Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Metric Gets 'Em Again

As soon as I looked at this article (since corrected on-line, I think), I knew there was something wrong with it.
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian oceanographers have discovered a giant cold water eddy off Sydney which has lowered sea levels almost one meter and impacted a major ocean current.

The eddy, which has diameter of about 200 km (120 miles) and reaches to depth of 1 km (600 yards), lies about 100 km (60 miles) off Sydney, said Australia's peak scientific body, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO).

The CSIRO said the eddy was so powerful it had pushed out to sea the strong East Australian Current, popularized in the hit Hollywood animation "Finding Nemo" and used by sailors in the Sydney-Hobart race down the east coast of Australia.

Spot the problem? The depth of the eddy would be correct, if there were 1000 yards in a mile. Folks, it doesn't work that way.

440 yards is a quarter mile, and one kilometer is almost 1100 yards. So, they were off by about a factor of two. I blame the French and their nonsensical metric system.

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