homeWelcome, sign in or click here to subscribe.login
     


 

 

Weekend


Subscriber content preview

June 17, 2011

Strange But True!

Q. From a Cleveland reader: “At what point would a line from Cleveland down through the Earth's center emerge?”

A. Such locations are known as “antipodes,” or direct opposites, says University of Saskatchewan geographer Scott Bell. The word is Greek for “having feet opposite,” or people and places diametrically opposed on the globe. The most distant point on Earth from you right now is the antipode. Thus the antipodes must be separated by half the circumference of the globe (180 degrees), with one point being as far north of the equator as the other is south. Midnight at one point is noonday at the other.


 
. . .


To read this story in full login or purchase a subscription.



Previous columns:



Email or user name:
Password:
 
Forgot password? Click here.