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Published on: February 13, 2018
Turbulent ship wakes: further evidence that the Earth is round
1Thule Scientific, 22914 Portage Circle Drive, Topanga, California 90290, USA. david.k.lynch@aero.org
Abstract:
When viewed from the stern, a ship's turbulent wake appears as a narrow strip of bubble-whitened water converging toward the horizon. The wake does not reach a sharp point on the horizon but has a finite angular width, indicating that the Earth is not flat, but rather round. A simple analysis of the geometry of the observations shows that the radius of the Earth can be estimated using only simple instruments and observations.
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