With all odds against mankind we thrive on a rock spinning in space, How is this possible? beyond the science!
957167
It's a very nice rock. Oh, and read this: \nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RNA_world_hypothesis
950911
At least at current technology level this is impossible (to my knowledge). I'm a physicist from Finland, and I was a bit amazed when I read this question; I had never heard that scientists in Finland have claimed to have made an anti-gravity drive. So I took a quick look what Internet has to say about it (after I couldn't find an article from J Phys D, where this should have been published according to some Internet sources). This sure smells like a hoax; the paper was withdrawn, and every Finnish scientist mentioned in conjunction with this case has denied their participation; in fact nobody seems to know what this is all about. Only guy who has said anything is this one Russian guy (Dr Eugene Podkletnov), and in the end he was the one requesting the withdrawal of the paper. A whole description of the aftermath of this Sunday Telegraph article (where this was discussed) can be found from http://www.enterprisemission.com/antigrav.html (the end part, first is the article itself).\n\nSo, there's a lot of BS going on in this anti-gravity / inertialess drive field. There may be something in maybe 1% of those "studies", but I wouldn't take too seriously anything I read from the web about these things... When something happens, the scientific community will start buzzing. At least I will notice it (I have to follow journals and media about these things because of my work); there's some movement every time a new hoax appears, but that movement stops at the point where other labs try to repeat the experiment. If something new comes up, it will be heard in every media, not only in Internet.\n\nHowever, to answer your actual question, "Is it possible to create an anti-gravity drive that could be used for space propulsion?", I would say that one day it could be possible. There's research going on, and even though some people think it would contradict Einsteins general theory of relativity, I still think it could be possible.\n\nAbout alien spaceships... eh... well, I would doubt their existence. An extraterrestrial intelligence would surely show up first to all hillbillies and mutilate their cows for research? Or play around and show spectacular light shows flying around just for fun? Of course that's not impossible, but I would see it highly unlikely...\n\nDuring my quick look, I found one nice, interesting old article of wired.com: http://www.wired.com/wired/6.03/antigravity_pr.html . I think I'll read that one through...
475251
If I remember correctly from my high-school physics class, it's a combination of gravity and one of Newton's laws of motion - the one that says "an object in motion stays in motion unless acted on by an outside force." So that force keeps it moving around and gravity keeps it from just flying off into space.
157489
1. It's too expensive to set them up in outer space.\n\n2. I'm not sure I want a bunch of bad people at the top of a gravity well. All they have to do is learn how to aim some big rocks at Earth and we'd be in big trouble.
138866
It would have to be a VERY large rock to have an acceleration of 2 m/s^2. That is even greater than the moon's gravitational acceleration. Even if your rock was incredibly dense, it would still have to be huge. I think this has to fall in the realm of pure fantasy.
743209
I would say that the most impossible part is when they enter the giant geode. If they were heading towards the center of the earth than when they entered the geode they would enter at the top and fall probably for hundreds of miles and die on impact. Also Giant Geode though a cool thought yeah right.
934445
A molten core of super heated metal (believed to be Iron and Nickel) is spinning at the center of the earth faster than the exterior of the earth is rotating.\n\nCharged Particles create a magnetic field when they move.
835630
There are no real inertial speeds in space like there are on earth! Humans can travel at any speed relative to the solar systems planets! Whether you are travelling at 500kph or 500.000kph! you would not notice the difference in space! But you would on the earth! So deep space travel is possible, for humans, but to sustain them with food and water! is another thing! A power source! is another problem, Plus! They have to stop when they get to where they are going. So the energy they have built up in speed has to be 'Bled off' as they approach their target! Another problem man has not yet worked out, is space debris! you hit something at 500.000kph! even the size of a marble! and it will go straight through you! the spacecraft! and anyone standing behind you when it hits!!! And that is assuming that the marble is just hanging in space! It could be doing a couple of million kph, it's self!!!! So space is much more formidable than you think!
302598
An interesting question. The question that may comes to \neveryone's mind is "IS the earth round?"  \nAnd the answer is no, at least \nnot perfectly round.  But it is round compared to your average cube, that is \nfor sure!  Now, my understanding of how solar systems form is pretty \ninadequate; all I can tell you is what I see on "Nova."  But basically, I \nguess it has to do with gravity, which is a CENTRAL FORCE.  What that means is \nthat gravity pulls things together along a straight line, and the more massive \none of the things is, the stronger it pulls.  When the earth was forming, it \nwas basically a big ball of dust left over from an exploded sun (a supernova).  \nGravity caused a lot of the matter to condense into a big fiery ball (our \nsun), but some of the dust was far enough away from the Sun so that the \nstronger forces were between planetary dust particles and not the sun.  SO, \nthey swirled together into a ball.  You can see something similar when you \nmake a painting with one of those "spin-art" machines; you put a card on the \nspinner, which whirls around real fast, and then you squirt paint on the card.  \nThe whirling causes the paint to go out away from the center (this is like the \nexplosion of the supernova) and droplets go out along an interesting path \nuntil they stop, which happens when the spinning force is equal and opposite \nto the force which attaches paint to the card (this is like gravity).  Now, if \nthe force attaching paint to the card were not so strong,eventually the drops \nwould get bigger - "planets."
