Liquid Lakes On Saturn's Moon Confirmed 188
Riding with Robots writes "Scientists have been using the robotic spacecraft Cassini to explore what looked to be large lakes of hydrocarbons on the surface of Saturn's planet-sized moon Titan. But they couldn't be entirely sure that the features were actually liquid lakes, and not simply very smooth, solid material. Now, new findings seem to confirm that the observations really do show extensive seas of liquid ethane and other hydrocarbons. In fact, Titan seems to have an entire 'water' cycle of ethane evaporation, rain and rivers."
Re:Cheesy Joke Thread, and life on Saturn (Score:1, Funny)
Robin "roblimo" Miller
Saturn == LA? (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds just like LA.
Need Coffee / Glasses... (Score:2, Funny)
Anyone else read the headline as:
Liquid Snake On Saturn's Moon Confirmed
Oh my god! A new MGS Game!
I see what you did there... (Score:4, Funny)
cowabunga and such (Score:3, Funny)
sgt: Ok, men, wax your boards and hit the surf.
pvt: Hey, do you think it's safe?
sgt: Don't worry, Geeblort don't surf!
Re:Low Gravity and Viscous Liquids (Score:3, Funny)
Heretic! Everyone knows that ethane boils at 212 degrees Ethanheit, just as it freezes at 32 degrees E. 100 E is just a hot day in Titan-Texas.
Re:News from the Future (Score:3, Funny)
The first manned mission to Titan ended tragically today as one of the astronauts stepped out onto the surface and lit up a cigarette.
You'd need oxygen for that.
Re:Cheesy Joke Thread, and life on Saturn (Score:5, Funny)
Not "invade". Sheesh, keep to the script why dontcha?!
Act 1: Locate & Destroy Secret Inter-planetary WMDs
Act 2: Er, forget that, we never said that, we meant; Liberate oppressed Saturnians
Act 3: Confuse Saturn For Something Jupiter Did - Meh, they're all gas-giants aren't they?
Act 4: Ooh, fancy that, you have oil? That we did not know.
Act 5: Damn Ungrateful Tentacle-heads
Re:US plan (Score:3, Funny)
Don' free teh Titans. Perseus is dead.
Re:News from the Future (Score:3, Funny)
Wow, that didn't last long.
Re:So where did these hydrocarbons come from? (Score:5, Funny)
> I thought we've always had beaten into our heads that hydrocarbons, and oil and gas in particular were the result of decaying biomass from dinosaurs. So, where did these hydrocarbons come from? Was Titan an outpost for some spacefaring dino species, that got wiped out in a strange intergalactic plague? Or is there a much more sane, reasonable answer that I just haven't seen yet?
Q: Ethane on Titan comes from:
A. The decayed, compressed remains of Titanic Dinosaurs.
A: Xenu dropped his dinosauroid enemies into volcanos on Titan.
B: The devil planted it there to trick us
C: Solar radiation hits Methane (CH4), splitting it into (CH3+H), which quickly recombines into Ethane (C2H6)