So I just saw 'The Core'...

[Darth Wong]

I honestly couldn't tell you. The trailer says that the core simply stopped (relative to what is another question ... if the magnetic field went away, I'd assume that they mean the core is now stationary while the rest of the Earth rotates around it).

That's what I used for my calcs, although I generously assumed 100% conversion of yield into rotational KE, which is a bit silly but which also helps illustrate the insane problems with the scenario, although I messed up the moment of inertia (I accidentally used a thin spherical shell instead of a solid sphere, so my number is roughly 1.7 times too big; not that it makes a big difference).

And yes, even inducing a small change would require energy far beyond our capability to generate.

I would still like to know what happened to the billion-plus gigatons of rotational KE that disappeared from the core in the first place

[Asst. Asst. Lt. Cmdr. Smi]

I thought the magnetic field is there because the core spins, not the other way around?

Actually, the inner core rotates because it has a magnetic field, according to an interview in the April 2003 issue of Popular Science, page 96. To stop it, you would need to get rid of the magnetic field.

[Durandal]

That's what I used for my calcs, although I generously assumed 100% conversion of yield into rotational KE, which is a bit silly but which also helps illustrate the insane problems with the scenario, although I messed up the moment of inertia (I accidentally used a thin spherical shell instead of a solid sphere, so my number is roughly 1.7 times too big; not that it makes a big difference).

Yeah, in a case like this, you can assume linear = angular because the difference between the two values is just too damn big to really matter.

I would still like to know what happened to the billion-plus gigatons of rotational KE that disappeared from the core in the first place

That's simple; it went toward halting the Excelsior in Star Trek III.

[Admiral Valdemar]

I also heard they had edited the reason the core stopped from being due to a US superweapon using S-waves to disrupt enemy locations across the globe to just being a freak of nature.

Tsk, they were supposed to show the US gov't as good for once.

[Darth Wong]

I thought the magnetic field is there because the core spins, not the other way around?

Actually, the inner core rotates because it has a magnetic field, according to an interview in the April 2003 issue of Popular Science, page 96. To stop it, you would need to get rid of the magnetic field.

No, the inner core rotates because of angular momentum. Exactly what did they say in this article?

[Durandal]

The screenwriter decided to chime in with his nonsense.

http://messages.yahoo.com/bbs?.mm=FN&ac ... 484&mid=35

I'm with you that movies like Armageddon taught crap science to kids, AND was just lazy writing. That's why I want to assure you, as someone who holds a degree in physics (granted, one I don't use much anymore...), most of the science in the movie is DEAD ON. The fluid core of the earth not only rotates, but spins faster than the earth itself. The change in this rotation is generally what's given credit for the pole shift every half-million years. It's also the engine which drives the EM field of the earth, having most of the effects described in the movie (although unfortunately not in the trailer). Most of the fluid dynamics work I did as background didn't make into the film, but the idea is that the core is at an unstable "tipping point" of stasis, and the big bang is wat we need to knock it off that point. You know, like the old "ball on a hill" example of potential energy we all learned in high school.

The ship itself, of course, couldn't exist. That's the science "fiction" part of the movie. All the elements of the ship DO however exist. The cockpit's a modified shuttle cockpit, the molecule forming the ship's skin is based on a real molecule, the video/MRI panels are based on the work of a guy I actually went to school with. The device Zimsky builds is based on research from the '40's, and even the hacker character's stunts are drawn from tales of the web underground.

Yes, some dramatic liberties are taken, and some of the disasters are a little bigger than what might happen. But that's the entertainment part of the equation. I hope you'll go and enjoy yourself when the movie opens. Even if you don't like the story, I assure you your intelligence won't be insulted.

[Darth Wong]

That's why I want to assure you, as someone who holds a degree in physics (granted, one I don't use much anymore...), most of the science in the movie is DEAD ON.

Appeal to his own authority; it might hold more weight if the movie were not so catastrophically stupid.

The fluid core of the earth not only rotates, but spins faster than the earth itself. The change in this rotation is generally what's given credit for the pole shift every half-million years.

Slight irregularities in the rotation rates of different layers within the Earth's mass do not mean it can suddenly STOP. What is this guy smoking?

It's also the engine which drives the EM field of the earth, having most of the effects described in the movie (although unfortunately not in the trailer).

The electromagnetic field of the Earth is huge but it's also weak. While it does shield us from the solar wind, pidgeons do not depend on it to avoid flying into buildings, and pacemakers do not depend on it in order to function.

