What's the likelyhood

In the last couple of weeks I watched several movies. One of which was
"The Core", the basic premise of which is that the Earth's core stopped
rotating, which of course, got the Earth's magnetic fields in a bit of a
snit. So this mob of scientists sets off to the core so as to get it
rotating again.

The part I'm actually interested in is: At one stage the magnetic field
has a hole in it which allows the cosmic radiation throug. A beam approx.
100 meters diameter (me guessing) which crosses the (I think Golden Gate
Bridge - don't know if there's anything similar) at 90deg.

In the time it takes for that beam to cross the bridge (~10-15 sec - movie
time) where the beam makes contact, the bridge melts & falls into the
drink (Yeah, nasty things happen to the people, & cars too - though
strangely not as bad - at least not shown).

What I am interested in is, the damage to bridge. Would it in fact have
melted? Certainly there would have been some damage, structural weakening
at the very least I imagine. If it makes a difference, the season
appeared to be late Spring/eraly Summer.

Dat's Me wrote:

In the last couple of weeks I watched several movies. One of which was
"The Core", the basic premise of which is that the Earth's core stopped
rotating, which of course, got the Earth's magnetic fields in a bit of a
snit. So this mob of scientists sets off to the core so as to get it
rotating again.

The part I'm actually interested in is: At one stage the magnetic field
has a hole in it which allows the cosmic radiation throug. A beam approx.
100 meters diameter (me guessing) which crosses the (I think Golden Gate
Bridge - don't know if there's anything similar) at 90deg.

In the time it takes for that beam to cross the bridge (~10-15 sec - movie
time) where the beam makes contact, the bridge melts & falls into the
drink (Yeah, nasty things happen to the people, & cars too - though
strangely not as bad - at least not shown).

What I am interested in is, the damage to bridge. Would it in fact have
melted? Certainly there would have been some damage, structural weakening
at the very least I imagine. If it makes a difference, the season
appeared to be late Spring/eraly Summer.

Certainly not -- unless you're one of those who believes the moon
missions were a hoax because the Apollo craft would have been 'fried' on
leaving the earth's atmosphere & magnetosphere.

I can't see any damage being caused by a short-term local disappearance
of the magnetic field beyond, perhaps, an elevated rate of cancers and
birth defects in the affected population, depending on the duration of
the exposure. I don't have figures to hand, but from qualitative
descriptions of the radiation risks in interplanetary space travel I
would guess that an exposure of only 10-15 seconds, absent a
simultaneous solar flare or CME, would be orders of magnitude weaker
than an ordinary medical chest X-ray. Note also that the atmosphere
absorbs quite a bit of cosmic radiation, beside the portion that's
diverted by the earth's magnetic field.

--
Odysseus

On Sun, 28 Dec 2003 23:53:38 -0500, Odysseus wrote:


Certainly not -- unless you're one of those who believes the moon missions
were a hoax because the Apollo craft would have been 'fried' on leaving
the earth's atmosphere & magnetosphere.

Pretty obvious if I'd thought about it from point of view. I won't mention
what was shown of the city a bit later then. :-)

I can't see any damage being caused by a short-term local disappearance of
the magnetic field beyond, perhaps, an elevated rate of cancers and birth
defects in the affected population, depending on the duration of the
exposure. I don't have figures to hand, but from qualitative descriptions

I was thinking structural damage at the microscopic/elemental level but,
that too got put to sleep in your first paragraph.

of the radiation risks in interplanetary space travel I would guess that
an exposure of only 10-15 seconds, absent a simultaneous solar flare or
CME, would be orders of magnitude weaker than an ordinary medical chest
X-ray. Note also that the atmosphere absorbs quite a bit of cosmic
radiation, beside the portion that's diverted by the earth's magnetic
field.

Dramatisation, don't ya' love it?! :-)

During a perfect moment of peace at Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:00:28 +1000,
"Dat's Me" interrupted with:

In the last couple of weeks I watched several movies.

A good website debunking bad astronomy in film is, of course,
www.badastronomy.com. Phil's review of The Core is at
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movi...re_review.html

Enjoy.
----------------------------------------------
Bring me my Broadsword and clear understanding.

On Mon, 29 Dec 2003 12:40:04 +0000, Dave Barlow wrote:

During a perfect moment of peace at Mon, 29 Dec 2003 14:00:28 +1000,
"Dat's Me" interrupted with:

In the last couple of weeks I watched several movies.

A good website debunking bad astronomy in film is, of course,
www.badastronomy.com. Phil's review of The Core is at
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/movi...re_review.html

Enjoy.
---------------------------------------------- Bring me my Broadsword and
clear understanding.


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