Long-Lost Continent Found Under the Indian Ocean

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Long-Lost Continent Found Under the Indian Ocean

Posted by samzenpus on Monday February 25, 2013 @04:19AM from the calling-Cthulhu dept.

ananyo writes "The drowned remnants of an ancient micro-continent may lie scattered beneath the waters between Madagascar and India, a new study suggests. Evidence for the long-lost land comes from Mauritius, a volcanic island about 900 kilometers east of Madagascar (abstract) The oldest volcanic rocks on the island date to about 8.9 million years ago. Yet grain-by-grain analyses of beach sand collected at two sites on the Mauritian coast revealed around 20 zircons — tiny crystals of zirconium silicate that are exceedingly resistant to erosion or chemical change — that were far older. One of these zircons was at least 1.97 billion years old. The researchers that made the discovery think that geologically recent volcanic eruptions brought shards of the buried continent to the Earth's surface, where the zircons eroded from their parent rocks to pepper the island's sands. Analyses of Earth's gravitational field reveal several broad areas where sea-floor crust at the bottom of the Indian ocean is much thicker than normal — at least 25 to 30 kilometers thick, rather than the normal 5 to 10 kilometers. Those crustal anomalies may be the remains of a landmass that researchers have now dubbed Mauritia, which they suggest split from Madagascar when tectonic rifting and sea-floor spreading sent the Indian subcontinent surging northeast millions of years ago."

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Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by DeTech · 2013-02-25 04:22 · Score: 5, Funny

Atlantis?
1. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by muntis · 2013-02-25 04:27 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Actually it's more likely to be Lemuria not Atlantis.
2. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Ol+Biscuitbarrel · 2013-02-25 04:35 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Of course it's not Atlantis. Everyone knows that the continent of Atlantis was an island which lay before the great flood in the area we now call the Atlantic Ocean.
3. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 04:41 · Score: 1
  
  This story is getting amazing exposure because of that. The problem is... it predates the Plato-described Atlantis by... oh, I'd say 88 million years and change. The destruction of this thing predates modern humans, thus civilization. It's so old it wouldn't even be in the collective consciousness of early early early man. Atlantis was most likely either the ancient Minoan civilization or Santorini, which were both destroyed when the volcano at Santorini completely destroyed the place. It probably didn't happen where or when Plato thought, but he was getting the info third hand. Interestingly, the destruction of Santorini may have been the cause of most of the Biblical plagues of Egypt described in Exodus. The trick is getting Pharoh's calendar to match up with the timeline of the bible, and the geological timeline of the destruction of Santorini.
4. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by cout · 2013-02-25 04:57 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  No, Atlantis is in another galaxy and we need a Zed Point Module to get there.
5. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by alen · 2013-02-25 05:04 · Score: 1
  
  europe has a regular cycle of being invaded by "barbarians" from the eurasian steppes. i haven't done any hard research into the subject but it seems to average every 800 years or so.
  mongols, the Great Migration period and the fall of the roman empire, the hunnic invasion. they all come through south eastern europe, conquer the existing civilization and then take on their customs and live in the area.
  same with greece, around 800bc there was an invasion of barbarians who became what we consider the classical greeks after they settled down. the "Jews" came into existence around the same time.
  Atlantis is probably a story of an advanced civilization that amazed these nomadic barbarians. if you look at the mongol and hunnic invasions they take place after a warming period that begins to cool. makes sense since horses came from the eurasian plains. warm weather means more horses and enough for them to eat. colder weather the barbarians get restless as their horses don't have enough to eat and start to wander elsewhere to find food for them
6. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by dywolf · 2013-02-25 05:09 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  It's Zero you twit. You're nerd credentials are hereby revoked.
  
  --
  The guy who said the election was rigged won the presidency with the second-most votes.
7. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Culture20 · 2013-02-25 05:11 · Score: 2
  
  Um, to pedantic, that would be a Zero Point Module, a Zee Pee Em, or a Zed Pee Em.
8. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by adibe · 2013-02-25 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  Please use Zero Point Module or Zed-Pee-Em. You should not mix the two uses.
9. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by RivenAleem · 2013-02-25 05:14 · Score: 2
  
  Given the time-frame, I'm thinking closer to R'lyeh's true location. How about we all just leave this continent alone, 'kay?
10. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:17 · Score: 0
  
  No, Uranus isn't sunken, and it's clearly out there for everyone to see.
11. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2013-02-25 05:24 · Score: 1
  
  Have you seen the mess we're making of the place? We'd be better off with The Ancient Ones coming up to shake some sense into us.
  
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  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
12. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by MickLinux · 2013-02-25 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  I thought Lemuria was far more recent, and more to the east. Atlantis, on the other hand, seems to fit pretty well with the google maps find, especially when you consider that the original Atlantis had a moat within a moat within a moat, all carved out of mountains, and --- looking at the same location in Yahoo maps -- you see that very feature just to the west.
  Now, this one is more interesting, in that it might also imply that we could find major parts of the old continent in the Himilayan mountains, all crumpled up. Apparently, it got buried in the breakup of Pangaea, but it predates it by far.
  
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13. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:38 · Score: 0
  
  There is another possibility... that Atlantis is merely an allegoric construct of Plato, and has zero basis in fact... although the destruction of Santorini and the Minoan Civilization is an eerily similar story (island nation destroyed by catastrophic geological event), it didn't happen 10K years before Plato wrote about Atlantis.
  As far as when the Jews came into existence, there are actually several narratives. Of course, there's the Bible's narrative. But also from other historical accounts we know there was a city-state that was populated and governed by a Semitic population, and it was located in Northern Egypt. One narrative says that Pharaoh conquered this city-state and made the population slaves, and another, slightly more interesting narrative, says that this tribe was one of warriors, and was basically hired guns... and Pharaoh hired them as mercenaries to conquer enemies all over the Sinai until the time of the Exodus, when the narrative was changed for marketing purposes (we know that the victor gets to rewrite history).
14. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:47 · Score: 0
  
  I prefer to call it Númenor.
15. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Alphadecay27 · 2013-02-25 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  Not according to the article you linked:
  
  Although sunken continents do exist – like Zealandia in the Pacific as well as Mauritia and the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean – there is no known geological formation under the Indian or Pacific Oceans that corresponds to the hypothetical Lemuria.
16. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:51 · Score: 0
  
  No, you need to surrender yours. The Americans called it a ZPM. Rodney, being Canadian, called it a Zed PM. (YOU twit)
17. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:03 · Score: 0
  
  No, you need to surrender yours. The Americans called it a ZPM. Rodney, being Canadian, called it a Zed PM. (YOU twit)
  Yes. ZPM was Zero Point Module. Zed is how a Canadian would pronounce the acronym ZPM. What you, effectively, said was zee Point Module which is not a phrase ever uttered in the show and would be analogous to saying A Teller Machine.
  Fail.
18. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:04 · Score: 0
  
  But it's wrong, and it's not funny. He called it a Z(ed)PM, as in Zero Point Module.
19. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:11 · Score: 0
  
  ZeePeen?
20. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:16 · Score: 0
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini
  ^ Atlantis
21. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by cyberchondriac · 2013-02-25 06:17 · Score: 1
  
  That is, of course, possible.. but considering that Troy turned out to be a real place, some keep their hopes up. Even if it is discovered, I'm quite sure it wasn't powered by large, magic, glowing, floating quartz crystals or some of the other silly tropes out there.
  
