Re: Magnetic Pole Reversal Happens All the (Geologic) Time

The common prediction of what happens is that the magnetic field fades away in a very short time and then pops back on but with the poles opposite. It should be happening any day now.... or some time in the next few thou8sand years. If the magnetic field is "down" for any length of time a "die off" would show up in the record. The magnetosphere protects from the solar winds and all that comes along with them.

That said, don't forget to laugh your ass off on December 13, 2012.

First,Kim and Kris split up,and now this.How could things get any worse?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/2011 01:00AM by grant1.

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eeek
That said, don't forget to laugh your ass off on December 13, 2012.

I will. It's a sad comment on our society that anyone would actually believe that stuff. I guess I expect too much. I actually believed the 21st century would be a bit more advanced.

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Dave
I actually believed the 21st century would be a bit more advanced.

Where's my jet pack?

I miss the good ol days when the earth was flat and everything revolved around us.

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chick-on
I miss the good ol days when the earth was flat and everything revolved around us.

They had to change that. It made the people on the other planets dizzy with all those epicycles.

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Dave

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eeek
That said, don't forget to laugh your ass off on December 13, 2012.

I will. It's a sad comment on our society that anyone would actually believe that stuff. I guess I expect too much. I actually believed the 21st century would be a bit more advanced.

You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

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mbear
You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

That is very sad, but from what I hear, not uncommon for Texas.

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Dave

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mbear
You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

That is very sad, but from what I hear, not uncommon for Texas.

That's actually science in Texas.

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Old Dude

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mrcondron

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Dave

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mbear
You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

That is very sad, but from what I hear, not uncommon for Texas.

That's actually science in Texas.

Hard to believe we have maybe the greatest living physicist in Weinberg at UT. I'm surprised Rick Perry hasn't had him tried as a witch yet.

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mbear

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mrcondron

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Dave

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mbear
You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

That is very sad, but from what I hear, not uncommon for Texas.

That's actually science in Texas.

Hard to believe we have maybe the greatest living physicist in Weinberg at UT. I'm surprised Rick Perry hasn't had him tried as a witch yet.

I have two sons in Houston. One educated at Cornell and the other at Stanford. Both are shall we say a bit right of center. It will be an interesting Christmas visit this year what with what has been going on on that side of brain function spectrum.
(Did this come out right?)

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Old Dude

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mbear
Hard to believe we have maybe the greatest living physicist in Weinberg at UT. I'm surprised Rick Perry hasn't had him tried as a witch yet.

That's assuming Perry even knows there are any living physicists in Texas, and that's assuming Perry knows what a physicist is.

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mbear

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Dave

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eeek
That said, don't forget to laugh your ass off on December 13, 2012.

I will. It's a sad comment on our society that anyone would actually believe that stuff. I guess I expect too much. I actually believed the 21st century would be a bit more advanced.

You want sad... a couple of years ago I went to a star party (an event where they let the public come look through a 36" telescope) at McDonald Observatory in West Texas and since the sky was cloudy that night a physicist there gave a Q&A session instead. I kid you not: half the questions were about 2012.

At our next Astronomy Days event at the N.C. Museum of Natural Science we are thinking of having a display titled "Astronomy Mythbusters", which of course will devote considerable time to debunking the 2012 scare nonsense.

With approximately 93% of the US population still believing in super natural superstitions (i.e., god), what do expect?

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Dave

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eeek
That said, don't forget to laugh your ass off on December 13, 2012.

I will. It's a sad comment on our society that anyone would actually believe that stuff. I guess I expect too much. I actually believed the 21st century would be a bit more advanced.

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LVRAY
With approximately 93% of the US population still believing in super natural superstitions (i.e., god), what do expect?

I expect a lot more. Recent polls have put the number of non believers near 15% - and growing.

Yes, true, but it depends in part on how the question is worded. People are more likely to say yes to having 'no religious belief or no religious affiliation' then they are to admitting they are an atheist. Having no religious belief or no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean you are a full atheist. But at least the trend seems to be in the right direction.

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Dave

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LVRAY
With approximately 93% of the US population still believing in super natural superstitions (i.e., god), what do expect?

I expect a lot more. Recent polls have put the number of non believers near 15% - and growing.

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LVRAY
Yes, true, but it depends in part on how the question is worded. People are more likely to say yes to having 'no religious belief or no religious affiliation' then they are to admitting they are an atheist. Having no religious belief or no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean you are a full atheist. But at least the trend seems to be in the right direction.

