Evidence Points To Huge Underground River Beneath Amazon

Hamza? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 00:57 · Score: 0

Hamza? They couldn't come up with something more indigenous?

Re:Hamza? by Chris+Mattern · 2011-08-27 01:00 · Score: 3, Informative

They named it for the Brazilian scientist who led the discovery team, Valiya Hamza. What more indigenous do you want?
Re:Hamza? by macs4all · 2011-08-27 01:20 · Score: 4, Insightful

It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Cultural insensitivity aside, I think Grand Canyon is easier to remember.
Re:Hamza? by king+neckbeard · 2011-08-27 01:24 · Score: 1

So, Moleman River?

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Re:Hamza? by equex · 2011-08-27 01:27 · Score: 1

The natives of America just didn't understand .the American sense of humor.

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Re:Hamza? by Oxford_Comma_Lover · 2011-08-27 01:30 · Score: 2

It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
A name is an identifier. There's nothing inherently more legitimate or "proper" about a name just because it's the first name used for something. Variables can take on a new name in a new scope. A new group of people can use a different name. It may be that communication between the groups will suffer for it--sometimes intentionally (consider politicians using different phrases to mean the same thing, such as "tax subsidy," "loophole," and "job-creating tax break"). It may also be that under a particular legal regime, the first person to encounter or capture something has a right to it (there are old common-law cases about fox hunts, for example). But objectively, there is nothing improper about coming across a giant hole in the ground and calling it "giant hole in the ground," even if someone else already calls it--for example--France.

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Re:Hamza? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:35 · Score: 1

So all the different Indian tribes found along the Grand Canyon, with all their different languages, used the one true proper name?
Re:Hamza? by Bobakitoo · 2011-08-27 01:40 · Score: 2

It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Cultural insensitivity aside, I think Grand Canyon is easier to remember.
Not to the Hopi inhabitant of the region. And by the way, 'Weemoteeuktuk' is bullshit. The real name is Ongtupqa.
Re:Hamza? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:45 · Score: 0

Valiya Hamza is a east indian.
Re:Hamza? by JustNiz · 2011-08-27 01:53 · Score: 2

France is more convex than concave so more like a pile than a hole.
Re:Hamza? by king+neckbeard · 2011-08-27 01:53 · Score: 2

Native Americans don't call themselves 'Native Americans' (the name would vary depending upon the tribe), and I think Brazilians call themselves Brasilianos (although that's not too much of a stretch). However, the indigenous people of the Amazon probably didn't call Brazil 'Brazil' or the Amazon 'the Amazon.' That sort of suggests the futility in trying to have a 'native' name.

Also, I can't seem to find ANY results on Weemoteeuktuk

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Re:Hamza? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 02:30 · Score: 0

So, I assume all tribal groups who were aware of the area shared its name? Or would you just be picking a name out of your ass in order to show our supposed lack of respect for first nations culture?
Re:Hamza? by vbraga · 2011-08-27 03:35 · Score: 5, Interesting

Brazilians call themselves 'Brasileiros' instead of 'Brasilianos'. Interesting, 'Brasiliano' would be more appropriate from a linguistic point of view (the '-ano' suffix indicates someone who belongs or as born in a given place) than 'Brasileiro' ('-eiro' suffix indicates someone who performs a given action). 'Brasileiro' is used because the first (European) inhabitants used to perform the Brazil wood trade, hence the '-eiro' instead of the '-ano' suffix.
Well, on a second though, that's not interesting at all.

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Re:Hamza? by Omestes · 2011-08-27 04:18 · Score: 3, Informative

...while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.
Proper to whom? Which group of Native Americans, there are tons of them up there. The Navajo, the Ute, the Hopi, the Paiute, the Havasupai, the Hualapai? I'm sure I'm missing some tribes.
I wasn't aware that names weren't allowed to change. The first name something is given, is its name forever. I'm sure this is going to make me loose some "cultural feel good woo" points, but I'm past the point of caring. A name is a name, it isn't a magical identifier. The proper name for the Grand Canyon, in English, is "The Grand Canyon". Why is this proper? Because if I mention it to another English speaker they will know what the hell I'm talking about. If I say "Weemoteeuktuk", no one (even most natives) won't have a damn clue. If, in whatever language, "Weemoteeuktuk" is meaningful, and common, then that is the proper name within the smaller community, though they too will recognize what I'm referring to what I say "The Grand Canyon", making the term much more useful and ubiquitous. And thus superior, and this closer to "proper".
No, I don't think some mythical sense of inclusion is more important than clarity and the ability to communicate. The latter are the point of language, the former is for the the sociologists and odd Caucasian apologists.

