Geomagnetic flip may not be random after all

PhysicsWeb ^ | 21 March 2006 | Belle Dumé

[RightWhale]

Nevermind the 800 mph wind, it will be over in a few hours.

[edsheppa]

The headline is misleading - reversals are still random, according to these physicists, just a different kind of randomness from what was throught before.

Also, the article contains an error

A good example of the Poisson distribution in physics is the likelihood of unstable radioactive nuclei decaying in a certain period.

No, that's an exponential distribution. The number of nuclei expected to decay in a given interval, e.g. in a second, would follow a Poisson distribution. That is, the exponential distribution of waiting times induces a Poisson distribution in the number of decays per period of time.

[MediaMole]

Are the Carolinas and the Dakotas gonna have to swap first names?

No, just their wives.

Are the guys in Alabama gonna have to start saying "Save yer Confederate money, boys, the North shall rise again"?

They will have to call each other Yankees. ...and grits will be replaced with Cream of Wheat.

Are my terlits gonna start swirling another direction?

They may not flush at all -- although that's an EPA problem.

[freedumb2003]

While the earth's mag field is flipping, it may have two north poles and no south pole.

But they will try to pass legislation to have them looked at the same as a north pole and south pole.

[itsamelman]

"Sho, who shtole ther fargin truck?"


.

[InShanghai]

"...the disruption to the Earth's magnetic field could expose the Earth to hazardous cosmic rays -- a scenario that some researchers have linked to mass extinction events..."

Hmmm.... Seems "global warming" could be attributed to this "phenomena", but no envirowhacko or scientist seems to want to take into consideration the effects of that great gaseous-magnetic ball of fire 7 light minutes away from the earth... It would ruin their chances to make a buck.

[BIGLOOK]

So.....will this interrupt another World Series?

If a magnetic pole ends up in Mexico City, will this solve the illegal immigration problem?

[RHINO369]

If I remember correctly there cannot be only a north pole. For every North there must be a south, however there could alot of norths and Souths.

[JRios1968]

This could be HUGH and SERIES!

[RightWhale]

The earth's mag field is not so simple. There will be two north poles while the mag field is flipping. One will be roughly where the north pole is now, the other will be somewhere in the equatorial region. There will be no south pole, but kind of a diffuse southness all around,

[JRios1968]

Aren't the Van Allen Belts magnetic in nature?

Looks like his guitar picks are...

[RHINO369]

OK that makes sense to me. I figure the mag field changing slowly is BETTER for us, because if it changed real fast wouldn't that induce a large current in all electronic devices?

[F16Fighter]

"While the earth's mag field is flipping, it may have two north poles and no south pole. We are not dealing with a couple of scotty magnets."

OR, wouldn't there be temporary north and south poles randomly placed at certain junctures of the earth depending on the time-lapse of the so-called "flipping"?

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

Prevent global magnetization!

[RightWhale]

The transition could take years, maybe thousands of years.

[RightWhale]

It will get kind of hard to identify any poles (depolarized) at all, the field will be weak and swirling, then settle into the opposite from now and polarize again.

[JRios1968]

Wow...56 posts and not a single Pole joke yet!

[RHINO369]

Hmm I was just thinking that wouldn't the lack of a uniform field drastically reduce the shielding we get from radiation? My nuclear power engineering professor quickly explained that the mag field deflects alot of particles, and the lack of a martian mag field makes life there almost impossible.

[RightWhale]

Not really a problem on the ground. Not much would get through the atmosphere anyway. Might be a problem in space where there is effective natural shielding in LEO.

[festus]

I ate some bad chili one time that caused me to experience a polar reversal. I sure don't wish that on anyone much less the whole world.