Beaver Dam Visible From Space

ygslash writes "The Hoover Dam no longer holds the title of the world's widest dam. Satellite photos of northern Alberta, Canada, show that several families of beavers have apparently joined forces to build a dam 850 meters wide, more than twice as wide as the Hoover Dam."

Comments

Bigger is Better

[BJ_Covert_Action]

....And you Canadians always give us Yanks crap about thinking bigger is better....sheesh.

Re:Bigger is Better

[somersault]

I don't really think wideness is a quality to be encouraged in beaver circles. Hopefully at least they've kept it trim.

Re:Bigger is Better

[davester666]

Everything's bigger up here. Texas is just where Canadian's try things out before commissioning the full-size model...

Re:Bigger is Better

[MichaelSmith]

Some of us need all the available space and more.

Re:Bigger is Better

[somersault]

Curse you and your unusually flooded rivers, widening what would otherwise be some rather pleasantly enclosed riverbanks..

Re:Bigger is Better

[Cryacin]

Yeah, that's right. Leave it to beavers.

Re:Bigger is Better

[siloko]

The real story of course is slashdot linking to a Fox News science and technology skit. Like the author even knows what a Beaver is, let alone where Canada resides . . .

Re:Bigger is Better

[SlashSim]

Well, Alberta is the Texas of Canada.

Re:Bigger is Better

[Arthur Grumbine]

...let alone where Canada resides . . .

Give me a break! Everyone knows that Canada bought a house in Minnesota so that she could get quality health care on-demand. Whether or not she's technically a "resident" is up for debate...

Re:Bigger is Better

[Romancer]

It is thought that several beaver families joined forces to create the massive dam, containing thousands of trees, and took many months to complete it.

Point 1. News is not supposed to include only speculation of events to support the main title. Investigate. That's why you're supposed to be better than a blog.

Point 2. Really, FOX? Fox News. On slashdot, about a beaver dam. WTF?

Point 3. It took beavers only a matter of months to do this when we take years and they still break. Why aren't we seeing a story about remote controlled animals with tools working en mass to build projects like this. Now that's a story that should be on Slashdot.

Re:Bigger is Better

[TaggartAleslayer]

Not sure if you were going for ironic or just stupid, but you hit both, so kudos.

Re:Bigger is Better

[ls671]

Everything's bigger up here. Texas is just where Canadian's try things out before commissioning the full-size model...

Nah, Stan, my toolpusher (kinda of like a superintenden) on a canadian oil rig is still telling me that "everything is bigger in Texas". Most of the biggest oil drilling rigs pull 3 pipes at a time from the ground before making those 3 pipes stand on the derrick. My toolpush told me that in Texas, the big oil rigs there pull 6 pipes at a time !

Re:Bigger is Better

[Seraphim_72]

Considering we have the Mayo, we have a LOT of out state residents. Sera

Re:Bigger is Better

[Anonymous Coward]

The funnier part is the Fox news site has a link to "read more" that takes you to the original story on thesun.co.uk. That page has the exact story word for word but with a different picture. There is nothing more to read though, Fox copied the entire thing..

Re:Bigger is Better

[tuxgeek]

Over here in west-Canada aka Alaska
We like to joke that if you divide Alaska in half and make each half a state
Texas would still be the third largest state
Isn't that great !!

-- sig test
Alaska, pissing off Texas since 1959

Re:Bigger is Better

[Anonymous Coward]

Nice, Eh!?

Re:Bigger is Better

[sconeu]

Would those states be "North Alaska" and "Even-Further-North Alaska"?

Re:Bigger is Better

[blackraven14250]

It took beavers only a matter of months to do this when we take years and they still break. Why aren't we seeing a story about remote controlled animals with tools working en mass to build projects like this. Now that's a story that should be on Slashdot.

Funny that beaver dams never break. You would think that since they're made out of untreated wood, that the water would rot them at some random point that beavers can't even foresee....

Re:Bigger is Better

[blackraven14250]

No, they'd be "North Alaska" and "Sunlight ain't welcome 'round these parts (until the mood swing)".

Re:Bigger is Better

[lbourn]

Funny that beaver dams never break. You would think that since they're made out of untreated wood, that the water would rot them at some random point that beavers can't even foresee....

I don't know if you were joking, but beaver dams break all the time. Usually they're not huge breaches but little leaks, and not usually due to wood rotting but due to mud washing out and sticks coming loose. The little guys are constantly repairing and mending the dams. They have OCD and can't stand the sound of running water -- that's their trigger to fix the dam.

Re:Bigger is Better

[Dr_Terminus]

Bah, Wisconsin's got you all beat! Check out the size of this Beaver Dam! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Dam,_Wisconsin

Re:Bigger is Better

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/23446391/detail.html
Roads have been closed and homes evacuated after beaver dam breaks.

Re:Bigger is Better

[MiniMike]

They didn't even put any new mistakes in it? Getting lazy FOX, can't count on the Sun to do all your work for you...

Re:Bigger is Better

[tehcyder]

Those long winter nights must just fly by.

Re:Bigger is Better

[Tobenisstinky]

No, but they kept a mistake, anyone else notice is says they [build] "moat around their lodges so they can swim and drive" Drive? what do they drive?

Re:Bigger is Better

[tsstahl]

...and wood can sit in fresh water darn near forever and not rot.

Re:Bigger is Better

[theshowmecanuck]

This, combined with the size of this damn, leads Canada to have the largest, hairiest, and wettest beavers in the world.

Re:Bigger is Better

[theshowmecanuck]

Damn... I meant dam.

Re:Bigger is Better

[Hatman39]

what do they drive? Given how much they hate trees, probably small hummers.

850 meters? One word for you....

[MyLongNickName]

DAMN!

Re:850 meters? One word for you....

[kimvette]

obligatory

STATE OF MICHIGAN
Reply to: GRAND RAPIDS DISTRICT OFFICE STATE OFFICE BUILDING 6TH FLOOR
350 OTTAWA NW GRAND RAPIDS MI 49503-2341
JOHN ENGLER, Governor
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
HOLLISTER BUILDING, PO BOX 30473, LANSING MI 48909-7973
INTERNET: http://www.deq.state.mi/
RUSSELL J. HARDING, Director

December 17, 1997

CERTIFIED

Mr. Ryan DeVries 2088 Dagget Pierson, MI 49339

Dear Mr. DeVries:

SUBJECT: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023-1 T11N, R10W, Sec. 20, Montcalm County

It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been recent unauthorized activity on the above referenced parcel of property. You have been certified as the legal landowner and/or contractor who did the following unauthorized activity:

Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond. A permit must be issued prior to the start of this type of activity. A review of the Department's files show that no permits have been issued.

Therefore, the Department has determined that this activity is in violation of Part 301, Inland Lakes and Streams, of the Natural Resource and Environmental Protection Act, Act 451 of the Public Acts of 1994, being sections 324.30101 to 324.30113 of the Michigan Compiled Laws annotated. The Department has been informed that one or both of the dams partially failed during a recent rain event, causing debris dams and flooding at downstream locations. We find that dams of this nature are inherently hazardous and cannot be permitted. The Department therefore orders you to cease and desist all unauthorized activities at this location, and to restore the stream to a free-flow condition by removing all wood and brush forming the dams from the strewn channel. All restoration work shall be completed no later than January 31, 1998. Please notify this office when the restoration has been completed so that a follow-up site inspection may be scheduled by our staff. Failure to comply with this request, or any further unauthorized activity on the site, may result in this case being referred for elevated enforcement action. We anticipate and would appreciate your full cooperation in this matter.

