From The Washington Post :
Scientists used to think that things were pretty chill over in the south hemisphere of Uranus. In fact, they thought it was one of the calmest regions of any of the gas giants. But in analyzing images taken nearly three decades ago by NASA's Voyager-2 spacecraft, researchers think they've found a kerfuffle of activity — which might indicate that there's something unusual about the planet's interior.
...
Karkoshchka believes that Uranus's southern hemisphere rotates in a way never before seen in gas giants. A gas planet's thick atmosphere, filled with clouds, typically shows the same rate of rotation at the top and bottom. But on Uranus, it seems, the southern hemisphere is cycling much more quickly than up north — as much as 15 percent faster.
"The unusual rotation of high southern latitudes of Uranus is probably due to an unusual feature in the interior of Uranus," Karkoshcka said in a statement. "While the nature of the feature and its interaction with the atmosphere are not yet known, the fact that I found this unusual rotation offers new possibilities to learn about the interior of a giant planet."
Data on gas giants in general are few and far between, so anything that Karkoshcka can glean about Uranus's core would help scientists understand the other planets like it.
All jokes aside, what is it that could be causing this unusual behavior?
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 21 2015, @02:57AM
I just don't know which Uranus joke it is.
(Score: 0, Offtopic) by rev_irreverence on Saturday November 21 2015, @03:01AM
I think a hidden link to goatse.cx would be appropriate in this case.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 21 2015, @03:16AM
Nope . [blogspot.com]
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by cmn32480 on Saturday November 21 2015, @03:07AM
They all write themselves! Give it a go!
"It's a dog eat dog world, and I'm wearing Milkbone underwear" - Norm Peterson
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 21 2015, @03:18AM
NASA should send a dog into space. A dog would be natural for checking out Uranus.
(Score: 2) by BK on Saturday November 21 2015, @03:48AM
I seem to recall that there's a lot of methane in around Uranus. Could that be part of the joke?
...but you HAVE heard of me.
(Score: 2, Funny) by snufu on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:55AM
"All jokes aside..."
Butt what about those of us who only came here for the jokes?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 21 2015, @04:21PM
Yo mama is the butt of this joke.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Saturday November 21 2015, @08:07AM
The secret has been within Uranus this entire time!