Chile Earthquake May Have Shortened Days on Earth


The massive 8.8 earthquake that struck Chile may have changed the entire Earth's rotation and shortened the length of days on our planet, a NASA scientist said Monday.

The quake, the seventh strongest earthquake in recorded history, hit Chile Saturday and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds, according to research scientist Richard Gross at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

"Perhaps more impressive is how much the quake shifted Earth's axis," NASA officials said in a Monday update.

The computer model used by Gross and his colleagues to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved Earth's figure axis by about 3 inches (8 cm or 27 milliarcseconds).

The Earth's figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which it spins around once every day at a speed of about 1,000 mph (1,604 kph).

The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth's mass is balanced. It is offset from the Earth's north-south axis by about 33 feet (10 meters).


SPACE.com Space.com Staff

space.com – Tue Mar 2, 10:00 am ET

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Breast Cancer Treatment in Large, Fewer Doses of Radiotherapy Lessens Side Effects

Breast Cancer Treatment in Large, Fewer Doses of Radiotherapy Lessens Side Effects

February 8, 2010 /EIN PRESSWIRE/ The Institute of Cancer Research has found that women with breast cancer had more manageable side effects when their radiotherapy was delivered in larger – but fewer – doses.

The study found that women who received the larger doses experienced less skin changes than those subjected to the normal dose. These larger, less-frequent doses also reduce the total amount of radiation delivered over the course of the breast cancer treatment.

Meg McArthur, from the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity, told The Telegraph: "Radiotherapy is important in reducing the chance of cancer coming back but women have told Breakthrough that attending many sessions can be both physically and emotionally draining. Anything that has the potential to deliver radiotherapy treatment in a way that could benefit a patient's quality of life is to be welcomed."

Read more about this story at Breast Cancer News Today:

Latest Radiation Therapy news - http://breastcancer.einnews.com/news/radiation-therapy-breast-cancer
Latest UK Breast Cancer news - http://breastcancer.einnews.com/uk/

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Google Goes Social with Google Buzz

It’s official: Google (Google) has just announced Google Buzz, its newest push into the social media foray. This confirms earlier reports of Gmail integrating a social status feature.

On stage revealing the new product was Bradley Horowitz, Google’s vice president for product management. While introducing the product, Mr. Horowitz focused on the human penchant for sharing experiences and the social media phenomenon of wanting to share it in real time. These two key themes were core philosophies behind Google Buzz.

“It’s becoming harder and harder to find signal in the noise,” Bradley stated before introducing the product manager for Google Buzz, Todd Jackson.