I know where you think this is going, after reading that headline, and it’s not what you think.
See, Canada is depressed. And our stuff weighs less.
OK, enough with the cuteness: Canada is depressed because during the last ice age a sheet of ice called Laurentide, more than 3km thick, pressed down on the earth’s crust here, and apparently that’s one of the factors contributing to the fact that Canada has measurably less gravity than the rest of North America.
You can read the full scoop over at New Scientist:
Satellites solve mystery of low gravity over Canada
If it seems Canadians weigh less than their American neighbours, they do – but not for the reasons you might think. A large swath of Canada actually boasts lower gravity than its surroundings.
Researchers have puzzled for years over whether this was due to the crust there rebounding slowly after the end of the last ice age or a deeper issue involving convection in the Earth’s mantle – or some combination of the two.
Now, ultra-precise measurements taken over four years by a pair of satellites known as GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) reveal that each effect is equally responsible for Canada’s low gravity.
…
For my American readers, there may be several other things you don’t know about how Canada is different from America. I’ll let Dave Foley explain:
Oh, all right–you didn’t really think I could let this go without taking a shot at the current US Administration, did you?
See, another difference between Canada the U.S. have to do with the crazy expansion of police powers–we passed lots of stupid “anti-terror” laws after 9/11, just like the Yanks. The differences are that A) we never actually used those new powers, and B) we’ve already come to our senses. (Sadly, there is no difference in the way the Right uses these issues to beat the drums: it’s still the politics of fear, and debate-framing talking points. Here’s an example right out of the Rove playbook. I can’t believe anyone can still think that calling someone a flip-flopper is anything but a direct nod to Rove after the last US Presidential elections.)
