new scientist

摘要

DOES it matter which side of the road a country drives on? Well, in 1958 it worried Robert M. Stewart. Our 7 August issue reported his concern that too many nations drove on the right-hand side and so were affecting the rotation of Earth. Additionally, he fretted that a component of the vehicles' momentum might tip the polar axis. Stewart therefore "deplores the indiscriminate adoption of right-hand driving, and looks to the British automotive industry and the underdeveloped territories to redress the balance". If this was an April fool story, it was 128 days too late.