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magnetic pole flip
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MAlan
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:11 PM
 
There is scientific evidence that the earth may be in the beginning stages of a magnetic pole flip. Moreover, the magnetic poles of the earth may shift to south africa for the south pole and hawaii as the north pole.

The two articles below are about the magnetic pole flip possibility.

http://www.halfpasthuman.com/HPHNPOLE.htm

http://www.halfpasthuman.com/HPHPOLECOLD.htm

If anyone saw the wildly ridiculous movie 'The Core' you might expect animals to exhibit strange behavior as the earth's magnetic field vanishes and then reappears. That part of the movie is factual in that many animals use the magnetic field of the earth for navigation...especially birds. Below is a story about dolphins beaching themselves in Mexico.

edit: changed horrible, window-mangling JavaScript nonsense to a usable link -- tooki


I've also heard about pilots flying in amongst certain island groupings who have mistakenly landed on the wrong island recently. This is nothing new, however, since pilots have been known to make this mistake often in the history of flight. Nonetheless, airplane navigation systems are all highly dependent on the earth's magnetic field.
( Last edited by tooki; Jan 26, 2004 at 06:49 PM. )
     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:14 PM
 
they have been saying this for at least 15 years. You'd think sensitive navigation equipment would show something before dolphins though eh.

Personally I would enjoy it as it means Toronto would be warmer.

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d4nth3m4n
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:20 PM
 
Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
Personally I would enjoy it as it means Toronto would be warmer.
how do you figure? this refers to the magnetic pole, not the axis on which the earth rotates. all this will change is where compasses point.

duh.
     
John C. Smith
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:22 PM
 
will the magetnetic pole chip mess up my hair?>
     
mitchell_pgh
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:25 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
how do you figure? this refers to the magnetic pole, not the axis on which the earth rotates. all this will change is where compasses point.

duh.
No.. the earth will stop moving and go in a new direction, we will stop going from left to right and begin going right to left...

I know it's going to happen rather soon... my dog went from taking a crap on the left side of the yard to to right...

Also, my toilet now swerles counter clockwise...
     
Sherwin
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:25 PM
 
Quick, everyone go visit the South Pole before they have to move it.

     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:28 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
how do you figure? this refers to the magnetic pole, not the axis on which the earth rotates. all this will change is where compasses point.

duh.
They have also been saying that it will cause the crust to shift also. The north pole will become the new florida etc...

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Spheric Harlot
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:32 PM
 
Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
They have also been saying that it will cause the crust to shift also. The north pole will become the new florida etc...
"They"?

The Weekly World News, no doubt.

I'll stick to scientists' assessments.

-s*
     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Jan 23, 2004, 03:41 PM
 
Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
"They"?
Sorry, I meant Bozos.

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Shaddim
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Jan 23, 2004, 04:15 PM
 
Ewww... could you imagine the smell if certain parts of Canada thawed out?
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
- Thomas Paine
     
MAlan  (op)
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Jan 23, 2004, 04:17 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
how do you figure? this refers to the magnetic pole, not the axis on which the earth rotates. all this will change is where compasses point.

duh.
Not exactly. I was originally confused by this but if you read the second article I posted it explains that most of us have the wrong assumption as to why the poles are cold. The assumption is that the poles are cold because fewer light rays get to the North and South poles. This article makes the assertion (I'm not saying its right or wrong) that the way the magnetic field lines interact with the atmosphere is the true cause of the poles being cold. They conjecture that space is literally being brought closer to the earth because there is less atmosphere at the poles due directly to the magnetic field lines. And we all know that space is very cold.

Therefore, the hypothesis is that wherever the new North and South poles will be...those areas will then become cold.
     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Jan 23, 2004, 04:30 PM
 
Originally posted by MacNStein:
Ewww... could you imagine the smell if certain parts of Canada thawed out?
I doubt it would smell much worse then 95% of the US

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d4nth3m4n
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Jan 23, 2004, 05:31 PM
 
Originally posted by MAlan:
Not exactly. I was originally confused by this but if you read the second article I posted it explains that most of us have the wrong assumption as to why the poles are cold. The assumption is that the poles are cold because fewer light rays get to the North and South poles. This article makes the assertion (I'm not saying its right or wrong) that the way the magnetic field lines interact with the atmosphere is the true cause of the poles being cold. They conjecture that space is literally being brought closer to the earth because there is less atmosphere at the poles due directly to the magnetic field lines. And we all know that space is very cold.

