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Weekend


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February 14, 2003

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. When it is noon in New York City, Winnipeg, Amsterdam or Greenwich, what time is it at the North Pole?

    A. It can be any time you want! The concept of time zones, which are based on longitude, falls apart at the poles, where all longitudinal lines intersect, says New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology geophysicist Rick Aster. Here the sun simply spirals around the sky, moving from 23.5 degrees below the horizon at the winter solstice to 23.5 degrees above in mid-summer.


     
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