Please feel free to contact me at this office if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

David L. Price
District Representative Land and Water Management Division

Dear Mr. Price:
Re: DEQ File No. 97-59-0023; T11N, R10W, Sec 20; Montcalm County

Your certified letter dated 12/17/97 has been handed to me to respond to. You sent out a great deal of carbon copies to a lot of people, but you neglected to include their addresses. You will, therefore, have to send them a copy of my response.

First of all, Mr. Ryan DeVries is not the legal landowner and/or contractor at 2088 Dagget, Pierson, Michigan -- I am the legal owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, nor authorize, their dam project, I think they would be highly offended you call their skillful use of natural building materials "debris." I would like to challenge you to attempt to emulate their dam project any dam time and/or any dam place you choose. I believe I can safely state there is no dam way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

As to your dam request the beavers first must fill out a dam permit prior to the start of this type of dam activity, my first dam question to you is: are you trying to discriminate against my Spring Pond Beavers or do you require all dam beavers throughout this State to conform to said dam request? If you are not discriminating against these particular beavers, please send me completed copies of all those other applicable beaver dam permits. Perhaps we will

Re:850 meters? One word for you....

[oldhack]

"rule number 1 of slashdot: ANY thread can be twisted into a bash of microsoft. no exceptions."

Well, if you insist.

This is another case of egregious anti-competitive collusion - the furry animal (but not quite sweaty) version of Microsoft. Nuke'em from the orbit.

Re:850 meters? One word for you....

[biryokumaru]

You seem to have missed the $10,000 a day fine they wanted to levy against the beavers.

Re:850 meters? One word for you....

[Anonymous Coward]

Some people are just begging for even more Kafkaesque administrative action. I wonder what happened next?

Re:850 meters? One word for you....

[Anonymous Coward]

"They create a habitat with lots of water like a moat around their lodges so they can swim and drive, and keep one step ahead of predators such as coyotes and bears."
did they sent them a ticket for driving without a dam license?

Check your assumptions

[Locke2005]

Actually, just one beaver family built the dam. They then sold timeshares to all the other beaver families now living there.

Re:Check your assumptions

[Anonymous Coward]

The other beaver families used liar's loans to buy in and the whole mess was commoditized by the Hudson's Bay Company, who sold it to Goldman Sachs.

Re:Check your assumptions

[uvajed_ekil]

You are mistaken: one beaver family indeed initiated the project, but much of the actual work was done by several male beavers who crossed the southern border illegally looking for work. Of course they get no credit for their work.

Beavers?

[Anonymous Coward]

God dam.

I like beavers

[SoupGuru]

Putting aside the obvious jokes for a second, I always liked the fact that beavers are like humans because they modify their environment to suit their needs like we do.

Re:I like beavers

[Supurcell]

It's not like they're the only ones either. Birds, ants, spiders, gofers, and a whole lot more build structures to live more comfortably in. Humans need to stop thinking they are so special.

Re:I like beavers

[Locke2005]

I like "beavers" too, but I don't quite think my use of the word means the same thing as your use of the word!

Re:I like beavers

[vxice]

They sure are similar to humans from the article. "They create a habitat with lots of water like a moat around their lodges so they can swim and *drive*, and keep one step ahead of predators such as coyotes and bears."

Re:I like beavers

[geekoid]

Humans are special.

We make steel, make building from concrete and glass. We've been to the moon and sent device outside our solars system.

We can build damns, can beavers build space ships?

Human beings kick ass.

Although the original poster was being a little slow in the head. I mean, ALL creatures modify their environment. You have to in order to reproduce and eat.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Putting aside the obvious jokes for a second, I always liked the fact that beavers are like humans because they modify their environment to suit their needs like we do.

Being on Slashdot I would assume you like beavers and I would also assume you have not seen one in the wild. Magazines on the subject don't count.

Re:I like beavers

[Chris Burke]

It's not like they're the only ones either. Birds, ants, spiders, gofers, and a whole lot more build structures to live more comfortably in. Humans need to stop thinking they are so special.

Well I figure if you can consider any kind of animal "special"*, then you certainly have to acknowledge that humans are special too.

Lots of animals dig burrows or construct nests, but few modify their environment to the extent of the beaver, and obviously humans are orders of magnitude beyond that. Opposable thumbs and big brains are pretty neat too. There's no other species on earth quite like homo sapien and there's nothing wrong with acknowledging that.

* And I certainly do find plenty of them to be special. I find the mimicry of the Liar Bird special, along with the amazing plumage of the Painted Bunting, the underbite bill of the Black Skimmer, the speed of the cheetah, the songs of the whale, the courtship rituals of the Bower Bird, a whole range of aspects of cephalopods like intelligence, dexterity, camouflage, and communication abilities, and so on and so on...

Re:I like beavers

[corbettw]

Humans need to stop thinking they are so special.

Posted the (presumably) human using his opposable thumbs a communications method completely beyond the understanding of any other animal on earth.

Re:I like beavers

[pclminion]

Many animals modify their environment, but pretty much only Homo sapiens is capable of modifying the environment in ways that are impossible to achieve through the use of our natural physiology. The Hoover Dam could not have been built by hand. We exceed the animals by the capacity to create tools, and to use those tools to create even more complex tools, and on and on.

There are animals, primates mostly, that have been observed using inanimate objects as tools. That's true tool use, but they do not make improvements to their tools, nor do they fabricate tools using other tools. Only we can do that.

Re:I like beavers

[mysidia]

Humans need to stop thinking they are so damn special.

There, fixed it for you.

Re:I like beavers

[mysidia]

Nice that it's visible from space though... the aliens could see the beaver dam and think: "Wow, there must be some intelligent life on this planet"

Hoover dam? Not so impressive, probably a more primitive species.

Re:I like beavers

[Sponge Bath]

Putting aside the obvious jokes for a second...

Nonsense, I'm sure nobody here was thinking about Amy Winehouse's contraception.

Re:I like beavers

[whychevron]

but Humans are unique and special - just like everyone else

Re:I like beavers

[Runaway1956]

Beavers are cool - but they can also be a nuisance. My brother in law has been paid by landowners to clear beaver from various creeks and streams. All legal, and in accordance with state wildlife regulations, mind you. The fur sells well, and the meat grows strong, healthy dogs. I never asked him why he didn't eat the meat himself. I guess it doesn't taste very good. But, yeah, beavers are cool. They do have an odor that I don't like very much. Not a bad odor, just a musky scent that I don't like. I'm just as happy to leave them in the water, where they belong.

Re:I like beavers

[SoupGuru]

Of course, I realize that most animals make a home and hence modify their environment. I was trying to suggest that none of them go quite as far as the beaver. They don't just build a home, they build a neighborhood too.

I also like working for the Department of Redundancy Dept like I do. I like liking.... like...

Re:I like beavers

[sbeckstead]

There's no other species on earth quite like homo sapien
Eventually there was no other species on earth quite like homo sapien

Fixed that for ya...

Re:I like beavers

[luvirini]

On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog..

Re:I like beavers

[UnknownSoldier]

Correct.

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/04/09/human.fossil.discovery.evidence.new.homo.species

and

Once We Were Not Alone, Ian Tattersall, Scientific American, January 2000, pp. 56-62

Re:I like beavers

[capebretonsux]

There's no other species on earth quite like any other species on earth, period.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually animals DO modify their tools too. SOME chimpazees are known to fix the end of their twigs to make them better tools for catching termites. Also, some corvids (don't remember the species) in the wild will shape the twigs to make hooks to get the grups from holes in the branches. When in the lab, the birds would find the steel wire left around and also make hooks, sometimes to achieve tasks more complex than just pulling a grup out of a hole. I don't remember the details, just that it involved triggering a mechanism to get to some water. Those stories were posted on Slashdot. Actually, for their size, birds' brains are way more efficient than mammal brains. You get more complex problem solving in much smaller animals than mammals.

