I hope that the escalators in the Sainsbury's in Darlington, where one is repeatedly urged to face the direction of travel (Letters, 23 August), ascend eastwards, or else the speed of the Earth's rotation, about 600mph in the latitude of Darlington, will massively outweigh any escalator speed (hopefully), so one would have to face backwards to comply with the instruction.
Of course, to comply fully, one must also account for the speed and direction of the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Sun's orbit around the Galactic Centre, the motion of the Milky Way towards Andromeda, the expansion of the Universe, the...oh, never mind, I'll use the stairs.
Hillary J. Shaw, Senior lecturer, Department of food science and agri-food supply chain management, Harper Adams University College
Please
or to read this article.Register to continue
Get a month's unlimited access to THE content online. Just register and complete your career summary.
Registration is free and only takes a moment. Once registered you can read a total of 3 articles each month, plus:
- Sign up for the editor's highlights
- Receive World University Rankings news first
- Get job alerts, shortlist jobs and save job searches
- Participate in reader discussions and post comments
Subscribe
Or subscribe for unlimited access to:
- Unlimited access to news, views, insights & reviews
- Digital editions
- Digital access to THE’s university and college rankings analysis

Already registered or a current subscriber?