Well I do like the bit with the Moon bobbing up and down in the middle.
If Earth were a donut
- Thread starter Gingerbread Demon
- Start date
Well I do like the bit with the Moon bobbing up and down in the middle.
If Earth were a donut, we'd all be living in perpetual fear of the Coming of the Giant Coffee Cup.
I saw another one of their videos. What if the Earth stopped its rotation for 5 seconds? It wasn't pretty...
Neither was the one where Earth meets a black hole or Uranus collides with Earth
I understand the thing about atmospheric winds getting out of control, plus the oceans forming the mother of all tsunamis, but I always assumed the mere force of the Earth stopping would cause so much kinetic energy to buidl up that everything would immediately be smashed into powder. Never mind the winds...
What if the Earth stopping was gradual?
Well, Earth's rotation is slowing gradually, mainly due to tidal friction, by between 20 and 30 seconds per million years.
Yeah but if the Earth stopping scenario from the What If videos were to happen more gradually wouldn't there be less damage?
The Earth spins at about 1,668 km/h (463 m/s) at the Equator so if you wanted it to decelerate at no more than, let's say, 0.01G or 0.0981 m/s², it would take 4,719 seconds or just under one hour and 19 minutes to stop. However, the rotational energy released as heat would be enormous. The moment of inertia of the Earth (I) is 8.04×10^37 kgm² and the initial angular velocity ω is 0.00007272 rad/s so the total rotational energy released as heat would be ½Iω² or 2.13x10^29 J or the equivalent of 50 trillion one-megaton (4.18x10^15 J) bombs. That's roughly 10 billion one-megaton bombs per second.
Just think how hot brake pads get on a car.
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That would be one big ass collision.
Oh boy even after years and years Uranus jokes still make me laugh
Isn't it about time to rename it as Bumhole or Urectum?
The moon going through the centre of Donut Earth and just bobbing up and down. Well at least the view would be fun
How about Earth being hit by a Gamma Ray Burst? Would we even notice or just fry instantly?
Depends how close it is to us. A GRB emits 10^44 J over about 100 seconds typically but there is a lot of variation in time scale. Just one second's output of 10^42 J is equivalent to about 2.4x10^26 (240 septillion) one-megaton bombs. I think it's safe to assume we wouldn't have time to feel anything. One estimate for how much energy it would take to vaporise the Earth is 10^32 J (or 2.4x10^16 = 24 quadrillion one-megaton bomb equivalent) so a GRB emits enough energy to vaporise 10 billion Earths per second.
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We probably get wiped out all the time in a multiverse. Consciousness might be like a very rigged craps game.
How so?
In an infinite multiverse, literally anything is possible.
For example, there are universes where we are all having this exact conversation, but we're sitting on top of giant rockets filled with pudding and we're breathing chlorine.
For example, there are universes where we are all having this exact conversation, but we're sitting on top of giant rockets filled with pudding and we're breathing chlorine.
In an infinite multiverse, literally anything is possible.
For example, there are universes where we are all having this exact conversation, but we're sitting on top of giant rockets filled with pudding and we're breathing chlorine.
OK actually I'd agree with that.
In another universe I'm probably female yet the same person. Also in another universe like your example we have some kind of gills.
I like that episode of Sliders where Quinn Mallory meets Logan St Clare only to find out she is in fact his double in that universe
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