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22. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Abreu · 2013-02-25 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  Cthulhu Ftagn!! Iá! Iá!
  
  --
  No sig for the moment.
23. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Chris+Mattern · 2013-02-25 06:40 · Score: 1
  
  Wrong ocean. This would be Mu.
24. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:49 · Score: 0
  
  I'm pretty sure I saw Atlantis last time I was at Sea World.
25. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:55 · Score: 0
  
  No Atlantis was cloaked in San Francisco Bay until some double dumb-asses hit and sank it with a hijacked Klingon Delorean.
26. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by LynnwoodRooster · 2013-02-25 07:04 · Score: 1
  
  Idiot. Everyone KNOWS that Canada doesn't have scientists! It's too cold - your brain can't work up there...
  
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  Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
27. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by turbidostato · 2013-02-25 08:41 · Score: 1
  
  "The problem is... it predates the Plato-described Atlantis by... oh, I'd say 88 million years and change. The destruction of this thing predates modern humans, thus civilization"
  The Old Ones are oooooold.
  C'mon, aeons old and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? That's obviously neither Atlantis nor Lemuria: It is R'lyeh!
  Don't go to that deep land, for you will awake the horrors of the past... PhÂnglui mglwÂnafh Cthulhu RÂlyeh wgahÂnagl fhtagn
28. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Torodung · 2013-02-25 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  I'm pretty sure what the Old Ones are known for doing is shaking the sense OUT of people. Roll d100 for SAN loss.
29. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by reasterling · 2013-02-25 10:57 · Score: 1
  
  Rrrrr... it's so cold, my processor is running at peak efficiency!
  
  --
  "For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice" -- God
30. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 23:48 · Score: 0
  
  And that refers to the letter 'Z', not a word. So it's not Zed Point Module, it's (Zed)PM or Zero Point Module. So surrender yours and give his back.
31. Re:Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by thunderclap · 2013-02-26 04:20 · Score: 1
  
  and the eighth chevron address.
Re: Long-Lost Continent by WDubois · 2013-02-25 04:23 · Score: 0

Cue the Atlantis references...
Found = Not yet found? by CyberBill · 2013-02-25 04:26 · Score: 3, Insightful

Not really found. This is like trying to find a lost child, and your search dog picks up a scent, or you find a child size shoe.
Still lost. Not found.

--
-Bill
1. Re:Found = Not yet found? by war4peace · 2013-02-25 04:28 · Score: 0
  
  Furthermore, I wonder what the impact this discover has, other than "hey, we know one more thing that nobody's ever going to use or ask about. Ever. Again." Pardon my bluntness, but this is right there in top 5 of most arid, useless discoveries I ever heard about.
  
  --
  ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
2. Re:Found = Not yet found? by Dexter+Herbivore · 2013-02-25 04:33 · Score: 1
  
  Pardon my bluntness, but this is right there in top 5 of most arid, useless discoveries I ever heard about.
  I'm sure that there's plenty of geologists and paleo-geologists who will disagree.
3. Re:Found = Not yet found? by gandhi_2 · 2013-02-25 04:35 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  If you ever drop your continent into a river of molten lava, let it go, because, man, it's gone.
  
  --
  THL phish sticks
4. Re:Found = Not yet found? by gmuslera · 2013-02-25 05:09 · Score: 1
  
  Most of modern life is based on a lot of arid, useless discoveries or technologies by the time they were done.
5. Re:Found = Not yet found? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sure that there's plenty of geologists and paleo-geologists who will disagree.
  I work with paleogeologists and there are lots of cool discoveries every day. I don't see what's special about this one, beyond the hype of calling a destroy microplate a "lost continent".
6. Re:Found = Not yet found? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:25 · Score: 0
  
  This seems like it would be of interest to geologist because it would provide more data to help in down the history and evolution of plates in the area. It is also of interest to the general public because of the hype or at least in part because it can be made to look like a simple and interesting discovery. Of all of the other cool discoveries geologists make every day, a large portion of those are much more difficult to make of interest to general public (some are even going to be boring to scientists in non-geology fields).
  The idea that it can get people interested in geology is a benefit that shouldn't be overlooked.
7. Re:Found = Not yet found? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-26 07:33 · Score: 0
  
  Knowledge is good for its own sake.
  You are free to remain in ignorance.
Mauritia? by ArcadeMan · 2013-02-25 04:28 · Score: 1

Surely you mean Atlantis.

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Get free satoshi (Bitcoin) and Dogecoins
1. Re:Mauritia? by slashmydots · 2013-02-25 04:51 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Nope, it's the long lost city of Atlanta; home of the coca cola bottling plant and other things than the gigantic airport hub.
2. Re:Mauritia? by Muad'Dave · 2013-02-25 05:33 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, like every single road being named Peachtree something-or-other.
  
  --
  Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
3. Re:Mauritia? by CrimsonAvenger · 2013-02-25 07:50 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, like every single road being named Peachtree something-or-other.
  It's not that bad. Probably not more than a dozen or so named Peachtree.
  Or were you including the ones outside the downtown area too?
  
  --
  
  "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
4. Re:Mauritia? by Muad'Dave · 2013-02-25 08:15 · Score: 1
  
  [Ab]Using google maps I get 23. I'm not sure what you call outside downtown - I'm a country boy - it's ALL downtown to me!
  Peachtree St NE
  Peachtree St NW
  Peachtree Rd NE
  Peachtree Center Ave NE
  Peachtree Ave NE
  Peachtree Battle Ave NW
  Peachtree Circle NE
  Peachtree Dunwoody Road
  Peachtree Dunwoody Road Northeast
  Peachtree Dunwoody Circle
  Peachtree Dunwoody Court NE
  Peachtree Drive
  Peachtree Rd NW
  Old Peachtree Rd NW
  Peachtree Hills Ave NE
  Peachtree Hills Circle NE
  Peachtree Industrial Blvd
  Peachtree Industrial Court
  Peachtree Pkwy
  Peachtree Place NE
  Peachtree Place NW
  Peachtree North Court
  West Peachtree St NE
  
  --
  Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
5. Re:Mauritia? by CrimsonAvenger · 2013-02-25 08:24 · Score: 1
  
  [Ab]Using google maps I get 23. I'm not sure what you call outside downtown - I'm a country boy - it's ALL downtown to me!
  Alas, it was meant as a joke - used to live in Atlanta, and everything being named "Peachtree" was a running gag then (probably still is)....
  
