@sundawn: I don't know. I have it on good authority that it'll kill us all. And that's not uneducated fear-mongering in the slightest.

AngryEddy

Astrology? or Astronomy?

Astrology: The study that assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs.

or

Astronomy: The science that deals with the material universe beyond the EARTH's atmosphere.

So in essence, Astronomy applies to bodies beyond Earth's atmosphere not Azeroth's. And how the hell would you be able to apply this to WoW if the surrounding celestial bodies are unknown?

quote:

"This means, if Azeroth really is a spherical planetoid with a diameter of 12 kms.."

That's until the next expansion... So theoretically it would be hard to come up with a concrete number because the world expands every time there is a new expansion.
This is something that only the most bored and anti-social human beings would fathom doing (How big is Azeroth?) WhoTF cares?

V.Volker

LHC does nothing thats not done by nature in much larger scales second by second day by day (cosmic rays colliding with earths atmosphere comes to mind). so nothing to worry about with the lhc up and running. in fact im thrilled about scientific results the lhc will provide.

sundawn

I thought the LHC was already up 'n running...

ChunkOFunk

Have you ever wondered if the person responsible for creating the device that ultimately destroys us all has already been born, and is currently walking among us? I only bring it up because I do. Often. That bringer of the End is likely this guy - who unknowingly postponed his doomsday device because the fates conspired to make something as useless as this destract him. Imagine how close we came to total ruin before this guy's nerdocity saved us all. Now all we have to worry about is when they switch on the Large Hadron Collider and strangelets run wild, turning the planet into a lifeless mass...

What? Go look it up - it's true.

AngryEddy

@Shiryu: That's why he said he was checking the density as well. It's clearly different from that of Earth's due to the similar levels of gravity yet vast differences in size.

However, considering there's no indication of the distance you must travel east of the Eastern Kingdoms before you run into the west coast of Kalimdor, I'd question the accuracy of his findings.

CaptMonkey

The extreme density of Azeroth would explain why it is impossible to pick up many objects from the ground, including ones that you have just dropped. As soon as a discarded object hits the earth we theorize that it picks up a thin coating of superheavy dirt, making it impossible to lift. Living creatures avoid the effects of this dirt sticking to their extremities by having evolved frictionless pads on the soles of their feet. This observable phenomenon, endemic to Azeroth, is known to virtual-world scientists and animators as "foot slide".

lol

DariusEnigma

@ChunkOFunk: 500x the density of lead, apparently...

A little unsettling, really.

DariusEnigma

@Shiryu: Well... I guess the core of Azeroth could be some super-dense Mana-Crystal... >_>

ChunkOFunk

@Shockeh: Yeah, poor Uranus... always destined to be the butt of all astronomy jokes.

Pun intended.

Eltigro

One word: in-tense

Zho

He definitely got bored in order to do this.

Rakotto

Im a bit confused, how is the gravity the same as our planet, when I can literraly walk from one side to the other in an hour or so? That means Azeroth is a tiny spec comapred to Earth. The inner nerd inside of me is confused, but sadly, the working professional inside of me tells me its lunch time! What the hell am I still here,later. o/

Shiryu

@Duoae: *Obligatory Uranus Joke* ;)

Shockeh

(specifically, things like astrology)

Title is right... but i don't think the position of Venus in Uranus really matters here... Or maybe i'm wrong :)

Duoae

So does this mean that I'll be wasting my time shooting Boars in the countryside to grind for gold?

I suppose I could pay a Chinese person to do it for me, I guess...

Shockeh

the last time i cared about something this much, it was the clinton sex scandal.

Savior

"This is not quite as expected: though small celestial bodies typically have low gravity, for a planetoid of the size of Azeroth one would expect to see gravity of about 0.003 m/s² or, in the vernacular, buggerall."

Fuckin' brilliant.

Danin

@AngryEddy: Are you a member of hte Flat Earth Society as well?

DariusEnigma

brilliant :D

solar_tf

when i see thought exercises like this i'm always reminded about the guy who estimated the velocity of an unladen swallow

cyhborg

Well, he included Northrend in the calculation.

There's also a movie clip from a presentation he's held on this. The guy is pretty funny. :D

Kyuu

"Daddy, Daddy!...what's a n00b?"

"Well honey, this guy is a n00b."

macr0planet

Waste of time or not, it's pretty brilliant. Bravo.

kseezy

You nubs, he uses astronomy the same way the Egyptians did. You don't have to walk the breadth of the planet to know its dimensions, you only need a measurable difference in displacement and the angle you're viewing the stars at. Also, the only continents currently known aren't necessarily diametrically opposite on another on the planet, there could be LOADS of ocean beyond what we see on the world map.

cyruspowers

I assume that the Gnomes, Dwarves and Humans must have units of measurement. Probably the Tauren too considering the pulley systems they use at Thunder Bluff. I do remember one gnome in the game referring to some unit of "arcane energy" measurement that they used. Forget what it was called though.

