$1 Billion Mission To Reach the Earth's Mantle

Paging Lawrence Fishburn by DaKong · 2012-10-02 01:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Please remember to wear your heat suit when venturing outside the vessel.

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If not us, who? If not now, when?

Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by firex726 · 2012-10-02 01:44 · Score: 3, Insightful

Oh god that movie was so bad. IDK why people rag on Armageddon so much but we never hear anything about The Core.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by MiniMike · 2012-10-02 01:56 · Score: 5, Funny

Because it's too easy? It's like picking on a disabled kid- it would be easy, but it's just wrong to do.
Because it's too cheesy? Some movies approach the cheesiness boundary carefully, but don't get too close. This one seemed to leap over that line early in the movie, and just kept running for the fence.
But mostly:
Because one would have to admit having seen The Core?
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by beamdriver · 2012-10-02 02:02 · Score: 4, Insightful

Because The Core is a fun, silly movie meant to be enjoyed with your brain in the off position.
I particularly liked the part when they got stuck in a giant geode. The only way it could have been better would have been if there were dinosaurs in the geode.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Joce640k · 2012-10-02 02:09 · Score: 1

Not a good move. The Morlocks aren't going to like this at all...

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No sig today...
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by the+eric+conspiracy · 2012-10-02 02:15 · Score: 2

Any movie with Hillary Swank in it is at least 3.5 stars.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by FreonTrip · 2012-10-02 02:16 · Score: 5, Informative

That wasn't Lawrence Fishburne, that was Delroy Lindo. And yes, The Core is one of the most hideously inaccurate, ostensibly scientific films ever made. What galls is that the film itself isn't awful in terms of character development or plotting - it's just oriented around a series of terribly wrong fundamental assumptions, and then ties itself into progressively more ridiculous knots to support them.
On the other hand, it is riotously funny to watch with a room full of tipsy geologists.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by SilentStaid · 2012-10-02 02:26 · Score: 4, Funny

On the other hand, it is riotously funny to watch with a room full of tipsy geologists.
The problem with that is they won't shut up about how much the floor is tilting or the world is spinning... and drinking just makes it worse.

/ducks
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by luigi517 · 2012-10-02 02:37 · Score: 3, Funny

who rags on armegeddon?! I love that movie. "This is how we fix in mother russia!"
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by dywolf · 2012-10-02 02:45 · Score: 1

Exactly what part of the movie was meant to be scientifically accurate?
It was a summer popcorn movie, not a documentary.

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The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Alsee · 2012-10-02 03:09 · Score: 4, Funny

How about just one dinosaur was trapped in the geode, and for the last 65 million years evolution has been turning it into an even more ferocious and deadly killing machine.
P.S. Before anyone corrects me on evolution, I am mocking the general level of scientific accuracy of the movie.
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Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by LordGibson · 2012-10-02 03:37 · Score: 1

I like where you're going with this. I'd like to produce your movie.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by rwise2112 · 2012-10-02 03:39 · Score: 1

Because The Core is a fun, silly movie meant to be enjoyed with your brain in the off position.
I particularly liked the part when they got stuck in a giant geode. The only way it could have been better would have been if there were dinosaurs in the geode.
Oh no! You've given away the plot of the upcoming sequel!

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"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Lord+Lode · 2012-10-02 03:53 · Score: 1

I've never seen The Core, but saw its trailer just now. What I wonder is this:
They say they can't make the core start spinning again because it's so big and requires so much force. That makes sense to me. What doesn't make sense to me, is that they did manage to stop it, which would cost the exact same energy. Why was stopping easy and starting not? Really stupid...
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Metabolife · 2012-10-02 04:03 · Score: 1

You can't forget the part about the secret alien research facility which has been guiding the evolution process... that is.. until the neo-rex bit the hand that fed it.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by krakelohm · 2012-10-02 04:06 · Score: 1

I agree, lets http://www.kickstarter.com/ that bitch!

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You are all a bunch of idots.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by rmdingler · 2012-10-02 04:16 · Score: 1

[www.imdb.com?title/tt012591/quotes] Not the most quotable movie of all time (that award goes to Tombstone), but there were a few gems.

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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by shadowrat · 2012-10-02 04:22 · Score: 3

This is probably a stupid thing to be discussing, but think about a bicycle. It takes a certain amount of energy input from you to get the thing going. Yet, it takes obviously less energy from you to make it stop. Magic of friction.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by rmdingler · 2012-10-02 04:26 · Score: 1

Learning! link here

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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 04:34 · Score: 1

Vampires.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by TFAFalcon · 2012-10-02 04:35 · Score: 2

Replace the dinosaur with underground cannibalistic piranhas and it was already made.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by MozeeToby · 2012-10-02 04:53 · Score: 1

It's not the ridiculous science, really it's not. I can forgive "put the reactor fuel next to the bomb to make it go bigger boom!". I can forgive "the material magically makes electricity from heat, enough to keep the entire ship cool even!". I can even forgive "here's a huge geode hundreds of miles under the crust".
What can't I forgive?
The ship 'flies' straight down, the back of the ship is straight up from the front. Yet whenever they move from one section to the other, they walk through. They should have to climb a ladder dammit! I know it's a pointless nitpick that has no bearing on anything, but it's like they didn't even try! They even show the ship from the outside many, many times and always show it vertical. Switch the the interior and there's the crew wandering from one compartment to the next. It just bugs me. It's like they didn't even try.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by ThatsNotPudding · 2012-10-02 05:17 · Score: 1