703456
I don't know what exactly is your question! If anti-gravity could be manipulated ever, i think if would be very useful for us, maybe even in interstellar travels.
474987
Ok lets look at the instant effects. The Earth is spinning at 1047 mph. If we were to suddenly switch directions our acceleration would be Huge! So how much is suddenly... 1 second? That means that it would be a whoping 2094miles/second^2 (if it was the same thats the same as slamming the breaks so it must be double if your going in full reverse). So you think we would go flying into space right? Partly We would be crushed instantly. Why? The Human body can only survive 12G's thats 12x the acceleration of gravity before we are crushed. The acceleration that would be experienced would be a little over 343874G's. We would be paper thin before we even cared about where we ended up.\nTo all those people who may see a mistake, if any, in my math, sorry.
145598
The Earth was formed spinning (like a top) and it just hasn't stopped spinning since then.  There is very little friction that would slow it down (space is pretty empty).\n\nThere are different theories as to why it was created spinning.  But most likely it formed from gas and dust that was swirling, and that angular momentum is still with us today.
577540
Humanly impossible and goes against gravity, the rotation of the earth, the moon, the sun. Joke question right?
11338
The earth is round. There are some physical proofs below, assuming you don't trust the pictures of the Earth taken from the various space programs.
919025
Let's clear up our terms a little bit.\n\nGravity only generally occurs between things of mass.  And it is pretty much independant of what the mass is doing.  And I say pretty much because there are things that can create or destroy mass... but in a general sense it all comes down to the mass.\n\nNow, as astronomical bodies form, they tend to get a spin.  Because of the conservation of angular momentum, things that suck up more mass tend to have more spin than others.  These are, however, tendancies, NOT necessities.\n\nCase in point - the Earth.  Because of the tides, the spin of the Earth is slowing down.  We used to have twelve-hour days millions and millions of years ago, but now they're twice as long.  Has this affected the force of gravity?  Not a bit.  The same mass is present, and it's causing the same amount of gravity.\n\nWhat your friend may be confused by is what is sometimes called centrifugal force (a physicist would probably just call it inertia, though).  Although gravity pulls us down to the centre of the Earth, the motion of spin carries us away from the centre, counteracting gravity.  This means if you take a tool to measure gravity near the equator, you'll get a lower reading then you will when you measure it at the axis.  The force of gravity hasn't changed at all, but the spin is creating another force that is mitigating gravity's effects.  On Earth, this force is pretty small, but it's concievable that it could amount to a huge amount on a fast-enough spinning object... say, a space station with almost no gravity, but which was spinning fast to simulate gravity but pulling out instead of in.\n\nSo in a literal sense, you are completely right.  Gravity has ONLY to do with mass (well, mass and distance).  In a squishier sense, your friend is sort of right, in that spin can change the APPARENT force of gravity in local areas and that objects with large gravities also tend to have large spins.\n\nHope that helps!
740477
The earth is round and its gravitational pull draws us to its center.  Upside-down is really just pointing away from the core...from anywhere.
237936
You say "when" like you think it is going to happen any minute.\n\nThe acceleration due to gravity does not depend on the rotation of the Earth, it only depends on the mass of the Earth and the distance from it.  No matter how fast you are traveling or the Earth is spinning, there will alwasy be a constant gravitational attraction between the Earth and some mass at a constant distance.\n\nHowever, the fact that the Earth is spinning has the effect of lowering the percieved influence of gravity in a way.\nGravity can be through of in this case as the centripetal force which is causing you travel in circular motion.\nWithout going into too much detail (and I fear that I am not explaining it clearly), the force of gravity can only cause so much of a centripetal acceleration, beyond that and you cannot continue in the same circular path.\n\nThere is a point where the force of gravity would not be enough to "hold you down" if the Earth was spinning fast enough.  You set your weight (weight = force of gravity) eqaul to the centripetal force (the force causing you to moving in circular motion), then you can solve for the tangential speed of the Earth's rotation which you would be "weightless".\nHowever, the force of gravity in and of itself is in no way effected by the Earth's rotation.\n\nI hope I explained it clearly enough, this topic lends itself to people using in correct terms like "centrifugal force" which is really not correct.