What would happen if I drilled a tunnel through the center of th". Want to really get away from it all?
The farthest you can travel from home (and still remain on Earth) is about 7,900 miles (12,700 kilometers) straight down, but you'll have to journey the long way round to get there: 12,450 miles (20,036 kilometers) over land and sea. Why not take a shortcut, straight down? You can get there in about 42 minutes -- that's short enough for a long lunch, assuming you can avoid Mole Men, prehistoric reptiles and underworld denizens en route. Granted, most Americans would end up in the Indian Ocean, but Chileans could dine out on authentic Chinese, and Kiwis could tuck into Spanish tapas for tea [sources: NOVA; Shegelski]. Of course, you'd be in for a rough ride. For sake of argument (and survival) let's pretend the Earth is a cold, uniform, inert ball of rock. At the Earth's surface, gravity pulls on us at 32 feet (9.8 meters) per second squared.
You're still moving at a heck of a clip, though, so don't expect to stop there. List of common misconceptions. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This incomplete list is not intended to be exhaustive.
This list corrects erroneous beliefs that are currently widely held about notable topics. Each misconception and the corresponding facts have been discussed in published literature. Note that each entry is formatted as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated. Arts and culture Food and cooking Roll-style Western sushi. Searing meat does not "seal in" moisture, and in fact may actually cause meat to lose moisture. Legislation and crime Literature The Harry Potter books, though they have broken children's book publishing records, have not led to an increase in reading among children or adults, nor slowed the ongoing overall decline in book purchases by Americans, and children who did read the Harry Potter books were not more likely to go on to read more outside of the fantasy and mystery genres.[21][22][23][24] Music Religion Hebrew Bible Buddhism Christianity Islam.
What's the Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold? The real-life Harry Potter reveals why sharing the wizard's name has made his life a misery. By Beth Hale Updated: 02:12 GMT, 22 October 2009 The similarities are there - right down to a scar on the forehead.
But the biggest thing they share are eleven letters spelling out two short names. Harry Potter. And as the dark-haired young man (the one without the glasses) pictured here can testify: being a real-life Harry Potter is not quite as magical as it might seem. Damn Interesting. Incoming! The World’s 10 Worst Invasive Species. The introduction of non-native species of plants and animals to a new ecosystem almost always results in environmental stress, degradation and sometimes even disaster.
These 10 invasive species are infamous for the destruction they have caused, even when introduced with the best of intentions. Kudzu. Paraprosdokians. Why Is It Called 'Wall Street'? As the drama of the civil fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs continues to unfold, all eyes are focused on Wall Street.
The reverberations from Goldman's public flogging at the hands of lawmakers and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will be felt throughout the financial industry. But, while Goldman Sachs may be one of Wall Street's top investment banks and most powerful firms, the street itself has a storied history, beginning long before the bankers, brokers and traders moved in. Wall Street an actual street by that name is located in Lower Manhattan in New York City. The street acts as the epicenter of the city's Financial District.
The name of the street originates from an actual wall that was built in the 17th century by the Dutch, who were living in what was then called New Amsterdam. The area near the wall became known as Wall Street. The financial industry got its official start on Wall Street on May 17, 1792. Clairvius Narcisse. Clairvius Narcisse (born c. 1922) is a Haitian man said to have been turned into a living zombie by a combination of drugs.
After investigating reports of "zombies" (including Narcisse and a handful of others), researchers believed that Narcisse received a dose of chemical mixture containing tetrodotoxin (pufferfish venom) and bufotoxin (toad venom) to induce a coma which mimicked the appearance of death. He was then allowed to return to his home where he collapsed, "died", and was buried. The Canadian ethnobotanist Wade Davis, who did the research on tetrodotoxin [1] explains how this would have been done. The bokor (sorcerer) would have given Narcisse a powder containing the tetrodotoxin through abraded skin.
Narcisse fell into a comatose state, closely resembling death, which resulted in his live burial.[2] His body was then recovered and he was given doses of Datura stramonium to create a compliant zombie-like state and set to work on a plantation. Jump up ^ Davis, Wade.