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"In WWII, they had a saying that there are no atheists in foxholes. I think the modern equivalent of that is that there are no jaded, bored people in the high-tech industry, in the land of really good hardcore geeks."
- Neal Stephenson
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| Straightening the Earth's Poles | ||
| By means of a suitable force, push the Earth until the planet's axis of rotation is perpendicular to the ecliptic. |
The climate of the Earth would be much more regular, without seasons, if only the planet's axis of rotation was not angled at 23.4 degrees to the plane of the planet's orbit around the sun (Earth's axial tilt). As far as I know, this is the earliest use of this idea in science fiction.
| The operation which is being tried by President Barbicane and Capt. Nicholl is as follows:
The production of a recoil, on the 22d of September, at midnight, by means of a cannon a million times larger in volume than the cannon of twenty-seven centimetres, throwing a projectile of 180,000 tons, with a powder giving it a velocity of 2,800 kilometres. Now, if this shooting takes place below the equatorial line, nearly on the thirty-fourth degree of latitude west of the meridian of Paris, at the foot of Kilimanjaro, and if it is directed towards the south, these are the mechanical effects which it will have on the earth’s sphere: Instantly, in consequence of the shock acting with the daily movement a new axis will be formed and, as the old axis will be displaced to the amount of twenty-three degrees and twenty-eight minutes, according to the figures obtained by J.T. Maston, the new axis will be perpendicular to the direction of the ecliptic. |
| Technovelgy from The Purchase of the North Pole (Topsy Turvy),
by Jules Verne. Published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in 1889 Additional resources -
|
Thanks to Yossi Preminger for pointing this out.
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and Technology from The Purchase of the North Pole (Topsy Turvy)
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Tech news articles related to The Purchase of the North Pole (Topsy Turvy)
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Straightening the Earth's Poles-related
news articles:
- Arctic Resource Jackpot An Old Wish
| Wearable Energy Harvester |
| Video Manicuring ala Schismatrix |
| Tailsitter Drone Aircraft For SAR |
| Iron Beam Laser Under Development To Shoot Down Missiles With Lasers |
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'BY PUSHING AGAINST THE LITTLE MARTIAN MOON WITH OUR ROCKET SHIP, WE HAD LESSENED THE CENTRIFUGAL SPEED THAT HELD IT BALANCED IN THE SKY.'
'... he had tightened the chest to gain maximum pumping action from the motion of breathing.'
'...a prayer wheel swung into view and began spinning at a furious pace.'
'And are all the people willing to be governed by a machine?'
