British Geological Survey

Ask a Physicist 5. Geomagnetic Reversal (The End of the World?)

Category: Education
Author: ASKaPHYSICIST
Published (on YouTube): 2008-12-07
Published (here): 2012-02-08
Rating: 4.7694235; Votes:399

Views: 82839; Favorites: 296

Description:
Video explaining magnetic pole reversals and their likely effects on us. Tweet it: http://bit.ly/qu4aW0 or even FB it: http://on.fb.me/r3IRNa For more information see: The Earths magnetic field: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/magearth.html http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/magnetic.html http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/faqgeom.shtml Magnetic field reversals: http://geomag.usgs.gov/faqs.php (US Geological survey) http://www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk/reversals.html (British Geological survey) http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/29dec_magneticfield.htm http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v452/n7184/full/452165a.html (journal article from nature, addressing many aspects of Geomagnetic reversals. You would have to pay to see it. I wouldn't bower) -Interview with scientist from the US Geological Survey: http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/details.asp?ep=11 -Article on possible patterns in magnetic field reversals: http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/24464 The Solar Wind: http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/wind.html Auroras: http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr161/lect/earth/aurora.html http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap080809.html (picture) Magnetic Substorms: http://www.phy6.org/Education/wsubstrm.html http://www.haystack.mit.edu/atm/science/magneto/substorms/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/multimedia/substorm.html (Video) More information on why The Core is a stupid movie: http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/core.html http://geolor.com/The_Core_Movie-Facts_and_Fiction.htm Special thanks to Professor John Shaw from the University of Liverpool. Also, for all 2012 dooms day enthusiasts, have a look at this: http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/StarFAQ19.htm#q331 If that is not enough, please also have a look at this article, showing that the earth is not passing throght the galactic plane in 2012 ... nor in the next few million years: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v316/n6030/abs/316706a0.html

Video duration: 10 min.
«Ask a Physicist 5. G...» screenshots:

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Comments on «Ask a Physicist 5. Geomagnetic Reversal (The End of the World?)»:

omgyeahhh1 on 2012-02-03
just use this one ...
just use this one SURVEYHELPER(.)TK ...remove the "(" and ")" its amazing and works for all surveys not only sharecashe damn thing

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2012-01-26
@eikons @eikons ...
@eikons @eikons thanks, but aniolateor wasn't talking about me. He meant to respond to a comment by a previous preson who was telling me about something he found significant, citing a wikipedia article. At least I think that's what happened cos I'm not actually refering to any wikipedia articles

jerrdogg77 on 2012-01-26
@ASKaPHYSICIST It ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST It is called the carrington flare

army20067 on 2012-01-20
and the satellite ...
and the satellite well you turn them off that what nsa did witht there telescope

army20067 on 2012-01-20
you missed somthing ...
you missed somthing about the magnetic field witch is. south field is weeking and if this pole shift happens the week field will be pointing to the sun. so eg it wnt do much

jasonjps on 2012-01-16
@ASKaPHYSICIST ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST Here are two examples what I understand as the dangers we may face: It won't seem to let me put links, so just google the two March_1989_geomagnetic_storm geomagnetic-storm-of-1859 The second one is the one I previously mentioned. Now these are abnormally large solar events, but if our magnetic field is unstable, it seems the magnitude of the CME wouldn't have to be as large to cause similar or larger earthside events.

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2012-01-16
@jasonjps I don't ...
@jasonjps I don't know. Non of the people in the field are that worried about coronal mass ejections. They realise they are a threat and measures are being taken to secure satellites etc. Do you have more info on that 1880s thing? I'm not sure how easily ticker tape burns

jasonjps on 2012-01-16
In the 1800s there ...
In the 1800s there was a coronal mass ejection that was strong enough to cause ticker tape to catch on fire. If the earths magnetic field was in a state of change, it seems to me that we might have a lot of problems here on earth. These problems wouldn't be physical, but socio-economical due to downed computer infrastructure. Your video makes it sound like no big deal. Care to elaborate?

srb1200 on 2012-01-14
Wow. Great job. And ...
Wow. Great job. And you are correct-we have nothing to worry about is space junk. Honestly. Thanks. And you might want to add this, but just cuz the core moves doesn't mean the crust does. Put it this way-spin water in a glass. The glass doesnt spin too does it? Great job explaining!!

eikons on 2012-01-02
@aniolateor When a ...
@aniolateor When a fact lands on Wikipedia it doesn't suddenly become fiction. Wikipedia has handy links and resources to do exactly what this guy is doing, which is educating a general public. This isn't his thesis or anything like that. It's just a voluntary video helping people to understand stuff. Also, he covered much more material than just what is on the wikipedia page.

