Huge Chinese construction project is so large it is lengthening our day
If you ever feel you don't have enough time in the day, you are not alone. Between washing up after kids, working long hours, and making time for hobbies and past-times, it might seem time is constantly running away with you.
But what if the day was made longer, even if just by a few microseconds? Well, it turns out a huge man-made project in China is so large that it is affecting the Earth's rotation - and increasing the 24 hours we have to play with.
Construction on China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydroelectric power station, began in 1994 and was completed over nine years with a price tag of around £29billion. It has since had a surprising effect on the Earth.
The colossal structure is situated in Hubei province and spans the Yangtze River, which is the longest river in Eurasia. Towering at 181 metres tall and stretching 2,335 metres across, the dam can hold a mind-boggling 27.2million cubic metres of water and boasts a maximum capacity of 22,500 megawatts.
At peak performance, it has the potential to supply electricity to 5.4million homes for a month, utilising the immense water flow from the neighbouring gorges Qutangxia, Wuxia, and Xilingxia.
It was the devastating Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in 2004 that first prompted NASA scientists to explore whether such seismic events could influence the Earth's rotation due to mass redistribution.
According to IFL Science, the concept of the 'Moment of Inertia' in physics refers to how mass distribution on Earth can slightly impact how hard it is to spin the planet on its axis.
The tectonic activity during an earthquake, particularly the one in 2004, caused a shift in the Earth's mass distribution, leading to a decrease in the length of a day by 2.68 microseconds.
In a 2005 post, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center geophysicist Dr Benjamin Fong Chao explained that the massive amount of water displaced to fill the Three Gorges Dam could have a similar effect.
He determined that this mass shift would extend the length of a day by 0.06 microseconds and alter Earth's pole position by approximately two centimetres.
While this effect may prove inconsequential to our daily lives, it could cause confusion for highly precise time-keeping devices like atomic clocks.
This issue has prompted some scientists to suggest that we may need to account for a negative leap second – such as a minute with only 59 seconds – within the next ten years.
"For reference, this amounts to a bit more than three days over the entire age of the universe," Dr Chao explained. "Any time you shift mass around, you change the Earth's rotation. The effect is very small, but measurable."
During the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, a total of 1.3million people were relocated as their towns and villages became submerged.
The dam, besides generating electricity, is designed to enhance the Yangtze River's shipping capacity and decrease the risk of downstream floods by providing flood storage space.
The government views the project as a historic achievement in engineering, social, and economic terms, featuring state-of-the-art large turbines and a commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The dam's construction has not been without controversy - valuable archaeological and cultural sites were flooded. Other critics argue that the dam has significantly impacted the environment and increased the risk of landslides.
The project utilised 27.2million cubic metres of concrete, a whopping 463,000 tonnes of steel (equivalent to constructing 63 Eiffel Towers) and shifted approximately 102.6million cubic metres of Earth.
Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community!
Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team.
All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in!
If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'.
We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
More than 2,000 senior employees expected to depart from NASA, Politico reports
July 9 (Reuters) - Around 2,145 senior-ranking employees at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Adminstration are set to leave under a push to shed staff, Politico reported on Wednesday citing documents obtained by the news outlet. Most employees leaving are in GS-13 to GS-15 positions, senior-level government ranks, the report said, adding that the agency has offered staff early retirement, buyouts and deferred resignations. "NASA remains committed to our mission as we work within a more prioritized budget", the agency's spokesperson Bethany Stevens told Reuters in an emailed statement. Under President Donald Trump's administration, in recent months the U.S. space industry and NASA's workforce of 18,000 have been whipsawed by looming layoffs and proposed budget cuts that would cancel dozens of science programs, while the U.S. space agency remains without a confirmed administrator. Trump's nominee for NASA administrator, Musk ally and billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman, appeared to be an early casualty of Musk's rift with the president when the White House abruptly removed him from consideration last month, denying Musk his pick to lead the space agency.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
'Moon Illusion' will appear in the night sky TOMORROW... here's how to see the visual phenomenon