So basically, tool MAKING not just using, is not a special human trait either. Most of the basics of what we like to call typically human are there in nature. We have just had the opportunity to accumulate enough of those traits and polish them to a higher degree. It's a matter of degree more than substance. Though, I think we are still the only ones with a written language (and that certainly is a powerful way of compounding those original traits).

Re:I like beavers

[cthulu_mt]

We make tools that make other tools.

Re:I like beavers

[pspahn]

One improves the environment, one destroys it.

Re:I like beavers

[sznupi]

Look at the termite mounds (also, just below, tunnels and how they are used), then look at a termite...and tell me now that part of your justification which mentions Hoover Dam is convincing.

Re:I like beavers

[GaryOlson]

We make tools that make other tools.

Unfortunately we make too many tools whose only appropriate purpose is incarceration.

Re:I like beavers

[skine]

Not only that, we raise tools who make tools that make tools.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

There's no other species on earth quite like any other species on earth, period.

BS:
* Gadus macrocephalus - Pacific cod
* Gadus morhua - Atlantic cod
* Gadus ogac - Greenland cod
Are all quite similar. and so are many other species, including Darwin's finches.

Re:I like beavers

[shadowbearer]

  You have to in order to reproduce and eat.

  Not necessarily. The vast majority of life out there utilizes their environment in that respect, but doesn't modify it (their local environment might change as a result of their activity, that isn't the same thing as deliberately modifying it.)

  Furthermore, just because the human species has been the first on this planet to do so on a very large scale, does not mean that it might not have happened eventually with other species, especially given the huge explosion in evolution of intelligence over the last few millions of years in many species. Including beavers ;-)

  (This article made me wonder what a lot of wet lowlands might have looked like from space back when beavers were a lot larger and more numerous. I'd be willing to bet that beaver dam complexes such as this were much more common. Sadly, we'll probably never know. )

SB

Re:I like beavers

[EricX2]

Humans need to stop thinking they are so special.

Since you didn't agree that beavers are special for modifying their environment and referred to humans as a different type of species, I'm going to assume you are a gofer perhaps?

Re:I like beavers

[mysidia]

It happens that destroying useful ecosystems around you that help you survive, in exchange for some temporary profit, is the mark of a non-intelligent species :)

Re:I like beavers

[ffreeloader]

Being on Slashdot I would assume you like beavers and I would also assume you have not seen one in the wild.

That would be a false assumption. I've spent days watching all kinds of wildlife, including beaver, deer, elk, moose, coyotes, bear, badger, flying squirrels, weasels, bald eagles, osprey, various types of woodpeckers, hawks, jays, etc.... I've been within less than 50' of all of the animals I listed, in the wild, not a zoo. As a kid I spent every summer living in the mountains of Montana, Idaho, and Oregon. Most of those summers were spent 100 miles or so from the closest town.

Re:I like beavers

[Anarki2004]

whoosh?

Re:I like beavers

[pclminion]

Seriously? You think termites could dam the Colorado River? While it's interesting to note that termites build structures that, were the termites human sized, would be incredibly large... they are not our size.

Some small animals can move at incredible speeds relative to their own size, jump incredible distances, etc... Your point?

Re:I like beavers

[DMUTPeregrine]

Am I the only one who read that as "Birds, ants, spiders, golfers, and a whole lot more build structures to live more comfortably in. Humans need to stop thinking they are so special."?

Re:I like beavers

[sznupi]

You said that such dam "could not have been built by hand". I simply disputed it...not only humans did comparable feats almost "by hand", certainly by relying on human muscle power / natural physiology; feats of proportional scale are not even too excessivelly unique. And did you try to miss (and ignore that I surely read it) that termites are actually very weak physically, as far as insects go? Accidentally, very similar to humans.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Making buildings from concrete....hmm, kinda looks like termites managed that one too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Termite

Been to the moon....humans have introduced microorganisms to the moon awhile back, and some of them appear to have managed rather well.
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1998/ast01sep98_1/

Why build a space ship when you can borrow ours? An active volcano can make you all the glass you want? Steel isn't impossible under certain conditions, either.

Humans are special in that they can do these things deliberately. Oh, and having sent things outside the solar system IS the one distinction that humanity has managed AS FAR AS WE KNOW. At this point, about the only real distinction we have that sets us apart is attitude, which may one day determine whether we continue to "kick ass", or simply get our collective asses kicked. If we plan to make our mark in the universe, we better get serious about it PDQ.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Not everyone thinks we're special...
http://techsupt.winbatch.com/webcgi/webbatch.exe?techsupt/nffunsupt.web+Aliens+They~are~made~of~meat.txt

Re:I like beavers

[Hal_Porter]

>Although the original poster was being a little slow in the head. I mean, ALL creatures modify their environment. You have to in order to reproduce and eat.

Hippies don't.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Feh. "Species" is just a conveniently constructed category for "bunch of creatures that are about the same in aggregate."

In the real world, there's no animal on earth quite like any other animal on earth, period.

Re:I like beavers

[CarpetShark]

We make steel,

So? Spiders shit webs that are stronger than steel.

Re:I like beavers

[CarpetShark]

We make tools that make other tools.

We're not the only creatures that give birth, you know.

Re:I like beavers

[tehcyder]

We can build damns, can beavers build space ships?

Maybe they just don't want to?

Re:I like beavers

[catbertscousin]

Quite. I've yet to see a termite or spider trolling vitriolically on /.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

We can build damns, can beavers build space ships?

Sigh. We also build misspellings and comma splices.

By the way, I love your sig. ~

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Some humans can spell too. "damns"?

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Until a spider can poop out a piece of rebar or an I-beam I can use the answer is no, they don't.

Proportionally stronger is meaningless in the real world.

Re:I like beavers

[WUNHJazz]

Human beings also use proper grammar. Oh, wait...

Re:I like beavers

[hitmark]

question is, when will we end up making tools that render us obsolete.

watching a recent demonstration of japanese robots designed to assist people in various situations, and reading about robonaut 2 and how GM hopes to use it to do tasks in the assembly line, i wonder how long until we hear about robots being smashed up by workers now out of a job.

heck, taken far enough, how will that affect the economy? Are there enough service jobs to keep the consumer economy going as more and more factory work is automated? If there are no workers payed, there are no consumers with money on hand to spend on goods.

Re:I like beavers

[shadowfaxcrx]

You're really stretching there. If an insect were human sized it could throw cars around. Sure, a giant termite could build a structure the size of Hoover Dam without tools (assuming you found a way to deal with the problems of exoskeletal biology in large sizes). What's your point? We aren't giant termites. Humans (or giant termites) could not have built the Hoover Dam without using tools. For one thing, it's made out of concrete. Termites don't make concrete, and neither do humans, unless they use tools to mix the materials together, and build the molds to pour the concrete into.

And while the beaver dam is impressive (I actually find it more interesting that different families apparently worked together to build it) it doesn't endure anywhere close to the forces that the Hoover is holding back. You simply could not build the Hoover out of sticks and mud. You must have concrete (or something equally strong and water resistant and pourable - such a substance is not found in nature).

I'm not sure what "comparable feats" you're referring to that humans supposedly built, but I can't think of a single massive engineering project in human history that didn't use (and require) tools.
 

Re:I like beavers

[sznupi]

If an insect were human sized it would die very quickly of asphyxiation and be unable to move...there is a reason why you don't see insects of such size.
And considering how you showed off in the first sentence...

