mejed opened this issue on Feb 15, 2006 ยท 35 posts
pearce posted Thu, 16 February 2006 at 6:23 AM
Nobody's yet quoted sf writer Theodore Sturgeon: "Ninety percent of everything is crap", so I will. A pedant writes:- The Coriolis force is far too feeble to have any effect on fluids on the scale of toilet bowl contents, or plug-holes for that matter, being entirely overwhelmed by fluid motion due to thermal convection, residual angular momentum, and other small localised forces. Shysters in equatorial regions impress gullible tourists, showing them bowls with water going down plugholes in opposite directions either side of the equator line (drawn on the ground). This is a conjuring trick and you should not fall for it, especially if money is demanded. Now, where did I put that life? :D
Message edited on: 02/16/2006 06:36