Guild_Navigator

@Eltigro: I don't know about that. I bet sometime in the next 612 years that astronomers will change the name to end that stupid joke. 8D

placebofud

That was actually hilarious. A very good read.

ArgentAngel

He actually applied his physics & astronomy know-how to good fun use.. that's cool. Give the man some props. =)

cyr3n

In the article Wallis states: "This confusing situation is analogous to the continent of America, which consists of the regions of South America, Central America and North America, the latter of which contains the country usually called America.

You would think that somebody as smart as him would know that there is no continent of America, and that North and South America are two different continents.

Doesn't he play Risk?

skrame ☆

The article is humorously written too:P

At first when I read the summary I thought it meant he figured it was the same size as Earth.

Well....hmmm, seeing as it takes about 20 mins to circumnavigate the Azerothian Globe, those lil' gnomes can probably joke fast enough to zip past a B-2 bomber and have time to eat a sandwich, solve a rubik's cube and flip the bird.

But it seems he's inferring Azeroth is made up of super dense dirt :P

Quote:
______________________
This means, if Azeroth really is a spherical planetoid with a diameter of 12 kms, that the planet must have an average density of roughly 5850 grammes per cubic centimetre. That makes its average density more than 500 times greater than lead. (I am indebted to Dave Morris for his assistance with these calculations.)

The extreme density of Azeroth would explain why it is impossible to pick up many objects from the ground, including ones that you have just dropped. As soon as a discarded object hits the earth we theorize that it picks up a thin coating of superheavy dirt, making it impossible to lift.
-----------------------

Epic win :)

realyst2k

@cyhborg: Nice article there :) Also reminded me of a little graphical dissertation on Mims' "This is Why I'm Hot"

[www.villagevoice.com]

All of these are great work.

Defenestrated

this is beyond nerdy... X'D

hrabbit

well... it does make sense that if the sun is setting here, the sun is setting in Azeroth too...

K-OSS

It is impossible not to find this funny if you know WoW.

Zombie_Crunch

@placebofud: Your right It's going to be changed to "Yourectum". See the prophecies called Futurama for more details.

cholinms

You know, I hate to nerd up this even further, but I'm going to anyway. The guy needs to read up on some of the lore to get a better understanding of Azeroth's makeup and size.

There are globes in game which clearly show that the map we see only covers about 45% of the surface, while the rest is displayed as seemingly unexplored ocean.

There's also the fact that Azeroth doesn't have a conventional cores, but rather an inverse, internal world known as the Elemental Plains, with a star at the center. The Elemental Plains are divided into four regions, one for each of the standard Western elements (earth, fire, water, air).

The cosmology of worlds also works differently in Warcraft; the worlds are not in "space", but rather a sort of dimensional field called the Twisting Nether, and travel between worlds is conducted through dimensional gates or teleporting fortresses. Planets do not rotate and do not appear to orbit, and do not experience seasons. Rather, the climate varies drastically from one region to the next. Probably a result of the internal Elemental Plains.

Suzaku

@ChunkOFunk: "I thought the LHC was already up 'n running..."

Goes online next month. But it won't be up to full power for several months. So we have time to prepare for the coming zombie apocalypse it will hopefully create. I'm keeping my fingers crossed anyway.

MonsterMan

@Suzaku: Actually, the Elemental Plane is another planet, not the core of Azeroth.

Regardless, Blizzard has already said numerous times that WoW is an approximation of the world. Obviously you can't have a game where it takes DAYS to travel between locations. So all calculations by this guy are completely pointless.

WarlockSoL

Hahah there so much awesome in that article it's overwhelming. A female taurent named Rula is the measuring stick with precise measurements taken by the research guild .

Chewbenator

omg, its a video game! who gives a **** about density and gravity of a planet that was developed and thought up in a game studio. Use those science skills and contribute to society and get a life! GOD

PSWii60-14

@AngryEddy: Don't fear the collider.

gomerkyle9

I think you meant astronomy? Astrology has nothing to do with science.

pikakhu

@V.Volker: Maybe if you actually read the article the link posts to you'd be able to answer your own question? Or discover humor, either way...

Btw- taking the definition of a term and repeating it verbatim does not denote intelligence. It denotes plagarism. And to answer your other question: WhoTF cares? You do. Otherwise, why the post?

stranger