  --
  
  "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
6. Re: Mauritia? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 12:00 · Score: 0
  
  It was actually an old apartheid trick used by Atlanteans to prevent people of color from living on streets named "Peachtree".
7. Re:Mauritia? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 12:29 · Score: 0
  
  it still is. (southern GA. resident)
Interesting fact by slashmydots · 2013-02-25 04:33 · Score: 5, Funny

According to the article, they entire civilization was using Windows 8 right before it sunk. Their continental IT department tried to roll out touchscreens and then the whole place sank into the sea. Strange, but not unexpected.
1. Re:Interesting fact by RivenAleem · 2013-02-25 05:17 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Sounds like a Surface problem.
2. Re:Interesting fact by Grayhand · 2013-02-25 05:19 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  According to the article, they entire civilization was using Windows 8 right before it sunk. Their continental IT department tried to roll out touchscreens and then the whole place sank into the sea. Strange, but not unexpected.
  Microsoft's blue screen of death was meant to honor all those that sank into the blue sea with no hope of survival.
3. Re:Interesting fact by Motard · 2013-02-25 05:43 · Score: 1
  
  Wow. Think about MS much?
4. Re:Interesting fact by tokencode · 2013-02-25 10:02 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  To some people, I think Microsoft is like that girl that wronged them in high school and they still can't get over it... Even though she's married to someone else, and she's always friendly to you now, you still will always think she is a bitch.
5. Re:Interesting fact by ByteSlicer · 2013-02-25 21:21 · Score: 1
  
  The proper term is Surface Tension.
I've always known it: by vikingpower · 2013-02-25 04:35 · Score: 1

Atlantis DID go south, only what you get radically differs from what Plato thought there was: not philosophers, but tiny apes inhabit it.

--
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Punchline by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 04:37 · Score: 0

"Ancient lost continent discovered lounging on Mauritian beach..."
I didn't know your momma visited Mauritian beach.
Plate tectonics by Jafafa+Hots · 2013-02-25 04:39 · Score: 5, Insightful

Remnants of MANY lost continents lay under the ocean floor.
And at the top of mountains too.
And those lost continents were made from remnants of previous lost continents.
Someone just discovered geology. Amazing.

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This space available.
1. Re:Plate tectonics by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 04:47 · Score: 1
  
  I love that every idiot on Slashdot thinks he is an expert in EVERYTHING.
2. Re:Plate tectonics by Jeng · 2013-02-25 04:52 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Yes, that is an unfortunate effect of dealing with stupid people all day, you end up feeling really smart when you are really just a step above those you help.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
3. Re:Plate tectonics by Rude+Turnip · 2013-02-25 04:54 · Score: 1
  
  And, the definition of what constitutes a continent is rather subjective. Any definition one tries to establish has many leaks that result in either very few continents or dozens of them.
  
  --
  Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
4. Re:Plate tectonics by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:28 · Score: 0
  
  Someone just discovered geology. Amazing.
  Which of course is such a horrible thing and must be discouraged? If we let geology become too interesting, lay people might get interested... then what?
5. Re:Plate tectonics by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 07:03 · Score: 0
  
  Sure is stretching the definitions.
  A geologically notable sunk continent.
  It now joins Zealandia and Zerg-rush-something or other.
  These are very noticeable landmasses, not something that still exists now at a higher level or different location.
  Note that I say higher level when I refer to a sunken landmass, which is still very height-based, but something at a higher level still exists. That is where the difference lies.
  This continent is basically the lost link between Madagascar and India. The one that mostly confirms the theoretical Lemuria with our now revised knowledge on plate tectonics and so on, while putting its huge theoretical landmass to rest since we know it was just standard ol' plate drift. This also further confirms our knowledge on biogeography, plate tectonics and other areas.
  Nobody cares that a continent existed eleventy billion years ago outside of historical knowledge, these ones are still very apparent now.
  We already have a branch for dealing with future landmasses as well, screw calling it North America an Asia, everyone knows it is Amasia. Stop being so stuck in the passsst, maaan.
6. Re:Plate tectonics by Sulphur · 2013-02-25 07:57 · Score: 1
  
  Someone just discovered geology. Amazing.
  Which of course is such a horrible thing and must be discouraged? If we let geology become too interesting, lay people might get interested... then what?
  DIY geology like what happened on Mars?
7. Re:Plate tectonics by turbidostato · 2013-02-25 08:45 · Score: 1
  
  "This also further confirms our knowledge on biogeography, plate tectonics and other areas."
  But, but, but... this could have not happened in only 6000 years!
8. Re:Plate tectonics by mikael · 2013-02-25 09:19 · Score: 1
  
  And in the desert, like the The Silk Road, a merchant route between Europe and China. If the archeologists are really lucky, there are also remains of pottery and artwork, grafitti and once, even a diary carved into a soft clay pot (even 6000 years, people wanted to keep track of personal events).
  
  --
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9. Re:Plate tectonics by H0p313ss · 2013-02-25 09:51 · Score: 1
  
  Yes, that is an unfortunate effect of dealing with stupid people all day, you end up feeling really smart when you are really just a step above those you help.
  You can call them stupid all you like, I call them customers and they pay the bills nicely.
  
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10. Re:Plate tectonics by Jeng · 2013-02-25 10:03 · Score: 1
  
  Very true.
  I know the people I help are not stupid, they just don't have the same knowledge I have, much like I don't have the same knowledge they do.
  Doesn't make me smarter than them.
  
  --
  Don't know something? Look it up. Still don't know? Then ask.
11. Re:Plate tectonics by N!k0N · 2013-02-26 11:40 · Score: 1
  
  I think you meant "Eastasia" (or perhaps "Eurasia" or "Oceania", depending)
12. Re:Plate tectonics by Pav · 2013-02-27 00:48 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, most sea floor is pretty new, being only a few hundreds of thousands of years old. Not surprising if you understand plate tectonics... new sea floor is being created at plate boundaries and gets pushed towards the continents.
13. Re:Plate tectonics by RockDoctor · 2013-02-27 09:33 · Score: 1
  
  "This also further confirms our knowledge on biogeography, plate tectonics and other areas."
  But, but, but... this could have not happened in only 6000 years!
  So, you are willing to abandon your "the Earth is only 6000 years old" hypothesis?
  
  --
  Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
So THAT'S where they go by Tablizer · 2013-02-25 04:44 · Score: 1

Found!, along with 200 million unmatched socks

--
Table-ized A.I.
1. Re:So THAT'S where they go by Sulphur · 2013-02-25 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  Found!, along with 200 million unmatched socks
  All left feet?
2. Re:So THAT'S where they go by tqk · 2013-02-25 10:10 · Score: 1
  
  Found!, along with 200 million unmatched socks
  All left feet?
  You didn't think very hard on that, did you? I've never seen socks that were left vs. right dependant, other than those funny Japanese slippers with toes (cf. gloves).
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
3. Re:So THAT'S where they go by Sulphur · 2013-02-25 10:33 · Score: 1
  
  Found!, along with 200 million unmatched socks
  All left feet?
  You didn't think very hard on that, did you? I've never seen socks that were left vs. right dependant, other than those funny Japanese slippers with toes (cf. gloves).
  Left vs. right socks was a gag played on a blind person.
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You_Could_See_What_I_Hear
4. Re:So THAT'S where they go by tqk · 2013-02-25 11:37 · Score: 1
  
  Chick flick. I'm not surprised I've never heard of it.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
5. Re:So THAT'S where they go by Sulphur · 2013-02-26 04:36 · Score: 1
  
  "Dior" monogrammed socks distinguish left and right socks BTW.
Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by GodfatherofSoul · 2013-02-25 04:45 · Score: 1

So, if continents are floating in the Earth's crust that is forming at the Atlantic ridge for one and submerging at the Pacific ridge, why isn't the surface being completely reformed and continents regularly melted completely and recycles? Do the major continents float on top of the crust?