Because one would have to admit having seen The Core?
I'll only admit to having seen the SNL skit about it. Ride 'em Cowboy!
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by squiggly12 · 2012-10-02 05:17 · Score: 1

You failed twice
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by dbraden · 2012-10-02 05:24 · Score: 1

Why was stopping easy and starting not? Really stupid...
That's easy! To start it moving, you have to overcome starting (static) friction, requiring more force.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by fahrbot-bot · 2012-10-02 05:53 · Score: 1

The ship 'flies' straight down, the back of the ship is straight up from the front. Yet whenever they move from one section to the other, they walk through. They should have to climb a ladder dammit! I know it's a pointless nitpick that has no bearing on anything, but it's like they didn't even try! They even show the ship from the outside many, many times and always show it vertical. Switch the the interior and there's the crew wandering from one compartment to the next. It just bugs me. It's like they didn't even try.
Re-watch the part where they design the ship. The interior sections are on gimbals and pivot to remain "level" - within a specific range. True, the script doesn't always seem live within that constraint, but it's been considered. More interesting is the film doesn't consider the lack/lessening of gravity as they travel toward the core. As I understand it, they should be almost weightless near the core.

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It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by hairyfeet · 2012-10-02 06:08 · Score: 1

Because The Core didn't have Liv Tyler looking like a walking Barbie doll while her and Affleck gave the most contrived unbelievable "romance" since Anakin and Padame?

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ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by MozeeToby · 2012-10-02 06:09 · Score: 1

The core is pretty big and pretty dense, they should doubtless be reduced in weight, but not weightless since they never go deep into the core. As to the cars being on gimbals that's fine, they can walk around each car just fine inside one compartment, doesn't change the fact that the other compartments should be above and below them, not forward and back.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by FreonTrip · 2012-10-02 06:10 · Score: 1

See, my personal tipping point was the "microwaves" coming through the Earth's magnetic field and burning through the Golden Gate Bridge.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by dpilot · 2012-10-02 06:11 · Score: 1

No, the best part was when they said the drill's hull was made of "unobtanium" and said it with a straight face. That's only a good part when the rest of the movie is definitely bad. The jury's still out on Avatar, where they made the same straight-faced reference.
The second best part was stepping through the frames when the birds are hitting the building, and finding the fish hitting, too.

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The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by fahrbot-bot · 2012-10-02 06:26 · Score: 1

Thanks and agreed. Still, I thought the movie was a fun two hours spent...

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It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by ThatsMyNick · 2012-10-02 06:26 · Score: 1

IMDB rates it 5.3, but then not many movies get rated below 3.5.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by ByteSlicer · 2012-10-02 08:00 · Score: 2

I particularly liked the part when they got stuck in a giant geode.
That was actually the more plausible part of the movie.
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Dave+Emami · 2012-10-02 09:28 · Score: 1

I love Hillarys wank
Her husband Bill apparently wasn't satisfied with that.

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Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Man+Eating+Duck · 2012-10-02 10:49 · Score: 1

This is probably a stupid thing to be discussing, but think about a bicycle. It takes a certain amount of energy input from you to get the thing going. Yet, it takes obviously less energy from you to make it stop. Magic of friction.
I hope you didn't think that through...

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Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 20:59 · Score: 1

And yes, The Core [imdb.com] is one of the most hideously inaccurate, ostensibly scientific films ever made.
If you watch something like The Core for scientific accuracy, you're the one with the problem.. And to be consistent, you'd have to write off any film, book or TV series containing time /FTL travel, anti-gravity weapons, cold fusion, matter transference or any number of other things which are impossible according to current scientific knowledge.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 21:03 · Score: 1

Why was stopping easy and starting not? Really stupid...
Duh. Compare getting a car going by push-starting it, and stopping it by driving into the side of a skip.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:00 · Score: 1

My question then would be who was outside the ship filming it IF it was the only ship traveling to the core.....
You are aware that this is a work of fiction and not a documentary or live TV report, right?

Your comment is similar to criticising the movie Titanic on the basis that the cameraman filming the iceberg should have gone and warned the captain.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by rmdingler · 2012-10-02 23:04 · Score: 1

Doh!

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Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.
Ernest Hemingway
Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by way2trivial · 2012-10-03 01:41 · Score: 1

I woulda prefered they make it look like freefall/ gravity free myself..

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Re:Paging Lawrence Fishburn by Tastecicles · 2012-10-03 11:17 · Score: 1

oh, you mean like one of those "Found Footage" things?
Blair Witch, or Cloverfield?
Blair Witch was shite, btw. Cloverfield was bearable. Just.

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.

Sounds fun. by Sparticus789 · 2012-10-02 01:40 · Score: 5, Funny

I wonder if by samples, they mean the live dinosaurs that inhabit hollow earth.