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-12-30
@OnideusMadHatter ...
@OnideusMadHatter ok if I get this right, you're asking me if we could use temporal-variations in the earth's magnetic field to drive some sort of generator to make 'green' (not free) energy. Sure, but it wouldn't be much. The earth's magnetic field is just about strong enough to turn a compass needle and a reversal takes alot of time. I mean, you can work out the energy needed to turn a compass needle 180 degrees. that's the energy you get every 500 years every reversal from a given generator.

aniolateor on 2011-12-30
I don't think you ...
I don't think you can make an educated argument when your sources are from wiki...

OnideusMadHatter on 2011-12-17
@ASKaPHYSICIST - No ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST - No, they don't need it to work, but as I understand it that's how they ~became~ permanent magnets in the first place...because of the earth's magnetic field. From Wiki: "Permanent magnets (materials that can be magnetized by an external magnetic field and remain magnetized after the external field is removed) are either ferromagnetic or ferrimagnetic" In any event I mostly explain it that way in order to avoid calling it "free energy", which can't exist.

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-12-15
@OnideusMadHatter ...
@OnideusMadHatter magnets do not need the earth's magnetic field to work. Where did you get that idea. If you're interested im magnetism I could possibly recomend some text books

OnideusMadHatter on 2011-12-15
@ASKaPHYSICIST - I ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST - I have a design for a magnetic generator enclosed in a vacuum chamber & held in zero gravity suspension using magnets similar to a Maglev train, in order to reduce the friction to the smallest amount. That still doesn't solve the Gates Effect though. On a global scale though the earth/sun/etc seem to get around the problem through pole shifting in order to keep everything spinning in one direction, so I'm wondering if that can be done on a small scale somehow.

OnideusMadHatter on 2011-12-14
@ASKaPHYSICIST - ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST - The problem however is the Gates Effect. It's the thing preventing magnetic generators from being viable. There's TONS of theories behind how it might be possible to get around it, but nothing actually proven as of yet. The most direct way to get around it would be by cyclically reversing the poles of the magnets. The problem is, if it takes energy to do that, it's not really generating much and you wind up with nothing more than a perpetual motion machine.

OnideusMadHatter on 2011-12-14
@ASKaPHYSICIST - No ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST - No, no, no...it's not actually free energy, that's just what kooky uneducated people call it...sort of like how some people call wind/water/wave/solar energy free energy. The idea is to generate energy using magnets. But magnets don't work by magic, they work specifically because of the earth's magnetic field, so a generator driven by magnets wouldn't actually be "free energy" it would just be tapping into the geomagnetic field of the planet to generate power.

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-12-14
@OnideusMadHatter I ...
@OnideusMadHatter I know of nothing in physics that allows for such a thing as 'free energy'. In fact, mass-energy conservation is one of the most reliable principles in physics we ever discovered.

OnideusMadHatter on 2011-12-14
Didn't really watch ...
Didn't really watch the video, I just had a question. I was wondering if there was some way (theory or otherwise) of causing a natural cyclic magnetic pole reversal on a ~small~ scale, specifically as a means of getting around the Gates Effect in order to create a geomagnetic resonance energy generator...or "free energy generator" as the kooks like to call it.

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-12-04
@IanWillingtonberry ...
@IanWillingtonberry from what I read, no tilt.Certainly no sudden one as this whole process takes a millennium to complete. 

IanWillingtonberry on 2011-12-04
so is it just ...
so is it just going to be the magnetic poles that change location or will there be a sudden change to the tilt of the axis?

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-12-01
@IBeNorklin sorry ...
@IBeNorklin sorry for the delay, quite busy at the moment with course work, but it will come, don't worry

IBeNorklin on 2011-12-01
@ASKaPHYSICIST ...
@ASKaPHYSICIST when is part 2 for the nuclear weapons episode coming out? im really interested in the topic

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-11-28
@IBeNorklin Well, I ...
@IBeNorklin Well, I appreciate it really. Just because I said something doesn't make it true. The same goes for anyone, regardless of their status. Questioning people and doing one's own reading is good practice as far as I'm concerned. However, I do generally check my stuff quite thoroughly, so I'm pretty confident at least that it is in line with the general scientific consensus

ASKaPHYSICIST on 2011-11-28
@amirsaman18 That ...
@amirsaman18 That is definatelly on my to do list. I'm afraid I probably won't have the solution either :/