[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Judy: Well, to start with, I think I was confused as to what you meant by spinning. You mean spinning *in place*, right? If so, isn't it the string it's suspended by winding up and then unwinding that causes the weight to stop spinning and change direction? Bronte: The analogy isn't perfect, and I'm certainly not convinced the earth will change rotation in 2012. It's just a theory. I came up with the analogy and experiment simply from observing that an object at the end of a string rotates, and the earth rotates. Certainly I'm not suggesting the earth is suspended on some string. No, I know that. I'm just wondering what might play a role equivalent to that of the string. snip Judy: Also, I don't think there's any scientific evidence that the earth's rotation has ever reversed itself in the past. Bronte: As I said before, there is evidence in ancient texts. I know of no scientific evidence. Yebutt...the point is that if such a thing had ever happened, there *would* be some scientific evidence of it, not just stories in ancient texts.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
snip Judy wrote: Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl. com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. Judy wrote: The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction. There is no slowing down in the process of stopping, it just stops and reverses. Maybe it's like that for the earth twirling in space -- reaching the end of whatever force sent it spinning in the first place, then experiencing the reaction to that spin in the form of reverse direction. I just tried to make a pendalum to experiment with this, to make sure I'm remembering correctly, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with. My girlfriend has a pendalum, and I've got a call in to her to ask her to spin the thing and see if it slows down prior to reversal. Judy: I've never heard this! Please let us know what you find out. Very intriguing. Bronte: I experimented with a couple of different pendalums, and here's what happened when I spun them. They went real fast in one direction, then slowed suddenly, paused, held the stillness, then reversed, twirly slowly for a tad then fast again, only not quite as fast as before. Each time the reversal happened, the pendalum twirled more slowly than the last twirl. All that's to be expected, of course. But what I didn't expect was that when the thing was spinning fast, it slowed for longer before its stop than it did when it was spinning more slowly. In other words, the slower the spin, the more sudden the stop. So I wonder, how many times has the earth done a spin and reverse? (If any.) If this has happened multiple times, she could be rotating slowly enough now that the next stop will be quite sudden. The clocks being off (because the day lasts longer than it's supposed to last) might not start happening until quite close to December 21, 2012, I surmise. What do you think, Judy? authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip Judy wrote: Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl. com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. Bronte: Didn't know that. Thanks! You seem quite scientifically informed, Judy. Do you do work in science for a living? Nope, afraid not. I have a broad interest in science, but it's pretty shallow. In this case, I vaguely remembered reading something awhile back about the loss of the magnetic field in some newspaper, so I googled earth losing its magnetic field and came up with the CNN story. (Practically any headline with Mystery in it will get my attention, especially if it's a scientific mystery.) Judy wrote: The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction. There is no slowing down in the process of stopping, it just stops and reverses. Maybe it's like that for the earth twirling in space -- reaching the end of whatever force sent it spinning in the first place, then experiencing the reaction to that spin in the form of reverse direction. I just tried to make a pendalum to experiment with this, to make sure I'm remembering correctly, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with. My girlfriend has a pendalum, and I've got a call in to her to ask her to spin the thing and see if it slows down prior to reversal. I've never heard this! Please let us know what you find out.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip Judy wrote: Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl. com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. Judy wrote: The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction. There is no slowing down in the process of stopping, it just stops and reverses. Maybe it's like that for the earth twirling in space -- reaching the end of whatever force sent it spinning in the first place, then experiencing the reaction to that spin in the form of reverse direction. I just tried to make a pendalum to experiment with this, to make sure I'm remembering correctly, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with. My girlfriend has a pendalum, and I've got a call in to her to ask her to spin the thing and see if it slows down prior to reversal. Judy: I've never heard this! Please let us know what you find out. Very