Therefore, the hypothesis is that wherever the new North and South poles will be...those areas will then become cold.
explain the ice caps on mars (it has a very minimal atmosphere.)

i do believe that the field lines have something to do with the atmosphere. i know they play in on the northern lights (!) but to say that the angle of the light rays takes a back seat to space being drawn in closer is a little nuts. polar explorers would write about a lack of oxygen, and would most likely need tanks of air like mountain climbers do.

just my 2 cents (again)
     
slow moe
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Jan 23, 2004, 05:46 PM
 
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. It's because of those damn SUVs again, isn't it.
Lysdexics have more fnu.
     
Severed Hand of Skywalker
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Jan 23, 2004, 05:52 PM
 
Originally posted by slow moe:
I knew it, I knew it, I knew it. It's because of those damn SUVs again, isn't it.
I remember years ago there/is this group that thinks the earths crust will shift because of National Geographic magazine. Something to do because they are made overseas and shipped here. Retarded

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MAlan  (op)
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Jan 23, 2004, 06:35 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
explain the ice caps on mars (it has a very minimal atmosphere.)

i do believe that the field lines have something to do with the atmosphere. i know they play in on the northern lights (!) but to say that the angle of the light rays takes a back seat to space being drawn in closer is a little nuts. polar explorers would write about a lack of oxygen, and would most likely need tanks of air like mountain climbers do.

just my 2 cents (again)
Yes...exactly. What about the ice caps on Mars? I completely agree with you. The argument seems to break down when you consider Mars. I don't know what the authors of that web page would say in response to the Mars question. The whole concept of the poles being cold due to the reasons they state is definitely suspicious to me. However, I try to be open minded and consider alternate explanations for things. One positive aspect of their explanation is that it seems to make sense of the rapid melting of the polar ice caps in the north and the south.

They definitely need to explain the Mars thing though. Maybe I'll write to them.
     
d4nth3m4n
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Jan 23, 2004, 07:07 PM
 
one more thing. the magnetic north pole is only near the pole of axis- its more in northern canada, close to greenland

http://www.rongross.com/gis/northpole.gif

i think this site just made this crap up over a round of beers.
     
MAlan  (op)
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Jan 23, 2004, 07:29 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:
one more thing. the magnetic north pole is only near the pole of axis- its more in northern canada, close to greenland

http://www.rongross.com/gis/northpole.gif

i think this site just made this crap up over a round of beers.
No they are quite serious. This is the most benign of their concepts. If you really want to see some crazy stuff read some of their other articles.

http://www.halfpasthuman.com/HPHTOC.htm
     
Eriamjh
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Jan 23, 2004, 08:13 PM
 
Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
I doubt it would smell much worse then 95% of the US
I fart in your general direction!

I'm a bird. I am the 1% (of pets).
     
sniffer
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Jan 23, 2004, 09:32 PM
 
Actually the article is *cough* B.S.! *cough*
It's true the magnetic poles flips a few times, but you ain't going to get the freaking magnetic center and the north pole popping up in your living room. It will still stay cold in the north, and cold in the south, and vica verca, magnetic poles flipped or not.
Just pointing out if some of you didn't get it.

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John C. Smith
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Jan 23, 2004, 09:35 PM
 
Originally posted by sniffer:
Actually the article is *cough* B.S.! *cough*
It's true the magnetic poles flips a few times, but you ain't going to get the freaking magnetic center and the north pole popping up in your living room. It will still stay cold in the north, and cold in the south, and vica verca, magnetic poles flipped or not.
Just pointing out if some of you didn't get it.
nu uh idoitt what it measn is that atlanta is going to become boston and boston will move down to wear atlanta used to be, and then everybody will immigrate to canada and europeans will move to afkrica
     
el chupacabra
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Jan 23, 2004, 09:37 PM
 
I may be wrong but I don't think mars has a magnetic field, for whatever that might mean, and yet it still has ice caps.

