Einstein theorized that if enough ice accumulated on the polar caps, a shift could result. Scientists have found that there was a major reorganization of the earth's tectonic plates about half a billion years ago. The previous north and south poles relocated to the equator, and points on the equator became the poles we have now."

“You're talking about a process that takes millions, billions of years,” Adler said.

Trout brought the discussion back to the computer simulation. “That's why we should look closer at the present. The image on the screen shows the earth's magnetic fields. Those splotches in blue are inward-directed fields. The gold is outward-directed. The British navy kept records of the magnetic and true north for three hundred years, which means we've got a pretty good database. What we see here is an increase in the number of blue islands.”

“Which would indicate magnetic anomalies where the field is flowing the wrong way,” Hibbet said.

“That large patch of color is the South Atlantic Anomaly where the field is already flowing the wrong way,” Trout said. “The anomaly's growth accelerated around the turn of the century. This ties in with Magsat readings that show weak areas in the north polar region and below South Africa. The observations are consistent with computer simulations that show the possible beginnings of a flip.”

“You've made a convincing case that geologic and magnetic polar reversals have occurred,” Adler said. “But what we're talking about is the possibility of man precipitating such an event. That's a lot of hubris on our part. Man is capable of much, but our puny efforts are not capable of shifting the entire surface of the planet.”

“Seems crazy, doesn't it?” Trout said with a crooked grin. He turned to Hibbet. “You're our electromagnetism expert. What do you think?”

Hibbet stared at the screen. “I had no idea the southern ocean anomalies had grown so rapidly.” He paused in thought, then, choosing his words carefully, said, “What Lazlo Kovacs got into was the nature of matter and energy. He discovered that matter oscillates between the stages of matter and energy. Energy is not subjected to the rules of time and space, so the shift from one phase to another is instantaneous. And matter follows energy's lead. In addressing this question, we have to look at the earth's electromagnetic makeup. If the electromagnetic energy changes in a certain way, matter—in this case the crust of the earth—can change as well.”

“You're saying a geologic polar shift is possible,” Gamay said.