Evidence that Earths Rotation is slowing 1.5ms per Century

[snug]

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/top_10_cool_moon_facts-2.html<br /><br />says that the moon is subjecting Earth to a decaying rotational spin in the order of 1.5 milliseconds per 100 years. <br /><br />There is some corroborating evidence in that there has been at least one study (which I am unfortunately unable to reference at this time) that says the natural daily cycle of both mice and humans is 24 hours and 40 minutes. This natural body cycle is controlled by some brain function that is common to both mice and humans. <br /><br />I believe no one has ever understood why it is 24 hours and 40 minutes and not closer to 24 hours and zero minutes (which is of course is the current period of rotation of the earth on its axis of spin) until now !<br /><br />If the Earth is slowing by 1.5 milliseconds per century then by calculation:<br />40 minutes / 0.0015 seconds*100 = 160 million years, that is 160 million years ago the earth had a rotation of 24 hours and 40 minutes.<br /><br />I am suggesting here for the very first time that mice and humans had a common ancestor at this time (160 million years ago) and also that this is the time in mammals evolution that the part of the brain that governs daily rhythms was encoded into our common ancestors dna.<br /><br />I have little knowledge in the time-line of mammals' evolution, so I hope someone of credentials or suitable background can use this as supporting evidence in their field or forward this to those who may utilise the connection that I have made. I also hope that linking these 2 facets of information helps those in the Astronomy Field, particularly those who have forwarded the idea that the Moon is degrading Earth's rotational spin to the degree listed.<br /><br />Regards: Kevin Slattery

 

[lukman]

Cool, good thinking, maybe creature like giant semi rat semi apes was our ancestor 160 millions years ago. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[weeman]

hmm, am I wrong, or is your math backwards? Since Earth is slowing down, its rotation on its axis millions of years ago should have been shorter than 24 hours. My astronomy professor last semester had told me that ancient plantlife samples have told us that Earth had faster days. Samples taken deep down from both continental and oceanic crust, suggest that Earth might have had a rotational period that was shorter than it is today. These samples were dated some time in the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras, some 300-250 million years ago.<br /><br />According to your calculation, if Earth was slowing down, and it had a rotational period of 24 hours 40 minutes around 160 million years ago, then today it might be more like 25-26 hours. <br /><br />As of right now, Earth has a rotational period of about 23 hours 56 minutes.<br /><br />The information, however, of mice and humans is quite interesting. I have never really studied anything on the actual daily cycles in the human brain. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[dragon04]

It's been common knowledge for years that as the Moon's orbit increases, that the Earth's rotational period will slow. Conversely, it's also known that the Earth's rotation period was much faster in the distant past.<br /><br /><font color="yellow">I am suggesting here for the very first time that mice and humans had a common ancestor at this time (160 million years ago) and also that this is the time in mammals evolution that the part of the brain that governs daily rhythms was encoded into our common ancestors dna.</font><br /><br />I'm not sure what significance lies here. Any and every biological system that relies on the light/dark cycle (including plants) has been affected equally by the slowing of Earth's rotation over geological timespans.<br /><br />In fact, we share genetic commonalities from the most simple lifeforms to the most complex irregardless.<br /><br />I rather believe that if anything, the Earth's rotational period is the common reference in similarity of all life rather than a cause that has "united" the biological clocks of any individual species.<br /><br />However, it brings up an interesting notion. Let's think about tube worms and other life forms in the deep ocean that earn their living via chemical rather than photosynthetic engines.<br /><br />If their "sleep cycles" are similar to those of species that live where sunshine drives biology, then we have a very interesting commonality to explain. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[mako71]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p><br />snug: If the Earth is slowing by 1.5 milliseconds per century then by calculation:<br />40 minutes / 0.0015 seconds*100 = 160 million years, that is 160 million years ago the earth had a rotation of 24 hours and 40 minutes. <br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Isn't it so that it will be 24h 40min AFTER 160 million years (in fact, I have a feeling that this slowing down is much more faster), and 16 million years ago the day was 23h 20min?<br /><br />EDIT: Oops, weeman asked the same question... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p>________________ </p><p>reaaliaika.net </p> </div>