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Re:Hamza? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 04:38 · Score: 0

A pile of what?
Re:Hamza? by binarylarry · 2011-08-27 05:00 · Score: 3, Funny

Ongtupqa is bullshit!
When the Grand Canyon was originally dredged by the Great Old Ones, it's name was Gthugl'ghulthahghfhgal.

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Re:Hamza? by LibRT · 2011-08-27 05:26 · Score: 1

Gthugl'ghulthahghfhgal is bullshit! It's original name was "Bigfuckingcanyon".
Re:Hamza? by Aighearach · 2011-08-27 13:53 · Score: 1

I am part Cherokee, you insensitive clod!
I really resent you lumping me in with a bunch of totally different cultures just because we all have brownish skin and had the same caricature in your children's books.
Do you want to know the Cherokee word for the Grand Canyon? It's two words, actually: Grand Canyon! No idea what the Hopi name is.
And while you're at it, get off my lawn.
Re:Hamza? by jonadab · 2011-08-28 06:44 · Score: 1

The -ano suffix (cognate to -an in English; both are sometimes preceded by i, sometimes not) gets used on (the Portuguese demonyms for) a number of nationalities, but it is far from universal. A number of them end in -es (with a macron thingydoo, or maybe it's a circumflex, over the e; cognate with -ese in English). Then you have ones like azeri (Azerbaijani) and afegÃ£o (Afghan) and canadense (Canadian), and probably a lot of others I don't know (I've only studied a tiny amount of the language).

Come to think of it, a similar situation obtains in English. Just considering state demonyms, wherein everyone shares the same linguistic heritage and there are no really foreign suffixes involved, we've got -an (Texan, Alaskan), -ian (Virginian, Floridian), -er (New Yorker, Rhode Islander), and some special forms (Hoosier - the only word I know for someone from Indiana, and I've lived there). Throw in cities and foreign places and you get suffixes like -i, -ani, -ese, -ine, -ite, -ic, -iot, -onian, -egian, and -ishman, not to mention special cases like "Dane", "Swede", "Spaniard", and "Breton".

Language is weird. That's probably why it fascinates me so much.

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Re:Hamza? by cbiltcliffe · 2011-08-29 06:29 · Score: 1

than 'Brasileiro' ('-eiro' suffix indicates someone who performs a given action).
So people from Brazil are people who perform Brazilians.

Well, on a second though, that's not interesting at all.
I don't know what planet you're from, but I find that very interesting, indeed...
:)

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No a river, it's called an Aquifer by thomasdz · 2011-08-27 00:59 · Score: 5, Informative

Geesh.... the term "underground river" evokes an image of a continuous flow of only water perhaps going through a long cave or something... not water travelling through rock, also known as an "Aquifer"

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Kagetsuki · 2011-08-27 01:27 · Score: 1

+1 More Informative Than Vague Article
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:40 · Score: 0

Damn it, that is all I need, a damned aquifer!
Now how am I supposed to get precious metals for my dorf military.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by vortex0 · 2011-08-27 02:26 · Score: 1

An aquifer does not flow, a river does. From TFA this mas of water has a flow and it also goes further to state that its direction is the same of the amazon river. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquifer
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by ObsessiveMathsFreak · 2011-08-27 02:30 · Score: 1

not water travelling through rock, also known as an "Aquifer"
And whatever you do, do NOT try to dig through it.

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 02:36 · Score: 0

An aquifer definitely does flow... Those handy arrows in the picture on your linked Wikipedia articles indicate direction of flow.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by FooAtWFU · 2011-08-27 03:07 · Score: 1

Nonsense. You just need to know exactly what you're doing.