Skywatchers are in for a treat when the summer's first full moon creates an illusion in the night sky. Although the moon reaches its full phase on Thursday at 4:36pm ET, it will appear most dramatic as it rises above the horizon after sunset, glowing with a striking orange hue and seeming larger than usual. This is known as the 'Moon Illusion,' a rare visual phenomenon that plays a trick on the mind. As the moon hovers near the horizon, the human brain compares it to nearby objects like trees, buildings, or mountains, making it appear far bigger than when it's high overhead in the empty sky. To experience the moon illusion for yourself, start by looking at the full moon, normally when it's near the horizon. Then, try viewing it through a cardboard tube to block out surrounding objects, which helps isolate the moon and reduces the illusion. You can also look at the moon upside down by bending over and peering through your legs, or, if you have access to one, leaning backward while seated on a swing. NASA says the moon typically looks orange or red near the horizon because Earth's thick atmosphere scatters blue light, letting the warmer colors through, the same reason sunsets look red. Thursday also marks as the moon's farthest distance from the sun in 2025, as it comes just days after Earth hit aphelion, the point in its orbit farthest from the sun. On average, the moon is about 92.9 million miles from the sun. But during the Buck Moon, it will be roughly 94.5 million miles away. In summer, the sun takes a high path across the sky during the day. The moon, on the other hand, takes the opposite path at night. So instead of being high overhead, it moves in a lower arc closer to the horizon. Because it stays low in the sky all night, you can see it for longer and from more places, even if you're in a city or surrounded by buildings or trees. So when people say this full moon gives some of the best views of the year, they're talking about how easy and striking it is to watch, just because of where it travels in the sky. The position of this moon will make it more special, as it will be unusually low in the sky at night. This is because a full moon always appears directly opposite to the sun. Since the sun is still riding after the June's summer solstice, which is the longest day time of the year, the moon will be hugging the horizon. The moon's unusual low path is a direct result of its 18.6-year lunar cycle, known as a lunistice, a point when the moon's orbit tilts to its greatest angle relative to Earth's equator. This tilt means the moon rises and sets farther north or south on the horizon than usual, following a shallower or higher arc depending on the season. NASA explains this occurs because the moon's tilted orbit interacts with Earth's own tilted axis and orbit around the sun, causing long-term shifts in the moon's apparent trajectory. The name 'Buck Moon' comes from a seasonal behavior in North America. July is when male deer, which is known as Buck, fully grows their new antlers. Other Indigenous groups refer to it as the Thunder Moon, for the seasonal summer storms, or Salmon Moon and Raspberry Moon, tied to harvesting. European names include the Hay Moon, Mead Moon, and Herb Moon, linked to midsummer farming and festivals. While the name doesn't describe the moon's color, just like the previous month Strawberry Moon, the Buck Moon is known for its visual impact, especially when viewed from open fields, hilltops, or coastal areas with a clear southeast horizon. No telescope or binoculars are necessary, any star-gazer can notice the size and color difference compared to a typical high-riding moon. This moon's low track and striking appearance are part of a long-term lunar rhythm.
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
James Webb telescope spots rare 'Cosmic Owl' structure
With its distinct owl-like appearance, it looks like a nature photo snapped in the woods in the dead of night. It could also be an artistic portrait from an art gallery, with its shimmering shades of blue, orange and pink. But this stunning image, newly published by astronomers, actually captures a remarkable moment in deep space, billions of light years away. Two blue rings with orange centres, which look like an owl's eyes, are actually two ring-shaped galaxies colliding with each other. The collision occurred 38 million years ago, but only now is it being picked up by NASA 's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The shot has been dubbed 'Comic Owl' by an international group of astronomers led by Dr Mingyu Li of the Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. 'The Cosmic Owl consists of a head-on merger involving two galaxies,' Dr Li and colleagues say. 'These phenomena mutually affect one another, collectively driving the evolution of this galaxy system.' Cosmic Owl is made up of two ring galaxies, which, as the name suggests, are simply galaxies that have a circle-like appearance. Ring galaxies have been described as one of the rarest galaxy types found in the universe, accounting for just 0.01 per cent of all galaxies discovered. The first ring galaxy to be discovered, known as Hoag's Object, was identified in 1950 by American astronomer Arthur Hoag. But capturing two ring galaxies colliding is even rarer, making this a 'unique' cosmic sight, according to the researchers. The team estimate that the stellar mass of the entire merging system is about 320 billion solar masses – so 320 billion times the mass of our sun. Taking a closer look at the image, the orange blobs at the centre are the incredibly luminous 'active galactic nucleus' (AGN). AGNs – the most luminous persistent sources of electromagnetic radiation in the universe – are theorized to have supermassive black holes at their very centre which pull in surrounding matter. According to the researchers, the black holes in these two galaxies have masses of around 67 million and 26 million solar masses. Meanwhile, the space where the two galaxies merge – the 'beak' of the owl – is a region of 'intense' star formation, where new stars are created that could end up with planets in orbit around them. Galaxy mergers such as play a crucial role in the evolution of galaxies, transforming their size and redistributing their gas. They also eventually lead to stellar mass assembly – the processes by which galaxies acquire their stars and gradually grow in mass. Our own galaxy, the Milky Way, is on a collision course with another galaxy called Andromeda, currently around 2.5 million light years away. If and when the collision occurs , there's a small chance our sun would collide with another star, which could alter our position in relation to the sun and threaten life on Earth – if it still exists by then . Cosmic Owl is described further in the team's paper, which has been published on the preprint server arXiv, meaning it's yet to be peer reviewed.
