My theory regarding time
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2006 12:11 pm
If you look closely at where Daniel is pointing, it appears to be Greenwich, England. At the time he's pointing at Greenwich, the time on the clock is 7:10. Using just these two pieces of information, we can determine the longtitude, assuming that this is supposed to represent a time difference, not the current time. (Of course, if it was supposed to represent the current time and we knew the current time in Greenwich at the time the video was made we could determine their longitude too, but we don't know have that bit of info. Note: Check Deagol's post below mine for an interesting idea concerning the actual time possibility.)
The longitude can be calculated by multiplying the mean solar time (relative to the Greenwich Mean Solar Time) by 15. For example, a place that is 4 hours "earlier" than Greenwich, England, would be at 60 deg. W Longitude. (AKA, -60 deg.) Now, obviously, our current time zones change things slightly because we have entire zones where we say the time is the same, but I doubt the creators factored this in given the fraction of an hour displayed on the clock.
Now, as we discussed earlier, instead of assuming that the clock is there to represent their actual time, let's assume that it represents the difference between their time and GMT. The question that remains is whether they want us to go East or West (IOW, 7 hours, 10 min "before" or "after" GMT). The rest is elementary mathematics.
The longitude can be calculated by multiplying the mean solar time (relative to the Greenwich Mean Solar Time) by 15. For example, a place that is 4 hours "earlier" than Greenwich, England, would be at 60 deg. W Longitude. (AKA, -60 deg.) Now, obviously, our current time zones change things slightly because we have entire zones where we say the time is the same, but I doubt the creators factored this in given the fraction of an hour displayed on the clock.
Now, as we discussed earlier, instead of assuming that the clock is there to represent their actual time, let's assume that it represents the difference between their time and GMT. The question that remains is whether they want us to go East or West (IOW, 7 hours, 10 min "before" or "after" GMT). The rest is elementary mathematics.