Hexagon on Saturn??

[Robert_Moriyama]

Is it just me, or is a WEATHER PATTERN on Saturn that takes on the form of a regular hexagon with STRAIGHT SIDES that has persisted for decades (if not longer) much creepier than 'the face on Mars'? I mean, what if it's evidence of an underlying artificial structure -- a really, really BIG artificial structure?

http://bcast1.imaginova.com/t?r=2&ctl=D272:64036

:-/

Robert M.

[Robert_Moriyama]

So Arthur C. Clarke got it wrong twice -- the alien artifact is neither a pyramid (as in the original short story, 'The Sentinel'), nor a 1:4:9 rectangular monolith (as in '2001: A Space Odyssey'). It's a freakin' ginormous regular polygon in the most unlikely of places ... only visible from a (relatively) nearby spacecraft with excellent optics.

If they get higher-resolution, closer views, will they see lettering that says (once translated / decrypted):

[move]If you can read this, you're too close![/move]

::)

[doc]

Apparently, the secret has been discovered:

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20070408

[Robert_Moriyama]

;D Well, better that than the Really Large, Annoyed Honeybee theory.

RM

[Robert_Moriyama]

... and the fine print says, "Ringed Planet #2309712 - Assembly Required".

[doc]

... and the fine print says, "Ringed Planet #2309712 - Assembly Required".

Long ago in days of yore
It all began with a god named Thor
There were Vikings and boats
And some plans for a furniture store
It’s not a bodega, it’s not a mall
And they sell things for apartments smaller than mine
As if there were apartments smaller than mine

Ikea: just some oak and some pine and a handful of Norsemen
Ikea: selling furniture for college kids and divorced men
Everyone has a home
But if you don’t have a home you can buy one there

(from Jonathan Coulton's "Ikea". An mp3 is available.)

[Robert_Moriyama]

Them goldurn Commies done made it into interstellar space before decent God-fearin' gun-totin' 'Murricans could -- and they done turned a perfectly good star into a tribute to Moscow, or "Mock-bah" as they prefers to call it.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/0 ... ebula.html

[Robert_Moriyama]

That Space.com image instantly reminded me of a story by Alastair Reynolds called "Zima Blue," which appeared in the 23rd Year's Best Science Fiction anthology. In it, an artist quite literally creates murals using the cosmos - or perhaps what we're seeing is the leftover light from some age-old, alien disco ball...

"Alien Disco Ball" -- sounds like a Joe Vadalma title (to follow "Alien Signal" and "Alien Mosquito", the latter being a likely June Aphelion entry, unless Joe has placed it elsewher).

Robert M.