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
Reply 11 comments

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

by wootery@pipedot.org on 2014-10-02 12:42 (#2T27)

dailymail.co.uk? Christ.

How about a source that isn't total garbage?

(I'm not normally one to just complain, but seriously.)

Re: Do not link to the Daily Mail. Ever. (Score: 1)

by axsdenied@pipedot.org on 2014-10-02 15:24 (#2T29)

Fully agree. If I could give you 5 mod points I would.

Re: Do not link to the Daily Mail. Ever. (Score: 1, Insightful)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-10-02 22:50 (#2T2E)

Is there something inaccurate in the linked story at all?

Assuming not, why should I or anyone else be concerned with your particular preference of news souce?

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.

Re: Do not link to the Daily Mail. Ever. (Score: 0)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-10-03 19:18 (#2T2Q)

You appear to be implying that my opinion is irrelevant because it is subjective
No, actually I was implying your opinion is irrelevant because you've never contributed anything of value...
Linking to bullshit sources like the Daily Mail really is something to avoid.
You've declined to demonstrate that it is "bullshit," so no. The next time I happen to find something of interest at the daily mail, I will submit it like usual. Of course you are free to continue complaining about it.

Re: Do not link to the Daily Mail. Ever. (Score: 1)

by wootery@pipedot.org on 2014-10-03 19:35 (#2T2R)

No, actually I was implying your opinion is irrelevant because you've never contributed anything of value...
Shameless ad-hom, then. Cute.
The next time I happen to find something of interest at the daily mail, I will submit it like usual.
Regardless of whether there are better sources merely a Google-search away?
Ok, let's turn this around: why do you not want Pipedot stories to avoid linking to tabloids? Tabloids are generally something to avoid on a tech-savvy site like this, no?

The borderline-NSFW nonsense linked from the Daily Mail article should be reason enough. I'd rather get my scientific updates from a site that doesn't try to catch my interest with mostly-naked photos of (presumably) celebrities.

Measurements! (Score: 1)

by kerrany@pipedot.org on 2014-10-02 16:41 (#2T2A)

Gotta love the measurement thoroughness in the summary! Not only do we get miles and kilometers, we also get football fields! If they ever get a volume reading on this thing, I hope they release it as "rods to the hogshead" or something like that. XD

Re: Measurements! (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-10-02 18:18 (#2T2B)

Wait. Are we talking American Football or World Cup Football (aka Soccer)? I'm pretty sure those fields aren't the same size, so we're going to need a better measurement system here...

Re: Measurements! (Score: 2, Funny)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-10-03 11:15 (#2T2J)

Not only do we get miles and kilometers, we also get football fields!
Wait... How big is it in kibimeters?