EXTRA, EXTRA!
One of Earth's Great Mysteries is Solved!
If you were able to stand directly on the North Pole and had a VERY keen sense of motion, you might be able to detect a strange fact about planet earth. It wobbles! More than one hundred years ago, a little known American astronomer by the name of Seth Chandler, Jr. discovered this strange fact and named it (you guessed it) The Chandler Wobble. Now, after more than a century, scientists have finally solved this mystery. Since 1891, when Chandler first discovered “The Wobble,” scientists have made many, many guesses as to its cause. Here’s a list of the some of them. Which one do you think is correct?

What do you think? Here are guesses by scientists as to why the earth wobbles. Which one do you think is correct? Blizzards and major changes in snow cover Forces on the earth caused by earthquakes and volcanoes Uneven weight distribution from mountains Wind-driven changes in ocean circulation Number 4 is the correct answer.

Because of powerful new computer simulation models, Richard Gross, a scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, recently discovered the answer. He found that most of the wobble is caused by wind-driven changes in ocean circulation. Since more than three-quarters of the earth’s surface is covered by oceans, changes in ocean cir-culation can have a powerful effect on our planet. Imagine an ocean as a giant bathtub on springs. If you slosh the water over to one side, the change in water pressure will cause the tub to “wobble.”

Web Links
www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2000/ chandlerwobble.html
www.straightdope.com/columns/ 991203.html
www.britannica.com/seo/s/ seth-carlo-chandler/

Bet You Didn't Know This...


RAIN DROPS DON'T HAVE POINTS!!
Everyone knows that raindrops have points at the top, right? Everyone is wrong! Scientists discovered this by taking high-speed flash photographs of rain-drops. Small raindrops are shaped like little balls and larger raindrops are shaped like hamburger buns!
www.ems.psu.edu/~fraser/Bad/BadRain.html

FRANKLIN WOULD HAVE BEEN FRIED!
On a stormy summer night in June of 1752, Benjamin Franklin did one of the most famous - and dangerous - experiments of all time. He flew a kite during a lightning storm. Fortunately, a lightning bolt did NOT strike the kite. If it had, he would have been killed! In fact, a Swedish scientist was killed the next year doing a similar experiment. What did happen was that the kite collected a small electrical charge in the early stages of the storm - BEFORE lightning actually occurs.
www.eskimo.com/~billb/emotor/stmiscon.html#seven