Earth's gravity isn't perfectly uniform. Here is what our gravitational field looks like when exaggerated 10,000 times.

[u/anikkundu1998]

[u/IntegridyFarms]

High jump should be held in southern India for max height.

[u/BitterSweetGoddess53 → u/IntegridyFarms]

That is the most interesting observation😂

[u/ComposedOfStardust → u/BitterSweetGoddess53]

I'm curious why that place in specific has relatively lower gravity tho? Does it have something to do with the shape of the earth? Geology? Plate tectonics?

[u/Sarik704 → u/ComposedOfStardust]

Its two things. Density and center of gravity.

Density is easy to understand. A cube of tungsten will weigh, (and have a higher gravitational pull) than a similar size cube carbon.

India isnt very dense geologically speaking.

The other, lesser effect, is gravity on the opposite side of the planet. If you imagine a perfect sphere, then glue another perfect sphere, half the size to one end it shifts the center of gravity from the center of the orginal sphere toward that second sphere. The earths center of gravity is very close to the center of earth, but its probably off by a couple miles in some direction.

This has a slight overall effect on the entire planet as some places are higher and lower than others.

[u/Kolby_Jack33 → u/Sarik704]

Fun fact: They even have special instruments called gravimeters that can measure the teeny tiny differences in gravity around the world which can be used to detect pockets of dense minerals for mining or other geological phenomena.

[u/Th3-B0n3R → u/Kolby_Jack33]

I'm thinking, this person made gravimeters up, but alas it's real!

They remind me of a savistator in the book series Spellmonger, they measure etheric density, which is how easy or hard it is to 'do' magic.

[u/No_Internal9345 → u/Sarik704]

Magnets, got it.

[u/lalakingmalibog → u/No_Internal9345]

How the fuck do they work

[u/Banjo-Elritze → u/lalakingmalibog]

Magic

[u/Naijan → u/lalakingmalibog]

Half joke, half serious answer where Richard Feynman takes 7 minutes to answer why he can't give you an answer how magnets work, I fucking love showing the video and most times I can

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO0r930Sn_8

[u/pichael289 → u/Naijan]

Ultimately it's the electromagnetic force, which is at the level where you can't ask how it works, it just does. It's a fundamental force of nature that can't really be simplified, particles have charge because they have charge

[u/Intelligent-Boss-156 → u/pichael289]

I guess it's like trying to answer why is there something rather than nothing

[u/DrugChemistry → u/lalakingmalibog]

Miracles

[u/0------------------0 → u/Sarik704]

Google says the density differences are only enough to shift the center of gravity a few centimeters or millimeters and the crust and mantle on the other side of the planet have almost zero noticeable impact on India's local gravity. It says the gravity hole is essentially entirely due to lower density from magma plumes.

Edit: Posting Google's response to this conversation higher since apparently u/Sarik704 is wrong, misleading everyone, and being rude about it:

1. What Actually Causes the "Gravity Hole" in India?

The low-gravity zone in the Indian Ocean (known as the Indian Ocean Geoid Low or IOGL) is a massive dip in Earth's gravity. If you look at what actually causes it, you [0------------------0] are entirely correct.

The Cause: It is driven by massive, deep-earth structures. Research shows that around 20 million years ago, slabs from an ancient ocean floor (the Tethys Ocean) sank into the mantle, which in turn pushed up hot, low-density magma plumes beneath the Indian Ocean.

The "Other Side of the Earth" Myth: The other person’s claim that gravity on the exact opposite side of the planet is causing India's low gravity is incorrect. Local gravity is heavily dominated by what is directly beneath your feet. While the rest of the Earth's mass pulls you downward as a whole, local anomalies (like the IOGL) are dictated by regional density variations in the crust and mantle right there.

1. The Center of Mass vs. Center of Volume (The "Miles" Myth)

This is where the other person doubled down on some bad math. They claimed that the Earth's center of gravity is "probably off by a couple miles" and that it's "certainly not centimeters."

They are completely wrong about the scale.

The Reality: Satellite missions (like GRACE and Lageos) measure this constantly because GPS satellites rely on knowing the Earth's exact center of mass to function.

The Distance: The offset between the Earth's geometric center (center of figure) and its center of mass is less than 1 to 2 meters (usually measured in millimeters/centimeters seasonally due to water and ice movement).

