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The counter-argument is equally simple: a sail is a surface. The earth is a sphere. A sphere made of solid rock the size of a sail will be even less moved by a

The counter-argument is equally simple: a sail is a surface. The earth is a sphere. A sphere made of solid rock the size of a sail will be even less moved by a 15 mph breeze than this hypothetical person.

blueprint 3y ago
you're missing the analogy. the surface area of the sail is the entire volume of eg piezoelectrically responsive rocks - so it's a gigantic sail
zackees 3y ago
We aren't talking about the earth being blown off course though, just that there is a large amount of energy that was previously unaccounted for and that this energy is large enough to trigger an earth quake at vulnerable parts.
- idlewords 3y ago
  Do the back-of-the-envelope computation of how much energy reaches Earth from a coronal mass ejection and see how well your idea holds up. (a typical flare is 10^16 grams of matter moving at about 450 km/sec)
  - CrimsonRain 3y ago
    You don't need a ton of energy to set off a possible chain reaction events.
  - refibrillator 3y ago
    CMEs reaching earth likely account for a mere fraction of the energy flowing through the global electric circuit at any moment. Moreover, your suggestion seems to indicate that you’re only considering kinetic energy, which would be a very myopic and reductionist take on these matters.
  - mensetmanusman 3y ago
    Freezing water>ice shatters a cast iron pipe. It's just about the creation of a crack to initiate stress relief.
mikewarot 3y ago
>The earth is a sphere. A sphere made of solid rock [...] The earth is NOT a solid rock. It's a very thin layer of rock, floating on top of a pool of magma, itself floating in space. The rock itself flows on all sorts of time scales as well. A sphere will be forced by the wind, almost the same amount as any other object, regardless of its density or weight.
- blibble 3y ago
  > It's a very thin layer of rock, floating on top of a pool of magma it's not a pool of magma, the mantle is basically solid (except on very large timescales)

blueprint 3y ago

you're missing the analogy. the surface area of the sail is the entire volume of eg piezoelectrically responsive rocks - so it's a gigantic sail

zackees 3y ago

We aren't talking about the earth being blown off course though, just that there is a large amount of energy that was previously unaccounted for and that this energy is large enough to trigger an earth quake at vulnerable parts.

idlewords 3y ago
Do the back-of-the-envelope computation of how much energy reaches Earth from a coronal mass ejection and see how well your idea holds up. (a typical flare is 10^16 grams of matter moving at about 450 km/sec)
- CrimsonRain 3y ago
  You don't need a ton of energy to set off a possible chain reaction events.
- refibrillator 3y ago
  CMEs reaching earth likely account for a mere fraction of the energy flowing through the global electric circuit at any moment. Moreover, your suggestion seems to indicate that you’re only considering kinetic energy, which would be a very myopic and reductionist take on these matters.
- mensetmanusman 3y ago
  Freezing water>ice shatters a cast iron pipe. It's just about the creation of a crack to initiate stress relief.

mikewarot 3y ago

>The earth is a sphere. A sphere made of solid rock [...] The earth is NOT a solid rock. It's a very thin layer of rock, floating on top of a pool of magma, itself floating in space. The rock itself flows on all sorts of time scales as well. A sphere will be forced by the wind, almost the same amount as any other object, regardless of its density or weight.

blibble 3y ago
> It's a very thin layer of rock, floating on top of a pool of magma it's not a pool of magma, the mantle is basically solid (except on very large timescales)