--
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
1. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by armanox · 2013-02-25 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  My understanding (and I am not a geologist) is that this is what happens. It's just that "regular cylces" on the timeline are very long.
  
  --
  I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
2. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:08 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  its called subduction, the continents are on the tectonic plates which float and move around. The San Andreas fault in California is a prime example of subduction, the pacific plate is subducting and recycling the north american plate.
3. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by WalksOnDirt · 2013-02-25 05:08 · Score: 1
  
  Do the major continents float on top of the crust?
  Yes.
  
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  a,e,i,o,u and sometimes w and y (at be if of up cwm by)
4. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Muad'Dave · 2013-02-25 05:36 · Score: 2
  
  The the San Andreas is a strike-slip fault, not a subduction fault.
  
  --
  Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
5. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:04 · Score: 1
  
  Continents drift around at a rate of 5cm/year. About the same rate as the change in height of mountain ranges. It's only when you start going into thousands and millions of years that things really start to change: 100 years = 5 metres, 1000 years = 50 metres, 100000 years = 5 kilometers. 1 million years = 50 kilometers.
  After around 100 million years, every continent could have moved around 5000 kilometers, changing tidal currents, weather patterns.
  It's only 10,000 years ago that the North Sea didn't exist and was actually marshland, known as Doggerland by geologists. When oil rigs drill down into the seabed to gather core samples, they frequently picked up animal skeletons and hunting tools. Look at old maps of the UK and you can see that the coastline has retreated three miles inland over the past 900 years. There are entire villages, roads and farms that have completely disappeared.
6. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 07:13 · Score: 0
  
  It is called there is a huge ocean on top of them.
  It keeps the top cold enough to slow the crust melting considerably, but still fluid enough to move at a decent rate.
  Any faster and we'd have much more quakes, tsunamis for sure since they are more active at the edges of landmasses, all that shaking would push crap out of place so much. There'd be no bikini age! Just think of that. The horror! Beaches would be like a warzone.
  Any slower and... uh, we'd probably have a lesser EM field due to a cooler planet overall? Cooler planet overall.
  The planet might even die quicker? We know Earth certainly isn't stable, it already has a death-date, but it is wildly up in the air and it could outlast the suns expansion (so still dead anyway)
  We certainly would have outlived Mars if our oceans were noticeably larger (say, double), and we might have even developed hardier life due to increases in radiation.
  In fact, it might just well last to the suns expansion because it will get hotter with time, and we are pretty much right on the outer edge of the goldilocks zone from just recent research that corrected it to the best of our knowledge.
  So the only way it uppp, baby, but not for us, we are going to die. That song just got sad now.
7. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 08:01 · Score: 0
  
  I'm not a geologist, but if you look at some animations of plate tectonics over time, and you look at the current globe, you see the continents kind of fit together in the Atlantic like puzzle pieces? That's where they broke apart, and they're still moving apart from sea floor spreading in the Atlantic. But (and I'm speaking real generally) when the continents move far enough away from the middle of the Atlantic and far enough towards the Pacific, they don't crunch up into a super-continent on the Pacific side. At some point, the force required to push those continents together exceeds the force doing the sea floor spreading on the Atlantic side of Earth and the continents start moving back the other way, the "Pacific" side expands, the Atlantic side shrinks, and when the continents are moving towards one another on the Atlantic side, they do tend to crunch up together into a single super-continent--before the stresses in the Earth rip them up and move the "new" continents back the other way and the "Atlantic" side starts spreading again.
  At least, that's what the continents have done through a couple of cycles and it's a plausible guess that they'll do it again, given long enough. Since they haven't done it yet, we don't really know. For one thing, before the continents get back to doing the super-continent thing in the middle of the "Atlantic" again, we'll probably get whacked by a few seriously big rocks from space, and if one of them is planetoid size, it's "Anything Can Happen" day. It's not like Earth's stopped accreting, it's just slowed way, way down. Earth's gotten smacked by planetoids about six times, iirc. (Since nobody human was there to watch, all the geologists know is just very, very educated guesswork, and new discoveries can change how we look at things.)
8. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by Ol+Biscuitbarrel · 2013-02-25 09:35 · Score: 1
  
  Maybe he had in mind the Juan de Fuca Plate.
9. Re:Slightly OT: How do continents survive? by tqk · 2013-02-25 11:14 · Score: 2
  
  I'm not a geologist ...
  Not to be cruel, but it shows (however I admire your interest). This is cool stuff once you get the bug. Your account reads plausible but somewhat confused. I'm not a geologist either. I did spend about a decade as a geophysical tech. My understanding is the mid-Atlantic ridge is opening up and pushing the North American plate away from the European plate, and the Pacific plate is subducting under the Western side of the North American plate. It's convection, but the geologic timescale dwarfs that process.
  This story appears to relate to the time when India slammed into Asia creating the Himalayas. Left in India's wake was this thing, sinking as fast as the Himalayas rose. When you think of the enormity of such a thing happening, it deserves the often abused word "awsome." Multiply that with the [mb]illions of years it took, and awesome doesn't begin to describe it. The geologic timescale makes life on Earth look like the blink of an eye.
  
  Earth's gotten smacked by planetoids about six times, iirc.
  As Earth accreted from stardust, it was probably smacked [mb]illions of times during its formation. You'd think we'd be used to it by now. The Chelyabinsk thing the other day shouldn't have been a very big surprise, were it not for that geological timescale thing. We've seen this happening over and over, even in the miniscule time we've been here.
  It's very difficult for average people to understand things on this timescale. We're accustomed to believe a millenium is a long time. It's not. It's only a long time compared to us.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
Opened Pandora's box: by Tablizer · 2013-02-25 04:46 · Score: 2

The Sleestak there are demanding reparations for disturbing their peace.

--
Table-ized A.I.
old news by nimbius · 2013-02-25 04:47 · Score: 3, Funny

Made my way to Mauritius last weekend while trying to get to the airport Marriott with Apple Maps.

--
Good people go to bed earlier.
Very confusing by 140Mandak262Jamuna · 2013-02-25 04:54 · Score: 5, Informative

The last pangea was about 300 million years ago. Indian subcontinent dashed across the Indian ocean and rammed into the underbelly of Asia just 70 million years ago. But these zircon cyrstals are 1900 million years ago. Enough time for one or two pangeas to form and break apart. The data is data, never argue with it. The crust could be 20 km thick where Arabian Sea is today and these crystals could be 1.9 billion years old. But I wish there is a better explanation than this idea of a lost continent.
I am bracing for another assault from the Tamil literature majors. There are references to sea level rise and lost cities (South Madurai) and lost rivers (Pahtruli) and lost temples (near Mamallapuram) and lost harbours (near Poompuhar) and lost grammar books (by Agastiyar ) in Tamil. Best explained by the ending of last ice age some 9000 years ago and the seas coming in a few kilometers and probably flooding a large river delta. But these guys postulate a "lost continent" of Lemuria, exactly in the Arabian Sea./Indian Ocean. Now they are going to come on like a ton of bricks claiming vindication and "proof" that the Tamil language is 1.9 billion years old. Especially since there is a literary reference that translates as, "after the rocks have appeared, but the sand has not yet been formed, [Tamils] were born with swords, the eldest civilization". That would gel with a 1.9 billion year old language.