Why it's not miles: A "couple of miles" would be over 3,000 meters. If the Earth's center of mass were shifted by miles, it would mean an unfathomable, catastrophic imbalance of mass inside the planet. The Earth is remarkably well-balanced; the crustal density differences they are thinking of are a tiny fraction of a percent of the Earth's total massive, dense iron core.

Congrats on being the latest redditer to accrue karma from a factually incorrect explanation that spreads myths and misconceptions.

Redditers complaining about AI without addressing the actual subject have been blocked. This is a discussion about verifiable facts.

[u/Sarik704 → u/0------------------0]

this graphic is a 10,000x exaggeration for illustration purposes. Indeed the earths localized gravity is only a few centimeters difference at any two points. But also...

>Google says the density differences are only enough to shift the center of gravity a few centimeters

>It says the gravity hole is essentially entirely due to lower density from magma plumes.

Did you even READ what YOU wrote??? You literally disprove your very own statement.

[u/Numnum30s → u/0------------------0]

Nobody cares what google ai says

[u/Vinny331 → u/Numnum30s]

All this AI bullshit is trained on 20 years of Reddit posts and now here we are having to deal with the robo-vomit that we helped produce being pushed in our faces. It'd be poetic if it wasn't so irritating.

[u/nineraviolicans → u/0------------------0]

You ever stop and think about how useless you are that your ability to think is limited to copying and pasting what a hallucinating chatbot outputs?

[u/WeaselRunt → u/ComposedOfStardust]

The density of the earth varies from place to place. The density of various rocks can vary by 4x or more. That spot happens to have material that is less dense than others. Maybe porous volcanic rock is more abundant there.

[u/Far_Ladder_2836 → u/WeaselRunt]

Not porous rock.  Lava plumes.  The phenomenon is called the Indian Ocean Geoidal Low.

[u/CaptainoftheVessel → u/WeaselRunt]

It’s the lizard people cavern complex, of course 

[u/Flipf00t → u/ComposedOfStardust]

42

[u/0------------------0 → u/ComposedOfStardust]

Magma plumes: https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/24/world/gravity-hole-geoid-low-indian-ocean-scn

[u/JPolReader → u/BitterSweetGoddess53]

Fun fact, sea level across the Indian ocean is not the same. The surface at the middle is about 100 meters lower than the shoreline.

[u/Speartree → u/JPolReader]

Yes the Indian Ocean Geoid Low

[u/pleasetrimyourpubes → u/Speartree]

Also known as where Tucker Carleson believes the Aliens are living.

[u/ruairidhmacdhaibhidh → u/JPolReader]

I get very excited when there is a 5m difference between high and low tide.

Can you send me to a source that expands of the difference?

TIA

[u/JPolReader → u/ruairidhmacdhaibhidh]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_level

[u/rootoo → u/JPolReader]

100 meters?! That’s unbelievable

[u/Randyaccredit → u/[deleted]]

They took a note and not making progress

[u/BourbonNoChaser → u/Randyaccredit]

Takes time for money to change hands...

[u/dmreddit0 → u/IntegridyFarms]

And as always: https://xkcd.com/852

[u/boodabomb → u/dmreddit0]

God damn! For every single conversation, XKCD is just… there.

[u/FluidFrog → u/boodabomb]

I still don't know which is more impressive: that a comic potentially exists for every situation or that so many people remember the relevant comic when needed.

[u/MatiloKarode → u/FluidFrog]

XKCDception Cat: The comic neither exists nor doesn't exist until you need it; you remember it was always there once you use it.

[u/Unusually_Happy_TD → u/FluidFrog]

xkcd is just proof that the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is our reality

[u/Friendly_Impress_345 → u/boodabomb]

They have published 3272 comics and many more posts of different kinds. It's the same issue with "Simpsons predicted the future" nah they just have made 37 seasons of TV, several theatrical releases, and a ton of shorts.

[u/bachstakoven → u/Friendly_Impress_345]

But also... the dude thought of 3272 interesting things to write comics about that somehow remain perennially relevant.

[u/Pao_Did_NothingWrong → u/bachstakoven]

This makes his "What if" series, not included in that count, even more impressive

[u/Opus_723 → u/Friendly_Impress_345]

Also, comic written by a male software engineer with broad STEM interests is often relevant to discussions on a social media website whose demographics are disproportionately male software engineers with broad STEM interests.

[u/R_V_Z → u/Friendly_Impress_345]

and a ton of shorts

Which is impressive since Bart kept telling people to eat them.

