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Study: Kansas Is Flatter Than a Pancake
Yahoo! ^ | Monday, July 28, 2003 | The Associated Press

Posted on 07/28/2003 4:08:48 PM PDT by Willie Green

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Scientists have confirmed what many cross-country motorists long have suspected: Kansas is flatter than a pancake.

A study published recently in the tongue-in-cheek Annals of Improbable Research compares the geography of Kansas to that of a griddle cake purchased at International House of Pancakes.

"Simply put, our results show that Kansas is considerably flatter than a pancake," wrote the researchers from Southwest Texas State University and Arizona State University.

Blame Brandon Vogt, a doctoral student at Arizona State University, for the topic. Three researchers were eating breakfast when the talk turned to how flat their pancakes really were.

Vogt suggested comparing the pancake to Kansas. While a student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Vogt made frequent trips across the state on Interstate 70 to visit friends in Columbia, Mo.

"It's flatness — there's nothing to see, nowhere to stop," Vogt said.

The researchers used a confocal laser microscope to map the terrain of a flapjack. And then, they compared that data to elevation data for Kansas from the U.S. Geological Survey.

The researchers discovered the pancake is much bumpier than it first appears.

Not everyone is buying into the research.

"My guess is you could put Colorado in there, the way they're calculating it, and it would be flatter than a pancake," said Lee Allison, director of the Kansas Geological Survey. "I think this is part of a vast breakfast food conspiracy to denigrate Kansas. It's a cheap shot."


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Kansas
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To: cmsgop
Tapps. The park on the north end.
41 posted on 07/28/2003 7:25:49 PM PDT by djf
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To: Willie Green
And they needed to spend grant money to figure this out?
42 posted on 07/28/2003 7:27:40 PM PDT by mathluv
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To: BnBlFlag
Yeah, but all those trees get in the way. Give me West TX anytime.
43 posted on 07/28/2003 7:30:35 PM PDT by mathluv
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To: TomB
(Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Kansas' "highest peak" is 1000 feet HIGHER than Pennsylvania's )

My brother worked a winter in the midwest years ago...being from the foothill area of California, he got a kick out of how the locals there would break out their slalom skis when a dog pooped and it snowed shortly thereafter...

44 posted on 07/28/2003 7:32:22 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (Bumperootus!)
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To: djf
Damm, I was gonna say that! Great Pic BTW. I remember in '97 I was renting a house on Lake Sammamish I had the same view in summer, only farther.....LOL!!!!
45 posted on 07/28/2003 7:33:32 PM PDT by cmsgop (If you Spinkle When You Tinkle,...Be a Sweetie and Wipe the Seatie......)
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To: djf
Now dif, you're showing off with Mt. Rainier again!
46 posted on 07/28/2003 7:34:55 PM PDT by Libertina
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To: rwfromkansas
The highest point in Florida is less than 400 ft. Elevation. It is in Northern Walton County.

Actually the area is fairly hilly although obviously not mountainous.

I suspect the lowest point in Kansas is higher than that.

I once lived in Dodge City, and there is some contour even on the plains. In fact less than 30 miles N of Dodge is some very pretty country around Jetmore.

47 posted on 07/28/2003 7:35:37 PM PDT by yarddog
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To: rwfromkansas
And there is nothing flatter than the High Plains around Lubbock, Texas -- God's pool table.
48 posted on 07/28/2003 7:37:08 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
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To: frodolives
"The only way to really tell would be to pour Mrs. Butterworth's syrup all over Kansas and see how much runs into Colorado and Nebraska."

Dooya know why Kansas can never win at football?

The state's so damn flat that when the Nebraska recruiters jack up the northern edge of the state looking for any Cornhuskers who might've fallen through the crack, all the football players roll south into Oklahoma.

49 posted on 07/28/2003 7:42:35 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: IGNORANCE ON PARADE.)
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To: StriperSniper
Hey! Don't bogart that, pass it here. ;-)

"You know what I want to hear."
"No, I don't."
"You played it for her, you can play it for me."
"Well, I don't think I can remember -"
"If she can stand it, I can. Play it."


50 posted on 07/28/2003 7:44:26 PM PDT by Riley
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To: Libertina
We have to show it off. There's only three months a year you can see it.
51 posted on 07/28/2003 7:54:51 PM PDT by djf
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To: djf
We have to show it off. There's only three months a year you can see it.
LOL
 
Love your backyard!  I'm heading to Colorado the end of the week, I always hope the sky is clear when I land, just to see those Mtns jutting up out of the plain is a beautiful sight.

52 posted on 07/28/2003 8:53:51 PM PDT by united1000 ("Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves." Lincoln)
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To: ErnBatavia
My brother worked a winter in the midwest years ago...being from the foothill area of California, he got a kick out of how the locals there would break out their slalom skis when a dog pooped and it snowed shortly thereafter...

I went to school in Indiana, and to get to go skiing you had to go WAY north into Mighigan, and even then it was just a hill. Nothing like looking out at the top of the hill and seeing miles of CORNFIELDS.

53 posted on 07/29/2003 3:34:27 AM PDT by TomB
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To: rwfromkansas
I liked the airport. Its size is just right.
54 posted on 07/29/2003 5:41:57 AM PDT by VRWC_minion (Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and most are right)
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To: TomB
Kansas' "highest peak" is 1000 feet HIGHER than Pennsylvania's

As a current resident of Kansas and native of Pennsylvania, I would say you are correct. I live one mile west of the KS/MO border at the low end of the state and the elevation here is 1066 feet. Crossing Kansas to Colorado, the elevation gradually rises to over 4000 feet. Mt. Sunflower is not far from the Colorado border and we pass it on our way to Colorado Springs after leaving I-70 at Oakley. What a great stretch of remote highway.

55 posted on 07/29/2003 6:17:29 AM PDT by TroutStalker
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To: Willie Green
i seem to remember an atomic cannon on a large hill overlooking fort riley. come to think of it, there was a hang gliding school outside manhattan also.
56 posted on 07/29/2003 6:23:03 AM PDT by kallisti
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To: Willie Green
Houston, Texas.
57 posted on 07/29/2003 6:28:24 AM PDT by battlegearboat
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To: Willie Green
Former Kansas resident BUMP
58 posted on 07/29/2003 8:33:19 AM PDT by jrp
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To: djf
We have to show it off. There's only three months a year you can see it.
As United1000 says, LOL
59 posted on 07/29/2003 9:41:11 AM PDT by Libertina
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