--
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
1. Re:Very confusing by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:02 · Score: 0
  
  I think it would be awesome. if that were true.
  But has anyone considered that indian ocean is expanding, hence India collided with Asia forming the Himalayas... could it be that the ancient land mass split apart and abutted what is now Antartica? Only way to tell is if similar rocks are found there. Of course, I'm sure extensive studies have been made to the origin of Antartica as I am not a geologist..
2. Re:Very confusing by Luminary+Crush · 2013-02-25 09:34 · Score: 1
  
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21551149
  Researchers have found evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 and 85 million years ago.
  This potentially places the landmass above sea level during a time when humanity could have been present on it.
Everyone was thinking it, I Just said it. by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:01 · Score: 0

Meow meow meow meow meow meow ...
Who is to blame by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:04 · Score: 0

Who lost it?
Nope, I'm thinking Pandemic 2 by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:06 · Score: 0

Shutting down an entire continent between you and India? Damn you Madagascar!
Alternatives? by TheLink · 2013-02-25 05:14 · Score: 1

Also, it does not seem as if the zircons rode to Mauritius on the wind, says Robert Duncan, a marine geologist at Oregon State University in Corvallis. âoeThereâ(TM)s a remote possibility that they were wind blown, but theyâ(TM)re probably too large to have done so,â he adds.
How big is too large? Apparently dust gets blown quite far: http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100809/full/news.2010.396.html
Or could they be from an asteroid?
--
- Too many replies beneath your current threshold
Re: Long-Lost Continent by Gort65 · 2013-02-25 05:14 · Score: 0

They're already at the finish line.
Microcontinent or a dwarf continent? by voislav98 · 2013-02-25 05:15 · Score: 3, Interesting

This is why I like geologists, they are logical people. Astronomers never thought to call Pluto a microplanet.
1. Re:Microcontinent or a dwarf continent? by tqk · 2013-02-25 11:53 · Score: 1
  
  This is why I like geologists, they are logical people. Astronomers never thought to call Pluto a microplanet.
  That was bureaucratic BS. Pluto's a planet, and a damned interesting one.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
2. Re:Microcontinent or a dwarf continent? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 14:39 · Score: 0
  
  Neil Tyson is not a bureaucrat. Hopefully you know who that is and why he made that call.
3. Re:Microcontinent or a dwarf continent? by tqk · 2013-02-25 15:13 · Score: 1
  
  Neil Tyson is not a bureaucrat. Hopefully you know who that is and why he made that call.
  Funny. I was going by this:
  On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) defined what it means to be a "planet" within the Solar System. This definition excluded Pluto as a planet and added it as a member of the new category "dwarf planet" along with Eris and Ceres.[18] After the reclassification, Pluto was added to the list of minor planets and given the number 134340.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
zircon-encrusted tweezers by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:22 · Score: 0

"D'you think I could interest you in a pair of zircon-encrusted tweezers?" - Zappa
Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-02-25 05:30 · Score: 2

I live in Mauritius and it's a pathetic hot place (lots of rain lately) with ave. internet speeds of 30 KB/s during the day and 80 KB/s at midnight when you're supposed to be asleep. This is what you get when the telco is a monopoly (51% Mauritian owned : 49% French (Orange)).
1. Re:Sadly... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:09 · Score: 1
  
  It sucks for a geek, but then it shouldn't matter if you are the type that rather surf, works outside, etc.
2. Re:Sadly... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:43 · Score: 0
  
  This is what you get for living on a remote island not traversed by a fiber backbone. You're lucky to have internet speeds better than a dial-up, if any at all.
3. Re:Sadly... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:55 · Score: 0
  
  This is what you get for living on a remote island not traversed by a fiber backbone. You're lucky to have internet speeds better than a dial-up, if any at all.
  it's traversed by safe cable...
4. Re:Sadly... by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:58 · Score: 0
  
  come on, stop whining on the internet and go buy an emtel 4g starter pack.
  by the way 4g is available on this island, tasha is just searching for attention
5. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-02-25 10:14 · Score: 2
  
  Tasha26, you are giving inaccurate information to Slashdot readers. This is not the 90s anymore; the national telecommunications operator no longer holds a monopoly on internet connectivity. You can get an Internet subscriptions from other providers like ADBN, Emtel, DCL, MTML and soon. ADSL is available up to 4 Mbps (Unmetered). I am myself subscribed to a 2 Mbps unmetered connection for about USD 45/month. It is more expensive than what you would get in developed nations but keep in mind that we're on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere. We have undersea fiber (SAFE, LION2, EASSy etc.) linking us to the rest of the world.
6. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-02-25 10:46 · Score: 1
  
  Emtel etc.. they all buy from MT you dummy. This is called piggy-backing. Internet blackout (outbound international not local) happens because MT is the only one who buys bandwidth from international providers and when MT's infrastructure goes belly up nobody in Mtius can have internet. Therefore listing SAFE and others doesn't matter or impress me at all.
  
  I find it absolutely astounding that you list "upto 4 MBps" but not the actual speed delivered at the end user level. Don't you think that this is more important?? Do you even know what's the real max KB/s you can draw during the day? Everyone in the London knows that BT Broadband sells upto 24 MBps ADSL packages but in reality you only get 5-8 MBps in true speed (day & night). I know this because I also live in London. In Mauritius and on a 1 MBps package, I get pathetic speeds during daytime from 10 KB/s to 30 KB/s. Please explain this to me and why most Mauritians I know complain about Youtube videos always buffering? In most likelihood, you're the one giving Slashdotter a false advertising of the state of internet in Mauritius. Please have your geek badge withdrawn.
7. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-02-25 10:50 · Score: 1
  
  Says a pathetic anonymous coward, how fitting! lol. Emtel piggy-backs on MT's bacbone. Go look it up.
8. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-02-25 11:30 · Score: 1
  
  My 2 Mbps ADSL gives me a stable 200 KB/s at pretty much any time of the day. At least one of my customers in the capital city gets an average of 3.2 Mbps on his 4 Mbps subscription. I do have some customers who complain of their line speeds but they're mostly on the last mile so they're hitting a technological limit.
  Emtel is part of the consortium of operators of the LION2 project and as such are hooked to LION2 independently of Mauritius Telecom. When MT's infrastructure goes down, Emtel happily keeps chugging along. Also as from April 2012, ICTA-licensed local operators are allowed to connect directly to the undersea cable station.
  You namecalling me does not make you right. You have maybe lived in London for too long to notice the changes happening in Mauritius.
9. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-02-26 00:39 · Score: 1
  
  Daytime 200 KB/s or (even 100 KB/s) is impressive in this backward island. The max I got in London was 736 KB/s. But tbh, in your case I will have to see this figure to believe it! In Quatre-Bornes, ADSL sold as a 1 Mbps only delivers 30 KB/s in real terms during the day (access to international internet). My phone line itself is rated at about 6 Mbps (for TV+Internet) but who the hell would want to visit a Mauritian website?
  
