One ticket to Pluto, please! Seems there's an ocean there just waiting to be discovered, surfed or lounged about. Don't worry about my well-being though—I'll be packing a sweater.
Scientists with more know-how of how the Universe works than do I conclude this slushy sea could exist in spite of Pluto's frosty -230 degree Celsius temps because of the dwarf planet's internal heat.
Now Guillaume Robuchon and Francis Nimmo at the University of California, Santa Cruz, say there is a good chance it does. They calculate that an ocean depends on two things: the amount of radioactive potassium in Pluto's rocky core, and the sloshiness of the ice that covers it.
Density measurements suggest a rocky core fills 40 per cent of the dwarf planet's volume. If the core contains potassium at a concentration of 75 parts per billion, its decay could produce enough heat to melt some of the overlying ice, which is made of a mixture of nitrogen and water.
Ergo, surf's up, dude! [New Scientist, Image]
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