Putting a golf ball on a rotating green

Factual Questions
21

And how much of that is the Coriolis effect versus the high gravity? High gravity, if one can adapt to it at all, would take at least months or years.

22

Hypergravity has relatively little observed effect on the vestibular system (at least in short durations obviously no opportunities for research on humans for extended durations) and the primary impact is on bone densification (from animal studies, see the aforementioned Artificial Gravity and numerous NASA papers available on NTRS for reference) and cardiac stress. The Coriolis and change of radius of rotation (due to change in orientation and change of height relative to the axis of rotation, respectively) are what impact the vestibular system and in particular the vestibular-ocular reflex, and minimizing these to the point of staying in the ‘comfort zone’ at a simulated 0.3 to 0.5 gee level requires a radius of >12 m and a rotation rate of 3 to 5 rpm (ref Figure 2-09 in Artificial Gravity).

Stranger

23

You can do something similar in the carnival ride like this. People stand around against the inside wall of a rotating drum. It then spins really fast, pushing you against the wall. If you try to move your arm, it will go 90° from where you expect due to the effects of coriolis force (or is is gyroscopic force?). Now try shaking your head around.

The issue with rotating gravity was due to the effects on your inner ear, among other reasons. This is the same fun feature that makes some people nauseous on carnival rides. The shaking of the balance hairs on your inner ear, telling you something different from your eyes, is also a sign of sickness - i.e. you ate something bad, your sense of balance is off, your body will want to get rid of stomach contents just in case. Even if you don’t get physically ill, it is unsettling. Whether someone wants to try this for a few days to see if they can adapt…

I assume Clarke was quoting some experiments done by NASA and others in preparation for space exploration.

24

Huge difference between a room that has a floor plane perpendicular to Earth gravity like an ordinary room but it also rotates about a vertical axis versus a hamster wheel-like device operating on an coasting spaceship where centrifugal / centripetal force from the hamster wheel rotation is meant to simulate planetary gravity. Whether that “gravity” is 0.5G or 1.5G.

The conclusions from one set of demos / experiments have very little applicability to the other.