intriguing. Bronte: I experimented with a couple of different pendalums, and here's what happened when I spun them. They went real fast in one direction, then slowed suddenly, paused, held the stillness, then reversed, twirly slowly for a tad then fast again, only not quite as fast as before. Each time the reversal happened, the pendalum twirled more slowly than the last twirl. All that's to be expected, of course. But what I didn't expect was that when the thing was spinning fast, it slowed for longer before its stop than it did when it was spinning more slowly. In other words, the slower the spin, the more sudden the stop. So I wonder, how many times has the earth done a spin and reverse? (If any.) If this has happened multiple times, she could be rotating slowly enough now that the next stop will be quite sudden. The clocks being off (because the day lasts longer than it's supposed to last) might not start happening until quite close to December 21, 2012, I surmise. What do you think, Judy? Well, to start with, I think I was confused as to what you meant by spinning. You mean spinning *in place*, right? If so, isn't it the string it's suspended by winding up and then unwinding that causes the weight to stop spinning and change direction? If I've got that right now, I'm having trouble understanding what the equivalent of the string would be in the case of the earth, and what it would be attached to at the other end. Also, the earth's axis that it rotates around has a wobble, like a top (actually several different wobbles), which would have to mean whatever the equivalent is of what the string is attached to moves around in gigantic circles. Plus which, the winding and unwinding of the string is a function of the weight at the end of the string, i.e., the gravitational pull of the earth. What the equivalent of that would be if the earth is the weight at the end of the string, I don't know. Also, I don't think there's any scientific evidence that the earth's rotation has ever reversed itself in the past. The magnetic poles, yes, but not the rotation. And in any case, the earth's rotation has been slowing down very gradually for hundreds of millions of years (a day used to be 18 hours) from the gravitational pull of the moon. So I gotta say, color me skeptical! But an interesting exercise nonetheless.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction Are you talking about a pendulum or a gyroscope? Gyroscopes are seriously odd things, and can lose weight when spun up, and provide reactionless force. Have a look at this: http://www.gyroscopes.org/1974lecture.asp and google for eric laithwaite. This guy did a lecture for the prestigious Royal Society, and passed a heavy spinning gyroscope to the audience. Nobody could pick it up when it was stationary. This lecture was expunged from the record. Mix in magnetic fields, homopolar generators, electrostatic charges and you start looking at ufo design propositions. Then, take a stiff whiskey, and, if you dare, google for boeing, antigravity and patent. You can chuck B2 into the mix. Uns.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
Bronte, You might find it interesting to google this issue. I'm thinking you don't understand the difference between the magnetic poles switching and the ball, that the earth is, suddenly switching the direction of its spinning. It is apples and oranges. If the earth-ball switches, the crust of the earth will instantly melt from the friction. The magnetic poles, on the other hand, have and do switch ALL THE TIME -- pilots, ship captains, etc. have to always consult the latest measurements to determine true geological north from magnetic north of today. If the earth were to be shrunk down to the size of a billiard ball, your fingers would not be sensitive enough to feel Mt. Everest as a bump on it's surface, and the oceans would be a very thin film of moisture to your touch. Everest and ocean are merely 5/8000ths of the diameter of the earth. The crust of the earth is solid only a few miles deep, and then, the whole ball is molten. If such a ball were in your hands, the outer shell/crust would break from your slightest squeeze. We're on a very very thin layer of rock riding on hell fires. These fires would be opened to the air/space if the crust were to suddenly shift from spinning at a 1000 MPH in one direction to another -- imagine mountains smashing into mountains at 1000 MPH -- everything melts in the grinder. Everything means the entire crust -- nothing would survive -- not even bacteria. The atmosphere, oceans, and crust would all be gone -- 2500 degrees and poof. If anyone is going to survive long enough to see the light, then the 2012 switch that is anticipated, IMO, has to be something astral rather than some catastrophe on the material level. The sun rising twice or as it is said in the bible the sun stopping in the sky, can only be possible if the earth is subjected to an incredible smack from, say, a mars sized hunk of rock. The biggest strikes in earth's history have almost never caused a significant shift in the earth's spin -- too small an event. The biggest hit earth ever took was probably the time our moon was formed by such a collision between the earth a mars sized rock. There's many possible reasons the kilogram could be losing mass, and they're only beginning to try to understand that. Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Wow! That IS news! I'm no scientist but it sounds pretty freaky indeed! I don't find it unsettling though. If it's true that the planet is moving into a new age, and all of us with it, this could be part of the transformation of matter. I wonder why it's happening? I've read other places that the earth is slowing losing its magnetism (nothing mainstream here, but private unapproved scientists have been saying so). Maybe that's related to the kilogram thing somehow. Some people think the earth is losing its magnetism because it's slowing its rotation, getting ready to stop and reverse its direction on December 21, 2012. This would not cause objects to fly off the planet, they state, because gravity holds us here, not the earth's rotation. There's some evidence in ancient texts of several cultures that suggest the earth reversing rotational direction happened in the past. For instance, one scripture (I forget from where) speaks of the day the sun rose twice and another describes a period when the sun rose in the west and set in the east. authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This is downright eerie. I'm not quite sure why I find it more unsettling than most other natural mysteries that scientists are constantly stumbling across. Shrinking kilogram bewilders physicists By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 12, 5:32 PM ET A kilogram just isn't what it used to be. The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight [Not weight, mass!--JS] if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies. The mystery is that they were all made of the same material, and many were made at the same time and kept under the same conditions, and yet the masses among them are slowly drifting apart, he said. We don't really have a good hypothesis for it. The kilogram's uncertainty could affect even countries that don't use the metric system it is the ultimate weight standard for the U.S. customary system, where it equals 2.2 pounds. For scientists, the inconstant metric constant is a nuisance, threatening calculation of things like electricity generation. Read more at Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_sc/shrinking_kilogram http://tinyurl.com/yo6p9t The comments at Digg.com are fun:
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip There's many possible reasons the kilogram could be losing mass, and they're only beginning to try to understand that. What are some of the possible reasons? (BTW, at this point Bronte and I were just talking about the earth's rotation, not the one reference kilogram losing mass. We realized any large-scale changes would affect all the kilogram measures, not just a single one. But the pendulum/rotation question was interesting on its own terms, so we were pursuing it independently of the kilogram question.)
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
Judy, I'm not a scientist, but there are many reasons for a measurement to change -- usually human error is involved. That would be my first looksee at the issue. Could be something as goofy as the janitor licks the bar when no one is looking. The missing mass is equal to what a fingerprint would be composed of. Maybe someone wiped the bar especially well!!! ;-) Mass can spontaneously dissolve -- usually it takes trillions of years though. Cosmic rays can chip off chunks of the kilogram, but why either of these processes would be affecting one bar and not the exact copies is where the mystery arises. A hunk of molten iron flowing under the crust could alter the gravity under the measurement devices. For instance, when we landed on the moon, there were mass-cons -- concentrations of particularly heavy material -- that made for tricky navigation during the landing -- gravity's pull increases and decreases depending on what's underneath. (Sorta like what Maharishi is saying when he says the minerals of the land determine the personality of the culture.) So, yeah, I don't know the answer, and I don't know that my reasons above are at the top of the list of possible reasons, but one thing I am certain of is that a physical cause is way more likely than an oogabooga cause. When Y2K loomed, I ran around like Chicken Little, and nothing happened. So, don't expect me to get anywhere near that kind of frenetic obsessiveness with a kilogram losing mass and screaming to the world that the sky is falling. If the rapture is coming, I think there won't be any warning signs. BAM!!! Done. Like that. 2 Peter 3:9-11 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. Pretty scary to me! Edg --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung no_reply@ wrote: snip There's many possible reasons the kilogram could be losing mass, and they're only beginning to try to understand that. What are some of the possible reasons? (BTW, at this point Bronte and I were just talking about the earth's rotation, not the one reference kilogram losing mass. We realized any large-scale changes would affect all the kilogram measures, not just a single one. But the pendulum/rotation question was interesting on its own terms, so we were pursuing it independently of the kilogram question.)