That's only because so many people are using the wrong definition of Atheism. An Atheist is simply one that lacks a belief in a god or gods. No statement need be made, nothing denied, or anything like that, just a lack of belief. As more Atheists come out of the closet, the term will be better known and more will follow.

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Dave

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LVRAY
Yes, true, but it depends in part on how the question is worded. People are more likely to say yes to having 'no religious belief or no religious affiliation' then they are to admitting they are an atheist. Having no religious belief or no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean you are a full atheist. But at least the trend seems to be in the right direction.

That's only because so many people are using the wrong definition of Atheism. An Atheist is simply one that lacks a belief in a god or gods. No statement need be made, nothing denied, or anything like that, just a lack of belief. As more Atheists come out of the closet, the term will be better known and more will follow.

Good reading on the topic: http://www.ske-art.com/skestuff9/0618918248

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eeek
Good reading on the topic: http://www.ske-art.com/skestuff9/0618918248

I have the Kindle version.

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eeek

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Dave

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LVRAY
Yes, true, but it depends in part on how the question is worded. People are more likely to say yes to having 'no religious belief or no religious affiliation' then they are to admitting they are an atheist. Having no religious belief or no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean you are a full atheist. But at least the trend seems to be in the right direction.

That's only because so many people are using the wrong definition of Atheism. An Atheist is simply one that lacks a belief in a god or gods. No statement need be made, nothing denied, or anything like that, just a lack of belief. As more Atheists come out of the closet, the term will be better known and more will follow.

Good reading on the topic: http://www.ske-art.com/skestuff9/0618918248

Dang, I thought you were going to link us to dehydrated water again! Bet you could sell that to the religious right if you put the word "holy" in the description. They love new science. They even create their own sometimes.

It is one of the reasons, but not the only reason. But yes, atheism is poorly understood bya majority of people.

Dawkin's speach on militant atheism is also worth a watch:
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

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Dave

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LVRAY
Yes, true, but it depends in part on how the question is worded. People are more likely to say yes to having 'no religious belief or no religious affiliation' then they are to admitting they are an atheist. Having no religious belief or no religious affiliation does not necessarily mean you are a full atheist. But at least the trend seems to be in the right direction.

That's only because so many people are using the wrong definition of Atheism. An Atheist is simply one that lacks a belief in a god or gods. No statement need be made, nothing denied, or anything like that, just a lack of belief. As more Atheists come out of the closet, the term will be better known and more will follow.

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LVRAY
It is one of the reasons, but not the only reason. But yes, atheism is poorly understood bya majority of people.

Dawkin's speach on militant atheism is also worth a watch:
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

I haven't seen that speech yet, I'll bookmark it for later, but the usual definition of a "militant Atheist" is an Atheist that won't sit quietly in the corner and allow someone elses religious beliefs to be forced on him.

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Dave

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LVRAY
It is one of the reasons, but not the only reason. But yes, atheism is poorly understood bya majority of people.

Dawkin's speach on militant atheism is also worth a watch:
http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_dawkins_on_militant_atheism.html

I haven't seen that speech yet, I'll bookmark it for later, but the usual definition of a "militant Atheist" is an Atheist that won't sit quietly in the corner and allow someone elses religious beliefs to be forced on him.

Yeah, militant atheist usually means someone who points out the idea that it's ridiculous for a virgin to have a kid or for someone to survive his own death. Apparently you're not supposed to have a reason for not being a Christian.

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mbear
Yeah, militant atheist usually means someone who points out the idea that it's ridiculous for a virgin to have a kid or for someone to survive his own death. Apparently you're not supposed to have a reason for not being a Christian.

I've been a militant Atheist since I was kicked out of catholic school, in the second grade, for being an "incorrigible Atheist." If dealing with reality makes me a "militant," then so be it.

To be fair, there are many fine people out there that just happen to be Christians. They would accept the scientific findings of magnetic pole reversal and accept that evolution is a fact. It's the extremist christians that cause all the ruckus.That's why we need to get science out there to the people. We need to get them to understand how science determines stuff like magnetic pole reversals. That's why we need to bring Texas into the 20th century... they're not ready for the 21st.

Getting back to the original subject, I'm surprised that this magnetic reversal purportedly happens quickly enough to prevent damaging distortion to the protective magnetosphere. This has got to happen pretty quickly to protect life from the damaging effects of solar radiation.