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NASA's Cassini Discovers Hydrocarbon Dunes On Titan (examiner.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the different-dunes dept.

MarkWhittington writes: NASA made an announcement that Titan, a moon of Saturn and the largest moon in the solar system, has hydrocarbon dunes. The discovery has highlighted the entirely alien nature of Titan, which has seas, lakes and rains of liquid methane and ethane and a surface comprised on water ice. The fact that it has dunes made of frozen hydrocarbon that acts like sand, blown by the wind on Earth is yet another piece of data that has scientists interested in studying Titan further.

5 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Some strong winds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The fact that it has dunes made of frozen hydrocarbon that acts like sand, blown by the wind on Earth

    Another mystery of the cosmos.

  2. Can we stop calling them fossil fuels now? by RogueWarrior65 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    That is all.

    1. Re:Can we stop calling them fossil fuels now? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Hydrocarbons are only called fossil fuels if they're fossil fuels, just like water is called "spring water" if it's spring water. Nobody's calling all hydrocarbons "fossil fuels".

    2. Re:Can we stop calling them fossil fuels now? by mjm1231 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There are lots of hydrocarbons which aren't fuels at all, fossil or otherwise. (Or at least would make poorer fuels than non-hydrocarbons.)

      --
      Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
  3. Re:That implies... by mjm1231 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The number of posters who seem to think that fossil fuels are the only type of hydrocarbon makes me sad. Sure, some of them are making jokes, but there are more than a handful who appear to be actually serious in this belief.

    Believing that dinosaurs had to exist before hydrocarbons requires the most bizarre self-contradictory theory of Creationism ever conceived.

    --
    Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.