  Sadly everyone I know (non-business users) hates Mauritius Telecoms with a vengeance so there must be a good logical reason for that. Each time I come back to this wretched island, I think about starting a class-action lawsuit against MT. Thinking about it now, I doubt that your 200 KB/s figure is even true and that you most probably work for MT..
10. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-02-26 11:00 · Score: 1
  
  I do not work for Mauritius Telecom. I have no motivation to lie about the yield of my residential ADSL 2 Mbps.
  To illustrate, I have uploaded some June 2012 bandwidth graphs saved from my old firewall for your review.
  Regards
11. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-03 03:38 · Score: 1
  
  Dear dear me, please tell me that Tasha26 isn't making that all-too-common mistake of mixing up bits and bytes ("on a 1 MBps package, I get pathetic speeds during daytime from 10 KB/s to 30 KB/s")... what do you reckon, simpleguy?
  (Granted, whether a 97% or a 70% reduction in speed the quality of his service isn't good, but, we get customers confusing the terminology **all the time** and we have to explain that their computer - rather stupidly - measures download speeds using a different unit than the one that we sell them - and probably everyone working for an ISP has the same problem).
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
12. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 03:48 · Score: 1
  
  Firstly, I'm not Indian, I just live and work there.
  Secondly, I *did* read the whole conversation, hence the comment. I'm not the one making the mistake of mixing Mbps with MBps, please re-read your own posts.
  Thirdly, learn some manners. I should hope you don't go around your island calling people dummies and idiots as you have done to myself and simpleguy - if you do, I'm surprised that you don't get slapped in the face on a daily basis.
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
13. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 03:58 · Score: 1
  
  And by Mbps and MBps of course I'm referring to bits (as advertised) and bytes (as your computer displays). Very common mistake which based on the context it has been used in your posts, is one that you appear to be making when you're writing things like:
  
  ADSL sold as a 1 Mbps only delivers 30 KB/s in real terms during the day
  When you could/should instead use the same unit of measurement for both: say something like "ADSL sold as 1Mbps only delivers ~256kbps in real terms during the day - unless you're appearing to make it *seem* like it's worse than it is.
  And then you have gems like:
  
  ...you list "upto 4 MBps" ... BT Broadband sells upto 24 MBps ADSL packages ... get 5-8 MBps ...
  (truncated for emphasis)
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
14. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-03-05 08:36 · Score: 1
  
  My oh my, resorting to name-calling and racial slurs when you run out of arguments. Well, I'll give you fodder to insult me now.
  On your twitter, you wrote that you're in paradise when you visited Mauritius a few weeks ago.
  On slashdot, you write, this 'wretched island' 'pathetic and 'backward island'. How do you explain this discrepancy.
  Also, judging from your Twitter feed, it shows you have lived mostly in England for the past few years. Technically, you don't live in Mauritius and in England; you've just come to visit on occasion. This strengthens my earlier statement that you really live in England, not in Mauritius as you claim.
  I've called you out on your insinuation that I work for MT so I must be bullshitting. The graphs have spoken.
  I've called you out on your claim that MT is a monopoly. It is not and other service providers don't depend on them. Your claim that when "MT goes down, everyone else goes down" is a complete lie.
  http://www.icta.mu/documents/publications/cross-connection_final.pdf
  http://business.mega.mu/2012/04/11/telecom-lion2-cable-launched-thursday/
  Last, as transvestite Tasha26, you ought to know what prejudice is like. I believe you have experienced this at least once in your life. Remember this is a tech site, not a place for your racial slurs.
15. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 13:59 · Score: 1
  
  The question is "Who the fuck sells ADSL in MBps?" First, it's not on any sales leaflet I've ever come across. Second, my convo has more "Mbps" than the one reply where it was "MBps." It should be clear that this is a typo. Now what does this tell us about you? That you're indeed a dumb Indian idiot! That's what you guys are and will always be. Don't know what you were trying to achieve in your lame reply but it wasn't at all in the solutions or diagnostics department. So yup, you're an idiot to me.
16. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 14:31 · Score: 1
  
  1. Nobody does, but then, I'm not the one failing to distinguish units properly in all 3 of the postings relevant to this particular argument.
  2. Sorry, but no, your conversation does not have "more Mbps" - note that in the post http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3492827&cid=43079231 I gave 2 examples, not just one - and in one of the sentences you'd made the mistake at least 3 times. As such, it is *not* clear that this is a typo. In fact, one might even agree that I'm not simply only being pedantic, either.
  3. Apparently you can't read. I've already told you I'm not Indian. If you want to be racist, at least get my race right.
  4. I wasn't trying to achieve anything in my reply - I was merely wondering aloud if you were making a mistake which, frankly, many people make, which is to mix up the units either by accident or because they don't understand the difference because nobody has properly explained it to them - many customers simply are not aware of the difference between bits and bytes (or MBps/Mbps) and just because this is Slashdot I'm not necessarily inclined to take for granted that you are any different from any of them.
  There was no need for you to get all offended, much less go name calling to both myself and simpleguy when we separately corrected you on different issues, thereby suggesting that - vishnu forbid - you might be wrong. In future, perhaps you should be gracious and accept that people are trying to be helpful by pointing minor errors out, even if they might be sounding a little condescending (this is Slashdot, after all). Now, you can think I'm an idiot all you like (actually, you're reminding me of someone who went to an IIT - with the god complex and "I'm always right" thing even when demonstrably wrong which is why I refuse to hire IITans) but it doesn't make simpleguy or myself any less right - or you any less wrong. Something simpleguy has already pointed out to you, I might add.
  Now, if you want a diagnosis, you have a big attitude problem, and you need to tone it down and not get all hoity at people. And if you want a solution to your speed issues with Mauritius Telecom, change. You have the choice, and it has been pointed out to you that they are no longer a monopoly on international traffic, and that EMTel seems to deliver fairly consistent speeds. That is all.
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
17. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 15:01 · Score: 1
  
  You have NOT proved anything ok? Do you even know what "proof" means? Have you studied logic or philosophy at university level? Don't use words that you don't understand. So far, you've only proven that in your house (i.e. region (closeness to an exchange hub) & neighbourhood (contention ratio)), MT has installed a reliable service. Does this mean or imply that everyone else in Mauritius has the SAME LEVEL OF SERViCE or that you could be one of those rare cases? Because you already know the answer to that (and it should really make you feel small and dumb), then I shouldn't elaborate any further.
  
  Mauritius can have nice beaches and viewpoints, nothing like beautiful Bali or Seychelles but it is still somewhere nice. Now, what is the connection between saying this and the provision of ADSL to the islanders? Second, If you're taking some old information (like a perv or stalker) from my Twitter page and it must be more than a few weeks old (because I couldn't find that claim - the only one was from Jan 2012, so how far back did you stalk my tweets and do you need glasses because you didn't see the 2012!), and mixing this with what I'm NOW saying on Slashdot, then you must be a really dumb person! Mixing unconnected facts from different contexts & times to prove a point is the best way to show us that you belong to the category of stupid persons. What were you exactly trying to achieve apart from an Epic Fail? Please don't answer that, it's rhetorical.
  