You know what I heard... the axis of the Earth has shifted about 1 foot or maybe it was 2 in the past 50 years and supposedly its because the northern hemisphere is being weighted much heavyer than it formerly was due to so many dams being built.
     
sniffer
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Jan 23, 2004, 09:40 PM
 
Originally posted by John C. Smith:
nu uh idoitt what it measn is that atlanta is going to become boston and boston will move down to wear atlanta used to be, and then everybody will immigrate to canada and europeans will move to afkrica
You got it, sort of...

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Cipher13
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Jan 23, 2004, 11:33 PM
 
That article is such immense garbage, I was speechless. As soon as they said "if it only took the sun 4 months, why would it take us any longer?", they lost all credit in my eyes.

Idiots.

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
they have been saying this for at least 15 years. You'd think sensitive navigation equipment would show something before dolphins though eh.

Personally I would enjoy it as it means Toronto would be warmer.
No, it doesn't, necessarily.

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
They have also been saying that it will cause the crust to shift also. The north pole will become the new florida etc...
That's a massive crustal shift, and we'll never see it.

The tectonic plates are always moving; they will continue to move; this is nothing new.

It is quite possible that the plate movement will change somewhat, though, perhaps directionally.

The polar axis which is moving is determined by the earths core; if the movement in the core has changed somewhat, thereby moving the pole, then it's entirely possible that this will influence the currents moving throughout inner-earth and therefore affect changes in tectonic plate motion.

BTW - this polar flip is nothing special - it's happened many, many times in the past.

Originally posted by MAlan:
Not exactly. I was originally confused by this but if you read the second article I posted it explains that most of us have the wrong assumption as to why the poles are cold. The assumption is that the poles are cold because fewer light rays get to the North and South poles. This article makes the assertion (I'm not saying its right or wrong) that the way the magnetic field lines interact with the atmosphere is the true cause of the poles being cold. They conjecture that space is literally being brought closer to the earth because there is less atmosphere at the poles due directly to the magnetic field lines. And we all know that space is very cold.

Therefore, the hypothesis is that wherever the new North and South poles will be...those areas will then become cold.
No, the poles are not cold because "space is closer" to them.

The magnetic axis of the earth does indeed influence temperature, however.

It could make sense. I mean, yes, we think that the equator is hot because it's closer to the sun... but how much closer? Not much in the grand scheme of things. Yes, it has a much broader area for rays to hit, and the angle at which they hit is less likely to have rays bounce of certain surfaces, as opposed to the poles, for example, if you follow.

When you think about it, the earths magnetic field is strongest at the poles (magnetic poles), and weakest at the magnetic equator relative to said poles... right? And the magnetic field of the earth provides significant protection from UV rays, and other warming radiation.

Yes, it does make sense that the magnetic poles are coldest, given the level of protection.

This means they may be right about the new polar locations becoming incredibly cold. That doesn't mean the article has any basis - any idiot can stumble upon a revelation, or regurgitate somebody elses.
     
disectamac
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Jan 24, 2004, 12:12 AM
 
You might laugh but when I was younger, I used to believe that if poles did flip that the earth would stop spinning and reverse it's direction and......

Then I thought well since the earth spins once every 24 hours and circumference along the equator is over 23000 miles then we humans on the surface are traveling at about 1000 miles per hour so.....

Combined with the notion that gravity keeps us to the ground at a comfortable level and traveling 1000 miles per hour in a circle has a small pull effect on our bodies outward, away from earth. The whole thing balances out pretty well but.....

if the earth stopped spinning the pulling effect would cease and gravity would instantly send you flat on your face and crushed like a melon into the ground.
     
nonhuman
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Jan 24, 2004, 03:42 AM
 
Originally posted by disectamac:
You might laugh but when I was younger, I used to believe that if poles did flip that the earth would stop spinning and reverse it's direction and......

Then I thought well since the earth spins once every 24 hours and circumference along the equator is over 23000 miles then we humans on the surface are traveling at about 1000 miles per hour so.....

