Volcanic Activity May Split Africa In Two

An anonymous reader writes 'Volcanic activity may split the African continent in two, creating a new ocean, say experts. This is due to a recent geological crack which has appeared in northeastern Ethiopia.'

Comments

So now it's four pieces?

[MrMr]

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/11/03/0313242

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Xest]

Yes, and it's now happened twice in 2 days, the world is falling apart, run for the hills!

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[lena_10326]

3 pieces. Break a cookie in half 2 times.

• Break #1: 1 = 0.5 + 0.5
• Break #2: 1 = 0.5 + 0.25 + 0.25

3 pieces. Not 4. You would need 3 breaks to get 4 pieces.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[imakemusic]

You can't break a cookie in half twice. You can break it in half once and then you can break a half-cookie in half. Saying that you're breaking the [whole] cookie in half twice implies that you are making the first break and then breaking both of those halves in two.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Anonymous Coward]

You guys need to get out more.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[lena_10326]

There are no half-cookies. There are only cookies. Some are small; some are big. It's like saying there are half rocks. Divide a rock in half, u get 2 rocks. Not 2 half rocks. This is because a cookie has no anatomy as you and I would know it. It is symmetrical and the independent of scale. It applies down to a cookie of size 2 molecules. A 1 molecule cookie cannot be divided, because dividing molecule yields entirely different substances.

If I had said an "apple", that would have been different. Half apples do indeed exist.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[tfmachad]

If so, what is the exact threshold for a [piece of] cookie to cease being a cookie and become a crumble? Is it whenever it is capable to adhere to your clothes or is it the point in which it can no longer support an entire raisin or chocolate drop?

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[imakemusic]

Isn't a cookie of size 2 molecules technically known as a Crumb?

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[mister_playboy]

Why discriminate against the radially challenged?

I bet you tell all the girls that!

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[mh1997]

There are no half-cookies. There are only cookies. Some are small; some are big. It's like saying there are half rocks....

It's like a car. Divide it in half and you get a Ford Pinto, not 2 half cars. This is because a car....

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[lena_10326]

It does not work for cars because cookies and rocks have a property that cars do not--symmetry of matter. Materialwise, they are consistent. Imagine a plane slicing through a rock dividing it into two--slicing at any angle. The material on both sides of the plane will always be of the same type of material possessing the same properties. This is why a rock sliced in half results in 2 rocks--not 2 half rocks. That is not true for cars because I can slice only the tire and have rubber on one side and the remainder of the car (glass, metal, etc) on the other side. Slicing a car in half results in 2 half-cars

Slicing a continent behaves like slicing a rock. You will end up with 2 continents: not 2 half continents because a continent is an organizational structure which we determine based on an arbitrary selection process (such as elevation above sea level). Since a continent is purely a conceptual organization, that means every point within it has exactly the same property value: inside. It is materially consistent just like a rock (or cookie).

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[chronosan]

You can, however, have half an Oreo Cookie.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be a lot of fun at parties.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[gtall]

I think you are forgetting the field of Iced Cookies. Sliced depthwise, you have an iced half and an non-iced half. Now both could be considered cookies, but they are now of two entirely different species....evolution rears its head. It is a little known fact that Darwin considered the cookie problem early on in his work. After failing to get cookies to mate, he turned to animals that could and thus changed the course of modern biology. So, you think you are better than Darwin, mate?

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Trails]

I cordially invite you to come to my house and explain to my kids that half a cookie is in fact a cookie. Good luck. If you're successful, I'll even pay for your airfare.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[camperdave]

Obviously the cookie is made of an exotic form of matter. Other substances, like water or salt, can be divided almost indefinitely (until you get down to a single molecule) without losing their properties. Not so with cookie matter. A chocolate chip cookie can be broken down only so far before it ceases being a chocolate chip cookie, and becomes just a plain cookie. This can happen even at centimetre scales. Some cookies have a directionality to them. Oreos, for example, when broken radially maintain their "Oreo-ness". However, when broken perpendicular to the axis, an Oreo can lose its "Oreo-ness" and transform into a simple chocolate cookie.

I heard that there was some study done on this phenomenon, however the lab was plagued by a large, blue-furred creature who would yell "COOKIE!", and vanish with all of the sample materials.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Verdatum]

And I've tilted at them, because I thought they were shaped like giants.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[Chris Burke]

What exactly is a cookie molecule ?

