Off-topic circumnavigating the earth in a mile or less [was Re: Significant digits in a float?]

[Ryan Hiebert]

On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 9:02 AM, Ethan Furman <ethan at stoneleaf.us> wrote:

> On 04/30/2014 06:14 AM, Ethan Furman wrote:
>
>> On 04/29/2014 03:51 PM, Chris Angelico wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Apr 30, 2014 at 8:42 AM, emile <emile at fenx.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 04/29/2014 01:16 PM, Adam Funk wrote:
>>>>
>>>>  "A man pitches his tent, walks 1 km south, walks 1 km east, kills a
>>>>> bear, & walks 1 km north, where he's back at his tent.  What color is
>>>>> the bear?"  ;-)
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>  From how many locations on Earth can someone walk one mile south, one
>>>> mile
>>>> east, and one mile north and end up at their starting point?
>>>>
>>>
>>> Any point where the mile east takes you an exact number of times
>>> around the globe. So, anywhere exactly one mile north of that, which
>>> is a number of circles not far from the south pole.
>>>
>>
>> It is my contention, completely unbacked by actual research, that if you
>> find such a spot (heading a mile east takes you
>> an integral number of times around the pole), that there is not enough
>> Earth left to walk a mile north so that you could
>> then turn-around a walk a mile south to get back to such a location.
>>
>
> Wow.  It's amazing how writing something down, wrongly (I originally had
> north and south reversed), correcting it, letting some time pass (enough to
> post the message so one can be properly embarrassed ;), and then rereading
> it later can make something so much clearer!
>
> Or maybe it was the morning caffeine.  Hmmm.
>
> At any rate, I withdraw my contention, it is clear to me now (at least
> until the caffeine wears off).
>
> Sure, but that still leaves the nagging problem that there aren't any
Polar Bears in Antarctica (as someone else pointed out). This man must have
brought a bear with him.


Perhaps the story is something like this:

A man near the south pole takes his dear friend and pet bear for a walk.
He'd gone to great lengths to bring his pet bear with him to his Antarctic
expedition, and his bear is his best friend, and sole companion, save for
the constant, biting cold. They walk toward the pole, then begin their
excursion eastward, encircling the pole.

As the man grows weary, and decides to head back, a legion of penguins
collaborate with a host of Weddell seals to be rid of their uninvited
guests. It isn't clear what the man did to cause those seals to rise
against him, but it must have been some dire feat, for Weddell seals are
not easily frightened.

After a fierce battle, the man and his bear (well, mostly the bear) manage
to defend themselves against the attacking throng. However, the new peace
realizes a terrible fate: his bear is mortally wounded, and is suffering
immensely. The man, loving his friend dearly, shoots his solitary
compatriot, and weeps as he watches the blood turn his dear bear's fur an
ominous red.

Overcome with grief, he heads back north to his tent to mourn his loss, and
to arrange his trip north to the populated tropics, where he hopes to
forget his troubles, and the place where he lost his closet pal, a bear.
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