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Hi Rob,
I also watched thet programme on Tv last night, very interesting subject. I seem to recall through these poor old braincells watching a travel programme with Michael Palin in Africa, and down on the equator one of the native lads earned a few bob from tourists by showing them how the water changed direction using a bottle neck as a drain plug, then walking a short distance and the water reversed??, could have been a scam, but interesting discussion KT
Flushing out an equatorial fraud : Bad Astronomy
I could demonstrate the effect on the Portsmouth Boundary never mind the equator , the video link above shows the trick , but hey the bloke has to earn a living , he is buying a house and moving to Bolton next year
HOUSTON...WE HAVE A PROBLEM..........Here in deep, darkest, western Sydney, Australia, I have just carried out an experiment for the edification of my brother seamen and the scientific advancement of mankind in general. This experiment was carried out in the bathroom of my home, a most sterile and hygenic environment (and at great risk of increasing my next Water bill threefold, I might add).
Firstly I watched as water from the wash-basin 'au revoir-ed' down the plug-hole. It was noted that the discharge from this basin occurred in a clockwise direction. A similar experiment was carried out in the bath-tub (situated about five feet away) with identical results, i.e. clockwise. It would seem that my findings are in conflict with the advice given by Brian (Captain Kong) unless, of course, unbeknown to me, I have been domiciled in the northern hemisphere this past 46 years. How strange!!! However, I was able to confirm that the equator does not run through my bathroom. Perhaps it would be helpful if my findings were compared to those of John Sabourn ( who does most of his drinking on the west coast of Oz) or Happy Daze ( who, like me, also enjoys a G and T and doesn't really care where he drinks it). I would stress that the experimentation I described was carried out under the unwavering observation of Charlie, the family cat ( a 9lb Persian/Chinchilla cross, who is insanely possessive of my wife and, trained by her, will kill with little provocation.....I live in fear, brothers:(). Finally, I would stress that whilst carrying out this experiment I was not effected by liquor (apart from two or three, or was it four? G and T's) and no harm was occasioned to any animal (although it was not for the want of trying). I hope this has been of some assistance, Jim, in your scientific research:D
...................Roger
It does work,North clockwise,South anticlockwise
on the Equator straight down.But if you fill your
sink with water,pull out the plug,and stir anticlockwise
then the water will go down the "wrong" way !!!!
Dave Williams
Hi Dave,Quote:
Originally Posted by David Williams
It's now past midnight and I was off to bed ( thinking an early night would do me good) when I thought I'll have a quick look round the site before I turn in. I saw your post and thought 'what the h-ll' I'll give it a go, otherwise I'll be thinking about it half the night. Fortunately, this time, I was able to conduct the experiment in a perfectly safe environment (the wife had put the bl--dy cat out for the night). I followed your instructions and to my surprise, discovered that you are perfectly correct, because after filling the basin, pulling the plug and stirring anti-clockwise, the water followed suit. Again, I tried it with the tap running and the plug removed and it went down clockwise as in my earlier experiment. |In true Dudley Moore fashion......I thought funny ???? why, I wonder, does the water in my bathroom disappear down the plug-hole exactly as it does in the Northern hemisphere? This could be serious, mate. Do you think my bathroom is subject to some strange mystic phenomena? It wouldn't surprise me you know, I've never really trusted that cat;)
..................Roger
Maybe it is upside down Roger ?
The guy that describes how the fraud is carried out (in the video) says the fraudster pours the water to the left and then to the right but he has the plug in whilst pouring the water then pulls the plug when the water has settled.
Regards.
Jim.B.
Well don't care what the man in the video says, have seen it happen, when sailing up and down WCSA the old hands are only too eager to show first trippers the effect after crossing the equator southbound and you can't wait to cross it northbound to see if it goes the other way, and it does. So the scientic knowall can have as many theories as he likes about fraudsters. I remember the boffins and mathematical geniuses telling us there was no such thing as a rogue wave and it was all in the seamens imaginations, AND THEN came along satellites which showed that there could be up to 100 rogue waves active at the same time around the globe, so the mathematical model geniuses were not as clever as they thought. Scientic theories have nothing on actual experiencesQuote:
Originally Posted by Jim Brady
We can only conclude then that Roger's cat has something to do with it !! Next time Roger, try flushing the cat and see if that reverses the flow.
Roger, I may have been missinformed, but I thought a Chinchilla was a South American rodent, that looked like a small eared rabbit. I don't know whether it is possible to cross a genus of the rat population with a muslamic cat, but a poll of the Drinking Mates that I have questioned on this subject, 50% swirl to the right and 50% to the left! Cheers, Tony Geeves.