[BC] Hold on a second ...

[Harold Hallikainen]

It's true! The days ARE getting longer! Nice explanation at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second . The old "no free lunch" or
"conservation of energy" or "you can't create or destroy energy" seems to
be responsible. The tides move a lot of water around. Some of that energy
is captured in tidal power plants. The rest of it is converted to heat.
Where does that energy come from? Rotation of the earth and orbit of the
moon. What happens if you take energy from the rotation of the earth? It
slows down, making the days longer. Though it is not mentioned on the
wikipedia page, I'd expect the orbit of the moon to also slow down (longer
months?). How long until it's too slow to stay in orbit?

Harold


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