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Death Valley's Sailing Stones Caught In the Act
Capt.Albatross (1301561) writes "The flat surface of the Racetrack Playa in Death Valley is littered with rocks, some weighing hundreds of kilograms, each at the end of a track indicating that it has somehow slid across the surface. The mechanism behind this has been the subject of much speculation but little evidence, until a trio of scientists caught them in action with cameras and GPS."
Jagged plates of thin ice, resembling panels of broken glass, bulldoze the rocks across the flooded playa, the scientists reveal today (Aug. 27) in the journal PLOS One. Driven by gentle winds, the rocks seem to hydroplane atop the fluffy, wet mud. "It's a wonderful Goldilocks phenomenon," said lead study author Richard Norris. "Ponds like this are vanishingly rare in Death Valley, and it may be a decade between heavy enough rain or snowfall events to make a substantial pond," said Norris, a paleobiologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California.
That's what they used to be called. No one quite knows where they came from, but they're as old as the Universe, or very nearly. And they have survived this long because they have the most perfect defense system ever evolved. They are Quantum Locked. They don't exist when they are being observed. The moment they are seen by any other living creature they freeze into rock. No choice, it's a fact of their biology. In the sight of any living thing, they literally turn into stone. And you can't kill a stone. Of course, a stone can't kill you either, but then you turn your head away. Then you blink. Then, oh yes, it can.
as a member of the illuminati im disheartened to see this. We'd gone to great lengths to insist to the public these rocks were being moved in order to control the ghost of ronald reagan in a hideous plot to destroy the secret bald eagle buried in the head of the lincoln statue that funds "president" obamas fema death camps. when does this inquisition stop? the secret transciever in your left molar has made it explicitly clear that under no circumstance were you to question the rocks. Next thing you know, people are going to start asking about chem trails and how they always make sure gary busey eats exactly one almond joy candy before meeting with the council of serpents to steal painted lines from the roads through the mojave desert that planned the shariah law anchor baby abortions after the covert resurrection of sadam hussein.
Good people go to bed earlier.
I'm in Canada and it worked fine for me, even with the IE 8 I have access to at work.
They used to be a rock band back in the 70s, but lost their magnum opus - "Come Sail Away" - in a scandal involving the theft of their lyric sheets by Styx during their joint "Can't Break my Bones" tour. Their lead singer decided that rock and roll was too corporate and went solo, last I heard he does some kinda crazy Burning Man shit where he gets naked in a mud field and records the sound the wind makes in different places. The rest of them made a comeback tour in the 90s, but had their comeback hit, song called "Can't Stop the Rock" stolen by some asshole. Nowadays, I think they're still cranking out indie albums under their own label because they're sick of all the posers stealing their music.
If they're as slow as my internet connection, it's little wonder it was a mystery for so long!
There goes my Intelligent Sliding theory. Now how am I gonna get chicks?
Table-ized A.I.