As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia. Well, no, apart from the small problem of the Earth's core I would miss the target:
http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/antipode-map/The link gets you to two maps, move one to your present location and the other one shows where your hole will come out. In my case (near Frankfurt) I come out off the coast of New Zealand. Have a play, it's surprising how much water there is on our little planet.
Sydney ends up around 500km SSW of the Azores, swimming, of course.
As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia. Well, no, apart from the small problem of the Earth's core I would miss the target:
Huh. We looked that up not quite 4 hours ago when my 3 year old wanted to dig a hole and my Wife told him he'd end up in China. Turns out he'd end up way off the coast of South Carolina. He didn't find that as amusing as China.
I land up in the ocean near Hawaii though, a lovely place to be.
I end up out in the ocean southwest of Perth.
I miss New Zealand by quite a way. I did think I'd end up on a small island, but it turned out my screen just needed cleaning.
Well, If I travel to Gaborone, i will just about end up within swimming distance of Hawaii, and if I go to Etosha I can choose Honolulu.
Hitting New Zealand instead of Australia from the far side of the world isn't much of a miss. Just some rounding error.
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...
That's just 100 km from here, and Ronda is a very beautiful place.
I end up in Spain near Montecorto, north west of Ronda...
That's just 100 km from here, and Ronda is a very beautiful place.
Wow, yes I just found some pictures of it. Stunning.
As a kid growing up in the UK I was always told that if I dug a deep enough hole I would reach Australia.
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The danger of assumptions. Nothing there said the deep hole must be radial. It didn't even say the hole must be linear. It just needs to be deep. Therefore, I can dig a very deep hole and then exit any point on the earth surface I like.
Nothing in Edit - removed the half-sentence above that somehow got into my reply.
Nothing there said the deep hole must be radial. It didn't even say the hole must be linear.
LOL, yes, escape from Alcatraz!
Here's a neat overlaid antipodes map:
Cool map, but why am I finding this fascinating? Clearly I have some undiagnosed issue.
I once found a similar reference tool which, from memory, was about making earth sandwiches. Maybe it was in
The Last Word at the end of a New Scientist.
FWIW There is a kind of multi-geocache that requires finding caches on opposite sides of the planet. But the name for these also escapes me right now.
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
Let me know when you are coming, I'll fish you out.
I'd end up at the sea near Auckland NZ
Let me know when you are coming, I'll fish you out.
That would be amazing hahaha
We even calculated, how much time it would take to dig down a 1m x 1m hole there. At some point you need to dig upwards. And afterwards, you can just jump into the hole, and pop out on the other side. To avoid being stuck and fall forever, of course you need to jump from a chair, to get some extra speed. And jump head down, fall some 30 minutes, and do a "hop", straddle when you arrived. We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.
We even calculated, how much time it would take to dig down a 1m x 1m hole there. At some point you need to dig upwards. And afterwards, you can just jump into the hole, and pop out on the other side. To avoid being stuck and fall forever, of course you need to jump from a chair, to get some extra speed. And jump head down, fall some 30 minutes, and do a "hop", straddle when you arrived. We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.
But I'd have a tiny problem with the waters of the Pacific...
It's not as good as the original but board members should watch the remake of Total Recall (Total Recall 2012) which covers the subject of travel between two holes..
We ignored heat and air density for the simplicity.
And the Earth's rotation - you'd get pretty bruised from bouncing off the walls unless you are going from pole to pole.
Personally though I think I'd want to stop in the center of the earth and live in zero gravity - much more interesting than anything I might find on the other side
Interesting thought experiment: If you could dig a hole straight through the center of the Earth and coming out the other side, what would happen gravitational wise if you fell in (ignoring issues of temperature, liquid outer core, etc)? Would you fall until you reached the center? at which point, if it was exactly the center you'd be suspended in mid air?
EDIT: Oops, Fgrir - you beat me to it..
In theory your momentum from the fall would carry you through the core of the Earth and out the other side. Air resistance would reduce your speed though and I'm not sure about electromagnetic effects with the walls of your capsule Vs Earth's magnetic field.
Air resistance would stop you from falling all the way though the earth. You'd get near the surface at the other side, then fall back again. The cycle would repeat, decaying exponentially, until you stop in the middle.