[Just thinking]

Yes they will. They will label the six directions (NSEWUD) with their own words for them, and those six words will correspond precisely with ours, not some random directions.
Any planet very much has an up, which is away from the center, and down being towards the center.

I'm referring to the direction of the pole not the direction of the surface to the centre. North is not up north is not top south is not down south is not bottom.

[Bored chemist]

Yes they will. They will label the six directions (NSEWUD) with their own words for them, and those six words will correspond precisely with ours, not some random directions

Probably.
They may label points on our planet as latitude longitude and altitude.
They might start at some arbitrary point and draw a spiral going outward on a one inch pitch to the equator and then in again to the antipodal point from where they started.
They could them assign any point to a distance along that spiral and (if they needed better precision) how far off tot the right you had to travel from the line to get exactly to the point
Other options are presumably available.

[alancalverd]

You seem to have muddled the ideas of an axis and an orientation

Not at all. I called the axis "north-south" and pointed out that the end oriented towards Polaris is called north. How you draw your map is entirely arbitrary. The Roman map of Great Britain is surprisingly accurate but drawn with north to the left. The map on my cockpit GPS can be oriented "north up" or "track up", but "up" is oriented to the lift vector of the airplane, not gravity.

[Just thinking]

Not at all. I called the axis "north-south" and pointed out that the end oriented towards Polaris is called north. How you draw your map is entirely arbitrary. The Roman map of Great Britain is surprisingly accurate but drawn with north to the left. The map on my cockpit GPS can be oriented "north up" or "track up", but "up" is oriented to the lift vector of the airplane, not gravity.

The magnetic compass was put to use about 800 years ago the concept of north and south did not exist prior to that. It is just a man made navigation tool.

[Janus]

Not at all. I called the axis "north-south" and pointed out that the end oriented towards Polaris is called north. How you draw your map is entirely arbitrary. The Roman map of Great Britain is surprisingly accurate but drawn with north to the left. The map on my cockpit GPS can be oriented "north up" or "track up", but "up" is oriented to the lift vector of the airplane, not gravity.

The magnetic compass was put to use about 800 years ago the concept of north and south did not exist prior to that. It is just a man made navigation tool.

The concept of North and South predates the magnetic compass.  All you had to do was go out at night and note that some stars would never rise and set, but traveled in a circle around a particular star that never changed position. That star became the marker for the direction "North".

[Just thinking]

The concept of North and South predates the magnetic compass.  All you had to do was go out at night and note that some stars would never rise and set, but traveled in a circle around a particular star that never changed position. That star became the marker for the direction "North".

Of course, that is called navigation but has nothing to do with this topic and the other cardinal points were added later. My point is that the earth dos not have a top and a bottom. And north doesn't mean top. Another example is most people think of east is to the right and west is to the left but we know that is not always the case.

[Colin2B]

Watt would we do if the earth flipped its magnetic poles will we call south north will we place south at the top of the map.

Watt wouldn’t do anything, he’s been dead for too long.
North, south etc are just conventional labels for direction on a spherical earth. So, we would still say the N Pole is in the north. Of course the compasses would need changing as a magnetic north pole would now point towards our northern magnetic pole - well, wouldn’t need to change  my Silva, I’ll just need to remember that red points south; I can probably manage that 

[Just thinking]

Watt wouldn’t do anything, he’s been dead for too long.
North, south etc are just conventional labels for direction on a spherical earth. So, we would still say the N Pole is in the north. Of course the compasses would need changing as a magnetic north pole would now point towards our northern magnetic pole - well, wouldn’t need to change  my Silva, I’ll just need to remember that red points south; I can probably manage that 

Just scratch the red tip of and paint the other end. If it happens they can put Australia on top of the world for a change.

[alancalverd]

All you had to do was go out at night and note that some stars would never rise and set, but traveled in a circle around a particular star that never changed position.

Unless you happened to live south of the equator, in which case you couldn't see Polaris.