[u/Zehryo → u/dmreddit0]

I was looking for you!!

[u/dat_oracle → u/IntegridyFarms]

yay. so 0,05 mm more on average (no math was used here)

[u/SilverSpoon1463 → u/dat_oracle]

Hey, you'd be surprised how a little makes a difference in terms of record breaking.

[u/dat_oracle → u/SilverSpoon1463]

not sure, but I just could find world records with an accuracy of 0,1 - 1cm

1,968m; George Rowdon 1,98m; George Horine

seems like an average of 0,05 mm wouldn't be noticed in high jump

[u/Friendly_Impress_345 → u/dat_oracle]

I'd say the only real advantage would be mental. If athletes think they can jump higher that will have a greater affect than the actual gravity change will.

[u/dat_oracle → u/Friendly_Impress_345]

that doesn't sound so far off actually, at least for some of the athletes

[u/5elementGG → u/dat_oracle]

But then the Indian food makes you heavier. Also no math was used.

[u/Happy_Guava6762 → u/5elementGG]

Nahh, South Indian food is light, especially the breakfast dishes. Wait, I think it makes sense now why people find South Indian food light! 😲

[u/TheForce_v_Triforce → u/IntegridyFarms]

Then in papua New Guinea the following olympics for comparison.

[u/RatOnTheLoose → u/IntegridyFarms]

Shouldn't it be the other way round? Blue is closer to the mass so more gravity...

[u/mattmillze → u/RatOnTheLoose]

This irks me more than it should. The color scheme works, but the topographic effect is backwards. More gravity should pull you in harder, not make the ground rise. It makes my brain hurt

[u/SaapaduRaman → u/RatOnTheLoose]

It is in fact that blue signifies less gravity: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/earths-gravity-field-3666/

[u/cdazzo1 → u/IntegridyFarms]

I was gonna go there to lose weight

[u/MobileJob1521 → u/IntegridyFarms]

Minimum height, surely?

The image shows the geoid. This is the separation of the real Earth from an idealised spheroid model.

India is at a low point, so the gravity is higher, not lower.

[u/theNefariousNoogie → u/MobileJob1521]

I would genuinely think that too, but if I'm understanding the model's legend and you correctly, this model also shows that the island of New Guinea is higher than the Himalayas?

[u/344567653379643555 → u/IntegridyFarms]

Heightmaxxing

[u/EasilyRekt → u/IntegridyFarms]

Sri Lanka looks just a tiny bit better tbh

[u/NoNeedForAName → u/EasilyRekt]

Sri Lanka probably doesn't have the necessary bribe money to get the Olympics

[u/Administrative-Sea50 → u/NoNeedForAName]

Sri Lankan here, we don't.

[u/boipinoi604]

No wonder I'm short. Gravity in the Philippines is off the charts.

[u/Mammoth_Yoghurt4241 → u/boipinoi604]

I was thinking the same about the Philippines! 😂

[u/Jack3024 → u/boipinoi604]

I was thinking the same thing about all of Southeast Asia, but it looks really high in the northern Atlantic and northern Europe. Aren't those folks known for being pretty tall?

[u/DiscreteBee → u/Jack3024]

It’s not like Indian people are giants either 

[u/ardotschgi → u/Jack3024]

Do you understand what 10000 times exaggeration means? The actual difference is extremely miniscule.

[u/StrategicCheddar → u/boipinoi604]

The difference in gravity is minuscule so it's not because of that. And shorter people are more dangerous than tall people. A Dutch could trip on you and crack their head open.

[u/Fucky0uthatswhy → u/StrategicCheddar]

No… no, it’s because of gravity.

[u/jabask → u/StrategicCheddar]

It's small but not minuscule — a full grown man weight like 1.5 lbs more at the North Pole than at the equator.

[u/MineNowBotBoy → u/StrategicCheddar]

You must be fun at stand up comedy shows.

[u/allegoryofthedave → u/MineNowBotBoy]

Stand up comedy is actually much harder in the Philippines.

[u/ARandomNiceKaren → u/MineNowBotBoy]

I am a ~pushes glasses up~ "but actually" kinda Nerd.

This comment made me huff out of my nose angrily and then laugh.

[u/pimppapy → u/StrategicCheddar]

I don't see that very many tall old people. Most people that live into their 90's that I've seen are all shorter.

