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1500 questions
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Effect on sea level if the Earth stopped rotating
Would sea level change at the equator if the Earth stopped spinning? I am assuming it is currently bulging around it due to centrifugal force.
Mazura
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Have there been any attempts to measure profiles through deep convective systems using dropsondes?
In-situ measurements in deep convective systems, tropical cyclones, etc., are difficult to perform. Few if any people would like to fly a small aircraft close to its core, and radiosondes or larger balloons would be ripped to pieces. Even flying…
gerrit
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Why don't iron meteorites on Mars rust or oxidize? Why are they shiny?
Wikipedia's WikiNews' 2005 article Mars Rover’s Basketball-Shaped Discovery Stirs Controversy says:
The surface of the meteorite was found to be remarkably free of corrosion. Researchers are as yet unsure whether this means it arrived recently or…
uhoh
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Why were no interferometers launched on weather satellites between the '69-'72 IRIS-D and the 2002-onward AIRS?
As early as the late 1960s / early 1970s, Nimbus-3 carried Iris-B and Nimbus-4 carried Iris-D, both infrared spectroradiometers with a moderate spectral resolution. Subsequently, I believe it was not until AIRS flew on EOS-Aqua (launch 2002), and…
gerrit
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Why are there waves in seas towards shore - even in night?
Waves are mostly caused by Friction of wind on surface of water.
Wind blows from sea to land in day and land to sea in night due to pressure and temperature difference.
So it is intuitive why there are waves towards shore in day, but even in night…
Arun S R
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How are barometric pressure measurements traceable over centuries to 100 parts per million accuracy?
The BBC News item Barometric pressure in London 'highest in 300 years' at least begins with
Overnight, Sunday into Monday, London's Heathrow Airport recorded a barometric pressure of 1,049.6 millibars (mbar).
It's very likely the highest pressure…
uhoh
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3 answers
How to make Martian soil
My son wants to replicate some experiments and try to grow plants in Martian soil for his A-level science project. I know NASA have managed to produce soil that mimics Martian soil, however I also know how expensive it is.
My question is, what is…
Magic Bullet Dave
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How did forests end up covering pyramids?
I went to Mexico and the pyramids are covered by vegetation. It's only after archeologists clean them that you can actually see the pyramids. Before that they looked like a natural hill, with soil, trees, ...
How is that possible? I can imagine…
Thomas
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If a very huge Earthquake occured anywhere on Earth could waves emerge to come together again on the opposite side?
Suppose that a super-powerful earthquake occurred anywhere on Earth, say one with the value 10 on Richter's scale. The quake can have any value but as can be read in a comment below the highest value ever measured was 32 on a superdense star. In…
Deschele Schilder
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Why is Carbon Dioxide a Greenhouse Gas whereas Ammonia is not?
Why are some gases Greenhouse gases while some are not?
I did search this on the net but didn't get any clearcut/credible answers.
What exactly is the property that is common among Ozone, Water Vapour, CFCs, and Methane that makes them all…
Sristy
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Why do high tides occur simultaneously on opposite sides of the Earth?
Most explanations for high tides say high tides come from water being attracted by the moon (2/3) and the sun (1/3). Attraction occurring in the direction of the moon is visible on the side close to the moon below:
Source: This question
However why…
mins
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Why does the frost depth increase when the surface temperature warms up?
We've had an unusual winter this year, with a late cold snap that is causing people's underground water lines to freeze. Now that the weather has warmed up quite a bit, even more people's lines are freezing, because the frost is being pushed down…
ShemSeger
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How is ocean heat content measured?
The oceans are absorbing much of the heat from climate change.
How is all of this heat measured?
InquilineKea
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Does the magnetic field really protect Earth from anything?
Many topics discussed here in Earth Science SE, tend to be about facts that are of consensus in the scientific community but not widely accepted by the general public. Instead, this one is widely accepted by the general public but it seems to…
Camilo Rada
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Could the earth be much older than the currently accepted number?
According to wikipedia, the Earth is about 4.543 billion years old. If I understand correctly, this number is based on radiometric age-dating of meteorites. So basically, the logic is this:
We've got this material
We can show that it's about 4.543…
goblin GONE
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