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sudo make me a sandwich

Re:Sounds fun. by Alsee · 2012-10-02 03:14 · Score: 1

We have to stop this project!
They'll let the MORLOCKS out!
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Re:Sounds fun. by Sparticus789 · 2012-10-02 03:21 · Score: 2, Interesting

You see, they did exist. Since the universe is only 6,000 years old, what happened is that God blinked us into existence. Realizing, in his omnipotent knowledge, that humanity would some day understand the laws of the universe which he created, He decided to create 13+ billion years of history to fool us with. So the dinosaurs did exist, just long enough for God to kill them and bury their bones, so that we would have fossils and oil. Because God decided it would be easier to create everything in 6 days instead of kicking back on his supernatural couch, sipping a beer, and watch the universe grow on it's own.
Or, if you prefer, God could be at a gas station next to a dusty road in the middle of the desert. Where nothing is said because it has all been said.

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sudo make me a sandwich
Re:Sounds fun. by NatasRevol · 2012-10-02 03:25 · Score: 1

Wait, God drinks?

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Re:Sounds fun. by Sparticus789 · 2012-10-02 03:47 · Score: 1

Yeah, the Catholic Church was the largest brewer in Europe for 1,000 years. Therefore, God drinks.

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sudo make me a sandwich
Re:Sounds fun. by NatasRevol · 2012-10-02 03:51 · Score: 1

Ahhh, mead, is there nothing you can't make better? Well, except the Dark Ages?

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There are two types of people in the world: Those who crave closure
Re:Sounds fun. by jd2112 · 2012-10-02 04:14 · Score: 2

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." - Ben Franklin

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Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Re:Sounds fun. by Tony+Isaac · 2012-10-02 05:22 · Score: 1

Actually, the "samples" refer to the food products handed out by retirees at the Sam's club down there.
Re:Sounds fun. by fahrbot-bot · 2012-10-02 05:56 · Score: 2

We have to stop this project! They'll let the MORLOCKS out!
The Morlocks are already out. Didn't you see the Republican National Convention?
Run and hide little Eloi. Run and hide.

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It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Re:Sounds fun. by fatphil · 2012-10-02 06:35 · Score: 1

Now do a millisecond of research, and find out what the real quote was, so that you don't ignorantly parrot an incorrect one again.

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Also FatPhil on SoylentNews, id 863
Re:Sounds fun. by mcgrew · 2012-10-02 06:39 · Score: 1

Luke 7:33-34: For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!
Yes, God drinks. Emanual == God With Us. Why do you think he invented alcohol? I mean, except keeping the Irish from conquering the world?

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Free Martian Whores!
Re:Sounds fun. by EdIII · 2012-10-02 06:45 · Score: 1

He said the same thing about weed. It's just not as well published :)
Re:Sounds fun. by ArsonSmith · 2012-10-02 09:37 · Score: 1

You ever taste the blood of Christ? It tastes like cheap wine, he must have been trashed all the time.

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Paying taxes to buy civilization is like paying a hooker to buy love.
Re:Sounds fun. by steelfood · 2012-10-02 10:29 · Score: 1

Once the place is flooded with seawater, they won't be live dinosaurs anymore.

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"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
Re:Sounds fun. by Scarletdown · 2012-10-02 16:37 · Score: 1

Now do a millisecond of research, and find out what the real quote was, so that you don't ignorantly parrot an incorrect one again.
How about this then?
"When the Internet is invented, it will be totally cool if people misquote me on it." -- Ben Franklin (or was that Abraham Lincoln?)

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This space unintentionally left blank.
Re:Sounds fun. by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:04 · Score: 1

Wait, God drinks?
It's one explanation for His mistakes, like not even being able to prove He exists to those without blind, irrational faith.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Sounds fun. by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:09 · Score: 1

Now do a millisecond of research, and find out what the real quote was, so that you don't ignorantly parrot an incorrect one again.
All I can find with a quick search is that it a quotation mistakenly attributed to him, but no-one appears to know who did say it. It's nonsense anyway. If God had wanted mankind to be happy, I'm fairly sure He could have avoided things like killer childhood diseases, teeth that rot and fall out, gout, cancer, heart attacks, and indeed death itself.

It would be particularly crappy planning to rely on a temporary palliative to ensure our happiness.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Sounds fun. by cthulhu11 · 2012-10-03 05:11 · Score: 1

You're thinking of Jody Thompson. And that annoying woman from Caprica.
Re:Sounds fun. by Tastecicles · 2012-10-03 11:26 · Score: 1

No, he's the Bartender.

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Re:Sounds fun. by Tastecicles · 2012-10-03 11:29 · Score: 1

I have a theory on that... it's called the Dark Ages because the sum of Human knowledge and scientific progress was kept on computer. We'd gone through our first silicon age. Then one day, a massive EMP wiped everything, setting us back a thousand years. Everything was forgotten except that for some unknown reason, eight hundred years had passed.
That could almost be a book...

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.
Re:Sounds fun. by Tastecicles · 2012-10-03 11:34 · Score: 1

"We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana, as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards, and which incorporates itself with the grapes to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy!"
- Benjamin Franklin's original quote, translated from a letter to Abbe Morellet
"Beer is living proof God loves us and wants us to be happy."
- Homer Simpson, sometime around 1996

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.

Why do we have to dig our own hole? by UnresolvedExternal · 2012-10-02 01:43 · Score: 4, Interesting

Forgive my ignorance here but don't we already have this? What's wrong with using a volcano?

Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by vlm · 2012-10-02 01:57 · Score: 2

Forgive my ignorance here but don't we already have this?
Your confusion is that Kola was a lot deeper but was only about 1/3 of the way thru the crust, this is drilling thru a very thin area of the crust.
Traditional drilling methods don't work so they gave up on Kola.

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"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by ZeroSumHappiness · 2012-10-02 02:23 · Score: 1

Worked great for Deepwater Horizon.
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by tnk1 · 2012-10-02 02:27 · Score: 2

They have this tendency to go off when you would prefer they didn't. More to the point, we only probably want to deal with magma when we reach the bottom end of the shaft, with a volcano, it's magma and pockets of superheated and pressurized gasses all the way down.
Presumably, you'd want a hole that you could set up safety protocols which prevent blowouts like in an oil well, except in this case it would be pressurized gasses and even magma. For that, you probably want a clean borehole through bedrock.
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by dywolf · 2012-10-02 02:46 · Score: 4, Informative

Because a volcano isnt a straight shot. Know how water flows through rock via the cracks and fissures? Same thing with a volcano, just molten rock instead of water as the fluid.

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The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 02:51 · Score: 1

no, it's turtles all the way down...
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by Garridan · 2012-10-02 03:42 · Score: 1

Yeah, tsunamis never killed anybody...
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by rwise2112 · 2012-10-02 03:47 · Score: 2

Forgive my ignorance here but don't we already have this?
Your confusion is that Kola was a lot deeper but was only about 1/3 of the way thru the crust, this is drilling thru a very thin area of the crust.
Traditional drilling methods don't work so they gave up on Kola.
Yeah. Ocean crust is a lot thinner than continental crust. And if I remember correctly, Kola is in a mountainous area where the continental crust is thicker.

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"For every expert, there is an equal and opposite expert"
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 04:13 · Score: 4, Funny

And here I thought it would drain the whole ocean.
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by wiedzmin · 2012-10-02 04:32 · Score: 2

You guys crack me up.

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Bow before me, for I am root.
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by k6mfw · 2012-10-02 04:41 · Score: 1

Forgive my ignorance here but don't we already have this? What's wrong with using a volcano?
I'm asking the same question but then someone will not earn a billion dollars if we use a volcano. However, I didn't RTFA nor am I a geologist. I think an interesting drilling is to one of those "cones" way down there to get fresh diamonds. Some years ago I read an article that diamonds formed very deep and are size of watermelons, and after zillion years or so they make their way to the surface but have been broken up into small pieces. Imagine a diamond of watermelon size and probably very heavy.

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Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:33 · Score: 1

Some years ago I read an article that diamonds formed very deep and are size of watermelons, and after zillion years or so they make their way to the surface but have been broken up into small pieces. Imagine a diamond of watermelon size and probably very heavy.
As I believe industrial diamnonds are not particularly expensive, all this would do is knock the bottom out of the jewellery business, hardly important news unless you're a necklace diamond cutter or something.

It would be amusing to take your watermelon sized diamond to the Tower of London and mock the pathetically small stones in the Crown Jewels, I suppose.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Why do we have to dig our own hole? by valentinas · 2012-10-03 16:30 · Score: 1

Actually diamond density is only ~3,500 kg/m3, so no, it wouldn't be very heavy. ~35kg, more or less: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=(big+watermelon+serving+volume)+*+diamond+density

Gros Morne by Kinthelt · 2012-10-02 01:45 · Score: 1

The unfresh samples at Gros Morne not good enough?

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"Evil will always triumph over good, because good is dumb." - Dark Helmet (Spaceballs)

Re:Gros Morne by Tablizer · 2012-10-02 17:40 · Score: 1

I read the same thing on WikiPedia. Why go to the mantle when the mantle came to you already? (There's a Soviet Russia joke in there somewhere.)

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Table-ized A.I.

We must stop them! by nysus · 2012-10-02 01:45 · Score: 5, Funny

I know how this ends...with a giant sucking sound as the world's oceans drain into the earth's core. Then, as steam builds inside the planet, the earth turns into a giant exploding kernel of popcorn.

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---Technology will liberate us if it doesn't enslave us first.

Re:We must stop them! by alabandit · 2012-10-02 01:54 · Score: 2

I know how this ends...with a giant sucking sound as the world's oceans drain into the earth's core. Then, as steam builds inside the planet, the earth turns into a giant exploding kernel of popcorn.
Congratulations to NASA on finding away to alleviate their funding problems! Time to buy property on the mars is now!

