this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Already Equipped with a Dam That Slows the Earth's Rotation, China Is Now Building an Even Larger $165 Billion Hydropower Colossus (indiandefencereview.com)
submitted 1 month ago by Yuritopiaposadism@hexbear.net to c/sino@hexbear.net
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[–] AstroStelar@hexbear.net 23 points 1 month ago (2 children)

From what I've seen it actually wouldn't change the rotation speed that much. Despite comparisons to Three Gorges and media calling it a "mega-dam" its design is completely different from a single giant dam with a massive reservoir.

The Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon has a large bend and by digging tunnels through the mountains, water can shortcut a 2.2 km altitude drop in just 45 km, which gives it enormous amounts of kinetic energy which gets captured by five "dams" inside the tunnel. The mountains then function as a natural reservoir dam, so very little water gets lifted up, which is how the Three Gorges Dam slowed the Earth's rotation with its massive reservoir.

[–] quarrk@hexbear.net 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Imagine if we spent the last century focusing on this instead of fossil fuels and motor vehicles. So much nature destroyed for a mere century of production.

[–] GrouchyGrouse@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

Imagine if they simply discussed the externalities of the fossil fuel industry the way they hem and haw over .000001% axial spin like holy shit it’s staggering they get away with this kind of narrative

[–] Le_Wokisme@hexbear.net 9 points 1 month ago

there's probably not many places on earth you can build this in particular. A lot, if not most of the easy hydro power sites are already utilized.

[–] Nacarbac@hexbear.net 17 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I slowed the Earth's rotation.

You make me want to cry. But (in my opinion) at what cost?

I will slow it further.

[–] xijinpingist@hexbear.net 12 points 1 month ago

There is an entire China Two Minutes Hate cottage industry of bad news for people who demand it. The Three Gorges Dam is three weeks away from collapsing and always will be. The newest one: Chinobyl because China has all these new nuclear power plants. One just went online near me. I love crashing their comment sections and mocking the creators because they're not in China. Imagine making videos about Paris, or Bratislava and you don't live there. You could, but why would anyone listen to you?

[–] 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 4 weeks 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.)