I like the inverted nuclear bomb + mushroom cloud of the rocket launch.

I'm pretty sure the state lines aren't visible from space.

Mildot: WARNING -- SLIDESHOW!!!

Yeah, kinda. The software we use on the magazine site now doesn't reload the whole freaking page, and is very quick. I typically don't like slideshows because they take forever. Some people don't like them because they have to move one finger a fraction of an inch a few times, which really is quite devastating when you think about it.

Zumaki:

I'd like to take this opportunity to let you know: I love reading your articles/blog/whatever. Keep doing good stuff.


Well, golly. Thanks!

/serious

toy30604: Reference picture of the "The pressure of living on a spinning planet"... The spiral...

This may sound defiant to many of you but Coriolis effect does not create the rotation or direction of motion seen in the weather spiral over the Great Lakes. Image:"Pressure from the System."
If you know anything about the physics of Coriolis effect you'll realize there would be no spiral.

If you consider the rotation of the Earth and the movement of the spiral of weather, hurricanes included, you'll realize that this spiral (comma) is caused by something else.

The first effect of Coriolis is the 'swerving' from a perceived straight line. Yes, something might swerve but it does not rotate... And what causes it to develop from a swerve into a rotation? What pulls that weather front back around?... If you try it with a rotating sphere or rotating flat surface it just falls off the edge.

There is NO physics principles in Coriolis effect to cause the rotation of weather...

If you want an answer, read my website... www(dot)terraelectric(dot)com
Click the link for the 7page file.

There are a series of other physics principles that determine the rotation of a weather front, hurricane and the rotation of a vortex/tornado.

Coriolis effect/force is just a way to confuse people who have never really understood the principle.

BTW an internet physicist has removed his internet descriptions of Coriolis effect and what powers the rotation of vortex/tornadoes because of my website and what he learned from me.

I'm ready to take on any challenger to this concept.

Gregg Johnson
BTW.... The taking and selection of these pictures are masterful, Thanks!

Pressure how the fark does it work.
You put a lot of work into that obviously, but I will simplify it for you because you clearly glossed over pressure when you learned about this.

Using a low pressure system in North America as an example (this will include hurricanes) ignoring the vertical element of it because it is not really overly important in diagramming the horizontal swirl.

Take a point on a table. That is the center of the low pressure system (the creation of this is a result of vertical movement in the air, so we are not going to pay attention to that). All air around that central point is going to flow toward that point (and then get lifted again not relevant).

Here is where the Earth being a sphere comes in. GIS Lines of Latitude. You take air at 20 degrees north latitude, and air at 60 degrees north latitude, there is wind blowing at 20 mph, which air is moving faster? If you said "Well they are moving at the same speed" then you are wrong. The air at 20 degrees is moving faster than the air at 60 degrees. This is because Earth has the same number of rotations in a day no matter where you are and the Earth rotating pulls everything along with it. However the circumference around lines of latitudes decreases as you go further north, so air (and people and everything) at northern latitudes (60 degrees) do not travel as far as air at (20 degrees).

Simple math at this point:
at 20 degrees a point on the outer surface of earth is moving at around 975 mph (1569 km/h)
at 60 degrees a point on the outer surface of earth is moving at around 519 mph (835 km/h)
Essentially air at 20 degrees is moving twice as fast as air at 60 degrees.

WTF does this have to do with rotation?

Now you have a point on a table about a foot above the point put north, about a foot below put south, (so a foot to the left and right of the are west and east). Now put your finger at the southern point move it slowly toward the point, your finger is air moving it is moving toward that low pressure point at the center (because that is how pressure works it goes from high pressure -> low pressure). Remember the velocity lesson right above this, well the air (your finger) will maintain the higher southern velocity (inertia, slightly reduced by friction with the Earth not really relevant) as it moves north. This means that rather than travelling in a straight line from the southern point to the low pressure point it will be "pulled" in an Eastern direction (this is due to the Earths rotation because that is the directional velocity the air and everyone receives when Earth drags them along). It is pulled that direction because it has the same speed but less ground to cover as it moves north.

The same thing happens when you start in the north, the only difference is that air is being left behind so when you start north and travel south the air moves to the west.


Great but what about air starting at an eastern or western point?
Moving air is lower pressure than standing air. Essentially when air moves from one spot more air will move in to fill up that space, so the east and west points have the central low pressure pull on them, as well as pull from the low pressure caused by moving air (a result of that low pressure point).

The result is the counter clockwise swirl that you see in hurricanes. (Tornadoes are more complex because the vertical element is more important with them).

So you said you are open for an argument. As soon as you debunk pressure and because pressure is diffusion, as soon as you can prove that diffusion is a load of crap then you can argue start argument, because that would be what it would take in order for what was describe above to be proven wrong. So have fun!

Excellent, unusual photos. Great link!