Combined with the notion that gravity keeps us to the ground at a comfortable level and traveling 1000 miles per hour in a circle has a small pull effect on our bodies outward, away from earth. The whole thing balances out pretty well but.....

if the earth stopped spinning the pulling effect would cease and gravity would instantly send you flat on your face and crushed like a melon into the ground.
Either that or inertia would send you hurtling into space. Of course if inertia isn't preventing the Earth from suddenly slamming to a stop I guess we can't really rely on it to work for us either.
     
d4nth3m4n
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Jan 24, 2004, 04:50 AM
 
Originally posted by nonhuman:
Either that or inertia would send you hurtling into space. Of course if inertia isn't preventing the Earth from suddenly slamming to a stop I guess we can't really rely on it to work for us either.
     
nonhuman
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Jan 24, 2004, 05:15 AM
 
Newton's first law of motion states that "An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force." Objects "tend to keep on doing what they're doing." In fact, it is the natural tendency of objects to resist changes in their state of motion. This tendency to resist changes in their state of motion is described as inertia.
If the Earth stopped spinning, we would continue moving in a straight line at approximately 1000 mph. A straight line takes us away from the Earth. We wouldn't achieve escape velocity (about 25000 mph), but we wouldn't just be immediately flattened either. We would trace a nice parabolic path as our initial straight-line path was curved by Earth's gravity and our speed was reduced at about 32 feet/second/second. We wouldn't actually reach space, but we'd get to an altitude of about 3 miles before turning back down and being slammed into the Earth 45 seconds later at 1000 mph.

[edit: fixed some problems due to poor unit conversion skills on my part. Hey, it happened to JPL too.]
( Last edited by nonhuman; Jan 24, 2004 at 05:45 AM. )
     
MAlan  (op)
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Jan 26, 2004, 02:43 PM
 
Below is an e-mail I received from the originator of the ideas put forth in the articles. I asked him specifically about the poles on Mars.
>
>

Please note that Mars atmosphere, while 'thin' relative to earth's,
nonetheless is
dense enough to 1) show a blue sky; 2) support fluid vapors (CO, and
other gases
including a likey hydronium (water variant). And also note, it is high
energy
particles descending into the planet's polar vertex which causes the
cold. In the
case of earth and mars, there is an atmosphere and stuff in it to
freeze. In absense
of anything to freeze, there would still be a much colder spot in the
polar vertexes.
This has been seen on several of the moons of jupiter/saturn. Further,
the total
absense of atmosphere *assumed* such as on our moon, also shows
'frozen' spots
at its very weak magnetic pole (thus the NASA hunt for frozen H3at the
magentic
polar vertexes on luna).

Let us note that by definition, a classically/mainstream trained
geo-physicists will not
even examine local space effects, let alone inner solar system space as
being part
of the earth. They have had their schooling limit their vision and
grasp to only those
things sub-atmospheric, so I would not expect any of such trained
persons agree
with this hypothesis. Also, the reverse is true with the
astrophysicists in that they
cannot/do not consider earth-space interaction within their formulary.
Again, they
like would discount this idea. Neither case would validate my idea, and
in neither
case would that make the idea incorrect. I know of no scientific papers
which are
even examining the subject so I can point you in no direction for
validation of my
concept. However, I would also like to note, that everyone assumes we
know
everything about earth (more or less) especially in these areas. I like
examining that
which humans think they know. It invariably sheds much light on either
the humans'
concepts or it clearly shows the holes in the assumptions.


Sorry I am not able to assist you in locating supporting information.

However, as ideas merely blow about in the wind, and settle into open
minds, I
suspect that even now there are other humans out there who have
resources and
desire saying 'hmmmm. I wonder...'