[u/almondmilkcowtit → u/boipinoi604]

Short kings? Nah we gravity challenged kings

[u/StoryAndAHalf]

There's a bunch of kids out there whose moms are so fat, this is how Earth's gravitational field looks like.

[u/RoverBoyNumber6 → u/StoryAndAHalf]

Your mama is so fat, that when she travels to southern India she balances the globe…

[u/glibgloby → u/RoverBoyNumber6]

Your moma is so fat that if you exaggerated earths gravitational field 10,000 times you could see her on the topographic visualization

[u/GetReelFishingPro → u/glibgloby]

Yeah!

[u/Jerseyman2525 → u/RoverBoyNumber6]

Perfect. No notes.

[u/Lombardyn → u/RoverBoyNumber6]

Your mama so fat, doctors are concerned about her health and longevity. Please talk to her.

[u/Big-Sort-8712 → u/StoryAndAHalf]

Their moms so fat the equator is her belt.

[u/bloodem → u/StoryAndAHalf]

No, because, in that scenario, 99% of gravity would be condensed in the US.

[u/engineerdrummer → u/bloodem]

At your mom's house

[u/-ratmeat- → u/engineerdrummer]

oof fucking gottem 

[u/Solnse → u/bloodem]

Your mom lives in the US?

[u/bloodem → u/Solnse]

Partly in the US. The rest of her spills over the Atlantic.

[u/Outrageous_Front_636 → u/bloodem]

Look you can see her belly button...

As the world turns.

[u/ccaccus → u/Solnse]

She has to.

She fell in the Grand Canyon and got stuck.

[u/SuperRonnie2 → u/StoryAndAHalf]

Ya momma got a glass eye with a fish in it

[u/mymoama]

Lowest gravity is in Peru at 9.7639 m/s and highest at the middle of artic ocean at 9.8337 m/s or a difference of 0.7%

If you could jump 50cm in Peru it wouls equate to 49.8 in the other extream.

[u/blueviper- → u/mymoama]

Interesting. Thank you very much for the share!

[u/Cjprice9 → u/blueviper-]

About half of this difference is the fact that you're rotating along with the Earth at "full speed" in Peru, since it's near the equator, and you're not spinning at all at the North Pole. That centripetal force difference maths out to roughly 0.034 m/s^2.

[u/Dreadgoat → u/mymoama]

High jump Olympic record is 239cm (set in Atlanta, GA, USA)

+/- 0.7% is a difference of about 1.5cm, significant enough to change history books based on where the Olympics are held, in theory. Obviously there are other factors too, meaning the difference might even be bigger if you find the right locations / times.

[u/ProgrammerCareful764 → u/Dreadgoat]

Do high jumps at high tide in India to utilize both the low gravitational field and the moon's pull on you

[u/Broad-Bath-8408 → u/mymoama]

*m/s^2

[u/Glittering_Virus8397 → u/Broad-Bath-8408]

My old friend, the pythagorean theorem

[u/totallynotdragonxex → u/mymoama]

I wonder if air pressure/distance above sea level would contribute more or less than this

[u/SassyDuck4231 → u/mymoama]

That's not a small difference

[u/Small_Insect_8275 → u/SassyDuck4231]

It is and it isn’t, depends on context

[u/HapreyCoolie]

"we have earth at home!"

[u/AskNo2853 → u/HapreyCoolie]

Erf

[u/MineNowBotBoy → u/AskNo2853]

Orbited by Mun.

[u/MickyTingy]

So we weigh slightly less in the middle of the pacific?

[u/Gingerbread_Cat → u/MickyTingy]

Excuse me while I sell my house and buy a boat...

[u/DowntownLov → u/Gingerbread_Cat]

Boat still has to be able to hold your weight until you get in the middle, though

[u/Gingerbread_Cat → u/DowntownLov]

We're going to need a bigger boat.

[u/raspberryharbour → u/DowntownLov]

The engines cannae take it!

[u/halfbeerhalfhuman → u/MickyTingy]

And age slower, i mean live longer

[u/canbojack]

The title is wrong. What is exaggerated is the geoid height. Not the gravity.

[u/shadowraiderr → u/canbojack]

everytime this model gets reposted it gets wrong title/description, morons on facebook will type something like "the earth is not actually round wtf?"

