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Massive Lightning Storm on Saturn
Aielman writes to tell us Yahoo News is reporting that Researchers are tracking a gigantic electrical storm on Saturn that has released lightning bolts more than one thousand times stronger than those found on Earth. The storms where first spotted earlier this year from the Cassini probe and since that time scientists have recorded 35 consecutive episodes each lasting about ten hours.
I don't know if the two year cycle is as clear-cut as you're saying it is, given the relatively small number of Saturn years observed
That is the problem in research, how long do you observe something until you can seperate coincidence with what is truely a pattern. Look at global warming, there is a lot of evidence to come to the conclusion that it's human dickering but there is also the question of this maybe being part of a natural cycle. Until we get our hands on a large portion of first hand obsevred data it's going to be hard to come to a firm conclusion.
George Carlin once said it was arrogant of us to think that we can change the planet let alone save it. Maybe he's right. But for now you need to take the data at hand and start to work on theories about what might be going on and apply whatever solution may be needed. In the case of Saturn I think we're pretty far from needing to worry about it much.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Following a little further off topic, you're hinting at the biggest problem we have with the whole Global Warming debate. There are two extremes, either we're totally wrecking the planet, or it's all a natural cycle that we're too insignificant to affect. The loudest voices in the debate are generally arguing one of the two extremes, and neither extreme position is terribly useful for collecting good data or presenting real solutions.
And the truth is probably somewhere in between. Why a more realistic and sensible look at the available information doesn't seem to motivate anyone is a mystery to me.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.
Why a more realistic and sensible look at the available information doesn't seem to motivate anyone is a mystery to me.
I don't doubt that someone has but with the forces of industry and the environmental lobby pushing on them it may be easy to repress...
But if it hasn't been done it may be hard to get a grant that would be needed for this reseach because of the same forces that would repress the data anyway.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.