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Cwix · 2011-08-27 03:31 · Score: 1

Yet you still miss the point.
Those flow arrows indicate how the water gets into and out of the aquifer. Yes, this is a "flow". It is not the same type of flow that one thinks of when one thinks about rivers. Think aquifer = lake and underground river = river. They all have flows and currents, but only the rivers move the water "downstream".

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Mashiki · 2011-08-27 04:16 · Score: 1

According to the articles I've read that's exactly what it does. This moves downstream, following a particular flow, mirroring another river.

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by nospam007 · 2011-08-27 04:40 · Score: 1

So blind Dinosaurs living in there out of the question then?
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by berashith · 2011-08-27 04:46 · Score: 2

Aquifer is just the european name for it. We should be more sensitive and at least find an indigenous word to use. And perhaps have an argument over what native americans would have called it if they had the chance
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Oligonicella · 2011-08-27 05:08 · Score: 1

"Both rivers flow from west to east..."

East would be downstream.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by O('_')O_Bush · 2011-08-27 06:05 · Score: 1

Really? Because the Flroda aquifer (in both north and central/south that feeds into the everglades) flow towards the ocean, just like the rivers do. There are springs and seeps in the sea from it all over the coast.

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 06:10 · Score: 3, Informative

Yes. this BBC article gives a more informative and balanced explanation.
Even the evidence for unusual amounts of subsurface groundwater flow is equivocal. It looks like a rather ordinary aquifer.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by tibman · 2011-08-27 06:22 · Score: 1

http://www.timdenee.com/oilfurnace/
Plug technique works great!

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by aliquis · 2011-08-27 09:30 · Score: 1

Also 13,000 feet = 4 km beneath the Amazon.
3,700 miles = 6,000 km long.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by mrmeval · 2011-08-27 11:20 · Score: 1

Who wants to go on an expedition to follow it back to the Great Underground Empire and see the mighty works of Lord Flathead?

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Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Aighearach · 2011-08-27 13:57 · Score: 1

Aquifer is just the european name for it. We should be more sensitive and at least find an indigenous word to use. And perhaps have an argument over what native americans would have called it if they had the chance
Hamza's Lie, is that closer?
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Aighearach · 2011-08-27 13:58 · Score: 1

Well, it is very salty, it at least has that to distinguish it from the more useful aquifers.
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-28 01:18 · Score: 0

Whatever may be the name, does it look certain that water source at Amazon is not going to dry out as there is some back up below? :-)
Vijay Sharma
Re:No a river, it's called an Aquifer by ultranova · 2011-08-28 02:23 · Score: 1

Think aquifer = lake and underground river = river. They all have flows and currents, but only the rivers move the water "downstream".

The water in lakes flows downstream towards its drainage rivers. It's simply slower than in rivers.

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Naming breaks ethical rules by Dunbal · 2011-08-27 01:00 · Score: 2, Insightful

As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself or have your students name them after you.

"The underground river is now named after Valiya Hamza, the scientist of Indian origin,who has been studying the Amazon region for more than 40 years. The discovery is part of the work of doctoral student Elizabeth Tavares Pimentel, under the guidance of Hamza."

Another word for this river is, of course, a "water table".

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:11 · Score: 0

Isn't naming stuff after yourself the entire reason to become a scientist? It's not like it'll get you laid...
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by ColdWetDog · 2011-08-27 01:15 · Score: 2

Yeah, I got all excited about this until I looked at the flow rate. About the same as most aquifers. While it is an important discovery and it's mapping may turn out to have useful applications, it's not at all surprising. The planet isn't made of concrete (despite what New Yorkers think).
But I don't think many people really have any sort of concept of what the subterranean world looks like so articles like this are useful. And I'm not sure that it's so bad to name it after Hamza. He seems like one of the earlier pioneers in Amazon hydrology and (I'm guessing) one of the few 'native' scientists.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by equex · 2011-08-27 01:20 · Score: 1

I think the proper scientific way is to discover something, only to have someone else steal your work and then THEY can name it after themselves.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Oxford_Comma_Lover · 2011-08-27 01:35 · Score: 2

> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself or have your students name them after you.

