Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: karajorma on November 23, 2012, 04:52:29 am
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487
A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.
The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.
But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.
The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.
Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.
"We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area - very deep," Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.
"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre.
"How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don't know, but we plan to follow up and find out."
Australian newspapers have reported that the invisible island would sit within French territorial waters if it existed - but does not feature on French government maps.
Australia's Hydrographic Service, which produces the country's nautical charts, says its appearance on some scientific maps and Google Earth could just be the result of human error, repeated down the years.
A spokesman from the service told Australian newspapers that while some map makers intentionally include phantom streets to prevent copyright infringements, that was was not usually the case with nautical charts because it would reduce confidence in them.
A spokesman for Google said they consult a variety of authoritative sources when making their maps.
"The world is a constantly changing place, the Google spokesman told AFP, "and keeping on top of these changes is a never-ending endeavour'.'
The BBC's Duncan Kennedy in Sydney says that while most explorers dream of discovering uncharted territory, the Australian team appears to have done the opposite - and cartographers everywhere are now rushing to undiscover Sandy Island for ever.
Cloaking device?
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You saw nothing. Especially not a phase-cloaked Obsidian Order observation base. :nervous:
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nuke the area to be sure
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how do you think it disappeared? :D
my nuclear weapons program: 1
delusional trekkies: 0
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No, that's just the secret Australian super-dreadnought Australian Superiority testing it's submersible capabilities. :drevil:
It doesn't exist, by the way, and you saw nothing. :beamz:
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how do you think it disappeared? :D
my nuclear weapons program: 1
delusional trekkies: 0
Or maybe that is what we want you to think...
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The largest whale ever to live surfacing. :drevil:
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This thread does not exist, citizen.
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Name is Blonde. James Blonde.
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The largest whale ever to live surfacing. :drevil:
Interestingly, I'm just reading Moby Dick, and it is mentioned that floating dead whales are often mistaken for islands (mind you, this was written in the mid 19th century). These would end up in the nautical maps, and ships made wide detours around them. So now I'm wondering how big this island is, and when it was first charted?
Judging by Google Maps, though, it would have to be a very large whale indeed - some 10 by 40 km, at first sight. :lol:
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If you try to find the island now, it's apparently been sharpied out of existence on Google Maps. :lol:
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those bloody french and their nuke experiments.
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As all Cultists know, Rlyeh may rise to the surface periodically, so that Cthulhu can check if the stars are indeed right.
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Cthulhu is a much-loved ally of the Australian nation. He rises periodically to give his blessings to our Dear Leader. :wakka:
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It was aliens.
Definitely aliens.
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Apparently a bunch of radio hams figured this out a decade ago. (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/22/undiscovered_sandy_island/) Of course, they weren't 'experts', so they weren't taken seriously like the scientists are now.
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It's completely blacked out:
(http://imgur.com/RFaM6)
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it was probibly a spot created by poor stitching together of image/mapping data, and given a name by the tech to avoid getting into trouble with the boss.
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The OP mentions that this particular island has been featured proudly on printed maps and marine charts for over a decade, and probably a lot longer.
The odds of this being an image error are slim to none.
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Still seems to be there - check -19.184084,159.942684
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definitely blotted out
[attachment deleted by a basterd]
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The OP mentions that this particular island has been featured proudly on printed maps and marine charts for over a decade, and probably a lot longer.
The odds of this being an image error are slim to none.
you know computers existed over a decade ago. i dont exactly remember playing freespace 1 on an abacus.
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Irrelevent. It would take one hell of an image error (we're talking fifty miles at least from the nearest landmass, and a hundred to the next nearest) for that to be the actual explanation for it.
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fifty miles in the real world, a couple pixels on a massive zoomed out photoshop document (we had photoshop back then).
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Where's that island gone!? Im freaking out! :shaking:
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It has been on maps since the 1700s.
Foolish humans.
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Never sneeze on a Microfiche ;)
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It has been on maps since the 1700s.
Since 1700s? That could explain it. An island that was charted in 1700, was left alone, sunk during that time (happens on a regular basis), and nobody noticed until now because there was nothing interesting in there. 300 years should be enough for it to sink pretty deep. In places where it had any meaning, the error was corrected (nav charts and French Govt. maps), but where it hadn't, it persisted.
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Explain please the mechanism by which an Island can sink 1400 meters in 300 years without massive geological disruptions.
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Explain please the mechanism by which an Island can sink 1400 meters in 300 years without massive geological disruptions.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcglkogOk31qh1l5wo2_400.jpg)
:lol:
But seriously, I'm curious too.
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Actually, the problem has only existed for around decade according to the BBC Report :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487
I think the possibility that these were stored on some kind of Microfilm system is quite high, and damage to the material would explain the mark.
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I don't think that the island sank, I think the island lifted off! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Iefq75ndocc#t=37s)
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Explain please the mechanism by which an Island can sink 1400 meters in 300 years without massive geological disruptions.
(http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcglkogOk31qh1l5wo2_400.jpg)
:lol:
But seriously, I'm curious too.
great another trekkie
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Explain please the mechanism by which an Island can sink 1400 meters in 300 years without massive geological disruptions.
I would point out there have been some massive geological disruptions in that region during that time.
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I don't think that the island sank, I think the island lifted off! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Iefq75ndocc#t=37s)
Angel Island has been found lost! (http://sonic.wikia.com/wiki/Angel_Island)
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Explain please the mechanism by which an Island can sink 1400 meters in 300 years without massive geological disruptions.
I would point out there have been some massive geological disruptions in that region during that time.
Disruptions that would remove all trace of an island down to over a kilometer of depth under water? That must have been a remarkable event indeed! Even the eruption of Krakatau did not come anywhere close to achieving such a feat. Nor am I aware of any geologic process that could do so in such a short time, not without leaving some very profound evidence behind. In which case, where is it?
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It was a poorly-executed attempt by Annorax to obliterate the island from existence with his Temporal disruptor weapon. The island was erased, but photographic evidence of it somehow survived.
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Disruptions that would remove all trace of an island down to over a kilometer of depth under water? That must have been a remarkable event indeed! Even the eruption of Krakatau did not come anywhere close to achieving such a feat. Nor am I aware of any geologic process that could do so in such a short time, not without leaving some very profound evidence behind. In which case, where is it?
It's 300 years. You can have several Krakotoas, the area is off the beaten path on shipping lanes and settlement, nobody will notice.
Not that I particularly think the island was ever there, but that part of the world has been largely unobserved up until World War II. You've got maps labeled with reefs seen by people in the 17th century and islands that are placed on the maps wrong well into 1943, when the area was of vital military interest.
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Several Krakotoas would leave more evidence, not less.
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Which remains irrelevant to the fact that area is effectively unmapped, unexplored, and unobserved by anyone with a pencil and paper until about sixty years ago. Anything could have been going on and nobody who made maps would ever know.
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And not leave behind any physical evidence, either? I don't think so.
Nor is the isolated location a very compelling argument. When you're talking about geologic turmoil of that magnitude, it does not matter how isolated such an energetic event is from human civilization, because the effects are global and they would have been observed. The Krakatau eruption was noticed globally. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa)
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The island being destroyed by aliens is frankly a more realistic explanation than that there is a genuine geological explanation.