One Astronomer's Noise

And the X-Files doesn’t scare me like it used to. Now that I have DVR, I can automatically record the old episodes as they come up on the Sci-Fi Channel. I’m watching the season 2 episode “Die Hand die verletzt” and yelling at the TV, “that’s not right!” No, it’s not because of the occult conspiracy, nor is it the black magic, nor even the Extenze commercials that are always always on Comcast. No, Agent Mulder was drinking out of a water fountain and noticed that the water was flowing down the drain counter-clockwise. He remarks that it should be flowing clockwise because of the Coriolis effect. Scully agrees. Therefore something is wrong in this town.

At this point, I’m going, aaaaarrrggggh! Okay, so the Coriolis effect occurs when an object in a rotating reference frame follows a deflected path as seen from outside that frame. It causes hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere to rotate counterclockwise and those in the Southern Hemisphere to rotate clockwise. It cannot, however, affect small scale systems such as toilets, sinks, or water fountains. So, sorry, Mulder, you got the direction wrong AND the entire effect incorrent.

The witchcraft, I can deal with. At least it’s total fiction! But it is less scary now that I’m older. Oh well…