What ethical rule? Is this in your institution's IRB materials?
And why not? It's not like being forced to not put one's name on something by a committee is going to make one less of a jerk if one is a jerk.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by multipartmixed · 2011-08-27 01:36 · Score: 1

> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself
> or have your students name them after you.
Why not? It's better than naming a planetoid after Mickey Mouse's dog.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:57 · Score: 0

Isn't naming stuff after yourself the entire reason to become a scientist? It's not like it'll get you laid...
Not such a great idea if your field of expertise is sexually transmitted diseases.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Dunbal · 2011-08-27 02:29 · Score: 4, Funny

You're wrong. The planetoid is named after a greek God. Which of course was named after Mickey Mouse's dog.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by TrisexualPuppy · 2011-08-27 03:32 · Score: 1

> As a scientist you're not supposed to name things after yourself
> or have your students name them after you.

Why not? It's better than naming a planetoid after Mickey Mouse's dog.
It sure is.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by the_bard17 · 2011-08-27 04:49 · Score: 1

*snip*(despite what New Yorkers think)*snip*
Talk to someone upstate. Especially someone in or around the Adirondack Park.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Alsee · 2011-08-27 05:21 · Score: 3, Funny

The planet isn't made of concrete (despite what New Yorkers think).
Christ! We are not IDIOTS.
Stuff above ground like buildings and raised sidewalks are made of concrete. Any blind idiot knows the ground is made of asphalt.
-

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by ColdWetDog · 2011-08-27 05:28 · Score: 1

My bad. Sorry.

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 05:32 · Score: 0

Is this like a series of tubes?
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by guises · 2011-08-27 05:44 · Score: 1

*snip*(despite what New Yorkers think)*snip*
Talk to someone upstate
Or... anyone. Not everyone is a brilliant geologist like the GP, but most people know that the world isn't made out of concrete. Even people in New York, who are obviously all drooling morons. Thank you for pointing that out GP.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by EdIII · 2011-08-27 18:02 · Score: 1

Why you got to be dissing Pluto? He is a good dog. Occasionally gets caught humping Minnie's leg, but generally a good dog.
Chill man.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by oblivionboy · 2011-08-28 12:00 · Score: 1

Don't appologize! New Yorkers deserve it -- they're so condescending to everyone else, yet get upset when someone makes a mild joke about them.
Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by JabberWokky · 2011-08-28 14:25 · Score: 1

It's more named about Percival Lowell, the founder of the observatory. Thus the overlaid PL that is the symbol and the fact that the god the (then) planet was named for started with P and L.
And of course, there was also the fact that Percival Lowell was the owner and trainer of the dog that acted in all those Mickey Mouse films as "Pluto".

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by cbiltcliffe · 2011-08-29 07:15 · Score: 1

Ok. So that just means we know this Hazma guy didn't discover it. So who did he steal it from?

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Re:Naming breaks ethical rules by Alsee · 2011-08-31 10:21 · Score: 1

Perhaps you didn't get around to reading the second line of my post? (The one mentioning asphalt.) Either that or you're humor-blind. ColdWetDog's "apology" was a playful response to my comically feigned-indignation.

they're so condescending to everyone else
That's not true! We know we're not the only time zone on the planet! Most of us have been on a plane and everyone knows you have to adjust your watch three hours whenever you leave the city.
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let me SI it for you by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:01 · Score: 0

13,000 feet ~ 4 km
3,700 miles ~ 6,000 km

Re:let me SI it for you by Forty+Two+Tenfold · 2011-08-27 06:58 · Score: 1

It'd be nice if you could also explain this vague linguistic invention:

The width of the newly-named Hamza is said to be 3,700 miles long[...]

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Better article by bradley13 · 2011-08-27 01:05 · Score: 4, Interesting

Here is a better article: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/234077-Underground-River-Rio-Hamza-Discovered-4km-Beneath-the-Amazon

Flowing at a rate of 1mm/hour, this is more like a gigantic seepage of ground water. I suppose calling it a "river" gets them into the newspapers...

