this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Did the Three Gorges Dam really slowed down the Earth? How is that even possible? It's like an ant slowing down a basketball.

[–] AstroStelar@hexbear.net 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

In 2005, NASA scientists calculated that the shift of water mass stored by the dams would increase the total length of the Earth's day by 0.06 microseconds and make the Earth slightly more round in the middle and flat on the poles.

60 nanoseconds

[–] Lurkmore@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yes but in only a few million years we will have to have a negative leap day to adjust.

but at what cost?

[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 weeks ago

I'm pretty sure there are Western buildings that affects the Earth far worse.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)

if the headline doesn't specify how much then it coud be like .0000001% and probably is

[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 4 weeks ago

Classic western mouthpiece manipulation. They won't talk about the hazardous Western works but will hue and cry over the insignificant Eastern works.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 7 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

How is that even possible?

conservation of angular momentum. you can intuitively sense this by spinning in an office chair and extending and retracting your arms, when your arms move away from the center your rotation slows down

[–] asdasd201@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 weeks ago (1 children)

Wouldn't the dam's effect be like extending and retracting a finger?

[–] miz@hexbear.net 3 points 4 weeks ago

wasn't trying to draw an analogy of scale, it would be much much smaller than even that

[–] theturtlemoves@hexbear.net 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

They never said by how much.

You can slow down the earth's rotation by climbing some stairs. (Assuming you aren't at one of the poles.)