(it wasn't about insects building large dam, but humans; you might have not heard of Egyptian pyramids, look them up - even simpler methods, not requiring any tools (sure, it would be inefficient...but could be done) can be used for a really large dam. That there was no point in it doesn't change that it could be done; and who cares about exact structural equivalent, you said "dam the Colorado River". Also...termites do build a material comparable to concrete in some ways - generally the point was that, taking proportions into consideration, they can do surprisingly much. Or are you also of the position that if/once we come in contact with a highly advanced interstellar civilisation our accomplishments will become null and void? (yeah, surprise, I do value them; but not only ours))

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

"They talk by flapping their meat at each other."

Oh god, the pictures! Make them go away!

Re:I like beavers

[shadowfaxcrx]

Yeah, I suspected you were talking about the pyramids when you mentioned comparable human feats "almost by hand," but figured I'd give you the benefit of the doubt. Thanks for confirming that you don't know what you're talking about.

Humans did not build the pyramids almost by hand, unless you consider using rock saws, block&tackle setups, shovels, pick axes, primitive cranes, blueprints, engineering studies, barges, and building an entire city to support the pyramid construction workers to be "almost by hand."

Second, I did not say "dam the Colorado River." I don't know what you're talking about there. I said that you can't construct a dam out of sticks and mud that will hold back the amount and depth of water that the Hoover does. And I'm right.

Third, while termites do build a material comparable to concrete in some ways (those ways being "made out of stuff you get from the ground and a mixing agent," mud and spit is not concrete, is not anywhere close to concrete, and I personally wouldn't be so daft as to claim that a substance which an anteater can easily punch through *with its mouth* is anything at all remotely like concrete.

Oh, and regarding your objection to me "showing off" in my first sentence - had you bothered to read the rest, you'd have seen that I qualified the giant termite comment with "assuming you found a way to deal with the problems of exoskeletal biology in large sizes." I thought that spelled out for you why your comment about termite engineering being on par with human construction feats was, not to put too fine a point on it, abominably stupid, but apparently it didn't. From now on I'll be sure to come straight out and say very clearly and distinctly when your arguments are moronic.

Re:I like beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

And yet, they still haven't been to space without the help of humans...

Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Hoover Dam isn't even a very wide dam (1234 ft)... It's known for being tall.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[LurkerXXX]

Not the widest in the world by a long shot. http://www.digalist.com/list/158

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, but it's Fox News ... they had to get in their obligatory "America, Fuck Yeah!!"

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[jo_ham]

The original article was from Fox News - I'm just amazed they realised it was a damn, and not a giant vacuum cleaner given the quality of their fact checking.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[jo_ham]

... and my spelling. I guess I am taking lessons from Fox.

Dam, not damn.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the original article was in The Sun (UK), the Fox article even links to it.

And Slashdot still sucks for being third in a chain of reposts by staff that apparently only does an absolute minimum of fact checking.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[interkin3tic]

The original article was from Fox News - I'm just amazed they realised it was a damn, and not a giant vacuum cleaner given the quality of their fact checking.

Coming up next, are Saddam's weapons of mass destruction hidden in the beaver sadDAM?!?

Experts say no, we say maybe.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

The Hoover Dam isn't even a very wide dam (1234 ft)

It's how I remember my password ("the number of feet across the Hoover Dam").

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

Beavers and Hoovers, who knows what happens next..

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Bob9113]

The original article was from Fox News - I'm just amazed they realised it was a damn, and not a giant vacuum cleaner given the quality of their fact checking.

It is, IMO, even more damning than that -- it's a wire feed article that originated with The Sun, England's answer to The New York Post. The closest they get to journalism is printing slightly fewer Bigfoot sightings than The Weekly World News.

Having no actual investigative reporters and blindly publishing things from credible news feeds is one thing (the death-knell of traditional media's role in journalism, for example). Doing the same with a tabloid as your source is even worse.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[sparrowhead]

That's amazing. I've got the same combination on my luggage.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[skine]

Your comment reminds me of SimCity, but without the llamas.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[wiredlogic]

The beavers aren't denying it. What is it they're trying to hide?

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Xest]

The common factor is that it's all Murdoch media- Fox, The Sun, The New York Post etc.

Yes, it's scary as fuck that the most succesful news corporation world wide is the one that's most full of shit globally.

Hell, they even look possibly set to be getting their own way and putting David Cameron into power in the UK today, fingers crossed things don't quite go entirely Rupert's way and we get a hung parliament now.

News Corporation papers are unfortunately responsible for more than just getting beaver stories wrong. Honestly, the best thing that could happen to the Western world would be the bankruptcy of Murdoch and the fall of all his papers etc. Him getting hit by a large truck would be nice too, because ultimately his love of spreading bullshit is responsible for more misery and problems globally through the spread of lies, ignorance, and bad government than some of the worlds worst dictators in history. If you look at the influence Fox had on getting Bush elected for example (even if you don't believe Fox's call was what gave him the election, all pre-election slandering of opposition makes a differences) then you can really link him to the fact the US went into Iraq in the first place even though it had nothing to do with 9/11. The actions of his news outlets have real, serious, knock on effects that can set off chains of events that cause tens, possibly hundreds of thousands to die.

Of course, Murdoch isn't unique, others are as bad, he's just the king of evil in this respect. It's quite sad really. What makes it worse is that his offspring are just as bad and are taking over the reigns from him, so it's not as if we'll get rid of him that way either.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[dkf]

It is, IMO, even more damning than that -- it's a wire feed article that originated with The Sun, England's answer to The New York Post. The closest they get to journalism is printing slightly fewer Bigfoot sightings than The Weekly World News.

They come worse than that. The Daily Star exists to cater to people who find The Sun too intellectual and lefty.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[bloodhawk]

It is neither the widest, nor tallest even in the US. On a world scale I don't think it would even rate in the top 20 or 30 dam's size wise.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

The original article was from Fox News - I'm just amazed they realised it was a damn, and not a giant vacuum cleaner given the quality of their fact checking.

It is, IMO, even more damning than that -- it's a wire feed article that originated with The Sun, England's answer to The New York Post. The closest they get to journalism is printing slightly fewer Bigfoot sightings than The Weekly World News.

Having no actual investigative reporters and blindly publishing things from credible news feeds is one thing (the death-knell of traditional media's role in journalism, for example). Doing the same with a tabloid as your source is even worse.

There is The Sun in Canada as well, made in Toronto, it's still a terrible paper.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[tehcyder]

And tonight, jo ham gets the special prize for being the one millionth poster in this thread to misspell dam.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[jo_ham]

As you may have noticed, if you look at the timestamp on my reply to myself, I added a correction to my typo immediately - well, immediately +30, since the flood protection wouldn't let me reply that quickly.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam EVER the widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

whether iraq had anything to do with 9/11 is not relevant. iraq had been backing an organization in their war against the united states as far back as 1993, or not farther, that alone is a legitimate reason for invasion. 9/11 was only the last straw.

Wow!

[Vinegar Joe]

Those beavers have been busy!

Totally accurate

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, the beaver's family is usually the one doing the box blocking.

Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[Seraphim1982]

"The Hoover Dam no longer holds the title of the world's widest dam.

Well, given the fact that the Kuybyshev Hydroelectric Station which was built in the 50's is almost 3000m wide, it's been a LONG time since the Hoover Dam was the worlds widest. Given the fact that the Hoover Dam is very narrow for a its overall size, I'd be pretty surprised if it was ever the worlds widest.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[Chris Burke]

Yeah, I always thought Hoover was impressive for it's height, not width. And WP says it was the highest dam in the US when built (and is now the 2nd highest). Dunno about worldwide, but really, I don't care exactly, it's a tall dam in any case. Let's see some stupid beaver build a damn over 700 ft tall!