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"You are still innocent until proven guilty. What's changed is what they do to innocent people." by notnAP (846325)
Re:We must stop them! by onyxruby · 2012-10-02 02:09 · Score: 1

Like all things, it will go better with bacon. And since we'll be creating instant fried bacon worldwide when this happens everything will be better. Nothing to worry about...
Re:We must stop them! by Zordak · 2012-10-02 02:20 · Score: 2

No, you've got it all wrong. It ends with the earth being wholly consumed by lava. See this excellent documentary

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Today's Sesame Street was brought to you by the number e.
Re:We must stop them! by lordofthechia · 2012-10-02 03:06 · Score: 4, Funny

I know how this ends...with a giant sucking sound as the world's oceans drain into the earth's core. Then,
The whole world gets covered in a thick layer of steam. For weeks it becomes hard to breath and see. After the steam subsides people start to wipe their fogged up windows to reveal every TV screen, every computer screen, every phone and tablet with the same message:
STEAM: NOW AVAILABLE ON ALL PLATFORMS

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Georgia Tech, the leader in Chia(tm) technology.
Re:We must stop them! by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 03:40 · Score: 2, Interesting

<speculation type="wild"/>
Ever consider if this is what happened to life on Mars? Martian life evolves, gets curious about their own planet's interior and start digging. The result?
Shutdown of their planet's magnetosphere
Venting a majority of their atmosphere into space
Olympus frikkin Mons
Enough material is ejected from the mantle to cause the crust to collapse down on it, creating the Valles Marineris
Needless to say, the martians then pack up all of their stuff, erase any evidence of them ever being there (it's too embarassing) and move to Venus. Where they promptly melt.
Re:We must stop them! by arkane1234 · 2012-10-02 09:30 · Score: 2

and without style.

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Re:We must stop them! by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:36 · Score: 1

Only Americans fry bacon. For the rest of us, it is a nice juicy meat for grilling, not an excuse to eat salty, fatty charcoal.

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To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it

Triple check your assumptions by Cyphase · 2012-10-02 01:45 · Score: 1

Just don't overestimate the DESTINI-- I mean density of the core-- I mean mantle.

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by Cyphase ( 907627 )

One more hollow earth reference by kaka.mala.vachva · 2012-10-02 01:47 · Score: 1

But this one is a live (and good) comic strip: http://www.reptilisrex.com/

What Could Possibly Go Wrong? by synaptik · 2012-10-02 01:47 · Score: 1

This might be a good way to terraform... might this create a volcanic island?

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You can try their training simulator at home. by L1mewater · 2012-10-02 01:49 · Score: 1

They've been training for this for years. The original project was supposed to take place back in 1999. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wurm:_Journey_to_the_Center_of_the_Earth

Re:You can try their training simulator at home. by Migraineman · 2012-10-02 03:16 · Score: 1

"The first efforts to reach the Earth's mantle actually began back in the late 1950s, though plans for the journey were first drawn up in 1864 by the little-known French researcher Jules Gabriel Verne. The first documented attempt was made by the intrepid team of James Mason, Pat Boone, and Arlene Dahl. The most recent (and failed) attempt was made by Brendan Fraser and Anita Briem in 2008."

No but seriously by Idimmu+Xul · 2012-10-02 01:49 · Score: 2

can i vote against this?

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Balloon by JavaBear · 2012-10-02 01:50 · Score: 3, Funny

Lets hope the Earth crust is not a balloon...

Re:Balloon by dywolf · 2012-10-02 02:48 · Score: 1

Be funny as hell...all the pressure of the crust causes a jet of mantle material to gush skyward.....
As long as I dont live anywhere near it anyway. Then it wouldnt be so funny.

--
The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
Re:Balloon by Twinbee · 2012-10-02 03:14 · Score: 1

You can have tiny holes in a balloon without the balloon popping. You can tell they're there if you put it under water and watch the bubbles form.

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Why OpalCalc is the best Windows calc
Re:Balloon by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 03:56 · Score: 2, Funny

actually, they sort of are.
Re:Balloon by JazzLad · 2012-10-02 04:31 · Score: 4, Funny

This is why we're doing it under the ocean.

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"If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." - Every fascist, ever
Re:Balloon by celtic_hackr · 2012-10-02 08:09 · Score: 1

Try that with a balloon inflated to maximum pressure with the hottest gas you can use. The reason it works with a balloon is because the internal pressure in the ballon is not much greater than the external pressure (measured in single or double digit pounds), and because the surface of the balloon has a very high elasticity. Last I check, the Earth's mantle is considerable more brittle and the pressure inside the crust is incontrovertibly greater than outside the crust, by several orders of magnitude (enough to propel, dust, heavy metals and maybe even rocks bigger than cars miles into the air at extreme velocities). Two very fatal (to the brave men and women willingly offering themselves up for sacrifice to the volcano goddess Pele) flaws in your analogy.
Re:Balloon by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:53 · Score: 1

no, not even remotely close. "jokes" based on pretending you're an idiot aren't funny. fucking nerds.
No, it's pointless comments from someone who really is an idiot that aren't funny. Except that they are, sort of, like a skateboarding dog falling into a lake.

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Re:Balloon by Tastecicles · 2012-10-03 11:43 · Score: 1

Party trick: tell someone you're gonna stick a rubber balloon with a needle and it not burst. Make it a beer game.
Take some cellotape and stick it on the balloon. Make sure to get the air bubbles out, get a good seal on that bad boy. Then stick your needle straight through the middle of the tape and through the wall of the balloon. As long as the needle's in there, the balloon shouldn't pop and it should stay inflated. Remove the needle and the balloon should just slowly deflate. You're up a beer.

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.

Oblig video by kerrbear · 2012-10-02 01:52 · Score: 3, Funny

Used to watch this on Saturday morning with "Superhost" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHtZ6Ixeqvs

Three words for you... by An+Onerous+Coward · 2012-10-02 01:52 · Score: 2

RELEASE THE MORLOCKS!

