Illustration of Earth, moon, and sun.
  • At its equator, Earth is spinning at about 1,040 mph. But what if it just suddenly stopped?
  • You and everything else could go flying at hundreds of miles per hour, unless you're at the poles.
  • Earth's rotation is actually slowing down at an estimated rate of 2.3 milliseconds every century.

"Stop the world, I want to get off." This exasperated phrase has been around since the 1950s, used in classic and modern music alike.

But if the world were to really stop spinning, the consequences would belong less in a romantic musical and more in an apocalyptic horror film.