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[Anonymous Coward]

Now now, you've got to remember this is Fox News we're talking about.

Facts aren't quite as important in the farm leagues of journalism.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[Anne_Nonymous]

Yeah. Plus it's called a dental dam, not a beaver dam regardless of how you use it. Who proofs these articles anyhow?

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[SETIGuy]

The problem is that the farm league pays their stars better than the big leagues. And the public likes the farm league better, anyway.

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[snero3]

and here you go ruining the fun with logic and facts ;)

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[sharkey]

And where can I get some dam bait!

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[shoehornjob]

Mod that man up. OMG LMAO

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[Utopia]

Yeah, the are several dams wider than Hoover.
The one of the widest that I know of is the Hirakud Dam in India is 26 km wide also build in the 1950s

Re:Was the Hoover Dam ever the worlds widest?

[shadowbearer]

  What would be a more interesting comparison would be how much water is retained by the dams, beaver made or no. I have the feeling humans would win that one, given that we deliberately build our dams in order to retain as much water as possible. But given that the beavers are doing this with mud, sticks and rocks with their teeth and paws, instead of concrete, steel, and bulldozers, from a strict engineering standpoint given their primitive (and certainly not as organized or directed) efforts, I think that what they have done is still pretty dam-ed impressive.

SB

Unaided?

[Itninja]

The article doesn't say, but is this the unaided eye (e.g. a guy in he space shuttle could look out the window and see it)? Because I could see my house from modern satellite pictures.

Re:Unaided?

[kimvette]

(e.g. a guy in he space shuttle could look out the window and see it)?

The answer to that is "no" since Obama killed off the shuttle and the potential replacement spacecraft.

Re:Unaided?

[shadowbearer]

  Yes, a human in orbit could certainly see that something was different about that section of swamp. The angle subtended by the dam, and the difference between the flooded area and it's surroundings, would be fairly easy to discern by unaided vision alone.

  However it's not likely that it would be spotted at this point in time, as the only orbital flights that would pass over the area are likely to be the ISS (not sure about this), possibly MIR during it's time in orbit, and perhaps some orbital Russian and shuttle flights. It's not very likely that anyone on those flights would have the time to be doing enough earth-gazing to have spotted something like this.

  Photographic imaging from orbit lets people on the ground, with much more time (also training) to look for things like this. This is also a somewhat transient phenomenon - not likely that this complex of beaver dams was there even ten years ago - and that makes it even harder to spot without imaging.

  Did that answer your question? ;-)

SB

Re:Unaided?

[Anonymous Coward]

There is no way you could see this unaided. Ever flown at 4,000 ft AGL before? Now multiply that by a lot.

Re:Unaided?

[DarwinSurvivor]

People are trained and PAID to search satelite photography for beaver dams???

Re:Unaided?

[Narishma]

Obama only killed the potential replacement. The shuttle was killed by his predecessor.

Re:Unaided?

[zippthorne]

Many of those "satellite" pictures are still actually overflight pictures....

And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[Tiger4]

If it ever cuts loose there will be an epic flood. Did the Beaver Inspectors ever get a look at it? After all Size isn't everything. How many logs went into that thing anyway? Was it checked for strength, flexibility under loads, ability to hold back before gushing? This could be pretty important for anyone below it. Canada's National Honour could be at stake!

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[Kozz]

You joke, but reality hews closer to satire all the time.

TRUE: The state of Michigan threatened local beavers with a $10,000 per day fine for failing to remove their dam.

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[Anonymous Coward]

did they get an environmental impact statement before they built it?

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[dangitman]

Stan: It's MY fault. I broke the dam.
Cartman: Aw, man...
Sharon Marsh: ...Stanley...you?
Man: No. Don't you see what this child is saying? We can't spend all our energy placing blame when something bad happens. He's saying...we all broke the dam.
Stan: No. I broke the dam.
Woman: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: No. I broke the dam.
Woman: And I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Cartman: Hehe...I broke the dam!
Man: I broke the dam.
Woman: I broke the dam.
Stan: [trying to insist] I broke the dam. I ran a boat into the dam and I broke it.
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: No! I broke the fucking dam!
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: I literally broke the dam!
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: On a boat! That wasn't mine!
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: I kept it secret for two days!
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: The boat caught on fire and it exploded!
Man: I broke the dam.
Man: I broke the dam.
Stan: Aw, fuck it!

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[slinches]

Yes, this is a serious issue. I heard about an incident a while back in the area around South Park Colorado. An eight year old kid crashed a boat into a large beaver dam, flooding a nearby town.

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[winthrop]

If it ever cuts loose there will be an epic flood. Did the Beaver Inspectors ever get a look at it? After all Size isn't everything. How many logs went into that thing anyway? Was it checked for strength, flexibility under loads, ability to hold back before gushing? This could be pretty important for anyone below it. Canada's National Honour could be at stake!

I'm sure the beavers appreciate your input. Let me assure you, extensive thought goes into dam design.

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[shadowbearer]

  Who lives downstream of this wonder? Probably more beavers...

  (and a few fishermen, hunters, disgruntled international terrorists and others who have excellent reasons to put up with the mosquito population...)

SB

Re:And who lives downstream of this wonder?

[Dr.Syshalt]

Just keep the crab people away from the dam and everyone should be safe

FOX news?

[Karganeth]

On my slashdot? It's more likely than you think!

Re:FOX news?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sad thing is, TFA is a poor butchering of this Sun article: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2958779/Beaver-dam-seen-from-space.html

Re:FOX news?

[hondo77]

Not FOX. BEAVER!! Didn't you RTFA?!? Jesus Fu.... Oh, wait...

Re:FOX news?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not FOX. BEAVER!! Didn't you RTFA?!? Jesus Fu.... Oh, wait...

Hhahhahahaahaha.. THANKS! I needed that!

Re:FOX news?

[Archangel Michael]

Just as long as the beaver on fox was not a cougar.

This is interesting

[roman_mir]

This is interesting, because this is a story about a huge beaver dyke that can be seen from space.

Re:This is interesting

[Locke2005]

If you can't tell the difference between a dike and a dyke, should should stay out of Holland... and all Lesbian bars!

Re:This is interesting

[frank_adrian314159]

As opposed to...?

Re:This is interesting

[MightyMartian]

Just put a finger in it. You'll know the difference soon enough.

Re:This is interesting

[Chris Burke]

And correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a "beaver dam" commonly called a "diaphragm"?

Re:This is interesting

[Anonymous Coward]

My kingdom for mod points. . .

Re:This is interesting

[wvmarle]

Registering and getting good karma does the job as well. Kingdoms are in short supply these days.

Re:This is interesting

[wiredlogic]

Just put a finger in it. You'll know the difference soon enough.

That could be risky.

Re:This is interesting

[Killjoy_NL]

Both moist, one just more mushy than the other ;)

The uprising!

[sea4ever]

Step 1: Act cute and gnaw on trees so they don't suspect anything
Step 2: Cut off their water supply and hoard it for ourselves with superior building skills
Step 3: ????
Step 4: profit!!!
The beavers are taking over! First it's dams..then it'll be nuclear warheads..

Re:The uprising!

[gyrogeerloose]

The beavers are taking over! First it's dams..then it'll be nuclear warheads..

Dammed beavers...

And people have wondered

[al0ha]

why the Beaver is the Caltech mascot. Go Beavers!

Re:And people have wondered

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds me of Oregon State's motto: Go Beaver Nation!

Re:And people have wondered

[Locke2005]

What's worse, they refer to their Women's teams as "The Lady Beavers"... sounds a bit redundant, if you ask me.

I for one

[IMightB]

Welcome our new dam overlords!

Visible from space?