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Re:Better article by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · 2011-08-27 03:03 · Score: 1

I was a bit surprised as well. This story has hit several of the social news sites, and from the headlines I was expecting some sort of freak underground tunnel caused by some interesting historical phenomenon. Then I saw the flow rate and tried to figure out how that made sense. Then I learned that it might not really be a river at all, at least not as a layman like me thinks of one.
Aside: Also, thanks for linking to a site that isn't covered in Facebook-related junk. It seems like social networking links are becoming the new banner ads, cluttering up web pages everywhere, but at least most pages have the courtesy to stick them all in one place, and not put a banner here, a like button there, and a feed somewhere else. It's completely wasted on me anyway since I don't use Facebook/Twitter/etc. [/goes to update AdBlock and wonders if anyone has a list of filters that get rid of at least most of this junk...]

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I believe it by heitikender · 2011-08-27 01:05 · Score: 1

when I see it.

One Question by Danieljury3 · 2011-08-27 01:06 · Score: 4, Funny

Is the water tessellated?

Re:One Question by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:27 · Score: 0

Just the stuff underground that doesn't make a difference to the games overall look.
Re:One Question by davewoods · 2011-08-30 09:41 · Score: 1

I sure hope so.

In related news by donotlizard · 2011-08-27 01:06 · Score: 1

The rock band Styx has filed a trademark suit against...

Talked about on reddit yesterday by thomasdz · 2011-08-27 01:06 · Score: 0

http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/jv809/underground_river_rio_hamza_discovered_4km/

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The great Ferengi river by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:10 · Score: 0

of the Continuum......or profit.

no doubt real history is racing up to help us by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:11 · Score: 0

we'll soon be grasping just what having, or being part of, spirits, means? no prescriptions or gadgets needed? there are under reported alternatives.

Pretty wide! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:21 · Score: 3, Funny

The width is said to be 3700 miles long? Cool, how wide is the length said to be??

Re:Pretty wide! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 09:40 · Score: 0

Also, mfw the scientists "have showed"... This is why I never pay attention to IBTimes, all the pieces I've read there so far are equivocal.
Re:Pretty wide! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-28 21:24 · Score: 0

Half as deep as twice its height.

We don't care what was said at reddit. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:22 · Score: 0

Look, this is Slashdot. This is not reddit. We do not care what they have to say. We do not care what some 17-year-old pre-college hipsters think about this topic. If we wanted inane, shit-ridden discussion, we'd be over over at reddit instead. But we're not there, because that's not what we want. So please don't bring such utter crap over here. Thank you, and good night.

Re:We don't care what was said at reddit. by thomasdz · 2011-08-27 01:34 · Score: 0

Look, this is Slashdot. This is not reddit. We do not care what they have to say. We do not care what some 17-year-old pre-college hipsters think about this topic. If we wanted inane, shit-ridden discussion, we'd be over over at reddit instead. But we're not there, because that's not what we want. So please don't bring such utter crap over here. Thank you, and good night.
ahhhh.... Rob Malda, a.k.a. CmdrTaco ...so you're STILL lurking around. good for you.

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Re:We don't care what was said at reddit. by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:56 · Score: 0

No, really, he has a point (i am a different AC).
That's completely irrelevant. You have brought nothing to the discussion other than snark. Who gives a fuck. If this was breaking news and slashdot was 5 days late, YES, make fun of things. Getting it up several hours later? That's completely within expectations, and unremarkable.
Nobody gives a shit if reddit scooped slashdot. that's how that site works. everything is on there, instantly. that's SORT OF why some of us AREN'T over there, because while you'll find a few interesting things occasionally it requires filtering through mounds of shit to get there.
Re:We don't care what was said at reddit. by PwnzerDragoon · 2011-08-27 06:05 · Score: 0

Exactly, we come here to find out what the 25-year-old basement-dwelling nerds have to say about things.

Aha! by davidbrit2 · 2011-08-27 01:26 · Score: 1

This must explain how they can ship so much merchandise so efficiently!

Re:Aha! by DeeEff · 2011-08-27 04:33 · Score: 1

I would argue the opposite. I don't think I've ever had an order on time, arguable that it's because of where I live, or what I order, but "we have to swim across a 3700 mile river underground" is somewhat better consolation than "the warehouse manufacturer apologizes for the delay, we are looking into figuring out what happened".

