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The Moon Is Shrinking Like a Wrinkled Apple
astroengine writes "New observations by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have uncovered a number of previously unknown, recently formed 'lobate scarps' — raised cliffs about 9 meters high and several kilometers long — over the lunar surface. These scarps form along thrust faults where compression forces the moon's crust to rise. Up until now it was thought these lobate scarps only occurred around the lunar equator, but the high resolution LRO imagery suggests they are ubiquitous, regardless of latitude. As the moon is geologically inactive, what could be creating these features? It would appear the moon's surface is acting like the skin of an apple surrounding the shrinking, dehydrated flesh of the fruit; the lunar crust (skin) is wrinkling as the body of the moon (the flesh) shrinks due to cooling contraction inside the moon's core."
It's amazing that can happen over the span of just 6,000 years.
it's just shrinkage cuz it's cold in space. Happens to every moon, doesn't it?
rewriting history since 2109
It's lunar cooling!!
"That's no moon - it's an aging round of cheese."
"An aging round of cheese? No one could make an aging round ..... wait a minute...Chewie quick, get out the crackers..."
All this Apple bashing on Slashdot is doing my head in. Can't you just give it a rest for a single day?
I'm so angry. Cancel my subscription. I'm done here.
This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
Hur dur, except that's exactly what was surprising about finding the scarping places other than the lunar equator.
... it gets wrinkled.
Pretty soon, it starts yelling at the kids to stay off its lawn.
Have gnu, will travel.