[glwtta]

Isn't that particular accomplishment not all that impressive these days? You can easily see people from space on Google Maps.

Re:Visible from space?

[dangitman]

You can easily see people from space on Google Maps.

People from space have arrived on Earth? I would have thought that would at least warrant a few newspaper articles.

Re:Visible from space?

[kimvette]

I think I saw that on the cover of "weekly world news" at supermarket checkouts in the '90s. I imagine the "news" in that rag is every bit as reliable as either Fox or CNN. ;)

My house is so HUGE....

[Radical Moderate]

...you can see it from space. On Google Earth.

This just in...

[Anonymous Coward]

Damming evidence of beaver dykes visible with naked eyes from space. Many busy tails took a pounding for this broad accomplishment. Film at 11...

My car is too...

[rm999]

My car is also visible from space, via Google Map's "satellite view".

Does that make my 1995 Chevy special?

Re:My car is too...

[Urza9814]

From _space_? Really? Last time I checked, most of the higher resolution images on Google maps were from aircraft, not satellites.

Re:My car is too...

[hedwards]

Eh, and technically anything that's not obscured by a tree, cloud or something else can be seen from space. The US' spy satellites can see things down to the size of about a grapefruit, and probably smaller now, so that would make most beaver dams visible from space with current technology.

Re:My car is too...

[rm999]

I believe this is the satellite Google maps used in my area:
http://www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/products/imagery-sources/Default.aspx#geoeye1

It has a resolution of 1-1.5 feet (the color is separately collected from a 4-5 foot resolution sensor).

Re:My car is too...

[Anonymous Coward]

No, your car is visible from a low flying airplane. Google's satellite view is really aerial photos for most of the world.

Update: Heather's two mommies have been real busy!

[Anonymous Coward]

Quick, how many fingers am I holding-up (raises both hands open-palmed)?

Lt. Frank Drebin Says...

[carlzum]

Nice Beaver!

Re:Lt. Frank Drebin Says...

[sbeckstead]

Thanks, we just had it stuffed...

The biggest tam is Three Gorges Dam

[trelony]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam

Re:The biggest tam is Three Gorges Dam

[Nick Number]

No, the biggest Tam is Simon and River's dad.

Potholes

[Required Snark]

There are potholes in the roads near my house that are visible from space (on Google).

Re:Potholes

[Anonymous Coward]

Most google imagery is from planes not satellites (unless you're zoomed out far enough).

WE ARE...!

[Urza9814]

I bet Beaver Stadium can be seen from space too...

Large opening...?

[Type44Q]

"Beaver - damn; visible from space!" :P

They really are the only ones.

[mosb1000]

The difference is that beavers don't just build a home, they also make radical changes to their natural environment which puts them in an entirely different class. It's comparable to the way we build dams for flood control (except . . the other way around) or plant crops to grow food. The changes they make expand their habitat rather than simply providing shelter.

Re:They really are the only ones.

[Anonymous Coward]

uh... some of our damns produce electricity. why is this even being discussed people?

Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[Kaz Kylheku]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=58.270908,+-112.251972+(World's+Biggest+Beaver+Dam)&sll=58.270908,-112.15071&sspn=1.027008,2.469177&g=58.270908,+-112.150710&ie=UTF8&ll=58.271526,-112.253623&spn=0.016047,0.038581&t=h&z=15

Cheers!

Re:Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[Anonymous Coward]

No "StreetViews"?

Re:Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[Anonymous Coward]

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=58.270908,+-112.251972+(World's+Biggest+Beaver+Dam)&sll=58.270908,-112.15071&sspn=1.027008,2.469177&g=58.270908,+-112.150710&ie=UTF8&ll=58.271526,-112.253623&spn=0.016047,0.038581&t=h&z=15

Cheers!

What no street view?!

Re:Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I ask a stupid question?

When I think "dam", I think river. But all I see here is a dirty hill in the middle of a forest.

Actually, can I ask another stupid question?

How can that be "which can be seen from space" when it is a undistinguished patch of brown and one would have be told what it is anyway?

I mean, when, from space, you see gray lines around what seems to be China, sure, you'll think "Great Wall of China" but a patch of brown in the middle of a patch of green? "Amazingly large beaver-built dam" does not spring to mind...

Re:Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[shadowbearer]

  Thanks! Saved me some time...

  Dam, that area has better satellite imaging resolution than the town I live in; can barely pick out individual trees in our local imaging. Figures.

SB

Re:Okay everyone: Google Maps Link!

[drinkypoo]

Dam, that area has better satellite imaging resolution than the town I live in; can barely pick out individual trees in our local imaging. Figures.

It's because of pagerank. Everyone wanted to see the dam beaver.

Because nobody else will say it...

[Codex_of_Wisdom]

Dam those beavers.

"Visible from space" ain't what it used to be.

[Anonymous Psychopath]

Not for me, at least, since Google Maps will show my car and trash cans from space, too.

Re:"Visible from space" ain't what it used to be.

[schon]

Google Maps will show my car and trash cans from space

Really? Your car and trash cans are from space?

How did you manage that?

Yeah, I just have a question.

[SupremoMan]

Um, is this a God dam?

Dam!

[MacGyver2210]

"...so they can swim and drive..."

Woah. These Beavers can build complex structures AND drive? That's seriously impressive.

Re:Dam!

[Vinegar Joe]

Woah. These Beavers can build complex structures AND drive?

They drive ottermobiles.

Re:Dam!

[CarpetShark]

They drive ottermobiles.

Yes, but they're stolen.

Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[NathanBullock]

I liked the last paragraph of the article "It is thought that several beaver families joined forces to create the massive dam, containing thousands of trees, and took many months to complete it."

Compare that to the article from the CBC "Biologists estimate the dam would have taken at least 20 years to build. It is visible in NASA satellite imagery from 1990."

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[Xtifr]

Ah, but you see, the 20-years-old theory violates the beliefs of many Fox viewers. The world was created by God only last tuesday! :)

Ok, I may be slightly off on that date, but compared to the error factor in the Young Creationists' estimate, I hit it dead on the nose. ;)

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[Bueller_007]

From the Vancouver Sun: "[Park spokesman Mike Keizer] suspects the beavers have been working on it for some time, in part because it is overgrown with vegetation and progressive satellite images from as far back as the 1970s show it expanding year after year."

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

I liked the last paragraph of the article "It is thought that several beaver families joined forces to create the massive dam, containing thousands of trees, and took many months to complete it."

Compare that to the article from the CBC "Biologists estimate the dam would have taken at least 20 years to build. It is visible in NASA satellite imagery from 1990."

20 years * 12 months/year = 240 months.

Are you attempting to argue that 240 months is not many months?

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, 20 years definitely contains "many months", at least in my books. Maybe it's because I'm young?

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[PPH]

Fox is promoting collecivism? Say it ain't so!

Re:Fox thinks pretty highly of those beavers

[wvmarle]

Which would put the age of that dam to at least 40 years.

Somehow that sounds highly plausible to me. Old parts of thoroughly built dam, that get naturally reinforced by sand/mud deposits and overgrowth, not needing much maintenance but still providing a habitat for the beavers. And of course the best place to start building a dam home is where there is something like a dam already.

Better Pictures

[creativeHavoc]

Non-satellite images here: http://www.vancouversun.com/technology/World+biggest+beaver+eight+football+fields+long+seen+from+space/2991042/story.html

Better article link.

[deadhammer]

On the CBC (including embedded google map)

Canadian beavers: showing the rest of the world how it's done for millions of years.

Not Widest

[Roger W Moore]

....And you Canadians always give us Yanks crap about thinking bigger is better....sheesh.

