Quake May Have Altered Earth's Rotation

Drudge Report ^ | 12/27/04 | Matt Drudge

[wagglebee]

May have shortened the day by 3 microseconds, said gravity expert Richard Gross of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena... On premise a slab slid into core, Gross said he's done calculations 'to see what effect this (earthquake) should have had.' The result: A day shortened... 'We won't know for weeks,' said a geophysicist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'So it's a guess, as of now'...

[wagglebee]

3 microseconds!!!
I was wondering why I didn't have time to get everything done yesterday!

[MontanaBeth]

I thought my alarm went off earlier then normal today.

[Indy Pendance]

Dang, does that mean my birthday will be earlier than tomorrow?

[aynrandfreak]

Are they saying that it moved the Earth three microseconds worth of time ahead in its rotation/revolution?

[bayourod]

So what are you trying to tell me? That I have to buy a new watch? Suspicious timing coming just after Christmas when most great Americans got at least one watch for Christmas.

[repinwi]

Time flies

[carlr]

Can we do away with leap year now?

[CindyDawg]

Sounds like nothing but is it significant?

[WestVirginiaRebel]

This will be a doozy of an excuse to show up late for work...

[LisaMalia]

That's 3 less microseconds that I have to spend at work tomorrow......

[BigSkyFreeper]

ROFL

[Jorge]

Sounds like nothing but is it significant?

I believe a "micro" is a millionth.
So slowing the earth's rotation bt 3 microseconds means that in a million years a day will be 3 seconds shorter.

We should all be very worried about this.

[patton]

ow

[Skywarner]

I question the timing...

[wagglebee]

Sounds like nothing but is it significant?

In the face of massive devestation and 22,000 deaths, 3 MICROseconds seems quite insignificant.

[Jorge]

I meant 3 seconds LONGER :)

[CindyDawg]

Not about the time but penatrating the core and make a tiny , slight change to a perfect machine. That kind of stuff.

[RtWngr]

"That's 3 less microseconds that I have to spend at work tomorrow......"

That's 3 microseconds earlier that you have to be at work - don't be late!

[BIGLOOK]

This post took 15,000 microseconds. I'm noticeably slower.

[airborne]

I caught that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[Bush_Democrat]

Does this mean the sky is falling?????

[BigSkyFreeper]

It'll be more than made up when the next leap second is accounted for in Boulder, CO.

[musical_airman]

I think I hear Franken and Moore saying it's my fault already......

[HamiltonJay]

The days have been lengthening as the earth has aged, if it did speed up by a few milliseconds it will lose it again with time.

[longtermmemmory]

relax, you can buy a few kyoto protocol credits and speed that puppy right back up.

(/s)

[Indy Pendance]

Thanks, it's my 25th annual 21st....

[umgud]

At the rate we spend money (US budget), this could be hugh.

[Indy Pendance]

We can us the Russian calender again!

[P.O.E.]

Does this mean some bits of earth slide into an empty pocket, thus making the surface area smaller? Or did it just shudder back a bit in its rotation? In other words, 3 microseconds a year, or just a one-shot deal?

[CindyDawg]

I wasn't making lite of all these people dying. It's just hard to imagine that someone makes a living measuring seconds and I just wondered if there was more to this than at first seen.

[Jorge]

Not about the time but penatrating the core and make a tiny , slight change to a perfect machine. That kind of stuff.

The core will be fine.

Of course that's just my opinion.

[Petronski]

Three microseconds!!!

My souffle was ruined!

[BIGLOOK]

My God , I hadn't thought of that. My credit card payment is late!

[KneelBeforeZod]

.driew os gnileef neeb ev'I yhw eb tsum tahT

[wagglebee]

I wasn't attacking you.
I find it absurd that a highly-educated scientist, who is no doubt highly paid and gets piles of money in grants, has nothing better to do than figure out where 3 microseconds went.

[McGavin999]

So.....am I older or younger? Let's put this thing into perspective.

[poindexter]

" I believe a "micro" is a millionth. "

Sorry, but you're off by a factor of 1000. "Micro" means 1/1000. Still, 1000 times almost nothing is still almost nothing! ;-)

[tang-soo]

Now this one must have been a real doozy!

1) In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, "This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover."

2) Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD , 3 "Remember, O LORD , how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

3) Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the LORD came to him: 4) "Go back and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, 'This is what the LORD , the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the LORD . 6) I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.' "

7) Then Isaiah said, "Prepare a poultice of figs." They did so and applied it to the boil, and he recovered.

8) Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, "What will be the sign that the LORD will heal me and that I will go up to the temple of the LORD on the third day from now?"

9) Isaiah answered, "This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?"

10) "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," said Hezekiah. "Rather, have it go back ten steps."

11) Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the LORD , and the LORD made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.

2 Kings chapter 20:1-11

[Strategerist]

I think you'd be greatly surprised at how little the average scientist outside of industry is paid.

[IYAAYAS]

Does this mean the rotational velocity of the planet sped up? We "lost" 3usec. The days are now that much shorter, Wow.
The numerical time value for day, month and year are different now. Obviously since "year" has changed, so has "light year", and with it the speed of light has changed. The earthquake was punishment for violating the laws of physics. I r smart.

[LisaMalia]

Lisa (in her fantasies) to President Bush: Ummmm, need some help with straighting that tie, Mr. President?

Apologies to Laura for my lusty thoughts!

[wagglebee]

I have a feeling that a "gravity expert" at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is paid pretty well.

[griffin]

musta had a significant chunk-o-mass move a little closer to the earth's core. Assuming that nothin' moved out further as a result, and using conservation of angular momentum, we just speed up a little. Just think of a figure skater spinning....when she pulls in her arms she rotates faster.

[azhenfud]

Darned bills will come due sooner!

[KneelBeforeZod]

If you had a space ship travelling at the speed of light, and turned on the headlights, would they do anything?

[harrowup]

I thought my alarm went off earlier then normal today.

This is a very serious development for the conservatives and a disaster for the Republicans.

Slowing the rotation of the earth will lessen gravity and all you lightheaded conservatives will loose touch with the ground and all you brainless Republicans will fall off entirely.

You may now proceed with your normal duties.

[Captain Peter Blood]

Looks like it's time to watch the movie "The Core " again just in case so we know what has to be done.

[airborne]

I'll be 22 on Jan 8 (times 2)

[griffin]

Maybe God's way of correcting the aim for that asteroid...instead of hitting hitting in the red states, He's aimin' at San Fran in 2029??

[wagglebee]

LOL!