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You want the truthiness? You can't handle the truthiness!

Re:Three words for you... by mcgrew · 2012-10-02 02:20 · Score: 1

Morlocks?

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Free Martian Whores!

Re:Insert Joke Here by MRe_nl · 2012-10-02 01:53 · Score: 1

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQnqMOZHW8YPNEWVW03mSRQKjNRo-TT7g38a60HEoOdZBD4Ixj-Bw

This movie?

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"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"

BAD, BAD IDEA by Type44Q · 2012-10-02 01:55 · Score: 3, Funny

Everyone knows you're supposed to enter through the poles...

Yay! More dust, awesome! by Spectrumanalyzer · 2012-10-02 01:56 · Score: 1

Now that was money well spent.

Dust!

We just dont have enough dust here on our planet!
Anyone who has visited my home, can tell that Im addicted to dust.

Alternately... by Type44Q · 2012-10-02 01:58 · Score: 2

From TFA:

To get to the mantle scientists will be relying on a purpose-built Japanese deep-sea drilling vessel called Chikyu

Chikyu, meet Cthulhu. :p

Re:Alternately... by jackbird · 2012-10-02 04:58 · Score: 1

There's some terrible labored "Chiks dig U" joke to be made there as well, but why bother?
Re:Alternately... by Type44Q · 2012-10-02 05:17 · Score: 1

here's some terrible labored "Chiks dig U" joke to be made there as well
Um, because there's no absolutely no fucking connection whatsoever to the topic at hand, i.e. drilling in the ocean deeps?!
Ding! Do I win a prize? :)
Re:Alternately... by tehcyder · 2012-10-02 22:55 · Score: 1

here's some terrible labored "Chiks dig U" joke to be made there as well
Um, because there's no absolutely no fucking connection whatsoever to the topic at hand, i.e. drilling in the ocean deeps?!
Ding! Do I win a prize? :)
This is the internet. The problem is not the lack of connection to the topic at hand, it's the fact that it is not an accepted running joke, sorry meme, yet.

--
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it

By all that is holey by gestalt_n_pepper · 2012-10-02 02:02 · Score: 1

Please tell me my taxes aren't involved...

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Please do not read this sig. Thank you.

Re:lolCNN by gewalker · 2012-10-02 02:04 · Score: 1

Clicky ads generation is a given, but the program is real.

Oh fuck. by game+kid · 2012-10-02 02:08 · Score: 1

I tell you, if any untold horrors come out of there, I shall just point at the hole in the adamantine, say "ain't my fault", and whistle as I walk away and get quickly minced into an unrecognizable mess.

--
You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.

Obligatory movie quotes by zill · 2012-10-02 02:09 · Score: 4, Informative

The humans delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dum... shadow and flame.

$1 Billiion Dollar? by Chris+Mattern · 2012-10-02 02:09 · Score: 1

Man, Dr. Evil needs to get himself a copyeditor.

Diamond juice by Lev13than · 2012-10-02 02:10 · Score: 5, Interesting

"Down there," said Golg, "I could show you real gold, real silver, real diamonds."

"Bosh!" said Jill rudely. "As if we didn't know that we're below the deepest mines even here."

"Yes," said Golg. "I have heard of those little scratches in the crust that you Topdwellers call mines. But
that's where you get dead gold, dead silver, dead gems. Down in Bism we have them alive and growing.
There I'll pick you bunches of rubies that you can eat and squeeze you a cup full of diamond-juice. You
won't care much about fingering the cold, dead treasures of your shallow mines after you have tasted the
live ones of Bism."

"My father went to the world's end," said Rilian thoughtfully. "It would be a marvellous thing if his son
went to the bottom of the world."

--
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire

Re:Diamond juice by aicrules · 2012-10-02 03:28 · Score: 1

that part just creeped me out. not sure why but the idea of eating gems like grapes bothered me...

Did this already by stewsters · 2012-10-02 02:13 · Score: 2

I did this once in dwarf fortress... Protip, it creates a lot of FUN.

Re:Did this already by wisnoskij · 2012-10-02 03:07 · Score: 1

No, you go deep enough in DF and you get to battle to denizens of hell.

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Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
Re:Did this already by Quirkz · 2012-10-02 04:33 · Score: 1

Why do dwarves always dig too deep? Won't they ever learn?

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The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay

Now != 800K years from now by tepples · 2012-10-02 02:20 · Score: 1

What exactly would be the problem with contacting Morlocks in the year 002012? The only reason they had settled for farming and eating Eloi by 802701 was because the Morlocks had already hunted most other wildlife to extinction.

But will they go by Flipstylee · 2012-10-02 02:22 · Score: 1

20,000 leagues under the sea?

Deprived scientists... by Type44Q · 2012-10-02 02:25 · Score: 1

Apparently these guys never had the chance when they were kids to see what happens when you let the air out of a balloon...

Seriously, though: what's the possibility that they could turn a deep ocean trench into Earth's very own Mount Olympus? :p

Re:Deprived scientists... by Drinking+Bleach · 2012-10-02 07:08 · Score: 1

zero

They're going deeper than that by maroberts · 2012-10-02 02:29 · Score: 1

On a Journey to the Centre of the Earth pick a door, any door.

