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Tonight will be the longest night in Earth's history
msn news ^
| Decembe 21, 2014
| Joseph Stromberg
Posted on 12/21/2014 10:48:25 AM PST by LucyT
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To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
By day I mean the hours and minutes of light.
61
posted on
12/21/2014 3:11:58 PM PST
by
Lurkina.n.Learnin
(It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
To: smokingfrog
Move all the fat people to the polar regions and the earth will slow down. Actually, if you moved a huge mass to the EQUATOR it would slow down the Earth's rotation - in theory.
62
posted on
12/21/2014 3:12:52 PM PST
by
Henchster
(Free Republic - the BEST site on the web!)
To: KC_Lion
O. Noes! It will be all the way down to 70 on Christmas day!!
63
posted on
12/21/2014 3:42:59 PM PST
by
luvie
(All my heroes wear camos! Thank you David, Michael, Chris, Txradioguy, JJ, CMS, & ALL Vets, too!)
To: LucyT
Does this mean it will also be the longest day in history NEXT year?
64
posted on
12/21/2014 3:47:36 PM PST
by
GOPJ
(Once the tiger claws you, the worst response is to pull his tail... freeper IronJack)
To: Henchster
I think you’re right — I got it backwards.
65
posted on
12/21/2014 5:14:23 PM PST
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
66
posted on
12/21/2014 5:21:37 PM PST
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: Lurkina.n.Learnin
67
posted on
12/21/2014 5:23:00 PM PST
by
smokingfrog
( sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
To: LucyT
Every year, scientists estimate, the length of a day increases by about 15 to 25 millionths of a second.Good. I could use the extra sleep.
68
posted on
12/21/2014 5:23:57 PM PST
by
Texas Eagle
(If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
To: LucyT
Every year, scientists estimate, the length of a day increases by about 15 to 25 millionths of a second.What do you mean they "estimate"? You mean the science isn't even settled on THIS?
Why don't they take a vote and come up with a consensus.
69
posted on
12/21/2014 5:25:02 PM PST
by
Texas Eagle
(If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
To: smokingfrog
Thanks. I always look forward to when the days are getting longer.
70
posted on
12/21/2014 5:55:54 PM PST
by
Lurkina.n.Learnin
(It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
To: Velveeta
71
posted on
12/21/2014 5:59:28 PM PST
by
hoosiermama
(Obama: "Born in Kenya" Lying now or then or now)
To: LucyT
With what we’ve got in the White House and congress, you could see this striding down Main Street with a neon sign on its head.
To: LucyT
I really miss that 25ths of a millisecond of sleep from last year
73
posted on
12/21/2014 8:40:02 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
To: LucyT
How far in the future would we have to go to get 25 hour days
74
posted on
12/21/2014 8:40:58 PM PST
by
GeronL
(Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
To: LucyT
Yeah, but the earth is being pulled closer and closer to the sun which means the years will go by quicker even though the days are longer.
This is one gigantic cosmic bait-and-switch.
Stupid solar system.
75
posted on
12/21/2014 8:45:02 PM PST
by
Texas Eagle
(If it wasn't for double-standards, Liberals would have no standards at all -- Texas Eagle)
To: LucyT
76
posted on
12/21/2014 8:49:54 PM PST
by
Chaguito
To: LucyT
The special mirrors placed on the moon by the Apollo missions causes a laser beamed to them to be reflected right back. That allows precise measurements of how
the moon is moving away from the Earth. It's about 1-2 cm per year. This motion occurs as the Earth slows down because angular momentum is conserved.
77
posted on
12/21/2014 10:26:08 PM PST
by
Nateman
(If liberals are not screaming you are doing it wrong!)
To: Chaguito; Old Sarge; Mossad1967; brucecw; EnigmaticAnomaly; KylaStarr; Califreak; kalee; ...
![](http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=HN.608020344190666468&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0)
"Correction: the longest day was in 1912."
" http://www.vox.com/2014/12/21/7424371/winter-solstice and links therein.
"Since then, they have gotten shorter because of global warming or something."
From the article:
Correction: The article below said that, due to the rotation of the Earth gradually slowing down over time, this winter solstice would feature the longest night ever.
I got this wrong. The Earth's rotation is gradually slowing on an extremely long timescale, but on a shorter year-to-year basis, geologic factors can alter the speed as well.
Data indicates that the rotation speed has actually sped up slightly over the past forty years (likely due to melting of ice at the poles and the resulting redistribution of the Earth's mass), and before that, the trend was up-and-down for most of the 20th century so, as far as we know, the longest night in Earth's history likely occurred in 1912. I apologize for the error. Thanks to Steve Allen and Ryan Hardy for pointing it out.
Thank you for the update, Chaguito. FreeRepublic strives for accuracy.
Also check out # 77.
78
posted on
12/22/2014 9:39:58 PM PST
by
LucyT
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