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photon · 05-02-2017, 11:36 AM

Not sure if you've heard of those sailing stones in Death Valley. Basically rocks that move and leave behind a trail, but no one has been able to figure out how they move.

Someone finally figured it out!

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...s-for-70-years

It's rare to see the stones in motion, but there's a clear sign that they've been on the move. Behind the rocks are long, sometimes winding trails in the dirt. Scientists have used GPS units to track to stones' movements, and have proven that they're mobile. They were first publicly documented in the early 1900s, but for decades, nobody could explain how they moved, according to Richard Norris, an oceanographer at University of California San Diego, and one of the researchers who finally solved the mystery of the rocks.

...

To figure it all out, Norris and his cousin attached specially-designed GPS units to the back of rocks they had brought into Death Valley (the National Parks Service wouldn't let them mess with the rocks that were already there). They also installed a weather station, and then...they waited.

Spoiler!

It took two years, but finally, the rocks moved. Norris and his cousin, completely by chance, actually got to witness them in action. The researchers discussed their findings in a paper published in PLOS One. They found that when enough rain fell on the playa to pool, and the temperature dropped, the water would freeze into huge, thin sheets of ice around the rocks—which tumble onto the playa from a nearby hillside. As the morning sun began to melt the ice, if a gentle breeze blew, it could move the ice, which dragged the rocks along with it.

"The ice is like the thickness of a window pane," Norris told me. "And although it's very thin, it's a huge, huge sheet of ice. It's sort of being moved sort of inextricably by these breezes and it can shove around really big things—and a lot of rock."

The results shocked Norris and many other scientists, but it's a phenomenon that's since explained similar moving rocks around the globe. Though it wasn't the paranormal explanation that so many people had hoped for, the truth was even more tantalizing.

05-02-2017, 11:36 AM	#3002
photon The new goggles also do nothing. Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Calgary Exp:	Not sure if you've heard of those sailing stones in Death Valley. Basically rocks that move and leave behind a trail, but no one has been able to figure out how they move. Someone finally figured it out! https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/a...s-for-70-years It's rare to see the stones in motion, but there's a clear sign that they've been on the move. Behind the rocks are long, sometimes winding trails in the dirt. Scientists have used GPS units to track to stones' movements, and have proven that they're mobile. They were first publicly documented in the early 1900s, but for decades, nobody could explain how they moved, according to Richard Norris, an oceanographer at University of California San Diego, and one of the researchers who finally solved the mystery of the rocks. ... To figure it all out, Norris and his cousin attached specially-designed GPS units to the back of rocks they had brought into Death Valley (the National Parks Service wouldn't let them mess with the rocks that were already there). They also installed a weather station, and then...they waited. Spoiler! It took two years, but finally, the rocks moved. Norris and his cousin, completely by chance, actually got to witness them in action. The researchers discussed their findings in a paper published in PLOS One. They found that when enough rain fell on the playa to pool, and the temperature dropped, the water would freeze into huge, thin sheets of ice around the rocks—which tumble onto the playa from a nearby hillside. As the morning sun began to melt the ice, if a gentle breeze blew, it could move the ice, which dragged the rocks along with it. "The ice is like the thickness of a window pane," Norris told me. "And although it's very thin, it's a huge, huge sheet of ice. It's sort of being moved sort of inextricably by these breezes and it can shove around really big things—and a lot of rock." The results shocked Norris and many other scientists, but it's a phenomenon that's since explained similar moving rocks around the globe. Though it wasn't the paranormal explanation that so many people had hoped for, the truth was even more tantalizing. __________________ Uncertainty is an uncomfortable position. But certainty is an absurd one.