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Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon

Re:Billiion? by NighthawkFoo · 2012-10-02 02:36 · Score: 1

You just need to read it in a Dr. Evil voice.

--
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Evelyn Beatrice Hall

*pinky* by jspenguin1 · 2012-10-02 02:40 · Score: 2

I believe it's spelled: one BIIIIIIIILLION dollars...

we have only scratched the surface by fustakrakich · 2012-10-02 02:46 · Score: 2

Yeah, and it's showing a hell of a rash for it.

--
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”

Doctor Who by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 02:50 · Score: 1

I realize Inferno was aired decades ago, but have we forgotten?

They won't get very far by GodfatherofSoul · 2012-10-02 02:54 · Score: 2

Don't they remember the Inhumanoids; the evil that lies within?

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I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!

Pressure=rock creep : hole filled while drilling by advid.net · 2012-10-02 02:56 · Score: 2

The pressure below is so high that the creep of rock may fill back the hole as it is drilled.

Do they plan to reinforce the hole wall ?
With which material ? Even if they find one, this will make the project a lot more complicated...

Was Lake Peigneur just a small proof of concept? by Kaptain+Kruton · 2012-10-02 03:00 · Score: 4, Interesting

I know it isn't going to happen like this, but I cannot help but think of the flooded salt mine on Lake Peigneur. Some drillers miscalculated their location and drilled down, through a lake bed, into a nearby salt mine shaft. The lake was drained and temporarily reversed the flow of nearby rivers. Look it up on youtube... its kind of interesting to hear how a relatively small 14 inch drill bit can cause a disaster large enough to sink multiple barges and reverse rivers.

Ever heard of Volcanos by wisnoskij · 2012-10-02 03:06 · Score: 1

We get free samples all the time, it is called volcanic eruptions.

All drilling to the mantle will do is create a new volcano.

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Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.

Re:Billiion? by lxs · 2012-10-02 03:08 · Score: 1

You need to spend one billiion dollars if you want to find the gobliiins.

better probe plan: go all the way down by rubycodez · 2012-10-02 03:14 · Score: 2

Geophysicist David Stevenson of Cal Tech proposes we make a probe that rides a molten mass of iron, 10,000 cubic meters of it poured into a fissue 0.1 meter wide x 300 long x 300 meter deep, all the way to the center of the earth.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CB8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fcampanian.iodp.org%2FMantleFrontier%2F12_Ojovan%2520-%2520Self_Sinking_Capsules_-_Ojovan.pdf&ei=egNrUMiMKuOeywH48YFw&usg=AFQjCNF3htj3aVkXi4Ln7xttNgFiL4TW5A&sig2=-xgVnfbwNGwtVNN6w7s_ZQ

Re:better probe plan: go all the way down by vlm · 2012-10-02 04:27 · Score: 1

I like the idea but right off the top of my head 100 MCi C-60 is something like the entire national stockpile. Not impossible, but it would be quite the achievement.
I am almost motivated enough to calculate the Cerenkov radiation light flux of that ball before its dropped... is it of the order of magnitude that it would be invisible, or would it make the air around it glow like a searchlight, etc.
To say they have a pretty serious refrigeration problem before "launch" would be an understatement.
Also just as a warning, tungsten doesn't melt until 4000 degrees ... in an inert atmosphere. In air you can ignite it and make tungsten oxide at a MUCH lower temperature than melting. They may wanna run the plan past a couple metallurgists, etc. I had / have a small roll of it and it really is useless as a nichrome replacement.

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Re:better probe plan: go all the way down by rubycodez · 2012-10-02 09:32 · Score: 1

it's about the "installed base" in U.S. gamma irradiation facilities (for sterilizing single use medical equipment). c-60 production could be stepped up for this experiment, by putting cobalt rods in CANDU reactors, for instance. very worthwhile for a trip to inner space.
Re:better probe plan: go all the way down by KiloByte · 2012-10-02 23:09 · Score: 1

Could you please post the real link next time rather than Google's clickjacking?

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The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.

MMmmmmmm by Dripdry · 2012-10-02 03:19 · Score: 1

We can finally reach the gooey jelly filling!
Any bets on what flavor it'll be?

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Re:MMmmmmmm by sexconker · 2012-10-02 04:41 · Score: 2

We can finally reach the gooey jelly filling!
Any bets on what flavor it'll be?
I ated the orange jelly. It tastes like burning.
Re:MMmmmmmm by Sardaukar86 · 2012-10-02 23:10 · Score: 1

Two-thousand point advantage to Sexconker for the obscure Ralph Wiggum quote! :)

--
..Mullah or Pope, Preacher or Poet, who was it wrote: "Give any one species too much rope and they'll fuck it up"?

Re:We tried this before by Lucky75 · 2012-10-02 03:19 · Score: 1

That was a base on the moon, not getting to the earth's core. But I love those movies.

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DNA -- National Dyslexic Association

Delroy Lindo by DarthVain · 2012-10-02 03:23 · Score: 1

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005148/

That was Delroy Lindo apparently. Can't really give you a hard time, I briefly thought it was Morgan Freeman which is clearly ridiclous. Morgan Freeman has been on my mind since that YouTube video I saw awhile ago, so maybe that's it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eV8l_Qb8Fc

Weren't the perils of dedrilling into the Earth... by rnturn · 2012-10-02 03:27 · Score: 1

... well documented in"Crack in the World"?

