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NASA Announces That Pluto Has Icebergs Floating On Glaciers of Nitrogen Ice (blastingnews.com)

Posted by timothy on from the offshore-colonies dept.

MarkWhittington writes: The most recent finding from New Horizons show that icebergs have broken off from the hills surrounding the Sputnik Planum, a glacier of nitrogen ice, and are floating slowly across its surface, eventually to cluster together in places like the Challenger Colles, informally named after the crew of the space shuttle Challenger, which was lost just over 30 years ago. The feature is an especially high concentration of icebergs, measuring 37 by 22 miles. The icebergs float on the nitrogen ice plain because water ice is less dense than nitrogen ice.

50 comments

  1. Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Funny

    And it's still not a planet? You bastards!

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Ob by allcoolnameswheretak · · Score: 1

      It's -no longer- a planet.

    2. Re: Ob by Namarrgon · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's spherical, it orbits a star, it should be a planet.

      And by the same definition, so should Ceres. Nobody ever thinks of Ceres. Always being kicked around and forgotten by school teachers, and then exploited by both Earth and Mars.. #freeceres #waterislife #opa

      --
      Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
    3. Re: Ob by ralphius · · Score: 2

      See this excellent answer on stackexchange http://astronomy.stackexchange... for a really good explanation of why Pluto had to become a dwarf planet. Basically, if they didn't create a new category we would end up with 10 or twenty new "planets" that fitted very similar physical criteria to Pluto.

    4. Re: Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A lot of us are okay with that...

    5. Re: Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone is a fan of The Expanse...

    6. Re:Ob by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Still has meanings that aren't time related.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    7. Re: Ob by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the correct term for those of you is "Bunch of Idiots"

    8. Re:Ob by RockDoctor · · Score: 1
      As I've said before, the reasons for "removing" "planet status" from Pluto (or, more strictly, defining "planet" and finding that it doesn't include Pluto) are not the reasons you give, but they are reasons.

      For an accessible summary, see Hal Levison's "hand waving explanation." These may not be the criteria that you consider important, but the way to change that is to devote the couple of decades necessary to become a sufficiently respected voice in planetary science, and then to go and argue your case.

      Hint : it's science. It is not a democracy. It is a meritocracy, with your merit being judged on the basis of your published work.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. Space Sex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I wonder what it would be like to have sex in space.

    1. Re:Space Sex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Try it on Earth first, then you can compare.

    2. Re: Space Sex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have, but it's hard to concentrate when I keep thinking about microgravity.

    3. Re: Space Sex by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not the only micro thing you have to worry about...

  3. Original NASA article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why can't we link to the original NASA article?

    http://www.nasa.gov/feature/pluto-s-mysterious-floating-hills

    1. Re:Original NASA article by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's not Forbes. I count that as a win.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Original NASA article by Streetlight · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The picture in the original NASA article to me shows arrangements like some chemical structures including perhaps fused rings. There is a nice hexagonal ring in the middle of the pic, much like a benzene ring, with some substitution. Do we have some kind of spontaneous formation of low energy structures here? All this is really neat.

      --
      In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    3. Re:Original NASA article by Alwin+Henseler · · Score: 2

      When you have a layer of soap bubbles floating on water, the various forces will lead to a situation of lowest-energy / lowest forces needed to maintain structures / least material in 'cell walls' etc. Which -on a surface- happen to be hexagonal structures.

      Probably something similar is going on here? And sometimes -given the right conditions!- perhaps the same may even happen for 'permanent' structures like rocks or mountain ridges?

    4. Re:Original NASA article by camg188 · · Score: 2

      Link to BlastingNews instead of the original NASA source is a fail.
      Maybe timothy has some connection to BlastingNews.

      BTW, why is everything on Slashdot now posted by timothy? (whose profile link has been blocked)

    5. Re:Original NASA article by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Now as in since dicksplash took over? Or now as in since Dice did? Or now as in since pretty much forever?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    6. Re:Original NASA article by KGIII · · Score: 1

      It just looks like he's changed his homepage (your homepage URL is used in that field) and his actual profile is not, in fact, blocked.
      http://slashdot.org/~Timothy

      That'll take you right to his profile. If you hover over his name you'll see that's his monkey URL. You're probably not a monkey so you probably don't have much of anything at the monkey site. Of course, if you were a monkey then you'd know all about monkeys.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    7. Re:Original NASA article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/08/150812-shade-balls-los-angeles-California-drought-water-environment/ shows spontaneous hexagonal arrangements of spheres (plastic balls covering a Los Angeles reservoir). It includes crystal grains, crystal boundaries, dislocations, and other interesting details.

  4. Cool by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 1

    I guess they should be called Niceburgs.

  5. Icebergs float on glaciers by Nutria · · Score: 2

    WTF???

    I can imagine them slowly sliding downhill, but "blastingnews" seems to not know what "float" means.