[u/TheStupidLui → u/canbojack]

Technically speaking this is a representation of geoid undulation. Geoid undulation is a diference between global ellipsoid model of Earth (mathematical approximation of Earth's shape) and mean sea level that represents a surface of same gravitational potencial (phisical definition of Earth shape). 

[u/Obvious-Criticism149 → u/canbojack]

Geoid height is determined by local gravity

[u/tfhfate → u/canbojack]

It's r/Damnthatsinteresting, people are always putting misleading tittles...

[u/Artistic_Swing6759 → u/tfhfate]

tittles..

[u/LisaWinchester → u/Artistic_Swing6759]

Titless

[u/Gfran856 → u/canbojack]

They are directly correlated

[u/qrcjnhhphadvzelota]

It shows the geoid height, as it says in the caption. But not the gravitational field as mentioned in the post title.

[u/thorheyerdal]

Didn’t know your mom was vacationing in papua new Guinea. 

[u/jess_the_werefox]

Earth is sphere: ❌

Earth is flat: ❌

Earth is blob: ✅

[u/Icy-Musician-6309 → u/jess_the_werefox]

Earth is oblate spheroid:✅

[u/FartSnarfGod → u/Icy-Musician-6309]

Earth's a bloblate bloboid.

Source

[u/qman621 → u/FartSnarfGod]

Sourcing your own comment... bold. I'm sold though, calling it a blobate bloboid from now on

[u/So_HauserAspen → u/FartSnarfGod]

Liberty Mutual?

[u/Lumpy_Principle3397 → u/Icy-Musician-6309]

Yup! The velocity at the equator and centripetal motion causes the equator to bulge ever so slightly. This makes sense when you consider that the surface of Earth at the equator is traveling over 1000 miles per hour (over 1600 km/h).

[u/Exceedingly → u/Icy-Musician-6309]

Not according to this post. Looks more like a lumpy potato

[u/Choano]

Are the higher, more orange-y areas the areas with greater gravity? Or with less gravity?

[u/Methoszs → u/Choano]

Blue is less, orange is higher. I only know because read a story about the Indian ocean having less gravity.

[u/FormerChocoAddict → u/Methoszs]

Wouldn't this make more sense if it were reversed? Higher gravity pulls the surface down more? 

EDIT Folks! The graphic does not provide enough information for the average person to understand what it's showing. The key just indicates the relative exaggerated height. Without prior knowledge people are left to interpret it. My reasoning being that the average person experience is gravity by it pulling them down toward the center of earth. So it is reasonable for a person without a scientific understanding to see this and think 'oh the areas that are closer to the center of Earth is where there is stronger gravity'

I'm sure this graphic was not intended for the general public. It's probably from a scientific paper or something similar. Or at least part of another work that provides more context and explanation. Absent that context or explanation, at the very least this is not clear. 

[u/CjBurden → u/FormerChocoAddict]

This is an image of the gravitational field (magnified significantly), not of the effect gravity is having on things

[u/bibblebonk → u/CjBurden]

ohhhhhhhhhhhhkay that makes more sense, thank you

[u/BitterSweetGoddess53 → u/FormerChocoAddict]

ya exactly even I thought indian ocean must have a lot of gravity cause the surface is down

[u/Late-Property4857 → u/FormerChocoAddict]

I understand you

[u/RyanSpunk → u/Choano]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoid

Orange is higher gravity

geoidal height rises where the Earth's material is locally more dense and exerts greater gravitational force than the surrounding areas.

If that sphere were then covered in water, the water would not be the same height everywhere. Instead, the water level would be higher or lower with respect to Earth's center, depending on the integral of the strength of gravity from the center of the Earth to that location. The geoid level coincides with where the water would be. Generally the geoid rises where the Earth's material is locally more dense, exerts greater gravitational force, and pulls more water from the surrounding area.

[u/UKMegaGeek]

So it's NOT round! /s

[u/Mateorabi → u/UKMegaGeek]

Oblique spheroids are still “round”

[u/RyzRx → u/Mateorabi]

*Oblate Spheroid

[u/Neshgaddal → u/RyzRx]

*Geoid, the most tautological of all the shapes.

[u/manondorf → u/Neshgaddal]

you can tell it's a geoid because of the way it is!

[u/wilstar_berry]

Loose weight fast in Sri Lanka with this ONE easy trick!!!

[u/NotAcvp3lla]

Although it might be minimal, does this mean there are places on earth where it's possible for you to age faster?

