# Did you die when the earth lost gravity on 8-12-2026? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 12, 2026, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315 "2026-08-12T18:27:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/81 "2026-08-14T11:53:13Z")
Not anymore! [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQn26ZuPbCOcVr37mxTD4eA3UxOmZyGb3YMRsoUkcyXES69ZS2-66aLdAfK&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQn26ZuPbCOcVr37mxTD4eA3UxOmZyGb3YMRsoUkcyXES69ZS2-66aLdAfK&s=10) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/82 "2026-08-14T17:32:48Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Not in the Southern Hemisphere, where everybody’s upside down. Well, sure, _they_ would fall off but I meant us right side up folks. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/83 "2026-08-14T18:14:25Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Not anymore The entire little _”But… we’re upside down!!”_ arc was one of my early faves of the strip. “It’s not that older people grow up. It’s that they’ve been upside down longer. So the weight of the head stretches them.” “Don’t you see, all the underdeveloped countries are in the upside-down half? That means, that because we’re upside down our ideas fall off!” 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/84 "2026-08-14T18:23:04Z")
I think I learned that I was upside down reading that strip, I loved Mafalda as a child even if I understood about 25% of it, my son loved it too when he was little and understood even less (Kid of the 2000s reading a strip from the '60s) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/85 "2026-08-14T18:31:57Z")
Flat Earthers don’t believe in gravity, so I suspect they’ll soon be claiming that us not noticing gravity goes away proves their claims. But maybe it was supposed to simulate the rapture that didn’t happen last October - or November, or February, or … ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/86 "2026-08-14T18:37:07Z")
I wasn’t affected. But I also live in a relatively upscale neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/87 "2026-08-14T19:52:38Z")
Said with an elevated pinkie, no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/88 "2026-08-14T23:22:24Z")
Well, we certainly don’t want to be associated with “those people” who don’t even have any gravity. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/89 "2026-08-14T23:31:28Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > I think I learned that I was upside down reading that strip, I loved Mafalda as a child even if I understood about 25% of it, my son loved it too when he was little and understood even less (Kid of the 2000s reading a strip from the '60s) I don’t think you’re fully upside down – I think you’re more or less walking around sideways, but with your head lower than your feet. The real upside-downers are the Aussies. I’ve never been to Australia but I’ve seen pictures, and it looks normal. This is an illusion. They’re upside down. The proof of this is to look up at a full moon. What the Aussie sees in the crater patterns is upside down from normal. The explanation for this comes – as many words of wisdom come – from the words of the immortal Bugs Bunny. Paraphrased: “The moon ain’t upside down, Doc. **You** are!” ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/90 "2026-08-14T23:36:16Z")
But the craters are upside down here too, and by latitude we are basically equally upside down. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/91 "2026-08-14T23:38:27Z")
I’d make a joke about gravity, but it wouldn’t have any impact. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/92 "2026-08-14T23:42:08Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > But the craters are upside down here too, and by latitude we are basically equally upside down. My goodness, yes, pardon my ignorance of geography. Youse guys are pretty much hanging upside down by your toes, too, just like Aussies, and bats in a cave! 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/93 "2026-08-14T23:44:00Z")
As Mafalda said, we have an strong attachment to our home soil. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/94 "2026-08-14T23:52:47Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Well, we certainly don’t want to be associated with “those people” who don’t even have any gravity. or pinkies. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/95 "2026-08-15T00:02:17Z")
Now the hypothesis in the OP has me wondering. Is something like this actually plausible? By some theory, gravity exists as waves, right? So where two waves intersect, if crest meets trough there would be a “cold spot”, no? Could it just happen to happen here? Seems plausible to me (if unlikely). I’m sure it would be disastrous! Now I’m scared! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/96 "2026-08-15T00:17:19Z")
Gravity waves do exist, and they do interfere with each other much like any other waves do. But the amplitude of gravitational waves is ridiculously fantastically ludicrously tiny. To even detect them at all required a billion-dollar piece of equipment. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/97 "2026-08-15T00:25:40Z")
[You can say that again](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO). > The two LIGO observatories use mirrors spaced 4 kilometres (13,000 ft) apart to measure changes in length—over an effective span of 1,120 kilometres (700 mi)—of less than one ten-thousandth the [charge diameter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_radius "Charge radius") of a [proton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton "Proton").[[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIGO#cite_note-LIGO-Facts-2) That’s even less than the move your sibling makes when they’re Not Touching You. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/98 "2026-08-15T00:43:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > By some theory, gravity exists as waves, right? So where two waves intersect, if crest meets trough there would be a “cold spot”, no? You’re confusing two different concepts, though they may be somewhat distantly related. Gravitational waves are created by ripples in spacetime caused by the collisions of massive objects like black holes or neutron stars. But it’s not clear that gravity in the normal sense exists as “waves”. If the existence of gravitons is ever confirmed, then they would indeed have to possess a quantum wave function, but the confirmation of such is far from certain, and it’s not really the same phenomenon. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/99 "2026-08-15T00:54:23Z")
Eh, electromagnetic waves are the quantum wave function of the photon. By the same token, if the graviton exists, then gravitational waves are their quantum wave function. The question, such as it is, is just whether gravitational waves can be quantized. And everyone is about as convinced as they can be that the answer to that question is yes; we’re just not sure how to quantize them. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315/100 "2026-08-15T01:14:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > My Beloved has said that next time it happens she is just going to toss me in the Columbia River and marry the the first incredibly handsome and intelligent creature she encounters. She’s looking for a change, then? 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-you-die-when-the-earth-lost-gravity-on-8-12-2026/1032315.md?page=6)