>
> Hello,
>
> I read your article about the magnetic pole flip recentlyabout how
Hawaii and South Africa will
> be the new homes of the magnetic poles. I also read the follow up
article which explains your
> alternate explanation for why the poles are cold.
>
> I wonder if you could explain then, in the framework of your
hypothesis, thereasonfor thepolar
> caps on Mars considering Mars has very little atmosphere. I was
talking to someone today about
> your hypothesis and that person brought up Mars and explained that
Mars has little atmosphere
> so why are the Polar caps where they are on Mars. I did not have an
answer for them.
>
> Also, I was wondering if there are any geophysicists or
astrophysicists who would be willing to go
> along with this hypothesis at this time? Are there any scientific
papers to corroborate this
> hypothesis?
>
> Thank you for your time.
     
d4nth3m4n
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Jan 26, 2004, 02:46 PM
 
um ok. thanks for looking into that.
     
Chemmy
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Jan 26, 2004, 03:29 PM
 
Originally posted by nonhuman:
If the Earth stopped spinning, we would continue moving in a straight line at approximately 1000 mph. A straight line takes us away from the Earth. We wouldn't achieve escape velocity (about 25000 mph), but we wouldn't just be immediately flattened either. We would trace a nice parabolic path as our initial straight-line path was curved by Earth's gravity and our speed was reduced at about 32 feet/second/second. We wouldn't actually reach space, but we'd get to an altitude of about 3 miles before turning back down and being slammed into the Earth 45 seconds later at 1000 mph.

[edit: fixed some problems due to poor unit conversion skills on my part. Hey, it happened to JPL too.]
You sound like a 12 year old with a calculator and an "Introduction to Physics" book, who just discovered that the Earth rotates.

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chrisutley
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Jan 26, 2004, 03:48 PM
 
Originally posted by Sherwin:
Quick, everyone go visit the South Pole before they have to move it.

This type of attitude is particularly humorous to me. Scientists know far less about the Earth than the average person realizes, especially the inside of the Earth. Ever wonder why we cannot accurately predict earthquakes?

In this particular case, there is science to support this as at the very least - possible.

We humans find ourselves living in a very hospitable time in the Earth's history. Our existence is a mere fraction of a blip, in Earth history and it is a certainty that conditions on the planet will change dramatically in the future. I only wish we would be around long enough to see how much.
     
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Jan 26, 2004, 03:55 PM
 
Originally posted by Chemmy:
You sound like a 12 year old with a calculator and an "Introduction to Physics" book, who just discovered that the Earth rotates.

You sound like a big dummy head.
     
Sherwin
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Jan 26, 2004, 04:20 PM
 
Originally posted by chrisutley:
This type of attitude is particularly humorous to me.
Good. That's how it was intended to be.

Like who gives a baboon's nads where the poles are? Unless you're planning a run of "I visited the South Pole before they moved it" t-shirts.
     
nonhuman
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Jan 26, 2004, 06:09 PM
 
Originally posted by Chemmy:
You sound like a 12 year old with a calculator and an "Introduction to Physics" book, who just discovered that the Earth rotates.
I was really bored and have Mathematica and was genuinely curious what would happen.
     
MAlan  (op)
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Jan 26, 2004, 06:38 PM
 
Originally posted by Sherwin:
Good. That's how it was intended to be.

Like who gives a baboon's nads where the poles are? Unless you're planning a run of "I visited the South Pole before they moved it" t-shirts.
Are you kidding me? Do you understand the consequences of this hypothesis? If these people are correct which they very well could not be but if they ARE correct and if the earth's magnetic field flips on a time scale close to that of the sun (~4 months: note most scientists think it takes hundreds or maybe thousands of years for the poles to flip) then we could have very rapid climate change that would be catastrophic to humans.

Think for a second about our food sources. There would be a major shortage of food.

Now granted that is an extreme view. I think that on the time scale issue they are being highly speculative. The sun is a totally different beast than the earth (it being a star and the earth being a planet). Trying to extrapolate times for the earth's magnetic field to flip from the Sun is probably not valid.
     
nonhuman
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Jan 26, 2004, 06:44 PM
 
Originally posted by MAlan:
The sun is a totally different beast than the earth (it being a star and the earth being a planet). Trying to extrapolate times for the earth's magnetic field to flip from the Sun is probably not valid.
This is very much the case. The Sun's magnetic field is completely screwey because of it's large size combined with the fact that it isn't a solid. The equatorial region spins significantly faster than the polar regions and this difference in spin does incredibly funky things with the magnetic field (which is what causes sunspots, coronal mass ejections, and the like).
     