Most of the fluid dynamics work I did as background didn't make into the film, but the idea is that the core is at an unstable "tipping point" of stasis, and the big bang is wat we need to knock it off that point. You know, like the old "ball on a hill" example of potential energy we all learned in high school.

Folksy analogy; the sort of thing you normally get from a creationist. What's his alma mater? Sally Struthers' correpondence school for physics? The rotation of the core is hardly metastable as he suggests; it carries enormous rotational inertia and will continue to rotate of its own accord for that simple reason.

Yes, some dramatic liberties are taken, and some of the disasters are a little bigger than what might happen. But that's the entertainment part of the equation.

No, that would be the "stupidity" part of the equation.

I hope you'll go and enjoy yourself when the movie opens. Even if you don't like the story, I assure you your intelligence won't be insulted.

Wow, does this guy actually believe what he says?

[RogueIce]

1. In the same vein, if the planet's core abruptly stopped spinning in the first place, all of this rotational kinetic energy would have to be released outwards ... through the crust of the planet. Bend over and kiss your ass goodbye.

So much stupidity ... so little time.

That's the best part about this site...not just learning, but some funny lines mixed into it, so your eyes don't *totally* glaze over...

(Note: This wasn't Item 1 in his post, but it's just the way it went when I took out the rest of it)

[Admiral Valdemar]

I do enjoy it when they butcher science. I have long given up educating the masses and so will simply resort to pointing out their errors as amusement for myself when they take films as fact.

[Pu-239]

Eh, big deal. I have lost all confidence in the intelligence of the average american, including myself.

[Montcalm]

I do enjoy it when they butcher science. I have long given up educating the masses and so will simply resort to pointing out their errors as amusement for myself when they take films as fact.

You meen wats apening in de movee is unposible

On a serious note Hollywood would`nt know how to make a scientificaly accurate movie.

[Durandal]

On a serious note Hollywood would`nt know how to make a scientificaly accurate movie.

As much as I like bashing Hollywood for being the artsy-fartsy, scientifically-ignorant morons that they mostly are, this isn't true. The writers of Deep Impact got a board of real, degree-holding professional scientists to tell them exactly what the consequences of an asteroid strike would be, how far in advance we'd have to know about it to prevent it, what kind of shuttle would be required to stop it and everything like that. They even got them to go over the scenes they'd written. Some dramatic liberties were taken, but the film was pretty accurate, for the most part.

I don't really know why everyone hated it so much; I liked it a lot. Much better than that piece of shit that was Armageddon.

[RogueIce]

As much as I like bashing Hollywood for being the artsy-fartsy, scientifically-ignorant morons that they mostly are, this isn't true. The writers of Deep Impact got a board of real, degree-holding professional scientists to tell them exactly what the consequences of an asteroid strike would be, how far in advance we'd have to know about it to prevent it, what kind of shuttle would be required to stop it and everything like that. They even got them to go over the scenes they'd written. Some dramatic liberties were taken, but the film was pretty accurate, for the most part.

I don't really know why everyone hated it so much; I liked it a lot. Much better than that piece of shit that was Armageddon.

Thing I remember from Deep Impact is that they had TIME to prepare. It's not like they looked up and said, "Oh, big astroid incoming. Fuck!" They had time to do shelters and evacuations and that last ditch effort thing.

Armageddon, if IIRC, did not provide that much time for them. It was far more rapid.

[Durandal]

That's why Armageddon was so fucking stupid. With a paltry 18 days advanced warning, we'd all be fucked. The way the situation was handled in Deep Impact was much more believable.

[Darth Wong]

Why is it that I can't hear the name "Deep Impact" and not think of porno?

[XaLEv]

Why is it that I can't hear the name "Deep Impact" and not think of porno?

Because you're Wong?

[RogueIce]

Why is it that I can't hear the name "Deep Impact" and not think of porno?

As XaLEv said, because you're Wong?

And what about "The Core"? Did you think THAT was porno?

What about "Wild Things"...oh, wait, that WAS porno...or SHOULD have been, damn it!

[Durandal]

Why is it that I can't hear the name "Deep Impact" and not think of porno?

Because you took a thread about cigarette smoking and turned it into an anal sex discussion.

[RogueIce]

Why is it that I can't hear the name "Deep Impact" and not think of porno?

Because you took a thread about cigarette smoking and turned it into an anal sex discussion.

To be fair, that was BllkBrry, or whatever it is. Wong merely added fuel to the fire.