Two of the largest recorded earthquakes on our planet have occurred in the last decade. 2004's 9.0 shaker in Sumatra and the recent 8.8 in Chile. One also can't forget Haiti's disaster.In an article from National Geographic, NASA geophysicists claim these quakes (and others) have shortened the length of a 24-hour day. Chile's quake to the tune of 1.26 millionths of a second, Sumatra's in the range of 6.8 millionths of a second.
All because one tectonic plate shifts underneath another, reducing the earth's mass ever so slightly, making the earth spin faster.
I don't even know how to fathom such minuscule numbers. But--if my butchered attempts at Math are alright--every 11-12 days or so, we'd lose a second of time? Right?
It takes 11 days, 13 hours, 46 minutes, and 40 seconds for one million seconds to pass. So, around this time, the "shortening" of 1.26 millionths of a second would accumulate to a full second? Is that right?
Don't quote me on this. More of a question, really.
Every once in awhile I feel we're living on the unwinding spring of one shaky bastard of a clock.
National Geographic Article Here.
5 comments:
You didn't tell me you read Final Solution. What'd you think?
So-so for me. Excellent use of language in parts, but a story that needed to be twice as long to cover all its loose ends.
Didn't do enough to make me want to read more of him, sadly.
Your math is a bit off, Harry. What you've calculated is the amount of time it would take to see a 1 sec time difference if we lost 1.26 microseconds every second. But we're only losing that much every day. It will take 793,650 days—that's 2174 years—for a full second difference to be realized. In short, don't worry about adjusting your clock for it.
Where would I be without you Kenneth? Oh great wizard of numerals.
Good thing too. I was just about to convert to the Chinese calendar.
Thanks.
I'll look for those, Sam. Thanks.
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