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Science Frontiers ONLINE No. 99: May-Jun 1995 |
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Warning Cars Rolling Uphill Ahead
In reply to a query, the New Scientist received a delightful assortment of replies related to "magnetic vortices" and other places where gravity seems to be reversed. At such places, car drivers can stop, put the car in neutral, release the brakes, and the car will seem to roll uphill. Some of the spots mentioned were:
- On route A719, in Ayrshire, there are "special warning signs because of the likelihood of meeeting cars coasting uphill backwards, as baffled drivers are confused by their senses."
- Near Neepawa, Manitoba, one finds a road named Magnetic Hill.
- Northern Portugal. Here, bikers have to pedal hard to go downhill !
- Lake Wales, Florida, is the location of Spook Hill, described in SF#73 and SF#79, and, of course, our book Science Frontiers (To order see here.
- Other locales: near Hanging Rock, Australia; the island of Cheju Do, off the South Korean coast.
At some of these spots, surveying instruments have been brought in, and without exception the reversal of gravity has been shown to be illusory. Sorry folks, there are no magnetic vortices!
(Various; "Sloping Off," New Scientist, p. 85, February 25, 1995)