It's CO2KI. A carbon atom, two oxygen atoms, one potassium, and iodine. There's an extra 'e' added to its common name in English.

Re:So now it's four pieces?

[steelfood]

I can't believe Africa just got compared to a cookie--for an entire thread, no less.

So I have to ask now, what kind of cookie is it? And is it crisp or soft?

In other news

[Enleth]

The article duping activity would be enough to split Slashdot in two, creating a new site that could actualy cover the same events at almost the same time with little additional work, says any attentive reader.

Re:In other news

[Goffee71]

In other news, East Africa and West Africa rap battles set to get more intense and possibly end in violence!

It splits articles too?

[MWojcik]

It must be some some african-internet hybrid volcano, it is already splitting the article about itself in two.

Re:It splits articles too?

[Aymon]

We can call it Anotherfrica.

Buy land in Etiopia now

[Kaleidoscopio]

Wait a million years and you will be rich, with ocean panoramas on your lands, private resorts, etc.
I'm finding a real estate agent, I think there are some good ones in Nigeria...

Re:Buy land in Etiopia now

[zmollusc]

Oh Christ, don't say that! I was going to get a percentage off some Nigerian guy for helping him get $50million out of the country. Once he hears this investment opportunity he will spend it at home in Nigeria. :-(
 

Re:Buy land in Etiopia now

[juletre]

That was smart!
Find all the +5 funny replies from yesterday and repost them!

---
'He, who has quotes in his signature, is a duche' - unknown.

I must be playing too much WoW

[theurge14]

I must be playing too much WoW because now I'm starting to believe the upcoming expansion Cataclysm is a real even that will take place in Africa.

This is old news, decade old news

[G3ckoG33k]

This has been in the school books since 1970s, at least. For starters - look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Rift_Valley and then do a Google search for "Rift Valley"

Re:This is old news, decade old news

[wisdom_brewing]

Do you know where youd get a topological map for that area?

Assuming verical cliff walls surrounding the dead sea and digging a canal to it would lower world sea levels by ~1.95mm - in reality would be a lot more (810sq km surface area, 422m below "sea" level), doing likewise with the Caspian sea (28 metres below "sea" level and >300,000sq km surface area) would drop world sea levels by ~6cm.

That basin has a trough of around 155m below sea level - in Djibouti (neighbouring Ethiopia) I believe - only 125m in Ethiopia. I assume the area would be huge, maybe get a couple dozen cm of respite with that...

Next they'll tell us Pangea's unstable.

[gafisher]

Where's the United Nations when we need them?

Re:Next they'll tell us Pangea's unstable.

[nstlgc]

Hang on, we're writing an angry letter to let the volcanic activity know how we feel about this.

North America

[QuoteMstr]

What's not very well-known is that the same thing happened to North America, almost splitting the continent in two. Lake Superior lies in the depression left by the failed North American rift.

Relax

[gmuslera]

In 1 millon years slashdot that will finally happens and Slashdot will stop posting dupes about it.

Oh what you don't know!!!

[tjstork]

It only seems like it failed. Then, any minute now, the earth is going to roar to life as a giant burp of magma rises from the core to underneath north america. yellowstone traps, missouri mega-earthquake, the end is nigh. If you knew geology, and lived in America, you'd be a preacher too. Doom is before us! Repent!

really really old news

[happy_place]

I'm forty(ish) now, but I distinctly remember a social studies/geography teacher telling me about this when I was in Jr. High School. Who knew going to a California public school would be so leading edge!? ;)

I dunno, it's kinda refreshing to see a dupe

[thomasdz]

A couple of years ago, Slashdot was doing LOTS of duplicate articles and that has been cleaned up tremedously. It's kinda nice to see a dupe now and then to remind me of those heady days of 2007, ahhhh, how I miss them

Re:Well fuck me I ain't goin to Afrika then!

[careysub]

You may want to reconsider that. According to TA the Afar region is "is one of the lowest and hottest places on the planet". That's right low AND hot! Sounds like the perfect club scene!

Statement from CAIR:

[MrWin2kMan]

This is obviously another Crusader ploy to tear away the largely Christian southern Africa from the primarily Muslim northern Africa. We condemn this despicable act of aggression!