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
Judy: Well, to start with, I think I was confused as to what you meant by spinning. You mean spinning *in place*, right? If so, isn't it the string it's suspended by winding up and then unwinding that causes the weight to stop spinning and change direction? Bronte: The analogy isn't perfect, and I'm certainly not convinced the earth will change rotation in 2012. It's just a theory. I came up with the analogy and experiment simply from observing that an object at the end of a string rotates, and the earth rotates. Certainly I'm not suggesting the earth is suspended on some string. I suspect its rotation started from the force of its creation. But it's possible that things that rotate resemble other things that rotate. Hence my interest. Judy: Also, the earth's axis that it rotates around has a wobble, like a top (actually several different wobbles), which would have to mean whatever the equivalent is of what the string is attached to moves around in gigantic circles. Bronte: You can perform the same experiment with an object that wobbles (something not symetrical hanging from the pendalum). Judy: Also, I don't think there's any scientific evidence that the earth's rotation has ever reversed itself in the past. Bronte: As I said before, there is evidence in ancient texts. I know of no scientific evidence. - Don't let your dream ride pass you by.Make it a reality with Yahoo! Autos.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Duveyoung [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Judy, I'm not a scientist, but there are many reasons for a measurement to change -- usually human error is involved. That would be my first looksee at the issue. Could be something as goofy as the janitor licks the bar when no one is looking. The missing mass is equal to what a fingerprint would be composed of. Maybe someone wiped the bar especially well!!! ;-) Yeah, I think they've probably ruled that out, or the physicists wouldn't be so puzzled. They keep the thing triple-locked to prevent anyone messing with it. Mass can spontaneously dissolve -- usually it takes trillions of years though. Cosmic rays can chip off chunks of the kilogram, but why either of these processes would be affecting one bar and not the exact copies is where the mystery arises. Yes, that's my point. A hunk of molten iron flowing under the crust could alter the gravity under the measurement devices. For instance, when we landed on the moon, there were mass-cons -- concentrations of particularly heavy material -- that made for tricky navigation during the landing -- gravity's pull increases and decreases depending on what's underneath. As I understand it, they bring the copies to the location of the reference kilogram for measuring specifically to avoid that kind of thing. (Sorta like what Maharishi is saying when he says the minerals of the land determine the personality of the culture.) So, yeah, I don't know the answer, and I don't know that my reasons above are at the top of the list of possible reasons, but one thing I am certain of is that a physical cause is way more likely than an oogabooga cause. Sure it's physical, but it may be oogabooga physical, if you see what I mean, something new and different and completely unexpected that is going to make us toss out a whole lot of things we thought we knew. When Y2K loomed, I ran around like Chicken Little, and nothing happened. So, don't expect me to get anywhere near that kind of frenetic obsessiveness with a kilogram losing mass and screaming to the world that the sky is falling. Did anybody suggest you should??
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
authfriend wrote: Did anybody suggest you should?? Edg says: So, don't expect me to get anywhere near that kind of frenetic obsessiveness with a kilogram losing mass and screaming to the world that the sky is falling. No, Judy, you didn't -- it was my way of saying that although I'm interested in the loss of mass, even if it's a new understanding of physics that must be discovered, I'm not going to get all religious about it like I did for Y2K -- where I became much more social, spreading the knowledge of the danger coming, etc. I burned me once way many times, so I'm sensitiverized ya might say. On some days, yeah, maybe I could get motivated, but not today. Tomorrow I might be writing for hours about 2012 though. Me cwazzy wabbit sometimes. Edg
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Wow! That IS news! I'm no scientist but it sounds pretty freaky indeed! I don't find it unsettling though. If it's true that the planet is moving into a new age, and all of us with it, this could be part of the transformation of matter. I wonder why it's happening? So do the physicists! It's one thing to read about them finding some weird discrepancy in the rotation of a quasar, or that one of the universal constants isn't quite adding up, but this thing with the kilogram is happening right here on earth. I've read other places that the earth is slowing losing its magnetism (nothing mainstream here, but private unapproved scientists have been saying so). Maybe that's related to the kilogram thing somehow. But why would it be affecting only that single kilogram measure? Why would it be drifting apart from the others? Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl.com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Some people think the earth is losing its magnetism because it's slowing its rotation, getting ready to stop and reverse its direction on December 21, 2012. This would not cause objects to fly off the planet, they state, because gravity holds us here, not the earth's rotation. There's some evidence in ancient texts of several cultures that suggest the earth reversing rotational direction happened in the past. For instance, one scripture (I forget from where) speaks of the day the sun rose twice and another describes a period when the sun rose in the west and set in the east. authfriend [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This is downright eerie. I'm not quite sure why I find it more unsettling than most other natural mysteries that scientists are constantly stumbling across. Shrinking kilogram bewilders physicists By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 12, 5:32 PM ET A kilogram just isn't what it used to be. The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight [Not weight, mass!--JS] if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies. The mystery is that they were all made of the same material, and many were made at the same time and kept under the same conditions, and yet the masses among them are slowly drifting apart, he said. We don't really have a good hypothesis for it. The kilogram's uncertainty could affect even countries that don't use the metric system it is the ultimate weight standard for the U.S. customary system, where it equals 2.2 pounds. For scientists, the inconstant metric constant is a nuisance, threatening calculation of things like electricity generation. Read more at Yahoo News: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_sc/shrinking_kilogram http://tinyurl.com/yo6p9t The comments at Digg.com are fun: http://digg.com/general_sciences/Shrinking_Kilogram_Bewilders_Physicis ts_3 http://tinyurl.com/3492dv My favorite: Ron Paul would stop this.
