Hey Ray: The science behind Santa's worldwide trip
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - For years, I have been trying to figure out how Santa's magic works to allow him to get to every house on Christmas Eve. I think I may have uncovered the science of how at least one part of it works.
If you study maps to figure out how the "Big Guy" gets from house to house all over the world, you will notice lines on the map. The lines that run east and west are lines of latitude. The lines that run from north to south are lines of longitude. On a map, they typically look square, but on a globe, you will see they converge in two places: The South Pole and North Pole!
And who lives in one of those locations?
The lines of longitude converge in the poles, but have you ever noticed how time zones seem to mostly follow lines of longitude? That means all the time zones converge in the north and south poles too, meaning the poles are in all the time zones simultaneously!
Yes, Santa conveniently lives and works in a place all the time in the world... or more specifically in a place with all the time zones in the world!
Even scientists who work at the north pole or south pole usually typically just stick with their home time zone or the time zone from where they embarked for timekeeping purposes. Think of it like this: if there is no specific time in these two locations, on Christmas Eve, Santa can pick any time he wants it to be at the North Pole.
I have a feeling that having all the time, or time zones, is very helpful in getting to every house.
Santa still has only 24 hours to make it to every house, so there is still a lot of magic, and I'm still working on the science to figure out that part.
