It appears that the Earth weighs only 5.972 sextillion tonnes, not 5.978 sextillion tonnes, as previously reported in textbooks.
For those who take their zeroes straight up, the trimmed down planet checks in with 18 of them: 5,972,000,000,000,000,000,000.
So it appears that the old estimate was a bit high, if six quintillion tonnes qualifies as a bit.
Seems like a lot, since the weight of the entire human population of the third rock is only 4.5 billion tonnes. Four point five billion goes into six quintillion 130 billion times. That’s enough to cover insects, trees and Watchtower hander-outers, with a good deal left over.
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It’s good that scientists don’t mind changing their tune if the weight of new evidence demands it. And since new evidence is coming in all the time, it helps ensure that they keep their jobs, which is really what it’s all about in the long run.
This global warming no global warming thing can be kept alive for decades, certainly far longer than the European debt crisis. Scientists have it all over economists.
It’s good to know that the billions and quintillions spent on cyclotrons and space programs and whatnot yield actual useful stuff. I’ve never been one to say, instead of sending people to the moon, we should find a cure for hemorrhoids. It’s important to seek out strange things, whether it’s the true weight of the Earth or the right stickiness in a sticky note.
If early explorers had played chess instead of looking for the New World, where would we be today?
We’d be in Spain betting on the bull fights, that’s where.