    --
    "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    1. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by spork+invasion · · Score: 2

      Actually, NASA used the term "float" to describe it because the water ice is less dense than the ice dominated by nitrogen. So, yes, the icebergs are floating.

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      I hate all anonymous shitbags. Log in, you filthy bastards.
    2. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Nutria · · Score: 1

      NASA used the term "float"

      Thanks.

      because the water ice is less dense than the ice dominated by nitrogen

      Ice -- whether water or nitrogen -- is solid. Thus, there is no displacement of nitrogen ice by water ice. Ergo, no floating.

      Another example might be a block of ice sitting on a bar of lead. It's not displacing any lead, so it's not floating.

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    3. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      Nitrogen ices at these temperatures, while crystalline, have rather low viscosity. If you put weight on them, they slowly diffuse around it until the object either sinks or is buoyantly balanced out. The latter happens in the case of water ice.

      Also, it's worth noting that it's not pure nitrogen ices, it's a nitrogen-carbon monoxide-methane eutectic. Nitrogen is the most common component, however. Also, there are multiple crystal phases that can be taken, depending on the conditions. Nitrogen ices are most famous for having some rather "explosive" phase transitions between different states.

      --
      It's times like this I wish I had a friend named 'The Professor'.
    4. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Nutria · · Score: 1

      Nitrogen ices at these temperatures, while crystalline, have rather low viscosity.

      So the nitrogen doesn't form one huge crystal?

      If you put weight on them, they slowly diffuse around it until the object either sinks or is buoyantly balanced out.

      No jagged edges to interlock?

      --
      "I don't know, therefore Aliens" Wafflebox1
    5. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Rei · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, it does not form "one huge crystal". Nitrogen ices at these temperatures have little structural integrity. It was well known before we got to Pluto that if we saw any sort of relevant topography, we'd know immediately that it was from water ice, as nitrogen ices are so weak that they'd just flow slack over time.

      --
      It's times like this I wish I had a friend named 'The Professor'.
    6. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you accept that water-ice glaciers are solid, and yet flow like a liquid, what do you think will happen if you place something less dense on the surface?

    7. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Welcome to the realm of plastic reformation. Especially on geological scales, solids flow, with buoyancy and displacement being quite significant, whether talking about ice flows or how continents on Earth behave.

    8. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, looks like autocorrect doesn't like deformation for some reason, and replaced it with reformation.

    9. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 INsightFUL yeahhhh mod up mod up

    10. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by dbIII · · Score: 1

      There are also solid solutions.
      Mind boggling maybe but what your high school suggested was liquid only is not always the case.

    11. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by avandesande · · Score: 1

      This isn't that uncommon. If you freeze ethanol in liquid nitrogen it turns into a rubbery solid which probably has flow dynamics

      --
      love is just extroverted narcissism
    12. Re:Icebergs float on glaciers by vandamme · · Score: 1

      So it's like the air in Beijing, only colder?

  6. Pluto business plan by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1
    1. Travel to Pluto
    2. Mine some Frozen Nitrogen Icebergs
    3. Haul them back to Earth
    4. Chop them up into ice cube size
    5. Sell them to bars as the ultimate ingredient for frozen daiquiris
    6. Profit!

    Order early, because the delivery time might be a wee bit long . . .

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  7. Re:Plutonic Warming by spork+invasion · · Score: 3, Informative

    Pluto is getting colder. It has a highly eccentric orbit and right now that's taking Pluto farther from the Sun. As a result, temperatures will decrease on Pluto.

    --
    I hate all anonymous shitbags. Log in, you filthy bastards.
  8. How does this corporate welfare... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    help the people?

  9. Definitely a planet by sandbagger · · Score: 2

    Done and dusted.

    --
    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
  10. obnoxious ads by rickyslashdot · · Score: 1

    WITH LOUD AUDIO -5mod for pure spite

    --
    redneck geek
  11. Ummm, Slashdot.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...ice is water...not nitrogen.

  12. Contradiction? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The original post comes close to contradicting itself. First it sorta says that the bergs have broken off from a glacier of nitrogen ice. Then it says the bergs are water ice.

  13. Climate Change by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Definite evidence of man made climate change, which was caused by the "New Horizons" flyby. Future satellite flybys will confirm that the glacier of nitrogen ice have melted away. :)

  14. Blasting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This "Blastingnews" blasted my ears with advertisements. Sorry, but I don't do web sites like that.

  15. Shouldn't that be GLIDE? by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    You float on liquid, you stand, slip, and glide on ice. Or maybe ski, if you have intent. Floating requires bobbing and the ice doesn't bob up and down in the frozen nitrogen.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Shouldn't that be GLIDE? by metaforest · · Score: 1

      Previous commenters noted that Nitrogen ices don't behave the same way water ices do.
      It is more like a thick fluid. Since it is denser than water ice, the water ices floats on the Nitrogen slushy,