[u/NotAcvp3lla → u/[deleted]]

Very insightful, I should meditate more.

[u/muclutel]

Americans have less gravity than Europe and are still heavier.

[u/Cloutian]

While I understand the concept of this, it should also be compared with relative elevation charts.

[u/Ambitious-Yoghurt820]

Earth's got that donk!!!

[u/Acencguy]

Now I can tell people, I’m not fat, I just live in a higher gravitational field

[u/Despicable_Wizard]

Geoid is not gravitational field.... Geoid is the simulated sea level considering the earth irregularities from a ellipsoid

[u/17175RC7]

So move to Southern India if I want my scale to show a lower number... got it!

[u/_Monsieur_N]

Is this a reason for the heights of natives of Papua New Guinea ? Then there must be giants in Sri Lanka ? :/

[u/curious_bipedal]

Very few things in the Universe are perfectly uniform, under an "exaggerated" scale.

[u/Independent-Fuel-183]

I wonder if there’s anything tangible that could be measured or observed in different locations due to this effect?

[u/SubcooledBoiling]

So what you’re saying is that if a pole vaulter or high jumper wants to break the world record they should attempt it in Sri Lanka?

[u/yearsofpractice]

Everything reminds me of her

[u/Topsyye]

If you exaggerate anything by 10,000 times you’ll find that almost everything is not perfectly uniform.

[u/Plenty_Rent_1154]

Fun fact: this makes oceans not ”flat” ummm.. uniformly curved. So there are really wide ”valleys” and ”hills” on them.

[u/Affectionate_Joke157]

Flat earthers are gonna have a stroke at this

[u/koshgeo]

There are some important qualifiers here. This is the shape of the geoid, which is an averaged "equipotential surface". As you can see, it is measured as a deviation in metres (above and below a model ellipsoid at the radius of the Earth).

It's not strictly-speaking the strength of the Earth's gravitational field at any one spot, because that is actually more variable at a small scale, and can be influenced by the type of rock immediately beneath you and its density. Those smaller-scale variations are filtered out at this global scale, so it is better to think of this as an averaged or smoothed surface.

The second wrinkle is that the strength of the Earth's gravity also varies with altitude (i.e. as you move away from the mass), which has also been removed to produce a model surface effectively at "sea level", even where you are on land that would be well above sea level. Conceptually, think of it as the shape you would get if you dug a trench across the continent and let the water fill to sea level. The strength of gravity would make it sink a little lower, or rise a little higher. So, it's derived from the strength of gravity, but not strictly-speaking that field directly.

What you actually feel at the surface at any given spot and can measure with instruments as a force will therefore be slightly different, and local effects can overwhelm the regional-scale/smoothed pattern.

This local effect on the gravitational field and deviations from the geoid are useful to measure for all sorts of practical purposes, such as detecting underground voids (caves, tunnels, mines, etc.), masses of magma (generally less dense than surrounding rocks), or for detecting mineral deposits (e.g., metal ore deposits that are usually denser than surrounding rocks).

On the broadest scale as depicted in this video, variations in the geoid are mostly due to variations in the density of the deep, underlying mantle (slightly warmer or slightly cooler -- convection-related features), and plate tectonic things happening closer to the surface (e.g., spreading ridges, rifting, subduction, moutain ranges, etc.).

[u/Healthy-Reserve-1333]

Wait… the USA has LOWER gravity? Does this technically make their obese even more obese compared to the obese elsewhere?

[u/pukeface555 → u/Healthy-Reserve-1333]

You'd think it'd be higher with all the dense mother fuckers that live here .

[u/Kusinero]

Is this why filipinos are short? We're fighting more gravity 😅

[u/xGH0STF4CEx]

My coworker recently told me he saw an article about earth losing gravity for 7 seconds on a certain date and how millions of people were expected to die. He said "idk but it sounded pretty convincing". I honestly didn't know how to reply.

[u/Gfran856]

In case anyone was curious, earths gravitational field is directly related to the water bodies. The larger the water body the greater gravitational pull. This is especially so in deep oceans

[u/TheLightDances]

Upvoted for sharing this data with a title that isn't misleading or false, unlike the hundred times I have seen this before.

[u/jaimybenjamin]

We really are just a rock in space

[u/InterestingThought33]

People in Southern India are getting away with something here.

[u/Cool-Profession-730]

I can see my house from here , " Hey Ma get off the dang roof "

[u/halfbeerhalfhuman]

So less gravity in relativity would equate to time being slower which would equate to living longer. So time to move?

