Slashdot Mirror
Possible Cryovolcano Discovered on Titan
Rei writes "NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is reporting that the Cassini spacecraft has observed what appears to be a cryovolcano on Saturn's moon Titan. Given the absense of a global methane sea on Titan, the snail-shaped structure with what appears to be a caldera on top could explain how Titan's methane stays replenished. It could further explain the dry drainage channels discovered by the Huygens lander as being formed by heavy methane rainfall after eruptions."
Excellent, just what the Galaxy needs - a farting moon.
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
" appears to be a caldera on top could explain how Titan's methane stays replenished" I thought it was after the Canopy group acquired Caldera that the hot air came forth.... hrm. It would explain the drainage too...
Maybe it's a $cientology Dianetics franchise? They always use (Xenu) volcanoes in their advertising.
Ahhhh, so that's where OpenLinux is being used
You mean it's not just leaking out from all the créme bruleé?
I am trolling
I bet schools close a lot there.
"The forecast today is for periods of clear nitrogen, followed by an earthquake, the raining methane for the rest of the afternoon. Film at eleven."
After re-analysis of the data, it appears that Nasa was looking at Uranus.
My Karma is so low that even my own postings are beyond my current threshold
A cryovolcano. That's hot.
A lightsabre battle, while ice-skating on a frozen planet.
to the phrase "titanic methane eruption".
Raise your children as if you were teaching them to raise your grandchildren, because you are.
Meanwhile, the idiots on these remote asteroids have volcanos and seas full of the stuff and are doing absolutely nothing to exploit it.
Rummy really needs to get out there with some ex-military contractors and get started on the pipeline. Looks like there's not too much risk of anyone firing RPGs at the construction force, either.
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
I originally read that headline as "Possible Cryptovolcano Discovered on Titan", and found myself oddly excited -- even if I have no idea what a Cryptovolcano might be.
Doesn't it seem like sometimes science is just making shit up?
Shape of... an ice volcano!
Dear Will, the plums were poisoned. -- Cheese Club
Given the absense of a global methane sea on Titan, the snail-shaped structure with what appears to be a caldera on top could explain how Titan's methane stays replenished.
Having not known that 'caldera' was anything other than sco's former name, I of course looked it up in wikipedia:
A caldera is a volcanic feature formed by the collapse of a volcano into itself.
It seems like sco should have stayed with this name, it's much more apropos.
A whole lot of rotting dinosaurs and plant matter underneath Titan to produce all those hydrocarbons...
Or
That's not where all our oil and gas comes from on this planet either. Besides that, it would be one weird damn dinosaur that would crawl into a giant rock to die, requiring explosives to extract its liquid remains.