Earth's core

[Curufea]

Re: Earth's core

 

And you people laughed at The Core! Shame on you!

 

It was more because the movie was BAD than any other reason

 

Lower magnetic field during transition = higher incidence of cosmic radiation = more cancer. That's my guess anyway.

 

As to magnetic direction - most major transport for the over-civilised part of the world uses GPS anyway.

[theltemes]

Re: Earth's core

 

It was more because the movie was BAD than any other reason

 

As a nuclear engineer, my favorite part was when they needed to increase the yield of the last bomb. The solution? Take out the core of the power reactor and chuck it into the compartment with the last bomb...

 

for those of you unfamiliar with bomb or reactor physics, that whole scene was just wrong on sooooo many levels!

[McCoy]

Re: Earth's core

 

As a nuclear engineer, my favorite part was when they needed to increase the yield of the last bomb. The solution? Take out the core of the power reactor and chuck it into the compartment with the last bomb...

 

for those of you unfamiliar with bomb or reactor physics, that whole scene was just wrong on sooooo many levels!

Wow. I must have been dozing by that part, I didn't even catch that. From my limited knowledge of physics, this would be roughly like "We need to make the fire hotter. Alcohol burns, lets pour beer on the fire!"

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Earth's core

 

As a nuclear engineer, my favorite part was when they needed to increase the yield of the last bomb. The solution? Take out the core of the power reactor and chuck it into the compartment with the last bomb...

 

for those of you unfamiliar with bomb or reactor physics, that whole scene was just wrong on sooooo many levels!

I'm not a nuclear engineer, but I knew better. My friend Charley is a nuclear engineer, really laughed at that one.

[Curufea]

Re: Earth's core

 

What annoyed me in Ocean's Eleven was the tech guy not dieing after letting off his experiment EMP.

 

As to The Core - saw it once, emminently forgettable. I just remember that everyone you expect to die, does so - exactly when you expect them to.

[Duke Bushido]

Re: Earth's core

 

So am I gonna need new fridge magnets or something?

 

:thinking:

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Earth's core

 

So am I gonna need new fridge magnets or something?

Well...no.

[theltemes]

Re: Earth's core

 

What annoyed me in Ocean's Eleven was the tech guy not dieing after letting off his experiment EMP.

 

Yeah, that was pretty funny too. I know some guys who work on Sandia's Z-Pinch project. That thing is housed in a room the size of a hockey rink. The experiment has to sit for several hours before the radiation decays enough for it to be safe enough for anyone to enter the room after the shot goes off.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Earth's core

 

So am I gonna need new fridge magnets or something?

 

:thinking:

 

No. You'll just need to turn your refrigerator 180 degrees.

[Captain Obvious]

Re: Earth's core

 

What annoyed me in Ocean's Eleven was the tech guy not dieing after letting off his experiment EMP.

 

As to The Core - saw it once, emminently forgettable. I just remember that everyone you expect to die, does so - exactly when you expect them to.

 

I didn't exactly go into Ocean's Eleven expecting a strict adherence to realism. It looked like more of a "romp" movie to me.

[austenandrews]

Re: Earth's core

 

Yeah' date=' that was pretty funny too. I know some guys who work on Sandia's Z-Pinch project. That thing is housed in a room the size of a hockey rink. The experiment has to sit for several hours before the radiation decays enough for it to be safe enough for anyone to enter the room after the shot goes off.[/quote']

A similar error cropped up in the last season of 24. An evil corporation had an EMP device inside their building, used as a last resort to wipe incriminating evidence from their computers. (Talk about overkill!) Naturally it went off with Our Hero right next to it, with no lasting effects. At least it was big and loud and painful. Hollywood's usual idea of EMP is a magic invisible wave, unobstructed by anything whatsoever, that only effects electronic devices (like dogs and an ultrasonic whistle).

 

However, I enjoyed The Core for the cheesy pulp sci-fi it was. I took it in the same manner as Red Planet - a modern version of "golden age" SF that romanticized science more than understanding it. I appreciate flicks that glorify scientists sitting around working on mathematical calculations. How many adventure films make reference to the right hand rule, as evidence of incompetence no less? That stuff pushes my geek buttons.

[austenandrews]

Re: Earth's core

 

No. You'll just need to turn your refrigerator 180 degrees.

He may need to turn it upside down, too. Let me work it out using the right hand rule...

[Cancer]

Re: Earth's core

 

Cancer' date=' Dr. Anomaly, theltemes, you're right and I was wrong, 38 mm a year it us, which is a lot of force! If we could somehow tap that stream, no need to worry about imported oil.[/quote']

 

Strictly speaking, it is tappable: there have been experiments in tidal power generation, though I don't think they've gone very far. In principle, if you can set up a situation where water has a large tidal flow, then a hydroelectric dam sort of situation could be installed. The engineering problems are nontrivial and we won't even think about the environmental ones....

 

What you're doing in that case really is tapping the rotational kinetic energy of the Earth, which is coupled (weakly) to the orbital K.E. of the Moon. Also, that means that the power output of the station will quite literally depend on the phase of the Moon. The reason for the spin-down of Earth and recession of the Moon is the energy is dissipated by flexing the material in Earth (and to a much lesser extent, the Moon, because it reached minimum-energy configuration long ago). When water moves (and rock flexes), you get friction. The Earth's rotation slows down, but to conserve angular momentum the Moon drifts outward. Ultimately, the Earth will keep one face permanently locked toward the Moon, like the Moon has one face permanently locked towards the Earth.

 

This is all related to a truly awful pun that I get to deliver in my courses (and one which is appreciated more in the Catholic university I now teach at): Tidal locking is the final absolution of Original Spin.

[McCoy]

Re: Earth's core

 

This is all related to a truly awful pun that I get to deliver in my courses (and one which is appreciated more in the Catholic university I now teach at): Tidal locking is the final absolution of Original Spin.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Cancer again."

[Dr. Anomaly]

Re: Earth's core

 

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Cancer again."

He's on the list for me to rep him tomorrow.