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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Tilt-o-World"
Fully produced report in MP3 format:
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(75 seconds)
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READER SCRIPT
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A NEW SPIN ON THE EARTH'S ROTATION... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. WELCOME TO THE TROPICS OF ALASKA, THE SAND DUNES OF SIBERIA, AND THE EQUATORIAL COAST OF AUSTRALIA. IMAGINE A SHIFT IN THE EARTH SO PROFOUND THAT IT COULD FORCE THE ENTIRE PLANET TO SPIN ON ITS SIDE. A NEW REPORT FROM A PRINCETON GEO-SCIENCE TEAM GIVES US THE FIRST REAL EVIDENCE THAT THIS KIND OF MAJOR SHIFT HAPPENED--SOME 800-MILLION YEARS AGO. THE STUDY FOCUSED ON THE ORIENTATION OF MAGNETIC PARTICLES IN ANCIENT SEDIMENTS IN NORWAY, AND SUPPORTS AN OLD THEORY CALLED "TRUE POLAR WANDER"--WHICH SAYS THAT, IF AN OBJECT OF SUFFICIENT WEIGHT, SUCH AS A SUPER-SIZE VOLCANO, EVER FORMED FAR FROM THE EQUATOR, THE PLANET WOULD TILT AND ROTATE ITSELF, UNTIL THE EXTRA WEIGHT WAS LOCATED AT THE EQUATOR. ALTHOUGH UNLIKELY ANYTIME SOON, THEY SAY IT COULD HAPPEN AGAIN. BEFORE YOU PACK YOUR BEACH BLANKET FOR ALASKA, KNOW THAT A SHIFT LIKE THIS WOULD TAKE SOME FIVE-MILLION TO 20-MILLION YEARS. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