  Yup I'm a transvestite (whenever am back in the UK) and I looove it. Still, am not sure what my personal life choice has to do with a discussion about the state of ADSL in Mauritius. Is that another "fail" of yours? Again, please don't answer that.
18. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 15:10 · Score: 1
  
  So... you also don't know the difference between being racist and a xenophobe? Also, apparently you can't count... so sad! And lastly, you were trying to be dumb indian idiot. Idiots don't solve or diagnose or offer anything of value. I already told you so. And what are you doing poking your nose in Mauritian matters? Do you also live here? No. And apparently you don't live in India too. Damn, you must be a confused and dumb indian idiot. Looool.
19. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 15:30 · Score: 1
  
  I understand that you're a thick person. You have shown it in countless posts already. Let me repeat what I typed before: (1) Who the fuck sells consumer ADSL in MBps? (2) When you're downloading something in Windows or Mac or whatever, does it say KB/s or Kb/s?
  
  Now take the answers to these and shove it in your dumb brain. Do you now understand what you units I meant to say or do you pester your fee-paying clients in the same way, you daft Indian idiot? Wowee *sigh*
20. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 15:34 · Score: 1
  
  1. I know the difference between racism and xenophobia... but do you? You're not exhibiting an irrational dislike of me because I'm foreign, you're specifically calling me an "Indian idiot", thus distinguishing a dislike of a particular race, even though I'm personally not a member of it. As such, racism.
  2. I'm not Indian. Get it right or bugger off.
  3. Can't count, huh? Cite evidence. I counted 3 posts from you in *this thread* (http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=3492827&cid=43004729) prior to my getting involved, posts outside the scope of the that one notwithstanding.
  4. I wasn't *trying* to solve anything - I was questioning your use of the units of measurement in your post.
  5. It does not concern you as to why I might be "poking my nose in to Mauritian matters". The mistake you have made is not unique to any one country, so this is really not relevant.
  6. My employment visa would say otherwise - I am a resident of India, pay tax in India - so even though I am not a citizen nor of Indian descent, I'm pretty sure I live in India.
  In any case, I've come to the conclusion that something is wrong with you. So... do us all a favour and allow me to cease participation in your nonsense because it seems that all you seem prepared to do is insult everyone who says anything in your direction. Thanks.
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
21. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 15:39 · Score: 1
  
  YaaaaawWWWWwwnnn....
22. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 15:50 · Score: 1
  
  Seems like you're trying to elicit some kind of retaliative response.
  I've already answered your question about who sells in MBps (nobody). Also, just because Windows and Mac say something, doesn't make it right - they also measure in ^2 for hard-drive sizes which are sold in ^10 - but do you ever tell someone you have a 936GB hard drive? No, you don't.
  Consistency is the key factor here and in the original posts, not only were you not being consistent, you were stating the incorrect units - 3 times in 1 sentence - and then try to fob it off as a typo.
  Also, I'm still not Indian, no matter how much you seem to insist that I am. And I think everyone would agree, the insults are not really necessary or justified - not to me, nor to anyone else, although based on your post history, it seems as though this is not the first incident of you simply being rude to people.
  Other than that, please re-read my previous answers and kindly bugger off. Thanks (also: any future response from you will only be replied with the line "Cool story bro, TL;DR")
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
23. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 18:05 · Score: 1
  
  If you understood what I meant then what the fuck are you still on about?
24. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 19:21 · Score: 1
  
  Says the person spamming my twitter feed and making stuff up. Honestly, some people.
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
25. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-03-05 19:54 · Score: 1
  
  If that was a discussion about the state of ADSL (now that we've established MT is not the monopoly you wanted it to be portrayed as), how about you stuck to the tech nature of the discussion and not resort to racial slurs? Regarding the discrepancy of the service, I wrote in my lots earlier post that I have some customers complain about the speed but it was due to limitations of the technology itself (e.g. being on the last mile) You were attempting to portray Mauritius as being a really backwards nation with one telecommunications operator acting as a monopoly with the blanket insinuation that internet service is crap. I gathered information from your twitter to determine whether you really lived in Mauritius as you claimed or you were just an occasional visitor. You linked the misleading information you gave regarding the nature of internet connectivity here with you being a resident of Mauritius.
  Now if instead of keeping the discussion at the tech level, you start taking refuge in racial slurs towards other participants in the tech discussion. I think you need to look at your own capacity to engage in a tech talk before you judge others.
26. Re:Sadly... by mgcarley · 2013-03-05 20:07 · Score: 1
  
  No they don't - Emtel (AS30999 http://bgp.he.net/AS30999) connects solely to Belgacom.
  Mauritius Telecom (AS23889 http://bgp.he.net/AS23889) has far more diversity - connecting to Tata, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, Telekom Malaysia and TTN Vietnam.
  Also, Emtel peers at MIXP but MT doesn't.
  
  --
  Founder & COO, Hayai India (hayai.in) / USA (hayaibroadband.com) // t: @mgcarley
27. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 22:52 · Score: 1
  
  Tasha you are being a moron. You don't seem to be understanding the mere difference between megaBIT and megaBYTE. It seems you whole IT education needs to be re made. I don't think ppl in Mauritius can complain about slow youtube nowadays, because we do have cache servers delivering 200+ kb/s these days. I haven't read this whole conversation yet, but i am pretty sure you get pwned down there.
28. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 22:57 · Score: 1
  
  " in this backward island." Seriously? You came fact less and you are now insulting without proper figures? MT does sucks because of its price, we'll always rant about price and we'll always want more, but don't people rant about virgin in UK? :D :) If the island is so wretched, why do you come by :), if you think you can start a class action lawsuit against MT, why don't you start one :), I'll be more than happy to read about it in the news... hmm or wait... maybe you are trying to seek some attention here, talk a lot and hopefully get someone to start it for you... all talk but not show right? :)
29. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 22:59 · Score: 1
  
  And I aslo gave you an elaborate answer on the current state of your mind and thinking process. Case closed!
  
  P.s. A country is not a race, learn to differentiate between the two.
30. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:01 · Score: 1
  
  Well as a matter of fact, i did notice your confusion with bits and bytes above, read my comments above, you are definitely just a scam, you cannot be an IT guy if you are making such mistakes, you are a pseudo IT guy who lies and sleep with the boss to act 1337. You talk a lot, you are a good diplomat probably (well selling even false information), but that's all there is to it, your comments do not make sense, you aren't being factual enough. Bytes and bits man, come on, give up.
31. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:03 · Score: 1
  
  And come on, you are SO stupid that you are calling someone called "mgcarley" as indian :s how retard can you be! That name sounds more English/us/Irish to me or anyone else having a brain.
32. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:08 · Score: 1
  
  Hail the leet one then :), please do enlighten us :) Someone with a name like "Tasha" using the word indian as "an insult" probably gives me the impression that s/he got treated likewise in london hence now is so used to this that s/he is using that as an insult today :p. There's nothing wrong in anyone being an indian or not, but the real question is, if you wanted to sound arrogant and so much superior, you wouldn't have dragged it to a racial thing, but rather, proved your point using real metrics, real figures and graphs [like simpleguy did], since you can't, i guess you believe that "the one who speaks louder is the smarter". Why not try to compare d*ck size also if you are at it! LOL you make me laugh Hail to you king of idiot :D
33. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:12 · Score: 1
  
  dafuq :s mgcarley just told you he lives and work in Mauritius despite not being Mauritian :s. You are wayyyyyyyyy retarded my lil friend. ahahahahha we are damned laughing here at your indian comment.
34. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:16 · Score: 1
  
  a "thick" person 0_o seriously, you measured? :D He is not indian, he kept saying, and yes you don't have you units right. and if you are dowloading from windows, unix or mac, you can see the speed in any units "you wish" ofcourse, you are too bright to have noticed that einstein.
35. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-05 23:22 · Score: 1
  
