Sliding Rocks Bemuse Scientists

An anonymous reader writes "Scientists can't figure out why these rocks — weighing up to several hundred pounds each — slide across a dry lake bed. The leading theory proposes that wind moves the rocks after a rain when the lake bed consists of soft and very slippery mud.

It's a Horta!

[loftwyr]

I saw this on TV once! It was this documentary about these very things! They're called Hortas and their intelligent. Apparently they can be taught to mine.

Obvious Answer!!

[explosivejared]

Anyone who has seen an M Night Shamylan movie or been involved in a Usenet discussion about UFO's can readily see that there is one glaringly obvious answer...

IT'S ALIENS GUYS!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!

So this is...

[Anonymous Coward]

...nature's version of desert curling?

Re:It's a Horta!

[iggymanz]

you also don't want a female Horta to sit on your face if you wear glasses, that hydrofluoric acid they secrete when they're horny eats right through spectacles.

Re:Any word on magnetic influence?

[stoolpigeon]

has anyone checked the mitichlorian levels in the area?

Why did the rock cross the lake bed?

[Brothernone]

... to get to the sex and drugs on the other side!

Isn't it obvious yet?

[CitznFish]

These stones don't want to gather any moss.

Re:Answer on page 42 ...

[orclevegam]

GAH! MY EYES!!! Put a warning on that link, geez.

I am pretty sure ...

[Culture]

... that the rocks slide because the lateral forces exerted on the rocks exceed the static and dynamic frictional force cause by the gravity induced weight of the rock acting across the mud-rock interface. I guess I could be wrong and there are worm-holes involved.

Re:Begs the question

[Anonymous Coward]

in before some fag explains "begging the question"

god doesn't play dice

[circletimessquare]

but he does hold magnets under the surface of the table, moving objects on top as if by magic, just to bemuse and entertain us

One thing I know for sure

[mcg1969]

is that posting this article in Slashdot is sure to produce a definitive solution to the mystery...
or rather, 100 of them.

Re:Any word on magnetic influence?

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Actually, it's caused by the continential tilt. It causes all the loose cannons and nuts and bolts to roll towards California.

Re:It's a Horta!

[sokoban]

Yes, and though the flow of water surrounding these things can be directed, these Horta do not readily absorb moisture.

Thus, you can lead a Horta water, but you can't make it drink.

FSM

[Anonymous Coward]

They were obviously moved by his noodly appendages.

Silly scientists...

[VE3MTM]

Clearly the Flying Spaghetti Monster is moving them with his Noodly Appendage.

Re:Magnetism?

[Rob T Firefly]

Do the rocks have a large iron content?

I hope not. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's ironic rock.

Re:Any word on magnetic influence?

[TempeNerd]

Obviously, the rocks were casually lurking on Slashdot, when they read "Move along, nothing to see here..."

{rimshot}

Re:Global Warming

[AlamedaStone]

because teutonic plate theory was just too crazy to accept...
 
... although it replaced the even more silly Gaulish plate theory, quickly discarded by history.

Re:Magnetism?

[spun]

Ironic rock is worse than rai-e-ain on your wedding day, or a free-ee ride, when you already paid.

Re:What mystery?

[sunking2]

Hampshire college. Can we look for an explanation that didn't come about from smoking massive amounts of dope in the middle of the desert.

Re:Isn't it obvious yet?

[Anonymous Coward]

Moss has absolutely nothing to do with this phenomenon.

These rocks are very clearly in need of deworming.

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[radish]

Yeah, I mean heaven forbid tourists actually come and spend money at their tourist-related businesses. I can imagine they're so glad when all that money goes back where it came from! Then their hotels can be nice and empty like they should be.

That was Strangely Topical.

[Smordnys s'regrepsA]

Rick Rolled while Reading about Rolling Rock Research, by a link Represented as Relevant.

I Require you Rectify this Rankling Repugnance.


Regards,
Ryan

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[clam666]

In soviet desert, rocks move you?

Re:It's a Horta!

[xSauronx]

Sit on my face, and tell me tha--- Oh god my eyes... THE BURNING! it burns so bad!

Re:It's a Horta!

[jfdawes]

.... the goggles ... they do nothing ....

Re:It's a Horta!

[martinX]

They won't move if they know they're being watched.

Re:It's a Horta!

[hazem]

Easy! You just put a camera to watch the camera...

I wonder if they can just "tag" the rocks like they do with sharks, elephants, walruses, etc. I mean, I know the rocks don't have ears or collars, but there has to be a way.

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[vought]

It sounds like fun, and it would only take a few years to get results. Compared to raising children the cost is low and the results are fast.

I agree. You do it.

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[MillionthMonkey]

I love places that try to require a tip on the bill. Those places, shoudl I happen to wind up at one unknowingly, will never get a cent for a tip. I'll figure out the actual check total and pay exactly that. The can go scratch on the tip for being retarded about it.

In Death Valley? They'll remember your face and tomorrow you'll end up driving an extra 50 miles for lunch.

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[eonlabs]

"there's no guarantee that even a very capable 4x4 will get you back afterwards"

So ride the rocks!

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[BigDogCH]

Yeah, but you won't know where the rock is when you return! It will have moved!

Re:Mark Newman Poster

[ConceptJunkie]

It's not the wind. It is the earth rotating under the rocks. Not sure of the latitude of the location but the earth is rotating at something around 1000 miles per hour at the equator.

Well, you know of course that why the famous experiment with marbles on a smooth surface works. It's well known that any object on a relatively frictionless surface will slowly drift to the West because of the Earth's rotation. This is why that old design for "air hockey" was unfeasible. That's why marbles on balanced glass always roll Westward. It's how compasses work.

That's also why ice rinks nearer the equator need to be tilted slightly to compensate for the effects of the Earth rotating from under the skaters. I understand that an ice rink built in Quito in 2004 had to be slanted at nearly 7 degrees.

I understand that the government of Indonesia is building a 7 mile long maglev runway that will allow airplanes to be launched at almost 400 miles per hour (wind resistance cuts it down from the full 1000), merely by placing the airplane on the track and letting the Earth's rotation fling it into the air. At that point the engines cut in. The system is expected to cut fuel costs for air travel by almost 30%.

This same effect is what powers that "perpetual motion" turbine that generates power for the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station.