  The paper proposes an alternative to the Foucault pendulum for detecting
various movements of rotation of the Earth. Calculations suggest that if the
duration of a "free" fall becomes longer the eastward deflection will be
amplified in proportion with the increased duration. Instead of 20 micrometers
for a one-meter fall, one can expect deflections more than 1,000 times larger
when the fall lasts a few minutes. The method proposed in this paper consists
in using the buoyancy of a (non viscous) liquid in order to work in reduced
gravity. Not surprisingly, as in many astronomical observations, the main
challenge is to minimize the level of "noise". Possible sources of noise are
discussed and remedies are proposed. In principle, the experiment should be
done in superfluid helium. However, a preliminary experiment done in water gave
encouraging results in spite of a fairly high level of noise. In forthcoming
experiments the main objective will be to identify and eliminate the main
sources of noise. This experiment differs from the Foucault pendulum by its
greater flexibility. By adequately selecting the major parameters, e.g.
duration of the fall, viscosity of the fluid, size of the falling body, one can
change the deflection target. It is hoped that the present paper will encourage
new experiments in this direction.
