Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: IDE freeze for seconds | Date | Thu, 03 Dec 1998 12:11:10 EST | From | Kev <> |
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> What is the first thing that ceases when you spin down a planet? That's > right, gravity. Everything not tied down would just fly out into space, > and that includes the atmosphere. Simple.
100% incorrect, so I assume you were joking :) A more correct statement would be as follows: The core of the planet is liquid. Once an angular momentum is given to a liquid, it is very difficult to stop its rotation (the opposite is also true; try spinning a raw egg some time...then compare to spinning a hard-boiled one). Thus, if you attempt to spin down the surface of the planet, the liquid core will continue to rotate. Consider what happens next, assuming that the bottom surface of the crust is not even.
Other problems with spinning down the planet: Not only is the core of the planet a liquid, but so are the oceans. Additionally, one surface of the planet would be stopped facing the sun, resulting in an increase of temperature there, while the antipode would cool; this could result in very high, devastating winds. Of course, the loss of light on the dark side of the planet would eventually result in the death of most existing plant life, which would have repercussions throughout the food chain. There's also the problem with the diurnal cycle being disrupted in animal life (including homo sapiens) on both sides of the planet.
I shall leave the rest to your imagination :)
(I should also note that this is starting to get ridiculously off topic ;) -- Kevin L. Mitchell <klmitch@mit.edu> ------------------------- -. .---- --.. ..- -..- -------------------------- http://web.mit.edu/klmitch/www/ (PGP5 keys availiable from here) DSS Key ID ED0DB34E: D9BF 0E74 FDCB 43F5 C597 878F 9455 EC24 ED0D B34E DH Key ID 2A2C31D4: 1A77 4BA5 9E32 14AE 87DA 9FEC 7106 FC62 2A2C 31D4
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