[Bored chemist]

You can use the Sun. It's particularly easy if you know the time.
Otherwise just note the points of sun rise and sun set on the horizon; half way between is South (or North if you are on the other side of the world)

You can also find local noon by plotting out the  path of the  shadow of a stick.

Cloudy weather makes it more challenging.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunstone_(medieval)

[Janus]

All you had to do was go out at night and note that some stars would never rise and set, but traveled in a circle around a particular star that never changed position.

Unless you happened to live south of the equator, in which case you couldn't see Polaris.

but there still is a point in the sky that the stars circle, The cross bar of the Southern cross points in its direction.

[Halc]

Unless you happened to live south of the equator, in which case you couldn't see Polaris.

Back when early humans first started paying attention to the tracks of the stars, Polaris wasn't stationary in the northern sky. The Earth precesses rather quickly up against the scale of human history.
So in both hemispheres, it's pot luck if (at a random time in history) the point at the center of rotation happens to have an obvious object there.

[evan_au]

Of course everyone could get quicker answers using Google.
But wouldn't that render the Naked Scientists web-site completely redundant.

Not entirely.

Current search engines and digital assistants are not good at maintaining a thread of question and answer.

Any subsequent question ends up on a different server, so its like you are starting a new conversation every time.

Sometimes there is an exact scientific word that describes the situation exactly (in Wikipedia, for example), but it's not easy to guess the right scientific word.

[Just thinking]

As regards spirit-levels, in the past they were simple devices.  Just a glass tube filled with greenish liquid, and on the surface of the liquid, an air-bubble.

This bubble could be observed against black-lines etched, or painted, on the glass tube. Thus enabling levelness to be established simply, and optically.  By just looking at it.  Without any electrical input from batteries.

Has this changed in modern times - are "spirit-levels" now electronic devices, which have to be fitted with batteries?

Is that progress?

I think you are right simple is the best way with one exception to getting a level over a large distance optics or electronics are beneficial.

[gem]

Hi all

As regards spirit-levels, in the past they were simple devices.  Just a glass tube filled with greenish liquid, and on the surface of the liquid, an air-bubble.

This bubble could be observed against black-lines etched, or painted, on the glass tube. Thus enabling levelness to be established simply, and optically.  By just looking at it.  Without any electrical input from batteries.

Has this changed in modern times - are "spirit-levels" now electronic devices, which have to be fitted with batteries?

Is that progress?

I think you are right simple is the best way with one exception to getting a level over a large distance optics or electronics are beneficial.

Oh dear I think my comment fell on stoney ground.

So to be a little less abstract, I was referring to a traditional spirit level, if you find where the battery goes please share here as I’m sure each manufacturers different 🤣

[Just thinking]

Oh dear I think my comment fell on stoney ground.

So to be a little less abstract, I was referring to a traditional spirit level, if you find where the battery goes please share here as I’m sure each manufacturers different 🤣

Yes indeed you are correct simple is the best for general levelling of a surface. The old spirit level is by far the best way. Sorry for missing your point.

[gem]

Hi all,

Mmmm not sure you’re quite there yet
(Just thinking)

Probably think in the context of the op and reply
 # 2 from Kryptid

And accelerated reference frames as to what actual physics are involved in the working of a spirit level.

There is some crossover as to local level on a near spherical object in another discussion here

https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/index.php?topic=16412.new;topicseen#new

[Petrochemicals]

Is space  urved, be a use it is only relativity. If you are in the curve it's flat.

[Just thinking]

Hey guys,
it's an old topic and a am really not a flatearther.
But it's indeed a good question how the water stays on the round earth.
It should just fload down from the planet, right?

I had to come back to the start can you please explain just what you mean by{ flood down from the planet }. As in heading south or to the center?.

[Janus]

Hey guys,
it's an old topic and a am really not a flatearther.
But it's indeed a good question how the water stays on the round earth.
It should just fload down from the planet, right?

I had to come back to the start can you please explain just what you mean by{ flood down from the planet }. As in heading south or to the center?.

The OP is positing the old idea that "down" is an absolute direction, rather than being defined by the direction gravity acts.