So I wonder if you set off a magnetic bomb on one side of the world if the earth's magnetic field would be disturbed sympathetically on the other side of the world. If so then you could communicate by Morse code timing the magnetic bombs.
-- JesusHChrist, Apr 13 2005

And quite how would you make your "magnetic bomb"?

Or are you referring to an electromagnetic (pulse) bomb? Which, yes, you could probably use to transmit Morse code, although short wave radio would be just as effective and far more economical.
-- DrCurry, Apr 13 2005


If you disturb a magnetic field on one side does it disturb smpathetically on the other side?
-- JesusHChrist, Apr 13 2005


Heck, get a science kit an try it out. (It's not going to be symmetrical, but it will generally distort the field on the other side.)
-- DrCurry, Apr 13 2005


So would the problem be that it would not be precise enough? I was thinking maybe that it wouldn't be precise enough because the magnetic core of the earth is probably liquid and sloshing around.
-- JesusHChrist, Apr 13 2005


A radio could do this.
-- bristolz, Apr 13 2005


Such a reaction and any condensates or hypothesized reaction products, had better remain lighter than air or there'd be a whole lot of explaining to do.
-- reensure, Apr 13 2005


It would probably make satellite TVs go nuts, so use it as a broadcasting device when used in a camera phone. E.G. Turn on phone, set it to camera mode and someone on the other side of the world to phone you. Then, if it gets through, your face will appear on every satellite TV between you and who you're phoning (the rest of the world.) Of course, this is a theory, and the phone's magnetic disturbance must be pretty high.
-- croissantz, Apr 14 2005


This has got to be quite a high entry on the 'most destructive forms of communcation ever' charts. In terms of current technology, Nuclear Bomb Morse Code might beat it (more bang for your buck, as the saying goes), but that's about it.

Or possibly writing your message on the back of an aircraft carrier and sending it to ram the country of the recipient.
-- moomintroll, Apr 14 2005


This is like using a bazooka to hunt deer, except without the deer. Fishbone.
-- disbomber, Apr 14 2005


+ from me for raising the science question. I'm assuming the reaction, if there was one, would occur at the speed of light?
-- RayfordSteele, Apr 15 2005


moomintroll: no, that would be "Morse Code With Asteroids."
-- DrCurry, Apr 15 2005


I also like the science question. I can imagine a situation where communication by radio would be impractical because of atmospheric disturbances. The interesting question here is the stability of the earths magnetic field. The magnetic field of a permanent magnet is pretty stable. It is not inconceivable that alterations could be done precisely. If you assume the earth is like a big permanent magnet, I am trying to think of how one would reversibly perturb it.
-- bungston, Apr 15 2005


[Bungston], the Earth's magnetic field is actually quite unstable, being generated actively by internal movements of the core rather than by a static state like a permanent magnet.

More generally, two main problems: Shoving the Earth's field around sounds like a good way to accelerate the (geologically speaking) imminent reversal of the Earth's poles, which would be very technologically destructive (indirectly it'd probably destroy every satellite) and possibly have severe ecological impact as well. The second problem is that the Earth's field is constantly changing anyway--any signal would have to be quite powerful to overcome the "background noise".
-- 5th Earth, Apr 15 2005



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