Underground River by GuJiaXian · 2011-08-27 01:27 · Score: 1

I tap the underground river for U and take 1 damage.

Hamza.com - for all your underground publications? by tomhudson · 2011-08-27 01:28 · Score: 2

Compete with Amazon.com! "Prices? We're miles below them!" Oops - too late - someone else already took it (back in 1999).

Hamza? They couldn't come up with something more indigenous?

It's under a few miles of rock. Here, let me fix that for you.

"Hamza? They couldn't come up with something more igneous?"

Try the fish!

13,000 feet? Are you sure? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 01:30 · Score: 0

How far below the amazon is it? And it's got a width of what length?

Isn't that about the depth... by doug141 · 2011-08-27 01:42 · Score: 1

at which "drinking water safe" fraking is done?

The width is 3,700 miles long??? by sribe · 2011-08-27 01:45 · Score: 1

Really???

Sci-Fi oblig. by tenco · 2011-08-27 01:47 · Score: 1

Reminds me of Jules Verne's "A Journey to the Center of the Earth".

Not surprising as one might think. by xclr8r · 2011-08-27 02:18 · Score: 1

Most people think water in rivers comes from snow and rain at the top of some mountain and just flows (Slashdot crowd is most likely not part of that "most people"). The reality is that the water comes 'up' from the ground into the river system after the precipitation over much much larger area http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/earthrivers.html . This is why environmentalist (and everyone else should) get pist when people bury and improperly dispose of stuff that is toxic - it's feeding ourselves waste not fit for consumption.

With a river as long and wide as the Amazon it's not surprising that the not all of the saturated water in the soil wells up to the ground but goes through porous rocks into a sub river. That combined with aquifer regions can hypothetically coalesce(sp?) into an underground river or lake system.

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It didn't do Mr. Watt by www.sorehands.com · 2011-08-27 02:46 · Score: 1

"It didn't do Mr. Watt any harm."
Dr. Malcom Taylor.

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metoo by drinkypoo · 2011-08-27 03:22 · Score: 1

I live over an underground river just as unlike a river as this, except nearer to the surface. Our well is over 100 feet deep, though. And it's horribly rusty.

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"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"

Re:metoo by fatphil · 2011-08-27 23:37 · Score: 1

> Our well is [...] horribly rusty

Hence your nickname?

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Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863

Width = 3,700 miles? by wjcofkc · 2011-08-27 03:32 · Score: 1

Could someone explain what they mean when they say the width is 3,700 miles long...

"The width of the Hamza is said to be 3,700 miles long..."

I can understand the length of the river being 3,700 miles long, wouldn't the width be another figure?

Is there some sort of "river nomenclature" I am missing?

Maybe I just need more coffee...

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Re:Width = 3,700 miles? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 03:46 · Score: 0

I was just going to comment on the same thing. I just can't figure out how someone could type that. I fully understand a typo now and again - a wrong character here and there, a misspelled "definitely" getting changed to "defiantly" by auto-correct and all. But confusing length and width in the space of a single, short sentence is very strange.
Re:Width = 3,700 miles? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 04:44 · Score: 0

The word commonly used to describe a river length in Portuguese is "comprimento" which might under other contexts be translated as "width". Maybe the phrase comes from a badly translated press release, originally written in Portuguese.

Depends on the type. by sexybomber · 2011-08-27 03:33 · Score: 1

If you're fraking your significant other, I doubt that'll do any damage to the water table, unless you produce volume like Peter "Two Quarts" North, in which case there's a slight risk of organic contamination.

As for hydraulic fracturing, there is no such thing as "drinking-water-safe", just like there's no such thing as "clean coal". Cracks in the bedrock resulting from the frackage can propagate for thousands of feet above the well pipe, often unpredictably. That's kind of the point; the longer the cracks, the more gas-bearing rock is opened for collection in the well. Even if the well is drilled far below the water table, the cracks can still reach it, thus allowing hydrocarbon gases to enter and poison the water. Then there's the risk that the well casing can fail at the point where it crosses the water table, thus releasing gas and "frack fluid" (which is significantly more toxic than your "frack fluid" referenced above) into the environment.

