Mystery of Titan's disappearing 'island'

by
in science on (#2T20)
story imageAstronomers have been left baffled by the rise and subsequent fall of a huge feature in a sea on Saturn's moon Titan. In July 2012 a giant feature 100 square miles (260 square kilometers) in area - roughly the area of 58,000 football fields - is seen surfacing from under the liquid before partially disappearing again. No definitive explanation is yet apparent. Several theories currently exist including surface waves, rising bubbles, floating solids, solids suspended just below the surface or 'something more exotic' according to NASA.

The mysterious feature appears bright in the radar images, suggesting it has a somewhat similar composition to the land nearby in the image. This supports one theory that it may be a solid structure - potentially an island - that surfaced from under the liquid before sinking again for an unknown reason.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2774811/Mystery-moving-island-Titan-Giant-object-58-THOUSAND-football-fields-size-rises-sinks-Saturn-s-moon.html

Re: Do not link to the Daily Mail. Ever. (Score: 4, Informative)

by wootery@pipedot.org on 2014-10-03 12:50 (#2T2M)

Is there something inaccurate in the linked story at all?
I don't real the Daily Mail. I read the other two sources I linked to instead.
Assuming not, why should I or anyone else be concerned with your particular preference of news souce?
Err, because I'm not necessarily just a blabbering moron. There's a finite possibility that the low opinion of the Daily Mail held by me and others is actually justified, wouldn't you agree?

You appear to be implying that my opinion is irrelevant because it is subjective, but would you lend as much weight to the scientific ideas of a noisy drunk as to an article in Nature? Does a professor, marking her students' essays, prefer to see respectable sources cited in preference to tabloids?

High-quality sources are a practical concern. Linking to bullshit sources like the Daily Mail really is something to avoid.
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