Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : R. Harmon's Earth 101 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: .Trev who wrote (26)	3/10/2000 7:50:00 AM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 183

The End is Nigh -- Again: Scientists Say 'No Way' to Solar Tidal Doom By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer posted: 01:22 pm EST 09 March 2000 Griffith Observatory has facts on the alignment Planetary alignments in general from the National Solar Observat The math of planetary alignments by Jean Meeus Prepare for The End. Or at least get ready to hear a lot of people tell you its coming again. This time, a planetary alignment due May 5 is the purported culprit. The compound effect of gravity would be the means. All manner of earthly destruction would be the result. In truth, the headline-grabbing event is poised to become this year's biggest non-story -- unless you count Y2K. Recycled doomsayers hocking books, advice and all-purpose survival gear, have a laundry list of scenarios by which newest version of The End could play out. Want proof that this kind of thing has happened before? What about those woolly mammoths that died with grass still in their mouths! The claims for what to expect May 5, which one astronomer called "a load of crap," reflect the standard tabloid prophecies: severe weather will rewrite Noah's adventures (haven't you noticed the weather?s been just plain strange?); earthquakes will tumble our cities; the polar ice caps will melt; even the sun might participate, hurling unbearable doses of radiation our way. This much is true: At around 4:08 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (8:08 GMT) on May 5, Earth, the Moon, the sun and the five visible planets will all be roughly aligned along an imaginary line in space. To be more accurate, the heavenly bodies will be arrayed within a 26.5-degree angle, with Earth as its center. Some are calling it the Grand Alignment. Scientists term it a "massing" and will pay the event little heed. The rough alignment is no more than an astronomical curiosity, says Donald Yeomans of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The gravitational pull or "tidal effect" that other planets have on Earth is, and will be, teensy. "A baseball held at arms length has more tidal effect on you than Mars at its closest," Yeomans said in a telephone interview. "It's absurd to think that the alignment of a planet is going to have any significant tidal effect over and above the moon and the sun." So what will happen here on Earth? "Nothing," Yeomans said. Search the web, and you'll hear another story. You'll also find a handful of books that either mention or focus on the alignment. Pyramid scheme Richard Noone, in his book 5/5/2000 Ice: The Ultimate Disaster? lumps all the standard fears together, proposing that the effects of gravity will cause polar ice to alter Earth's axis, initiating catastrophic floods and earthquakes. Noone claims a similar event 6,000 years ago helped the ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid. John Mosley, an astronomer at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, calls the book "an unorganized mish-mash." Writing for the International Planetarium Society's journal, Mosley says Noone's scenario is "extraordinarily shy on details." "Noone's arguments and his thick book will appeal to the New-Agers for whom all bizarre ideas are inter-related and who need nothing more than a planetary alignment foreseen by the builders of the Great Pyramid to raise the alarm of impending cosmic doom," Mosley says. The lack of details will set you back $16. Fright included. Apparently, people are starting to hear folks like Noone, as calls are dribbling into planetariums around the world. At the Fels Planetarium in Philadelphia, (cont) space.com

To: .Trev who wrote (26)	3/30/2000 7:27:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 183

Thursday March 30 7:01 AM ET Cracks Discovered on Volcano, May Signal Eruption By Kazunori Takada TOKYO (Reuters) - A military helicopter spotted cracks opening up on Thursday on the slopes a rumbling volcano on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido, a sign the snow-capped mountain may be about to blow its top, officials said. Dozens of earthquakes and tremors were shaking the volcano and surrounding villages every hour and officials have told residents to move further away after nearly 10,000 people were evacuated on Wednesday amid warnings of an eruption. Cracks up to 330 feet long on the slopes of the 2,402-foot Mount Usu were spotted by a military helicopter patrol, the Meteorological Agency said in an emergency bulletin(cont) dailynews.yahoo.com