Satellite Spots Massive Object Hidden Under the Frozen Wastes of Antarctica (thesun.co.uk)

schwit1 quotes a report from The Sun: Scientists believe a massive object which could change our understanding of history is hidden beneath the Antarctic ice. The huge and mysterious "anomaly" is thought to be lurking beneath the frozen wastes of an area called Wilkes Land. It stretches for a distance of 151 miles across and has a maximum depth of about 848 meters. Some researchers believe it is the remains of a truly massive asteroid which was more than twice the size of the Chicxulub space rock which wiped out the dinosaurs. If this explanation is true, it could mean this killer asteroid caused the Permian-Triassic extinction event which killed 96 percent of Earth's sea creatures and up to 70 percent of the vertebrate organisms living on land.This "Wilkes Land gravity anomaly" was first uncovered in 2006, when NASA satellites spotted gravitational changes which indicated the presence of a huge object sitting in the middle of a 300 mile wide impact crater.

Comments

Here we go

[Isendur]

So, "Alien" or "The Thing"? What are your bets guys?

Seriously?

[ledow]

Seriously? You linked to the fucking Sun newspaper? For a science article?

I'm done with this site.

Re:Seriously?

[Anonymous Coward]

Slashdot and the sun are pretty much on the same level.

Re: Seriously?

[Rei]

Indeed. Large (dangerous) asteroids do not survive their descent. Ever. The largest single meteorite ever found is only 60 tonnes (Hoba meteorite), and it took exceptional circumstances for it to survive (an extremely shallow entry trajectory). If an impact is excavating a large (or even small) crater, it's turning to gas and/or plasma in the process.

Better source?

[piggz1]

Im not sure 'thesun.co.uk' is the best source for science news!

Re:Better source?

[Epeeist]

Im not sure 'thesun.co.uk' is the best source for science news!

Well at least it wasn't the Daily Mail.

Erm

[looptron]

The Sun doesn't really do "news" or "facts". Given that they're doing "science" does this mean they've run out of celebs and immigrants to pick on?

Seriously? The Sun?

[Lisandro]

Why don't you post a link to The Mirror as well? At least they don't dance around and call it a lost Nazi UFO base right away.

What the fuck is going on with this site?

It's either paywalls or tabloids

[joneil]

Here's the problem. A very quick google search will turn up research papers on on the Wilkes Land Anomaly, but they are mostly behind paywalls or "free registration", etc, etc.

A person can play video games, read tabloids, browse conspiracy websites, watch porn or gamble for "free" online all day long, but the minute you want serious information on any topic nowadays, the serious research is almost always behind "paywalls". For the average person who is not involved in some form of academia, how many east to find alternatives (other than wikipedia) are there out there? More importantly, hwo easy are they to find and access as compared o the others? As long as we as a society continue to operate this way, then society as a whole will continue to "dumb down" in general. "idiocracy" here we come. :(

Re:It's either paywalls or tabloids

[dgatwood]

Agreed. Paywalled, for-profit scientific research journals have done more to contribute to the dumbing down of society than just about anything else in modern history except television (and not just because of the paywalls).