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Jan 26, 2004, 07:12 PM
 
the magnectic poles have flipped hundreds of times. it happens at a regular interval actually. read up on it. we are long over due though.

however, it has already started happening in parts of the world's oceans. there is countless facts and measurements based on the fact that north is now south and south is now north...based on magnectic poles that is.

not only just fishing boats, but cruise ships and military. the 'hot' spots if you will, are charted.

nova has a program on it, and tlc/discovery have run similar programs. the range in which it happens is 450 - 750k years or so. it isn't something that happens like a flip of a switch though. we are out past 750k years since the last time, so we are overdue. could be finished in the next 100 years? 1000? 100k? , but it will happen again.

(years are estimated based on what i remember from the programs...i didn't relook them up). they have models that have shown the changes. and have been correct based on on-site (read: ships in the ocean) readings.

it is pretty neat what is happening.
     
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Jan 26, 2004, 07:20 PM
 
You realize that the theory on magnetic pole flipping is based on GEOLOGY.

In my book that's synonymous with GUESSWORK
     
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Jan 26, 2004, 07:59 PM
 
Originally posted by residentEvil:
the magnectic poles have flipped hundreds of times. it happens at a regular interval actually. read up on it. we are long over due though.

however, it has already started happening in parts of the world's oceans. there is countless facts and measurements based on the fact that north is now south and south is now north...based on magnectic poles that is.

not only just fishing boats, but cruise ships and military. the 'hot' spots if you will, are charted.

nova has a program on it, and tlc/discovery have run similar programs. the range in which it happens is 450 - 750k years or so. it isn't something that happens like a flip of a switch though. we are out past 750k years since the last time, so we are overdue. could be finished in the next 100 years? 1000? 100k? , but it will happen again.

(years are estimated based on what i remember from the programs...i didn't relook them up). they have models that have shown the changes. and have been correct based on on-site (read: ships in the ocean) readings.

it is pretty neat what is happening.
Could you elaborate on this? How do we know? What evidence do we have? I'm extremely lazy and don't have cable.

Those cows won't know what hit 'em. They won't know what hit them even after it hits them, because they're cows.
     
residentEvil
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Jan 26, 2004, 08:27 PM
 
well, for starters, here is the timeline of reversals:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/timeline.html

talks about the sun's changes too, not just earths. but the link shows the changes on earth, in timeline fasion.

and in that link...it is more like, 'every 250k' years. but i noted i was using numbers of what i thought i remembered, without lookit up.

also, search here. i posed that in the global warming thread, sometime back...that it could be releated to our magnetic poles changing. some geologists note temperature changes at/around the times of the pole changes. just an idea i tossed out...but just my simple idea of why some places are warming.
     
Secret__Police
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Jan 26, 2004, 08:40 PM
 
If the Poles flip, can we blame Clinton and the Democrats??????
     
Tulkas
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Jan 26, 2004, 09:40 PM
 
Originally posted by residentEvil:
well, for starters, here is the timeline of reversals:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/magnetic/timeline.html

talks about the sun's changes too, not just earths. but the link shows the changes on earth, in timeline fasion.

and in that link...it is more like, 'every 250k' years. but i noted i was using numbers of what i thought i remembered, without lookit up.

also, search here. i posed that in the global warming thread, sometime back...that it could be releated to our magnetic poles changing. some geologists note temperature changes at/around the times of the pole changes. just an idea i tossed out...but just my simple idea of why some places are warming.
I was thinking more along the lines of the geological evidence of the pole flip.

Those cows won't know what hit 'em. They won't know what hit them even after it hits them, because they're cows.
     
Cipher13
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Jan 26, 2004, 10:44 PM
 
Originally posted by Tulkas:
Could you elaborate on this? How do we know? What evidence do we have? I'm extremely lazy and don't have cable.
What evidence?

When molten rock reaches the surface of the ocean crust, such as at a mid ocean ridge, there are iron particles in that magma.

