Naked Science Forum

On the Lighter Side => New Theories => Topic started by: Alan McDougall on 09/09/2008 14:44:28

Title: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: Alan McDougall on 09/09/2008 14:44:28
 

Greetings,

"I am sorry I dont know how to put the photos next to the relevant script"

Does the form have an explaination.

"Balls and bottles defy gravity here and roll uphill (my comment)"

"Look carefully at both backyard photos people shrink angget taller (my comment)  

The House of Mystery



 This is one of the phenomena that occurs at the The Oregon Vortex. You can actually see and take pictures of the change in height, as is shown below. When you have the pictures developed you can even measure the difference in height on the pictures.

 However, it is important to note that whatever instrument you use to measure with while inside the affected area you will always measure to be the same height because the instrument of measurement will change in size right along with you. So don't forget your still camera!

As this site is copyrighted please look it up and make comments,




These pictures shows two people standing on a level platform within the area, in the backyard of The House of Mystery, close to the area's center.






These pictures have the potentially confusing background lines and angles of The House of Mystery cut out. The change of height is still just as visible without the background.
   
 
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: RD on 09/09/2008 15:16:01
Sounds like an Ames room (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ames_room) type optical illusion, e.g. 
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: common_sense_seeker on 09/09/2008 20:49:57
McDougall, the gravity hill and magnetic hill phenomena are REAL. Every scientist in the world will shout that it's an optical illusion. But it's a key part in my theory of directional gravity. See Gravity Problem Solved.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: Evie on 09/09/2008 22:04:11
I'm going with RD on this one. From reading online about the Oregon Vortex, the general consensus is that it is merely a roadside attraction capitalizing on an optical illusion. Fun, but ultimately non-significant. Gravity and magnetic hill phenomena due occur all over the world, but they are all regarded as simple optical illusions, usually relying on an obstructed horizon which is usually what we use as a reference point in determining what is up- and downhill.

The height difference in the pictures originally struck me as simple forced perspective, the same trick used in movies to make hits look hard when the actors are actually four feet away (or to make Gandalf look so much bigger than Bilbo Baggins without use of CGI). Wikipedia's article on the Oregon Vortex supported my thought, and is exactly what an Ames Room does.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: common_sense_seeker on 10/09/2008 14:11:37
When I looked into this subject, a chinese professor had found no standard scientific reason for a 15 degree slope gravity hill.

AL
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: Bored chemist on 10/09/2008 19:21:05
That's probably just as well. 15 is a number and you don't use maths. If the prof had found an explanation I presume you would have ignored it until you had complied a computer model (that mysteriously doesn't use mathematics) to check it.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: Alan McDougall on 11/09/2008 03:04:04
Evie,


Quote
I'm going with RD on this one. From reading online about the Oregon Vortex, the general consensus is that it is merely a roadside attraction capitalizing on an optical illusion. Fun, but ultimately non-significant. Gravity and magnetic hill phenomena due occur all over the world, but they are all regarded as simple optical illusions, usually relying on an obstructed horizon which is usually what we use as a reference point in determining what is up- and downhill.

Evie I have been around the block many times and have never seen anthing roll uphill, especially a glass bottle.Where are the sites to the other gravity and magnetic phenomena? I don't dispute what you said, just curious.

I only saw this so called phenomenon on National Geographic the day before I posted the thread

Why would a respected source like that post nonsense?,

Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: Evie on 11/09/2008 03:28:47
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_Hill
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_Hill_(disambiguation)
http://physicsandphysicists.blogspot.com/2008/08/gravity-hill-breaks-law-of-gravity.html

It doesn't roll uphill, merely seems to. That's what makes it an optical illusion.

It's an interesting phenomena, regardless of whether there is an actual magnetic/gravity anomaly or optical trick, so I'm sure National Geographic had no problem reporting it. It is not a scientific journal.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: common_sense_seeker on 11/09/2008 11:07:22

It doesn't roll uphill, merely seems to. That's what makes it an optical illusion.

I disagree and state that it will roll 'up-hill' based on a spirit level which is not located in the immediate vacinity. i.e if you had a telescope fixed on a spirit level laid flat, you would see that it is indeed a gravitational anomaly. These are due to the exotic matter of meteor cores which are embedded in the crust being later uplifted and the surrounding land being worn down due to erosion. VOILA a gravity hill.

AL
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: rich42 on 11/09/2008 11:20:10
The net effect of gravity anywhere on the Earth's surface is towards the centre of the Earth, which is why you aren't pulled into the side of Mount Everest if you stand next to it. This is an optical illusion, caused by the fact that you can't see the horizon and your senses can be easily fooled.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: paul.fr on 11/09/2008 14:41:51
This was covered in the new cientist, about 10 years back. An optical illusion it is.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: RD on 11/09/2008 16:21:47
The net effect of gravity anywhere on the Earth's surface is towards the centre of the Earth, which is why you aren't pulled into the side of Mount Everest if you stand next to it. This is an optical illusion, caused by the fact that you can't see the horizon and your senses can be easily fooled.

This question does relate to an optical illusion, (as I and others have stated above).

However the mass of a mountain does produce a tiny, but measurable, force to the side...

Quote
The Schiehallion experiment
Nevil Maskelyne to use the deflection caused by the mass of the mountain to estimate the mass of the earth in a ground-breaking experiment in 1774.
http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Schiehallion#The_Schiehallion_experiment
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: lyner on 13/11/2008 12:47:18
I saw a prog about that on TV not long ago. Apparently, his actual mesurements were better quality than his calculations - if he had included a few more factors, associated with the surrounding masses, his answer would have been even nearer the modern one.
Well done that man.
Title: Re: Oregon vortex house and the odd effect (Is there a scientific explainaion?)
Post by: einsteinium252 on 05/12/2008 02:48:08
Why doesn't an unbiased party just take a digital laser level to the floor of the house and find out whether the house is really crooked or not?

Besides, even if the gravity in an area was a different direction than conventional gravity, it wouldn't make sense to build a house tilted against gravity.