the time this happens.
- HiddenForce, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No reason to panic. From the "interactive" part of the article:
"On average, reversals of the Earth's magnetic field happen every 250,000 years. It's now been about 720,000 years since our last reversal. Judging from history, we know that a reversal is long overdue. But there's no need to throw away your old compasses. A reversal usually takes hundreds or thousands of years to complete." - Fifty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Very interesting article.
- jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The flip itself won't be like a switch either. It will happen over time. The downside is, there will be more exposure to radiation in the process. We won't all die, but we'll see more cases of cancer and other illnesses. Of course, again, someone will make this an agenda and attribute it to something else in order to exact taxation on us for our own good. (Read Greenpeace, environmental exremists, Ted Kennedy)
- gator99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Some imbecile wrote:
This was a big scare in the 1950's, much like global warming is today
No global warming is a real threat, in your lifetime. Just ask anyone in New Orleans. - danterner, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"'cause you know.. magnets are one of the few things that hold our civilization and technology in place. think of what would happen if all of the magnets suddenly went dead. then think some more."
Meh - we'll still have velcro... - gator99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Someone wrote:
never been proved the earths magnetic field changes strength constantly but doesn't flip.
I believe this has been proven by studying magma (not longer molten). It keeps kind of a record of the earths magnetic field over time -- and yes it has reversed polarity several times in the past. There are changes over the past 100 years that indicate the field is beginning to collapse in the southern hemisphere. However, "soon", is relative -- it's like it's going to happen tommorow or within any of our lifetimes. - jav1231, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Nova did a special on this. Scientists have found that the magnetic poll changes every so many hundreds of thousands of years. Of course, if this happens during the Bush administration, he's in BIG trouble!
- macslut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Has it flipped yet... has it flipped yet... has it flipped yet???
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I dont see anywhere on digg, where it says posts have to be zero day. A recent interview with kevin he didnt call it a tech news site but a news site.
Even if you have heard of something 20 years ago, if it gets alot of diggs then either other people havent heard of it or like rereading about it and maybe gain some new insites from the authors persepctive. I heard about this long ago too but was interested enough to read this article. The comments are hard enough to scroll through without going through the lame complaints. If you already no something than dont digg it, if it realy and truley bothers you than vote it lame, if the article doesnt go away oviously not enough people agreed with you. If you think someone broke a rule than post the rule.. link to where it says tech only and only stories about things invented or realised in the past month. If it aint in the faq then it aint a rule.
I appologise to all diggers for taking up so much space complaining about complainers without valid complaints. - dyslexicsUNTIED, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1at the moment what we know as magnetic north is not actually what north origionlly was. what we know as the south pole was the first "north"
- Dirk7589, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1We studied this in science recently. It is said that this has happened several times before and that the recent weaking of the earth's magnetic feild is a sign that the feild will flip again. The interesting part isn't that the feild will flip it is that while the feild is flipping the earth will no longer be a dipole magnet. It will have many poles between 4 to 8 and you will be able to see the northern lights every where. Very interesting stuff
- Ryetronics, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1All this global warming talk bugs the hell out of me, especially that graph posted a few comments before. What does that graph show other than weather trends in the last 100-200 years? Nothing. The earth is 4 billion years old and NO ONE knows how the avg. temperature fluctuates over thousands/millions of years. I'm not convinced that global warming is our fault.
- drbroccoli, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Santa will have to move down with the penguins.
- LeFrenzy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I knew it was long overdue for switching poles, but I thought we'd have WW3 before this would ever happen.
- jeznav, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Digg this cuz its happening soon? in the year 2010 - 2014
http://www.exodus2006.com/poleshift.htm
http://exodus2006.com/2012.htm - oldcyborg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0OH!! Really?! Well, I think I 'll file that one under ***** to dealt with "when it happens".
Reallly..
Cyborg
EVO (entertainment value only) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0time to patent south pointing compasses
- Amplix, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I would love a wallpaper sized version of that magnetic shield pic on the right... Anyone got one?
- geomon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@kakos
"I hate bad and alarmist science."
It isn't bad nor alarmist science to blame. It is bad and alarmist journalism.
The science just is what it is. Whether it is "bad" science or not will eventually be determined by how well the data holds up to scrutiny. Whether it is "alarmist" or not is a political conclusion based on who is impacted by the results. - noelsusman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Uhhh....this has happened several times throughout the course of history. As far as I know most living creatures survived, including humans. This is not a doomsday prophecy and the world as we know it isn't going to come to an end. However, it's not a good thing and life probably will change.
And yes, this is very old news. They've known about this forever. - Abx0r, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The real question is...
What will happen to our harddisks?"
You will lose your massive stockpile of porn, sorry. - monolith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0http://digg.com/science/Earth_s_Poles_Begin_Magnetic_Reversal
tiaigts - pheifdog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well it looks like my dads business is screwed... he makes compasses for the military and civilian use. oh and for the people that said that this wont happen it will even my dad knows it will.
- Phoenixfury, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I haven't read all of the responses yet, but I am really surprised no one has mentioned the movie The Core. This movie is pretty much about this very thing. However unlike the movie, we have plenty of time to come up with an earth drilling machine and keep some nukes ready for d-day. :)
- nj10ii, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wonder what Ted Kennedy thinks about this.
- jwalk81980, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0jalexxi - Lack of a magnetic field doesn't give people cancer. It rips apart their DNA.
- diggon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"what happens to the magnets, during and after the flip (it doesn't happen at once). do their characteristics change? will they continue to work? 'cause you know.. magnets are one of the few things that hold our civilization and technology in place. think of what would happen if all of the magnets suddenly went dead. then think some more."
This change would only affect compasses orientation not the magnetic properties of the materials that make up a compass. According to that theory the mars rovers and planetary probes couldn't even perform their duties with their electric motors (that rely on magnets) since space or mars doesn't have a magnetic field to really speak of. - vodkamattvt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Those guys are freakin' dumbasses...I could also get into why I think that the earth isn't even 100,000 years old to begin with, but that's another story...."
Im guessing "going into it" means we will have to endure a shocking amount of ignorance?
"It won't happen as long as we keep pushing the button. 4 8 15 16 23 42..."
Best post all thread. - Mongoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Very interesting read. +digg
- edwardko, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Can we please collectively agree that we are intelligent digg.com readers? "Compus?" PLEASE! Also while we're at it. Please note the distinction: "Please check YOUR spelling. YOU'RE a bad speller."
- haxxorboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0hmmm.... kinda knew about it but it's still a good article. Kinda makes you wonder what will happen if there is not magnetic field/ magnetosphere... hello charged particles
- hiro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0By compus do you mean compass?
/Sighs with despair/ - crashingechelon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0lol, i loved denterners velcro comment.
Yeah, I don't think this would effect us much since it would take years to finish off. The Sun does the same thing like every 24years, it's poles do a complete 360, it takes 12 years for them to flip. Which this is all from if you take Astronomy classes they teach you about all this. As for a compus though we're already screwed by it, since our directions are already backwards. Since opposites attract in magnatism the direction north on a compus is actually pointing to the south and where it says south it's pointing to north. So our true north pole is in antarctica and true south pole is up in what ever we call that frozen land above canada. So if our poles did flip South on a compus would be pointing to canada and north would be pointing to antartica. - polyestero, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For a good read check out the book "Polar Shift" by Clive Cussler. A group of radical anarchists discover a set of frequencys that are powerful enough to switch the earths magnetic poles, but what they don't know is that the poles are already weak and going to shift soon. Clive Cussler is my all time favorite author but this book has a plot paralell to this topic, pretty crazy.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 114 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is