Perhaps they were trying to emulate this which is an 18km long dam also in Northern Alberta. All they need now is to fill their pond with toxic sludge....

...hmm

[boniggy]

Damn

Seriously

[skam240]

Seriously everybody, nature's fucking awesome.

Re:Seriously

[Black Gold Alchemist]

Not nearly as awesome as us. What's more efficient - a solar panel or a green plant? The solar panel is much more efficient. Why does my old car, about the size of two or three horses, produce 100 horsepower?

Re:Seriously

[BJ_Covert_Action]

Of course it is. It produced a machine that is absolutely incredible at self-replication and survival in harsh environments. In fact, that particular creature even managed to out-do it's own planet and land a few members of its species on the nearby moon. ... Nature made men. And if you ask me, that's proof enough for how awesome nature is. ;)

Re:Seriously

[skam240]

A bit late, but agreed upon completely!

Re:Seriously

[skam240]

Is the solar panel more efficient? The green plant self replicates and has covered the entire planet, meanwhile our own solar panels are a mere novelty in terms of maintaining our own civilizations energy needs. Plants maintain both their own and every other animal on this planet's energy needs.

Your engine certainly didn't build itself either.

Oooh! We can see it from space!

[Anonymous Coward]

A recent article mentioned the new satellites capable of reading licence plates from space in a blizzard.

But we can see this beaver dam! Ooooh!

May I be the first to say

[hallux.sinister]

I would like to be the first to say "DAM"!!! Beavers are beating us, we must build something truly spectacular, to compete! :)
You know it's funny, the only man-made object visible from space is the Great Wall of China, the only beaver-made object visible from space is this Canadian Dam. But you know, there are no beavers in space reporting on these facts, just humans. Guess we're winning, after all which is cool, because I would hate to have to actually fight them. Beavers can be vicious.

Obligitory post

[shoehornjob]

I for one welcome our Canadian Beaver overlords (provided they bring whiskey of course). Seriously though the pic looks like a giant pile of beaver poo.

Hey,

[Anonymous Coward]

being Canadian, *I* always knew Canadian beavers are #1

Obligatory

[hansamurai]

I grew up in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, seriously.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=beaver+dam,+wi&sll=44.688115,-93.183227&sspn=0.009885,0.01929&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Beaver+Dam,+Dodge,+Wisconsin&t=h&z=13

Time to go chasing beaver

[theguyfromsaturn]

This news post would not be complete without a reference to chasing beaver, and the related Molson Canadian commercial.

So long guys, I'm off chasing beaver (I know, not very common for the Slashdot crowd)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y09YOkVmGg0

Re:Time to go chasing beaver

[Locke2005]

I'm off chasing beaver (I know, not very common for the Slashdot crowd)

Oh, "chasing" we do often enough... "catching" is a different story altogether!

Minority Government?

[freeasinrealale]

I noticed that in the Telegraph (U.K.) that this article (beaver dam) is number one in popularity amongst readers, ahead of three articles on tomorrows U.K. election. In Canada, we have a minority government, which many, including me, prefer over a majority government. Does this presage a minority government? Or... is this pure B.S.?

Re:Minority Government?

[Sulphur]

Or... is this pure B.S.?

Nothing is pure, not even B.S.? (See, I put a question mark? Gauleiter of Grammar?)

--

Ward, you really were hard on the Beaver last night.

850 meters???

[TrisexualPuppy]

Leave this one to the Chinese. The Three Gorges Dam is almost thrice as long, 2335 meters. PLEASE check your facts before accepting these submissions.

And if anyone cares, here's an obligatory Google map of the beaver dam and here's one for Three Gorges Dam.

Re:850 meters???

[skine]

Which is still half 500m shy of the Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuybyshev_Hydroelectric_Station

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

Leave this one to the Chinese. The Three Gorges Dam is almost thrice as long, 2335 meters.

Yeah, but was it built by beavers?

/Proud Canadian

Re:850 meters???

[Derf the]

Whoa there buddy; easy on the capitals there.

The Egyptians put up one 3830m wide (the Aswan High Dam) in the 1960's.

It's Fox News; do you want to fact check The Onion as well?

Re:850 meters???

[azuravian]

Yes, but the description is measuring width, not length. In this case, the 3 gorges is only about 115 meters, vs 221 meters for the Hoover. The description is still wrong though, the Zhiguli Dam in Russia is about 750 meters wide and there may be others that are wider (seeing as the Zhiguli was completed in the 50s).

Re:850 meters???

[FatdogHaiku]

Amen... but Merowe Dam is 9 km (5.6 mi).

Re:850 meters???

[Cryacin]

Why bother? They have the exact same stories on there.

Re:850 meters???

[Anarki2004]

Nah, The Onion is more reputable.

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

don't confuse width (thickness at base) with length (span). hoover is 660 ft wide, grand coulee is 500 ft, 3 gorges is 377 ft.

though i think the beaver dam dimension in question might be length?

Re:850 meters???

[PDX]

"Damn them all, damn them all to hell!" Remember when Star Trek was considered revolutionary by the public. Now we're debating who has the best beavers. What use is the Sat data really worth in the hands of closed minded people? The standard that Star Trek rebelled against was the separate and unequal society that paid for the shows ad revenue. That is why it was canceled. Not due to actors walking off set. Gene rebelled against the mentality of Fox and right wing dogmas. Just ask Wil Weaton I'm sure he's on here several times a week.

Re:850 meters???

[Viski]

Actually, they discuss length in the news article:

The incredible woodland construction is a staggering 2,790 feet in length -- more than half a mile long.

The OP is the one who has confused length and width. And in every case, claiming that Hoover Dam is the largest dam in the world by any measure is just plain wrong.

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

Well they have to build it first, and reading that link well what do you know it's being built by a Chinese construction firm.

Re:850 meters???

[Hal_Porter]

We must meet this threat with our courage, our valor, indeed with our very lives to ensure that beaver civilization, not human, dominates this planet *now and always*!

Re:850 meters???

[Hal_Porter]

All of the senior engineers in that firm are beavers.

Re:850 meters???

[capo_dei_capi]

But the Chinese are strange looking communists, and they don't even speak English, so we cannot really promote their stuff, can we? Besides, their stuff is likely going to fall apart in a few years anyway, due to inferior quality.
No, Hoover dam sounds so much better, so much more American, so much more entitled to be the world leading dam.

Re:850 meters???

[hanzdamanz]

I'll 1-up you on that one: While technically not a dam, the Dutch Afsluitdijk is 20 miles long, and was finished in 1932.

Re:850 meters???

[tehcyder]

But Fox is funnier.

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

"It is twice the size of what was the world's largest, the Hoover dam, which borders Arizona and Nevada in the U.S. and spans 1,244 feet."

What's not true about that? It was the largest. In 1936.

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, Itaipu Dam is 7700m according to wikipedia, the Hoover Dam is beautiful, but not big anymore

Re:850 meters???

[Locke2005]

Lately, I've found The Onion and Fox News to be indistinguishable. Christian right leader George Rekers takes vacation with "rent boy"... that's satire, isn't it? Isn't it?!?

Re:850 meters???

[tbird20d]

The article didn't claim Hoover was currently the largest. Their exact words: "It is twice the size of what was the world's largest, the Hoover dam". Hoover, when it was built, was the world's largest dam. The FOX authors could have added a "once" in there for clarity, but technically, the article is correct.

Re:850 meters???

[Paul server guy]

don't confuse width (thickness at base) with length (span).

I can't believe no one's said this yet!

We all know that, although length is good, beavers prefer width, especially at the base...

Re:850 meters???

[Viski]

Yes, I wasn't referring to the Fox article, but to the OP, stating:

The Hoover Dam no longer holds the title of the world's widest dam.

