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Penguin Poop Seen From Space
Scientists have found ten new emperor penguin colonies by spotting their skid marks on the Antarctic ice from satellite images (video on page). The ice around the penguins gets very dirty because they congregate in a small area in very large colonies for months. Peter Fretwell, Mapping Expert, British Antarctic Survey says, "What we find is that we can see the guano (excrement) from space. They stay in the same space in very large colonies for eight months of the year and the ice around them gets very dirty, and it's that that we can see on the satellite images."
...to automatically purge their logs.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Another reason why gentoo is shitty.
Object within the resolution limit of space camera is observed! Gasp!
I modded-up the article as "fresh."
Not sure if that helps.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
And somehow, we're the ones blamed for polluting the planet.
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
...must bow their head in awe at a poop that's visible from orbit.
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
...the BBC documentary Planet Earth skipped over. No, it was all pristine, white landscape with cute penguins huddled together. Not once did they show a dirty red-brown shitty trail aftermath of their voyage. Next time I watch that, I'm going to look very closely at the background.
"Engineering. Where the noble, semi-skilled laborers execute the vision of those who think and dream." -Sheldon
I think there's an emperor penguin colony in my underpants!
Ed R.Zahurak
You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.
Actually, to dirty water ice enough to darken it considerably takes only a very small proportion of contaminants. Next winter, collect one of those dirty, nasty tire-bergs off of a car and melt it down. See how much of it is water and how much is dirt. For all it's nastiness, it's almost all water. (More broadly, this is true of planetary surfaces. The colors we generally associate with various surfaces are often due to trace components on otherwise white material.)
Sorry to be pedantic, but guano comes out of a cloaca, which is kinda like a combined urine/feces vent. Humans, and most placentals, have separate urine and feces vents.
We usually equate urine with water and salt regulation, but it's also our way of getting rid of nitrogenous waste (ammonia mostly), which we expel as urea. (Incidentally, the word 'urea' derives from 'urine,' and not vice-versa.) Since birds don't urinate, they convert their nitrogenous wastes into uric acid, which is what stains rocks and statues white. So, especially given the point of this article, the guano/feces precision is relevant.
a similar observation could be made about Congress.
... are you just happy to see m.. WAIT, that IS an emperor penguin colony
You have more than one word on stop signs in your area?
Dude, that is SO offensive. And I can't stop looking!
There's nothing else to see here, move along.
Number of penguins eaten by polar bears on a yearly basis: zero.
Wrong side of the planet.
That dark guano is going to absorb more sunlight and accelerate global warming and the melting of the ice!
We must preserve the home of the penguins, or they'll have nowhere to live.
Oops, we just shot them all.
Never mind.
...the bullshit in Washington D.C. must be visible from Mars.
Number of penguins eaten by polar bears on a yearly basis: zero.
Wrong side of the planet.
Yeah, so it's pretty unlikely, but can we really be sure the number is really zero? While I doubt a polar bear made it to the south pole, birds can get lost and are sometimes seen thousands and thousands of miles from their usual habitats, and penguins are strong and capable swimmers. Can't you just see the penguin couple?
"Dear, I think we went the wrong way back our vacation in Argentina. The sun seems to be in the wrong place. We should ask another bird for directions." "Geeze, get off my back. You've been saying that for weeks now, but I know where I'm going! It's getting cold again, just like I said it would, isn't it?" "Yes dear, but..." "Look! An iceberg! See! We'll be back on land in no time. First though let's take a break on this piece of ice which appears to have a soft fluffy mound of snow on it..." "RAWR! Nom-nom-nom-nom-gulp!"
Oh, damnit, the Orca got them first. Okay, well, maybe next year!
The enemies of Democracy are
It's a pretty versatile camera, though it's kind of old and not as regular. There were some pipes that needed cleaning, and they needed more fiber optics but taking pictures of poop is its number two duty!
Umm, you DO realize that the only penguins which can fly live in the UK?
Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.