The earth is generally considered a slightly flattened sphere, its flatness at the poles resulting from plastic response to its spinning motion. Last week Dr. John A. O'Keefe, assistant director of the Theoretical Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, gave evidence before the American Physical Society that the earth is very slightly pear shaped. If its continents are evened out and its spin-flattening allowed for, it has a faint bulge around the North Pole, a faint depression around the South Pole, and a depressed ring in the north mid-latitudes (see diagram).
The discovery was made by careful observation of the...
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