Technically, this statement is correct too. It was once the widest dam in the world, but is no longer. However, every normal person would understand the post so, that this dam made by beavers has claimed the title from Hoover. And that clearly isn't the case.

Re:850 meters???

[dafradu]

And still very small compared to Itaipu Dam at 7,700 m. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaipu

Re:850 meters???

[Anonymous Coward]

do you guys understand wide vs long

MOD PARENT UP!

[Anonymous Coward]

This needs to be seen

So . .

[Anonymous Coward]

Just what do Canadian beavers look like?

any on the ground photos?

[cenc]

I have seen beaver dams in the over 1/2 mile in length range in southern Canada / Northern MN ( the tops are often used as parts of hiking trails ). All I see are sat and airplane photos. Has anyone hiked out to take on the ground photos of the dam and measure it? Links please, if you got some?

No Hoover Dam, no Three Gorges Dam: Just Itaipu

[Anonymous Coward]

379 m (1244 ft )? 3000 m (9 842.5 ft) in lenght? Cut the crap, those are tiny Dams. That's is kid's play.

Let's talk about THE really big Dam: Itaipu Dam: 7,700 m (25,300 ft) in lenght.

No longer holds the world largest dam record???

[Anonymous Coward]

I mean, is that new? In Quebec only, a quick search (no more than 5 minutes) showed that 4 of our dams (Manic 3, Manic 4, Manic 5, La Grande) are bigger than Hoover Dam by far. Manic 3 has been in operation since the 1970s...

This story is 2 years old!

[InakaBoyJoe]

I coulda sworn I saw this on Slashdot some time ago, but in any case, this "news" is at least two years old...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/story/2008/04/14/beaver-park.html

Those socialist nazi satan worshiping beavers!

[russ_allegro]

A family of beavers working together, and non of them got paid either I sure. How much you want to bet there was a bunch of lazy leftist pot smoking elitist beavers that just watched while the hard working god fearing beavers similar to you and me worked and put the whole thing together. This is an example of what happens when you have a democrat in office as president even the beavers up north are being affected.

visible from space??

[Anonymous Coward]

that's one big tampon!

Obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

Well dam!

So...

[bwcbwc]

Alberta has a big brown beaver...dam! Eh?

Fort Peck dam is 6,409 wide

[calidoscope]

The Fort Peck dam was completed in the late 1930's, it's on the Missouri river just south of Glasgow, Montana (where I got my check ride for my private pilot's license).

'Visible from space"...

[slashmonkey]

... let's face it, is just a euphemism for "really big", because taken literally, "visible from space" is a fairly meaningless qualifier.

Re:'Visible from space"...

[Michael the Great]

Exactly what I was thinking. What stupid thing to say. You know what's also visible from space? The dumpster behind my workplace is visible from space... Let's slashdot that!

Re:'Visible from space"...

[astralbat]

You're right. I learnt the other day that the Great Wall Of China - famed for the fact that you can see it from space - can't actually be seen! Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_great_wall_of_china#Visibility_from_space I'm seriously doubting whether you can see this damn from space either!

How Itaipu Dam?

[Anonymous Coward]

Itaipu Dam at 7,700 m (25,300 ft) is, by that measure, even bigger than Three Gorges... But the beavers are still masters of the trade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itaipu_Dam

in related news

[perryizgr8]

my car visible from space.
do i get featured in a slashdot article?

Chinese Beaver Dams

[Guppy]

Leave this one to the Chinese.

I hear beaver dams in China go "sideways"...

This article belongs on...

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.slashdot.xxx/

Was the dam built by

[tehIvyn]

Wynonna's Big Brown Beaver?

I, for one...

[Chas]

Welcome our new super-industrious, megalith-building beaver overlords.

I greet them with the following phrase.

NICE BEAVER!

Everything is visible from space

[gborland]

So what? The tree in my back garden is visible from space. See Google Maps for evidence.

Pantaloons in a twist?.......eh

[Anonymous Coward]

You hoser, everyone knows that Chinese beavers are slanted...of course they are longer. eh.
This is a contraceptive, eh, you know, to block BEAVERS! eh.
Your dam is man made to block water. eh.

It's like comparing muskrats to, well, beavers. eh

Just take a shot of maple syrup, watch some hockey, and calm down. eh

*Brian Adams takes off Celine Dion disguise*
Oh yeah.... eh

What do you call a smart Beaver apart from ...

[Anonymous Coward]

a 'clever twat' obviously?

yo

[Anonymous Coward]

Yo mamas beaver visible from space!

Pressure

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder what kind of environmental pressure those poor beavers are under, that would make them coalesce families and work so hard to build such a huge fortress.

Afsluitdijk

[maroberts]

Seems they named it by random keyboard pressing...

Anonymous

[Anonymous Coward]

Hoover Dam = Worlds Widest Dam? What are you...nuts? The Conowingo Dam in MD is just shy of a FULL MILE WIDE and is one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric dams in the US.

Environmental Destruction

[mclazarus]

The good news is that should keep the environmentalists busy they can start a campaign against beavers for their wanton destruction of natural wetlands and species downstream.

Faux News Errors....Hoover NOT widest dam

[bodland]

Not By a long shot...Oahe Dam in South Dakota on the Missouri River is over 9000 ft wide. hoover a mere 1244

Origin of the myth: Great Wall of China

[PMBjornerud]

My car is also visible from space, via Google Map's "satellite view".

Does that make my 1995 Chevy special?

The "visible from space" expression origins in an idea from the space-race era, or possibly earlier works of science fiction. The myth claims that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible to the naked eye from space.

This is a myth, debunked here:
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wall_of_China#Visibility_from_the_moon

The idea that something is big because it is visible in a high-resolution satellite photo is (as parent suggests) utterly ridiculous.

Oahe Dam in South Dakota over 9000 ft. wide...

[bodland]

Considered the worlds largest earthen dam.

Excellent satellite view of Biggest Beaver Dam

[emaname]

These beavers are awesome! Look at all the highways they built as well. It even looks like it's been industrialized. Oh, wait a minute.... http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Beaver+Dam,+WI&sll=58.271526,-112.253623&sspn=0.010675,0.030899&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Beaver+Dam,+Dodge,+Wisconsin&ll=43.476093,-88.837166&spn=0.117841,0.247192&t=h&z=12

Grand Coulee Dam width

[geek2k5]

The Grand Coulee Dam, circa 1942, is almost four thousand feet wider. Even more interesting, they 'bent' the dam in order to add a third power plant.

Naked Eye?

[Anonymous Coward]

Even my house can be seen from space using google earth -.-
They should say "visible with the naked eye" or "the distance from which it is seen in space", else it doesn't make any sense..

To your eyes perhaps...

[imtheguru]

Perhaps you're too used to seeing words from romance languages only.

To me, Dijk seems like a vocalisation of the word 'dyke'. Af- appears to contain the sound of 'Of' or perhaps 'Ouf'. Sluit- is pronounced closer to 'slew-et'.

In total i'd guess it sounds like... Ouf-slew't-dyke.

Re:To your eyes perhaps...

[maroberts]

I'm aware of dutch etymology. But I suggest you look on a standard Querty keyboard and examine the close proximity of groups of letters in the word ..also humour...

Obligatory

[Man Eating Duck]

I believe I can safely state there is no dam way you could ever match their dam skills, their dam resourcefulness, their dam ingenuity, their dam persistence, their dam determination and/or their dam work ethic.

http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/dammed.asp

How dare you?

[Benfea]

How dare you question FOX News' journalistic integrity? You're just bashing them because they once argued in a court of law that it's OK for them to fire reporters for not lying. Waitaminnit....