Journey to the center of the Earth.
March 17, 2015 6:31 PM   Subscribe

How far would you have to travel to reach the Earth's core? And what would you see along the way? Discover what lies beneath...
posted by adept256 (26 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
I really love this idea, but the scale of everything is so wonky, especially at the beginning, that I feel like I'm actually a little more confused than I was going in. Maybe that was just me, though.
posted by teponaztli at 6:35 PM on March 17, 2015


(It was not just you. The scale was so distracting that I couldn't pay attention to any of the rest of it.)
posted by Sing Or Swim at 6:48 PM on March 17, 2015


Based on what I found in my front yard it starts with innumerable archeological layers of old PVC pipes left by previous owners...
posted by Hairy Lobster at 6:49 PM on March 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


So, it turns out that xenophyophores are a thing I didn't know about this morning. Wow.
posted by phooky at 7:12 PM on March 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


I concur on the scale issue - I think it could have been handled better graphically, like, make the little tunneling craft the size of a person, yeah, that would have made a big difference.
...

..but I would love to have been at that Agonizer concert.
posted by bird internet at 7:20 PM on March 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


Well at least after 10 martinis I won't mind all those elephants balancing on top of my head.
posted by books for weapons at 7:32 PM on March 17, 2015 [6 favorites]


Where is Lord Kinbote?
posted by Auden at 7:35 PM on March 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


I was amused to find James Cameron at the deepest point in the ocean. But yeah, scale was weird, and while I fully expected to see the bottom of Lake Baikal, it would have been nice of them to note that it's the deepest lake in the world (after noting the bottom of several other deep lakes), and not just that it's the largest lake in the world by volume.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 7:44 PM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


The scale was wonky at first but as I got further into it realize that the dotted sine wave line gets more compressed as the scale compresses. I thought that aspect of the visualization became very useful and intuitive in the latter parts of it.
posted by treepour at 7:54 PM on March 17, 2015 [4 favorites]


That was utterly fascinating, every claustrophobia-inducing meter of it.
posted by NorthernLite at 8:03 PM on March 17, 2015


Don't believe any of this nonsense. We have known what was down there since the 60's. They just don't want you to know the truth.
posted by cashman at 8:05 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


The elephant metric stopped being useful sometime around x43.
posted by curious nu at 8:07 PM on March 17, 2015 [3 favorites]


(This was still super-cool, though. I wish I could get paid to dig tunnels and underground cities and things. Or, you know, just get permission I guess. Self-funded mining life, here I come)
posted by curious nu at 8:09 PM on March 17, 2015


curious nu: "The elephant metric stopped being useful sometime around x43"

But I'm kind of disappointed they didn't keep up the martini one, if nothing else to see how they'd solve the equivalent of large numbers of martinis. I'm guessing either "Enough martinis to fill an olympic size swimming pool", or perhaps "Enough martinis to kill the population of Rhode Island by acute alcohol poisoning".
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 8:15 PM on March 17, 2015 [7 favorites]


One thing that bugs me about these things is that they always include the depth of the Grand Canyon as if it were at sea level. the north rim is at 9,000 ft above, so even if it's 6000ft deep it's still freakin 3k ft ABOVE sea level. Same goes with the deep cave, which happens to be waaaaay up in the mountains, so you aren't really closer to the core of the earth when you are in it.
posted by OHenryPacey at 8:19 PM on March 17, 2015 [1 favorite]


The elephant metric stopped being useful sometime around x43.

So, about 14 elephants ago?
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 PM on March 17, 2015


47 elephants is crush depth.
posted by clavdivs at 8:34 PM on March 17, 2015


It's elephants drinking martinis, all the way down.

I didn't mind the scale changes - I didn't grok the sine wave cue, but the wow factor on successive facts was more than enough to keep me going. Just learning about xenophyophores was worth the price of entry. The biggest single-cell animal is 20cm across and lives off the cost of Scotland? Who knew!
posted by Devonian at 8:59 PM on March 17, 2015 [5 favorites]


Well, an interesting journey. So on my way there, I'd meet basking sharks, monkfishes and japanese spider crabs. Thanks but no thanks, I'll stay right up here.
posted by ddaavviidd at 9:53 PM on March 17, 2015


Needs more Wakeman.
posted by Kerasia at 10:20 PM on March 17, 2015 [2 favorites]


Neat stuff, but I've made a deal with deep water and deep holes. I'll leave them alone, if they leave me alone. It's worked out well so far. In conclusion: Nope.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 10:31 PM on March 17, 2015


I note the disclaimer at the bottom of the page feels the need to point out "Vehicles are not to scale."
posted by russm at 12:15 AM on March 18, 2015


7000 martinis later I am weightless. Finally.

wait....Cuban Atlantis? Why wasn't I told?
posted by mule98J at 12:20 AM on March 18, 2015


Scale threw me at first as well but good stuff. I was surprised at the depths some sea creatures will go to: turtles and penguins below blue whales.

Also reminded me of this wonderful deep underground webcomic scrollathon by Boulet (previously).
posted by ocular shenanigans at 9:59 AM on March 18, 2015


I got dizzy. Is that normal?
posted by Namlit at 10:17 AM on March 18, 2015


treepour: "the dotted sine wave line gets more compressed as the scale compresses."
Oh. I noticed this near the bottom, but never connected the idea this was an indication of changing scale.

The rabbit which looks like it's at a depth of 2.5x vehicle heights is really disorienting. But the crocodile burrows at ~30.6x vehicle height is disturbing. At my estimate the vehicle is 9.4m (5.5x1.7m) assuming average human height 5'6", putting the burrow at ~287.6m. That's 1.2 Elephants!

ehem. I noticed the animated fade in effect on the various depths, which means you could animate anything. I think the dotted line should be nixed in favor of a scaled (shrinking) vehicle. m2c
posted by xtian at 6:56 AM on March 19, 2015


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