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CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M

Re:I guess you;ve been watching... by MichaelJ · 2012-10-02 03:32 · Score: 1

I was shocked I had to scroll down this far before seeing a reference to Crack in the World. Too many young'uns on Slashdot. The Core is a terrific movie when compared with Crack in the World. You want bad science? How about blasting a new moon out of the earth, eh?

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Michael J.
Root, God, what is difference?

Re:Was Lake Peigneur just a small proof of concept by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-02 03:34 · Score: 1

its kind of interesting to hear how a relatively small 14 inch drill bit can cause a disaster large enough to sink multiple barges and reverse rivers.

It can't.

What can, is an extensive salt mine placed under a lake.

Total Recall [2012] by phonewebcam · 2012-10-02 03:40 · Score: 1

Never would I have thought science could be kicked out of the park regarding journeys beneath our feet further than The Core until ... I saw the "elevator" in TR 2012.

Billiion by randizzle3000 · 2012-10-02 03:53 · Score: 1

So expensive, they had to create a new number!

Also funny because this story was double-posted to correct redundant dollars ($1 Billiion dollar... to $1 Billiion) yet they still forgot to correct the redundant "i".

Re:Billiion? by SJHillman · 2012-10-02 03:59 · Score: 1

I just assumed it was a billion with an imaginary middle.

Wait wha? by kiriath · 2012-10-02 04:06 · Score: 1

So... we had a devil of a time spending tons of money to patch a teensie oil leak under water... and now we want to potentially make more things leak worse intentionally?

Have we lost our minds completely... ?

I mean, I've lost mine but I didn't realize that everyone else had as well.

Re:Pressure=rock creep : hole filled while drillin by vlm · 2012-10-02 04:09 · Score: 2

The real problem is the mud. So to more or less balance pressure at the bottom of the hole, you need the drilling mud to be so heavy that I really donno how to make it. Hmm a lubricating coolant with the density of aluminum that can be pumped around at sea level on the surface like water... Oh and it has to be stable around 600 degrees F (which is why they gave up on Kola). So anything other than asphalt (including teflon) will be vapor.... its just a mess.

Another fun limitation is if the bottom pressure is 10000 psi (made up) the pressure half way up is 5000 psi now can your cemented in holes survive that?

You know those engineering puzzles like from statics/dynamics class "how tall of a cylindrical flagpole can you make out of concrete / steel / CF until it buckles" well my cousins in the Louisiana petrochem industry have puzzlers like "imagine an infinite budget and you wanna dig 10 miles straight down, now write an essay explaining all the technical limitations".

Someday the tech might change to something like a vertical tunnel boring machine. Maybe thats what they're going to try. That would certainly be very interesting.

--
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger

Re:We tried this before by MarkRose · 2012-10-02 04:17 · Score: 1

No, it's from Austin Powers in Goldmember.

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Be relentless!

Re:I guess you;ve been watching... by scifiai · 2012-10-02 04:21 · Score: 1

I'm old enough to remember Crack in the World. Crazy old school sci-fi.

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www.scifiai.com

Re:Crack in the Earth by scifiai · 2012-10-02 04:25 · Score: 1

All hail Dana Andrews!

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www.scifiai.com

didn't they already get virgin magma samples? by Tastecicles · 2012-10-02 04:25 · Score: 1

Yeah, I think it was from the crater of Mt. Nyiragongo, DRC, they even made a documentary about it on Nat. Geo. Region-limited Youtube link. I've seen this show, it's awesome, makes me wish I had a projector and a rocket heater to get the full experience without actually leaving my comfy chair.

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Operation Guillotine is in effect.

Re:Was Lake Peigneur just a small proof of concept by Riddler+Sensei · 2012-10-02 04:48 · Score: 1

Reminds me of what seems to routinely happen to me in Minecraft...

What about the underworld denizens ? by kjshark · 2012-10-02 04:52 · Score: 1

As soon as they have access to the surface. they're going to want green cards. Instead of the "wet foot dry foot" policy Americans have for the the cuban refugees, it could be "deep foot surface foot". Becha the Mormons are going to want to send missionaries toot sweet !

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The difference between truth and fiction is that fiction has to be plausible.

Atomic Drilling? by Penurious+Penguin · 2012-10-02 05:03 · Score: 1

Wonder if they'll be using anything similar to this: http://www.google.com/patents?id=PdAuAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

Apparently, it's a subterranean atomic drill. Quite interesting, and quite old. If it -- or similar technology -- ever was employed, I suspect it has evolved since.

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Forward! -- Emperor Norton, 2012

One Word: by Sinjinx · 2012-10-02 05:08 · Score: 1

Balrog

Get ready for "We're sorry!" by RoccamOccam · 2012-10-02 05:16 · Score: 1

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/360436/were-sorry

why by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · 2012-10-02 05:18 · Score: 1

to what end? For what purpose?

Re:Billiion? by smitty97 · 2012-10-02 05:18 · Score: 1

or Carl Sagan

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mod me funny

Isaac Asimov by chthon · 2012-10-02 05:22 · Score: 2

Recipe for a Planet

Slashdot Mirror

$1 Billion Mission To Reach the Earth's Mantle

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