Fascinating to read, Mark! Love the reminder of the reason why ice floats -- I remember doing science experiments with water in middle school and that dive brought back memories for me. Especially interesting of ice being an insulator for the life under the water.
This has become a common and "viral" activity in Minnesota now. If you have a lot of lakes, lots of outdoorsy people, equipment like chainsaws and outboard motors (this is a common combination of things in the garage in Minnesota) this sort of thing just happens. There have been videos where people then just dance on the middle section. Enjoy. https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2017/01/a-motorized-ice-circle/
Many years ago I went to a friends cabin that is somewhat close to one of our 15000+ lakes unimaginateively named Red Lake. It is one of the larger lakes in the state way up north. That weekend there was a fishing contest on the lake. The regulars bring road signs and cooperatively plow the lake and make it seem like there are streets. I am sure there were AT LEAST 5000 icehouses on the lake. Minnesotans are culturally Canadians and Scandinavian in their approaches to life and it has been a transformation for me living here. Like California, we have constitutionally reserved water access as a public issue in almost all circumstances.
While not a passion, I have ice fished with friends. My favorite part of the whole experience is on a very cold day when you finish operating the auger to cut a hole it is just amazing to see the water through the hole and get a birdseye view of the water. I don't know how long it takes but the holes start sealing up on a cold day pretty quickly.
I think once we find a bit of life on one of the moons in this solar system the floodgates will open when we have a few examples and not just Earth-like, that will be the tipping point for humanity. I think that just the educated guessing of water and a magnetic field and I think it will be that nature can do the rest and all sorts of life will be found right under our nose.
Fascinating to read, Mark! Love the reminder of the reason why ice floats -- I remember doing science experiments with water in middle school and that dive brought back memories for me. Especially interesting of ice being an insulator for the life under the water.
This has become a common and "viral" activity in Minnesota now. If you have a lot of lakes, lots of outdoorsy people, equipment like chainsaws and outboard motors (this is a common combination of things in the garage in Minnesota) this sort of thing just happens. There have been videos where people then just dance on the middle section. Enjoy. https://blogs.mprnews.org/newscut/2017/01/a-motorized-ice-circle/
Yes! I follow someone online who posts about this frequently, when I'm looking for a 30 minute diversion from my day: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL_BZpt0J9Kqwy6YPWr30ow
Many years ago I went to a friends cabin that is somewhat close to one of our 15000+ lakes unimaginateively named Red Lake. It is one of the larger lakes in the state way up north. That weekend there was a fishing contest on the lake. The regulars bring road signs and cooperatively plow the lake and make it seem like there are streets. I am sure there were AT LEAST 5000 icehouses on the lake. Minnesotans are culturally Canadians and Scandinavian in their approaches to life and it has been a transformation for me living here. Like California, we have constitutionally reserved water access as a public issue in almost all circumstances.
Thanks for writing back!
While not a passion, I have ice fished with friends. My favorite part of the whole experience is on a very cold day when you finish operating the auger to cut a hole it is just amazing to see the water through the hole and get a birdseye view of the water. I don't know how long it takes but the holes start sealing up on a cold day pretty quickly.
I think once we find a bit of life on one of the moons in this solar system the floodgates will open when we have a few examples and not just Earth-like, that will be the tipping point for humanity. I think that just the educated guessing of water and a magnetic field and I think it will be that nature can do the rest and all sorts of life will be found right under our nose.