Re: [FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
Bronte wrote: I've read other places that the earth is slowing losing its magnetism (nothing mainstream here, but private unapproved scientists have been saying so). Maybe that's related to the kilogram thing somehow. Judy wrote: But why would it be affecting only that single kilogram measure? Why would it be drifting apart from the others? Bronte: I see your point. I have absolutely no idea. Judy wrote: Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl. com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. Bronte: Didn't know that. Thanks! You seem quite scientifically informed, Judy. Do you do work in science for a living? Judy wrote: The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction. There is no slowing down in the process of stopping, it just stops and reverses. Maybe it's like that for the earth twirling in space -- reaching the end of whatever force sent it spinning in the first place, then experiencing the reaction to that spin in the form of reverse direction. I just tried to make a pendalum to experiment with this, to make sure I'm remembering correctly, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with. My girlfriend has a pendalum, and I've got a call in to her to ask her to spin the thing and see if it slows down prior to reversal. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is downright eerie. I'm not quite sure why I find it more unsettling than most other natural mysteries that scientists are constantly stumbling across. Shrinking kilogram bewilders physicists By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer Wed Sep 12, 5:32 PM ET A kilogram just isn't what it used to be. The 118-year-old cylinder that is the international prototype for the metric mass, kept tightly under lock and key outside Paris, is mysteriously losing weight [Not weight, mass!--JS] if ever so slightly. Physicist Richard Davis of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, southwest of Paris, says the reference kilo appears to have lost 50 micrograms compared with the average of dozens of copies. - Pinpoint customers who are looking for what you sell.
[FairfieldLife] Re: Kilogram losing mass
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Bronte Baxter [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: snip Judy wrote: Actually, that the earth is losing its magnetic field *is* mainstream; see this article on CNN.com from 2003: http://tinyurl. com/yzfv Apparently the loss has been measured since 1945. Bronte: Didn't know that. Thanks! You seem quite scientifically informed, Judy. Do you do work in science for a living? Nope, afraid not. I have a broad interest in science, but it's pretty shallow. In this case, I vaguely remembered reading something awhile back about the loss of the magnetic field in some newspaper, so I googled earth losing its magnetic field and came up with the CNN story. (Practically any headline with Mystery in it will get my attention, especially if it's a scientific mystery.) Judy wrote: The fringe aspect has to do with what the loss *means*. Most mainstream scientists don't think it necessarily means an imminent reversal of the poles, much less a reversal of the earth's rotation. (And if the earth's rotation were slowing down preparatory to stopping and reversing, it would be observable on a gross level because the length of a day would increase. If the reversal were going to happen in 2012, we would already be very well aware of it.) Bronte: I've wondered about that point myself, but how about this angle? If you take a pendalum hanging from a string and spin it, it goes a while in one direction. Then, to my recollection (I haven't done this recently), it suddenly stops, pauses a second, then starts spinning full-speed in the other direction. There is no slowing down in the process of stopping, it just stops and reverses. Maybe it's like that for the earth twirling in space -- reaching the end of whatever force sent it spinning in the first place, then experiencing the reaction to that spin in the form of reverse direction. I just tried to make a pendalum to experiment with this, to make sure I'm remembering correctly, but I don't have the right stuff to do it with. My girlfriend has a pendalum, and I've got a call in to her to ask her to spin the thing and see if it slows down prior to reversal. I've never heard this! Please let us know what you find out. Very intriguing.
