> Did my in-laws ever get around to 'testing' which way the water flows out of the sink when one pulls out the plug? They said they'd have perfect opportunity to settle the "counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere, clockwise in the Southern" thing once and for all. Heh.
>
> Wolf "I said it depends more on how the sink/bathtub/toilet bowl was designed, and on which pipe you turn on first, rather than on a Universally Barely User-Perceptable Coriolis Force" spirit

I don't know if that whole deal is true or not (I'm pretty sure it is, but not positive), but I have an interesting anecdote.

I saw a TV program once, a documentary of an equatorial town. The place was basically a big tourist trap, and there were businesses all over town which claimed to be right on the equator. Stuff like restaurants where you can "eat your meal in both hemispheres". I'm sure you know the type of thing I mean.

One thing of interest was this particular guy who showed his evidence that his spot was on the equator. He took a funnel and a jug of water, poured water into the funnel, and put a piece of grass on the water. As the water drained, the piece of grass clearly moved in a steady clockwise motion. He would then step over his clearly marked line on the ground and repeat the process. Sure enough, the grass turned counter-clockwise this time.

The programme continued and was finishing up. The closing segment was an interview with another guy several hundred yards away from the first, and not due east or west. When asked how he knew that his line was the true equator, he pulled out a bucket and a funnel and plucked a piece of grass and did the same trick...

Don "I sense some sort of scam here" Monkey