 

[rfoshaug]

Maybe evolution is preparing us for the lenght of the day that there will be in the future?<br /><br />Maybe mice and humans then will merge into a common species about 160 million years from now?<br /><br />These are fascinating questions.<br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff9900">----------------------------------</font></p><p><font color="#ff9900">My minds have many opinions</font></p> </div>

 

[lukman]

Ha ha ha <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> Snug got it wrong way..... i was a fool to take it. So, i will correct my opinion: so, maybe our ancestor will be 160million years from now, from the future <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[weeman]

Well, if humans and mice merged, we would have one butt ugly species <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Evolution will certainly have to adapt to the changing in length of time between both day and night. It will all depend how long the day becomes before Earth can no longer harbor life. What if Earth is around long enough to slow its rotational period to 48 hours, will this make it hard for life to thrive? This would mean long hours of sunlight, meaning days might become very hot, and long hours of night, meaning nights would become very cold. This is what the morning radio talk shows might sound like in the future:<br /><br />"Good morning, it's just past 11am, and the sun is just peaking over the horizon, I'm here to wake you up so you can get your butt to work. Boy it got cold last night, down to about -31 degrees by 10am. Look for a high of about 116 today, right around 8pm."<br /><br />Aren't I creative? <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[tony873004]

24h 40m is the length of a day on Mars. Maybe humans and mice are from Mars.

 

[robnissen]

That is an amazing coincidence. Although I can't really guess at what the significance would be.

 

[snug]

I realised I made a error in the calculation soon after I posted and that indeed the 40 minutes, corresponding to 160 million years, should have been subtracted from 24 hours resulting in the length of day being 23 hours 20 minutes in duration at a period of about 160 million years ago and not 24 hours and 40 minutes.<br /><br />The facit of information about mice and humans having a common timing mechanisms within our brain is therefore NOT supporting evidence but is rather CONTRADICTORY evidence that the Earth is not slowing in rotational velocity. Is it possible that the theory that the earths rotational spin is slowing due to the moons orbit is wrong? It still remains a mystery as to why mice and humans (and probably many other mamals) have a timing mechanism in the brain of 24 hours 40 minutes.<br /><br />In fact thanks to the fellow that said Mars has a day of period 24 hours 40 minutes, I now think that there was a Master rat on Mars that invented humans in his image...reference in part to Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (although I am not sure if this is a Valid Scientific Whitepaper mmmmh???) Maybe in 160 million years we will evolve into rats. <br /><br />As for and asteroid hitting the earth at an angle that would alter the earths rotation, and given that you have mentioned that the surface is rotating faster than the core suggesting that the incident angle of some ancient asteroid impact was such as to slow the rotation of the earth, then this is also contradictory to evidence about mice and humans having formed a common timing mechanism in the brain at some ancient point in our past. <br /><br />Only the Mars theory holds out here! Any other ideas welcomed.<br /><br />Possibly the earths rotational velocity has been shunted backwards and forwards by celestial impacts over the mellenia? <br /><br />

 

[thalion]

<<The facit of information about mice and humans having a common timing mechanisms within our brain is therefore NOT supporting evidence but is rather CONTRADICTORY evidence that the Earth is not slowing in rotational velocity. Is it possible that the theory that the earths rotational spin is slowing due to the moons orbit is wrong? It still remains a mystery as to why mice and humans (and probably many other mamals) have a timing mechanism in the brain of 24 hours 40 minutes. >><br /><br />The theory behind the Earth's slowing rotation is solid; we can examine corals from the Paleozoic that clearly show that months and days were shorter back then. However, we can't make a straight extrapolation of the rate more than a few tens of millions of years in the past (or the future, for that matter), as the deceleration is influenced by unknown variables such the area of the planet that is above water at the time, among other things.

 

[lukman]

It is getting more complicated. What 24hours 20minute means to me? what cycle? i sleep, i wakee, i eat, anytime i want, dont feel anything. The most important for me is to sleep at least 8hours a day <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>