Antipodean Antics
By pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
Derry, Northern Ireland
May 18, 2017 5:30pm CST
I decided that Gibraltar is strategically important for one simple reason: if you went straight through the earth from the Rock of Gibraltar, you'd emerge about 50 miles away from Auckland, New Zealand.
Not a lot of people know that!
WolframAlpha helped me to reach this conclusion:
To see full output on this page you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Computing... Input interpretation: Local depth: Computing... Source information » Related Links » Give us feedback » Computed by Wolfram Mathematica View Wolfram|Alpha in: Mobi
13 people like this
13 responses
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
19 May 17
But if we dig down enough in England we still get to both China and Australia, right? Please don't tell me I was lied to in childhood. :)
4 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 May 17
@Poppylicious Alas, t'would appear so. Tricksy or what? 
If you started in Buenos Aires, you'd come out in China...
If you started in Buenos Aires, you'd come out in China...1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11133)
•
19 May 17
@pgntwo Hmmm, so I would drown? The adults were trying to kill me!?
2 people like this
@topffer (42156)
• France
19 May 17
I reversed the problem, and the antipode of Auckland is near Ronda, not far from Malaga. Maybe an agreement might be find with Spain to exchange the two places, as admiral Rooke missed something in his calculations in 1704 ?
Thank you for the link.
3 people like this
![WolframAlpha view of MyLot.com [Alexa mainly!]](http://img.mylot.com/350x350/2876904.png "WolframAlpha view of MyLot.com [Alexa mainly!]")
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
19 May 17
Yes Michael Caine..not a lot of people know that. I know I didn't haha
1 person likes this
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
19 May 17
@pgntwo I did PGN, did you know I met him? I went to his autobiography book signing and he spoke so sweetly to me. I shall never forget it. 
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 May 17
@TiarasOceanView That's a claim to fame. He always strikes me as being gruff, short-tempered even, when on chat shows. Just his way, I guess. He was on a show recently alongside Morgan Freeman, who appeared a lot more laid-back...
1 person likes this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
19 May 17
You should have left your image a bit bigger so I could decide whether I wanted to take the time to look at your link. Yesterday, when I left mylot to look at a link it screwed my page up and it took me a lot of time to get it back where I want it to be. Not that I expect that to happen each and every time, but since I don't know why it did it in the first place I don't want to run into it again so soon.
When are you starting your dig?: If you flew to New Zealand or took a cruise how long would either of those take? I think it would be less time consuming and probably a lot less money for you to go one of those routes rather than dig your way through, lol. 
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
19 May 17
@MarshaMusselman I put up a picture of the WolframAlpha home page on a smartphone (they do have an app also).
2 people like this
@MarshaMusselman (38865)
• Midland, Michigan
19 May 17
@pgntwo I don't have a smartphone and my tablet is loaded and no more room for apps unless I end up removing a game I've played on it for the past two years. I'd have to look at it on my desktop computer.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 May 17
A minor detail. By the time you reached the center, having fallen about 4000miles, you'd be travelling so fast the wind would cool you down ;)
The trick would be stopping as you emerge at the other side, about 8000miles from your entry point in Gibraltar, travelling at terminal velocity (approx 130mph in air).
See, we're geniuses! 
1 person likes this
@prashu228 (37524)
• India
18 May 17
Good piece of information, I never knew about this. Completely new thing, I will try to find out more
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137261)
• United States
23 May 17
Hmmm... I may be missing something here, pgn, so I am just going to ask... What use is that app? I am not really interested in what lies directly opposite my current position on this planet, so...?
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137261)
• United States
26 May 17
@pgntwo 
I thought adding a couple of 
extra people in your bed was the spicy part of life, pgn
? Isn't it crazy how you can think you know a saying, think you know exactly what it means and then some 
young whippersnapper comes along and tells you you are wrong! SMH!
I thought adding a couple of extra people in your bed was the spicy part of life, pgn? Isn't it crazy how you can think you know a saying, think you know exactly what it means and then some young whippersnapper comes along and tells you you are wrong! SMH!1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
23 May 17
It is a Computational Engine, so is good for myriad other things than just what lies 180degrees around the globe from you.
I think in the US, it can show you what aircraft are traversing the airspace overhead your neighborhood at a point in time, but that bit of it does not work here.
I have yet to figure out how to get it to name the 14 or so countries that touch or span the Equator, though.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 May 17
@DaddyEvil Variety is the spice of life, after all
1 person likes this