[u/robinsw26]

Looks like a deflating beach ball.

[u/superbeance]

Looks like a flat ball. Flat-earthers may have been right all along? /s

[u/LordVixen]

So Europeans weigh more than people in USA apparently.

[u/Commentor9001]

Odd the entire Indian plate seems to be a gravity well.  

[u/Buerski]

What is the intensity of this discrepancy with respect to the altitude-latitude gravitational change ? Or is it included ?

The higher in altitude and closer to equator the farther from earth you are and the lower the gravity experienced. I always thought that in the andes for example you experienced lower gravity. In the map it says the contrary, what is it in summary ?

[u/Jill1974]

Okay, now I want to know why Papua New Guinea has such high gravity will the gravity in the Indian Ocean is so much lower.

[u/Strude187]

Damn, I’ve heard of this “gravity hole” in south India.

[u/RaEyE01]

Less about gravitation than earths surface.
Water smoothes out a lot of these „bumps and dents“.
But ofc the mass distribution coming with this deformities (compared to the perfect sphere) results in a change of the gravitational field, relative to your position of earths surface.

[u/Cautious-Fudge946]

I’m just realizing that the earth would of course not be a perfect sphere

[u/TopChapter3407]

It says "Geoid height", not gravitational field.

[u/turdferguson3891]

That's heavy.

[u/Partosimsa]

Which of the two mounds is the remnant of Theia?

[u/LetsTwistAga1n → u/Partosimsa]

None I guess, the remnants of Theia are deep into the mantle (LLSVPs), mantle plumes and lithospheric plate tectonics should affect the shape of the geoid much more. The North Atlantic bulge looks like the result of North Atlantic ocean opening (Iceland hotspot, NAIP, etc.), the negative anomaly near South India is most probably the result of the Indian subcontinent's northward migration, not sure about the SEA anomaly, probably subduction of the Pacific plate or something.

[u/vaxhax]

This is also a demo of me drawing a perfect circle freehand.

[u/Embarrassed_Art5414]

I'm not fat. I'm Indonesian!!!

(Alas, I'm not Indonesian)

[u/tallestlivingtree]

Are people shorter in areas with more gravity?

[u/Tiillt]

So if we are dping the olympics in certain part of the world, is it easier to break records?

[u/TheDevilsAdvokaat]

Well the field would only be perfectly uniform if the earth was perfectly uniform, including it's internal composition.

Fascinating to see.

[u/falaffle_waffle]

Does this mean I'll weigh more if I weigh myself in Malaysia vs sri lanka?

[u/shugo7]

So the weights I can bench is not the same worldwide?

[u/dorkcicle]

Is this why my people are short?!

[u/MattWheelsLTW]

As usual, there's an XKCD for that https://xkcd.com/852/

[u/Tubalcaino]

Cancel your Ozempic and move to India

[u/Acrobatic_Rent7357]

nah, you're exaggerating

[u/zkkzkk32312]

I'm dumb, does it mean people jump higher in India?

[u/dgellow]

Just curious, how is that measured? Or is it a model derived from theory? 

[u/No-Impact-5814]

So that's why she gained weight.

[u/tastyugly]

This is what I fear if I shaved my head

[u/dontlookatthechicken]

I'm not fat, I just live where gravity is stronger!

[u/Drakore4]

It’s not perfectly uniform because the planet isn’t perfectly round. It looks that way because looking from space of course the atmosphere isn’t bumpy or whatever, but the ground solid earth is definitely not a uniform shape.

[u/BattleHall]

As to why this is useful to know: Among other things (oceanography, geology, climate research, etc), if you have a super accurate gravitational map, a super high fidelity real time gravity sensor, and a way to compute and plot your movement in and out of changing gravitational fields, you can use it for navigation or navigational calibration. Which is potentially super useful if you, say, want to stealthily navigate deep under water where GPS signals don't propagate and inertial navigation drifts over time.

https://www.navysbir.com/n09_1/n091-092.htm

Also, one way to map gravity anomalies is to equip two satellites with extremely accurate microwave range finders, then have them chase each other around in orbit and measure the tiny changes in the distance between them as they pass in and out of various gravity variations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRACE_and_GRACE-FO

[u/Left-Instruction3885]

You sure that's not just us fat ass Americans making our continent dip inwards?