  "MT does sucks"? Oh dear...
36. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:34 · Score: 1
  
  I guess, you are among the type of people who just are born without any form of common sense and logic, you can study a lot, but your brain somehow will never be able to make useful links to the information you read. You have mentioned about studying logic and philosophy, yet, you logic is a failure, all logical reasoning starts with basics facts so as you can build up your proof, you have not factual basics to start with, you are just trying to find your 15 minutes of glory. Do you realize that you are intellectually to inferior to even comprehend things that have been said in this conversation? Your comments are saying so, do not try to go out of your field, live your life simply, if someone brings in facts to you, challenge it right, but challenge it factually and not by being like an adamant child.
37. Re:Sadly... by PC_THE_GREAT · 2013-03-05 23:44 · Score: 1
  
  what is this boring reply, come on make my day tgirl :)
38. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-03-06 01:04 · Score: 1
  
  So are you at least going to admit you were wrong on your claim that MT is a monopoly and all other ISPs go through MT, when I have provided the ICTA document that it is not the case and another reader just provided BGP route tables to support this?
  Agreed I got the part on 'being in mauritius a few weeks ago' wrong (it was more in beginning of 2012). It further strengthens that you DON"T live in Mauritius like you originally claimed.
  We're not talking about state of mind and thinking process anymore at this point. I called you out on your claim and gave enough data to refute you. Name-calling me or questioning my education will not make you right Either come up with relevant data, or just admit your information was outdated. Since you believe that my data is not evidence, is your original misinformed post evidence? You provide anecdotes and insults. I provided data. I'm suddenly reminded of this meme on arguing on the internet.
39. Re:Sadly... by doorgesh · 2013-03-06 01:13 · Score: 1
  
  looks like someone needs a diaper change.
40. Re:Sadly... by Tasha26 · 2013-03-06 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  Pointless now. I closed the case due to your own shortcomings. Go back and read my "proof" if you haven't done so already. Now you and your troll accounts can have fun posting whatever rubbish you want and call yourself winners in a lose situation. Very sad and juvenile!
41. Re:Sadly... by simpleguy · 2013-03-06 04:15 · Score: 1
  
  You have provided no evidence at all that Mauritius is under a telecommunications monopoly when it comes to the Internet and that the state of connectivity is as you want to portray it to be. Who is being juvenile here? The person who is staying on-topic or who is name-calling. You don't get to call the case closed. Things don't work this way. It it way too easy to say I have troll accounts when you're unable to provide data to sustain your claims. But on go on, I'm eager to know what are my troll accounts.
alt.fan.karl-malden.nose by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 05:32 · Score: 0

Some of the oldest internet trolls. B+
Step away from that Necronomicon... by denzacar · 2013-02-25 05:33 · Score: 1

...and keep your hands and other appendages where we can see them. Beardo.
If that is really your name...

--
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
"Micro Continent"?... by lobstr · 2013-02-25 06:15 · Score: 1

I think it's pronounced, "island".
Kerguelen by Dr.+Zim · 2013-02-25 06:15 · Score: 1

I wonder if they've looked at Kerguelen yet, the undersea map shows a similar shelf.

--
(name withheld by request)
'continent' found by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 06:28 · Score: 0

"Long-lost 'continent' found 'under' the Indian Ocean"
I think most people just call that the 'seafloor'.
Bad headline, of course by Jiro · 2013-02-25 06:49 · Score: 1

Headline: Long lost continent found
Article: Long lost micro-continent found
Next headline: New startup sells $5 cars
Next headline's article: New startup sells $5 toy cars.
I mean, come on.
Zircon encrusted tweezers by volvox_voxel · 2013-02-25 07:02 · Score: 1

..Could I interest you in a pair? I couldn't help it I've been a Zappa fan too long to let such an opportunity pass.
1. Re:Zircon encrusted tweezers by tokencode · 2013-02-25 10:07 · Score: 1
  
  Never knew about the Zircon encrusted tweezers or Zappas cat named tweezer.... I would be my left toe that's where the phish song title comes from... learn something useless everyday.
Great, now that they found Numenor... by Teresita · 2013-02-25 07:36 · Score: 1

...they can look for Tol Eressa. And that means the Undying Lands of the Valar is probably Africa. Won't that make the Mormons crap their pants.
Namor... by ilikenwf · 2013-02-25 08:25 · Score: 1

Hopefully we don't run into him or Aquaman...they can get kinda nasty when people invade their turfs.
Not Atlantis by freeze128 · 2013-02-25 08:50 · Score: 1

Atlantis would be in the Atlantic Ocean. Since this was found in the Indian Ocean, it would be Indiana....
I was going to moderate in this discussion but by Marxist+Hacker+42 · 2013-02-25 08:54 · Score: 1

93 posts and nobody mentioned EDEN! And Atlantis was in the "Atlantic" ocean, duh.
I fear for the education of today's children on mythology. You are all making me feel old.

--
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
1. Re:I was going to moderate in this discussion but by solafide · 2013-02-25 11:22 · Score: 1
  
  Psh, you should know by now geeks are sEDENtary.
2. Re:I was going to moderate in this discussion but by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-27 11:17 · Score: 0
  
  My first thought was "Eden" considering the fact that Africa and Asia border this ocean. The Bible states it was covered by water and lost to man forever. It is possible...I'd rather believe this than think it is a mystical city written about in fictitious stories.
3. Re:I was going to moderate in this discussion but by Marxist+Hacker+42 · 2013-02-27 12:24 · Score: 1
  
  I'm not sure how non-fictitious this part of the Bible is, but yes, the Indian Ocean is where the four ancient rivers that are said to connect at Eden meet.
  
  --
  SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
A more informative article on the discovery by Luminary+Crush · 2013-02-25 09:33 · Score: 1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21551149
Researchers have found evidence for a landmass that would have existed between 2,000 and 85 million years ago.
This potentially places the landmass above sea level during a time when humanity could have been present on it.
1. Re:A more informative article on the discovery by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 09:54 · Score: 0
  
  Umm, that is meant to be read as "existed between 2,000 (million) years and 85 million years ago." That is a long ways from over lap with humanity.
This is what happens... by MOSFET+Explosion · 2013-02-25 13:07 · Score: 1

This is what happens when you outsource the search for Atlantis.
Science by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-25 15:14 · Score: 0

There are lot more Technology found daily..and India's people are more talented for creating new Science Technology.But in Travel they are not so good as far east countries.America is the country they for discovering many new medicines in science.
Interesting by hateflyy · 2013-02-26 05:59 · Score: 1

Very interesting. I actually learnt something today.
india info by indiainmaps · 2013-03-05 18:00 · Score: 1

India Tourist Places http://goo.gl/MS9xi There are various tourist places in India which are gathered here in a comprehensive manner. Here you can find all tourist places of India like Kerala tourist places, Bangalore tourist places, Agra tourist place, Jaipur tourist place , etc. Tourist Places in India/a