Now, to save myself the effort:

"In physics, the Curie point is the temperature above which a ferromagnet loses its ferromagnetic ability to possess a net (spontaneous) magnetization in the absence of an external magnetic field. At temperatures below the Curie point, magnetic moments are partially aligned within magnetic domains in ferromagnetic materials. As the Curie point is approached, thermal fluctuations increasingly destroy this alignment, until the net magnetization becomes zero at and above the Curie point. Above the Curie point, the material is purely paramagnetic."

Quoted from Wikipedia.

As the iron particles cool to below the Curie Point, they become magnetised as per the magnetic field of the earth.

Now, since the formation of new oceanic crust from MOR's is a constant procedure, we can look at the crust and read its magnetic field. This is done to "new" crust, and "old" crust, and we can gain a graph of the magnetism at the time the particles cooled.

I tried to find an image of what these graphs look like, but I'm on 28.8, and it proved painful.

They look like black and white barcodes, sorta.
     
adamk
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Jan 26, 2004, 10:59 PM
 
Originally posted by Tulkas:
I was thinking more along the lines of the geological evidence of the pole flip.
"Continental drift was hotly debated off and on for decades following Wegener's death before it was largely dismissed as being eccentric, preposterous, and improbable. However, beginning in the 1950s, a wealth of new evidence emerged to revive the debate about Wegener's provocative ideas and their implications. In particular, four major scientific developments spurred the formulation of the plate-tectonics theory: (1) demonstration of the ruggedness and youth of the ocean floor; (2) confirmation of repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field in the geologic past; (3) emergence of the seafloor-spreading hypothesis and associated recycling of oceanic crust; and (4) precise documentation that the world's earthquake and volcanic activity is concentrated along oceanic trenches and submarine mountain ranges." from Developing The Theory (USGS)

read the page. explains how plate tectonic theory came to be. a vital component is the recognition of magnetic field reversals in newly-formed iron-rich oceanic basalt. as the magma cools, the orientation of crystals gives not only lattitude with respect to the paleo-magnetic pole but whether the poles are flipped.

ada
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"He that fights for Allah's cause fights for himself. Allah does not need His creatures' help." -koran, the spider, 29:7
     
adamk
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Jan 26, 2004, 11:07 PM
 
Originally posted by Cipher13:
What evidence?

...

They look like black and white barcodes, sorta.


magnetic reversals off the west US coast for the last ~12 Ma.
"do unto others as you would have them do unto you" begins with yrself.

"He that fights for Allah's cause fights for himself. Allah does not need His creatures' help." -koran, the spider, 29:7
     
Tulkas
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Jan 26, 2004, 11:46 PM
 
Thanks for all the info!

Those cows won't know what hit 'em. They won't know what hit them even after it hits them, because they're cows.
     
MAlan  (op)
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Jan 27, 2004, 02:14 PM
 
Originally posted by nonhuman:
This is very much the case. The Sun's magnetic field is completely screwey because of it's large size combined with the fact that it isn't a solid. The equatorial region spins significantly faster than the polar regions and this difference in spin does incredibly funky things with the magnetic field (which is what causes sunspots, coronal mass ejections, and the like).
I'm glad we concur on this issue. Now to open up a new can of worms about the sun. Strong periods of solar activity have been seen recently with satellites and other technology being threatened. Remeber that during a solar storm, if you are flying in a Jet Airplane for long periods of time you can be exposed to the equivalent of 10 - 100 xray images during the trip. So keep up with
http://www.spaceweather.com/
before you fly.

Anyway these guys at halfpasthuman have their own take on what's going on with the sun and earth as explained through their concept of hyperspatial geometry.

http://www.halfpasthuman.com/HPHUE_SUN1.htm

Again...I don't necessarily agree with these guys. I only present this stuff to encourage debate. They are either A) totally whacked, B) have some good ideas that need to be cooked more before they are released into the wild or C) are spot on.
     
brapper
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Jan 27, 2004, 11:15 PM
 
Originally posted by d4nth3m4n:

duh.
good one cool guy!
     
brapper
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Jan 27, 2004, 11:16 PM
 
Originally posted by Secret__Police:
If the Poles flip, can we blame Clinton and the Democrats??????
no.
     
 
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