WTF is wrong with you people? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 04:07 · Score: 0

So much discussion over the units.. and still you have the nerve to put everything in feet and miles? Come on!

Underground City! by formfeed · 2011-08-27 04:22 · Score: 1

And paddling upstream on this underground river it will lead us to the lost underground city, a city filled with gold, a city called ElDorado.

No? Can we then have at least a movie about it? Or better yet: any investors willing to pay me, so I can go looking for it? (And then do a book, a documentary, and an action movie.) -I must admit "underground river" invokes more interesting connotations than "slow flowing aquifier"

Re:Underground City! by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 04:52 · Score: 0

Hehe, do you really think the mythical city of El Dorado that would have been built before the Europeans came over would have a Spanish name instead of one in the language of it's supposed builders/inhabitants? (Inca, Aztec, Mayan, Toltec, Olmec, etc. which were the native peoples depending on time.)
Not dissing you, just one of those things I find funny.

There are no Native Americans by DragonHawk · 2011-08-27 04:28 · Score: 1

It's just like the Grand Canyon is the European name for it, while its proper name, given by Native Americans, is Weemoteeuktuk.

There are no Native Americans. We're all immigrants peoples here. Now, some of them got here a lot sooner than others...

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Re:There are no Native Americans by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 06:21 · Score: 0

There are no Native Americans. We're all immigrants peoples here. Now, some of them got here a lot sooner than others...
Well, sure, but by that standard there are no native peoples anywhere but in Africa.
Etymologically, "native" just means you were born there. So the children of immigrants would be "Native Americans" just as much as any tribe member.
Realistically, though, it means the people who already live in a place. By that standard, there's nothing wrong with European explorers and colonists referring to these tribes as "natives."

Probably a good thing I wasn't there by Ethanol · 2011-08-27 04:29 · Score: 2

'Cause I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to name it "Amazon Prime".

Re:Probably a good thing I wasn't there by rubicelli · 2011-08-27 06:40 · Score: 1

'Cause I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation to name it "Amazon Prime".
If it were named Amazon Prime, wouldn't it be faster than the regular Amazon?.

I've heard this routine before by DragonHawk · 2011-08-27 04:30 · Score: 1

Flowing at a rate of 1mm/hour, this is more like a gigantic seepage of ground water.

You forget that I was present at an undersea, unexplained mass sponge migration.

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dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.

Re:I've heard this routine before by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 15:04 · Score: 0

The sponges migrated a foot and a half.

Re:Hamza.com - for all your underground publicatio by Alsee · 2011-08-27 05:33 · Score: 1

Hamza.com may have below bargain basement low low prices, but at 1mm per hour their delivery service sucks worse than a vacuum cleaner set to "blow".

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I thought Brazil used the metric system by Lord+Lode · 2011-08-27 05:49 · Score: 1

So why are the values given feet and miles?

Re:I thought Brazil used the metric system by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 08:44 · Score: 0

I'm just guessing here but maybe it is because both Slashdot and IB Times are US sites?

Google's underground river will be available soon by HermDog · 2011-08-27 07:26 · Score: 2

in Beta

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JADBP

joke for the spanish readers by buanzo · 2011-08-27 09:57 · Score: 1

Primer acto, aparece el colorado y sus 3 hijos. Segundo acto, aparece el colorado y sus 5 hijos. Tercer acto, aparece el colorado y sus 8 hijos. Como se llama la obra? El gran cañon del colorado.

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Buanzo Consulting - 15 Years of GNU/Linux experience, for you.

The river is not a river.... by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-27 14:40 · Score: 0

Water flowing slower than a glacier, can not be called a "river"...
BBC also posted a more "in-depth" article on this subject: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14693637

BBC says not a river by fotbr · 2011-08-27 15:12 · Score: 2

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14693637

WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2011-08-28 05:47 · Score: 0

no, really, WTF?

Cool by hesaigo999ca · 2011-08-29 01:24 · Score: 1

Water source for the folks to tap into???

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Evidence Points To Huge Underground River Beneath Amazon

116 comments