International Top Spinning Day 2024 is on Tuesday, October 8, 2024: Does the Earth sometimes speed up in rotation and then slow back down again and speed up again?

Tuesday, October 8, 2024 is International Top Spinning Day 2024. International Top Spinning Day International Top Spinning Day

Sponsored Deals

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Would you please stop with the 32-digit numbers already?

The Earth's spin is carefully monitored every day by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS). They publish the results on the web, but they don't use such silly numbers just because your calculator holds 34 digits. The "Excess Length of Day" (LOD) is difference between atomic clocks and the Earth sidereal day (adjusted to 24 hours *). Right now, it is about -0.049895 seconds. Not -0.04989509807967963957945708054897978 seconds. Not even -0.0498951 seconds. Just plain old -0.049895 seconds, to six decimal places.

On an average day, the LOD changes by -0.00081 seconds. Some days a bit more, some days a bit less. The difference depends on the season, the weather, how many and how big the storms are around the world, and even a tiny bit on earthquakes.

The reason Starry Night doen't include this is because it is too small to notice, unless you have a radio telescope and some very good atomic clocks. The difference amounts to moving your location on the Earth by less than half a meter.

* The adjustment works like this. The length of the Earth's rotation day is measured by radio telescopes aimed at quasars. The length is divided by the magic number 1.00273781191135448, to get a value close to 86,400 seconds (24 hours). Notice that the magic number has only 18 digits. The "rotation day" is not exactly the same thing as the sidereal day, for reasons that are too complicated to go into here.

I got a tattoo 4 days ago and have been putting vaseline on it, someone told me its a no no. Is it ruined?

Your head must be spinning from all the answers - I think it's time to resurrect this...

Here is a copy and paste from an aftercare question and my stock answer:

1. Antibiotic ointments are not a good idea - people are easily allergic to them and they think they are allergic to their tattoo.

2. Antibiotic ointments, Aquaphor, Vaseline, A &D ointment ALL contain petrolatum - we don't like that for healing tattoos (many also contain lanolin and many people are sensitive to these preparations because of that too) This is because people put too much on - it bocks normal moisture to the skin and attracts bacteria.

3. Preparation H is for a**holes not tattoos - much has been written about this by many over the years and in some forms it contains live yeast cells...ewwww on open skin.

4. No baby powder, cornstarch or any such "powdering." No Desitin or similar products that gunk up the skin with heavy zinc oxide.

5. No plastic wrap ever! Plastic wrap is for left overs, not tattoos. It keeps the fluids on the surface of the tattoo that a nice dressing would absorb those first couple hours so there is NO SCABBING - that's right, NO scabbing. Scabbing is not normal in a well cared for tattoo. Also, with plastic wrap, fluids leak out around it and it is a disgusting source of cross contamination. The slight peeling that should occur should be the top layer of skin that is mixed with the ink, similar to a sunburn peeling.

Most tattoo artists seem to prefer unscented mild lotions - they are looking for products with a minimum of ingredients - some like H2Ocean products, some like Tattoo Goo (contrary to reports, there is nothing adverse in this product) Coco butter is often used as well as Olive oil body butter - I don't prefer these, but I have no big issues with them.

The international folk seem to like Bepathen, however this product also contains lanolin and petrolatum among other products that some could be sensitive to. It is widely used for diaper rash, as is A&D in the US. It also contains alcohol.

I happen to give out little pillow packs of Ink Fixx ointment for the first couple days - then they can switch to the mild lotions. People like Curel which is good - so is Aveeno - I like Cetaphil. We always give the Ink Fixx to the client to use because it is not always easy for them to go right to the store to buy things.

Truth be told, the skin heals pretty well no matter the abuse and certainly even if you use nothing at all. I have even seen people use just plain old Crisco in a very thin layer. Nothing wrong with that either - (again, not preferred.)

In my studio they are also given WRITTEN directions for after care. There is NO reason for a professional tattoo artist NOT to do this for their client.

Once you remove the bandages, wash with an antibacterial soap and warm water, pat dry with dye free paper towels and apply whatever healing agent you choose SPARINGLY - this means barely covered. IF you apply too much, it will accumulate bacteria that get stuck to it and the tattoo cannot get air.

Overall, keep it clean and don't scratch it. It will go through some peeling and other changes over the next couple of weeks. Keep dirty hands and strangers off of it!

So in the end, take what you can from everyone's advice here as no one really has the magic answers in all cases. Most of us knows what worked for them, or works for our clients in general if we are artists!

I know the space Station revolves around the earth but does it rotates too?

Dear Prabha:

The International Space Station (ISS) does not spin like a top, if that is what you are asking. One side of the ISS faces continuously the Earth (for reasons that I will explain in a moment), which is advantageous in making scientific observations of the planet. Moreover, for a Space Shuttle to dock with a spinning ISS would be both difficult - and dangerous.

By carefully balancing gravitational and inertial gradients, the ISS can - and does - keep one side facing continuously the planet, even as it orbits the Earth.

Actually, the ISS does rotate, but not in the way you may be thinking. Consider the Earth's Moon. As the Moon makes its 29 1/2 day orbit of the Earth, one side of the Moon faces continuously the planet. In order for it to do so, the Moon must make one rotation every 29 1/2 days. Similarly, the ISS makes one orbit of the Earth every 91 minutes. For the ISS to keep one side facing continuously the planet, the ISS must make one rotation every 91 minutes. Such a body is said to be in "synchronous rotation" relative to the body it is orbiting.

And what starts and stops the ISS? Thrusters position the ISS into the desired attitude; gyroscopes keep it that way.

I hope this answers your questions.

Flash Kellam