h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hmm, why doesn´t it just get one large nipple instead then?

About the ships, if a sunken ship only meant something volume wise, wouldn´t Archimedes idea have been wrong?

I think the point was that a sunken ship displaces less water than a floating ship since (when a ship is sunk) the water is allowed to occupy all the space it wasn't before; that is, all the places the cargo, people, air, and whatnot had been occupying while the ship was afloat.

Yep, Archimedes and JD are both right about the ships.
The boat at the bottom of the sea is only displacing a little bit of water; whereas, when it was afloat, it was displacing much much more water (equivalent to its own mass).
Once it is sunk ( and full of water ), only the volume of the actual metal, wood or plastic of the bits of the boat is displacing any water.

More useless information:
The nostrils of the bird called the gannet (Sula bassana) are inside its mouth. Must be 'orrible if they catch a cold!

I hate to have shown everyday how I have only learned physics, I have never understood it.

Heck, it was only useless information explained badly, after all.

What about this one?
Would the world spin faster if you chopped down all the trees near the equator? (like an ice skater pulling their arms in close to their body while turning on the spot)

Hmmm, my guess would be theoretically yes. But since you ask it is probably a no.

I guess yes too but I don't know (about the trees).

More useless information:
Fleetwood Mac and Gary Moore both recorded the song "Need Your Love So Bad". The same guitar was used on both versions for the lead bits.

But I suppose the opposite will work as well then. So lets build some towers near the equator to slow down the rotation. Then we will finally have those extra hours we are longing for, so we no longer have to be so stressed

Anything which cuts down stress rather than trees is a good idea in my book!

More useless information.
Oh about that guitar. Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac once took it apart (just for something to do). When he rebuilt it, he put one of the pickups in the wrong way which gave the guitar its distinctive sound.

Doughnutts are the number one impulse buy at convienence stores in the United States.
Dolly Madison Doughnutt Gems are manufactured at at rate off 100,000 per hour at a hostess plant in philidelphia.

Doughnutts are the number one impulse buy at convienence stores in the United States.
Dolly Madison Doughnutt Gems are manufactured at a rate off 100,000 per hour at a hostess plant in philidelphia.

Pardon the cloned posting.

Was it because you mentioned Dolly?

HA! Careful or this'll turn into the Useless Pun Conversation.

Regarding the turning of the Earth, how come the atmosphere doesn´t end up in a belt around the equator? Is it gravity holding it firmly in place? I would just think gravity wasn´t quite strong enough for that.

It has been calculated that the filling of reservoirs behind dams has slowed the rotation of the earth by a few nanoseconds per day. This due to the same spinning-figure-skater effect. The water behind the dams is farther from the earth's axis, than if it had flowed downstream.

The American Rat Terrier breed standard for physical proportion is one pound per inch tall , the maximum height acceptable being 14 inches.

Broken Cds will still play - just not the part that is broken....