back to article Iceberg DEATHMATCH: Berlin vs Manhattan

The BBC has challenged ScienceDaily's Manhattan as the unit of measurement for icebergs – presenting the Berlin as an alternative quantifying the surface area of whopping pieces of ice. Back in August, ScienceDaily explained that a piece of the Sulzberger Ice Shelf dislodged by the Tohoku Tsunami "was about four by six miles [ …

COMMENTS

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  1. Elmer Phud
    Headmaster

    Yeah but . . .

    Icebergs are not - as far as I recall - flat but rather lumpy underneath. An area measurment is nothing - I'd like to see icebergs in units of either Ayres Rocks (Aus measure) or Snowdons (UK measure).

  2. dotdavid
    Paris Hilton

    May I suggest...

    ...the Paris as a unit of area measurement?

    1. adrianww
      Paris Hilton

      Er...

      ...considering the earlier comment about the 3D nature of icebergs, we need a volume measurement.

      Although I suppose the Paris could still be used. Not sure which bit of Paris you'd measure the volume of, but I'm sure the trusty Reg comment folks can come up with some, well, er...interesting(?) ideas...

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        RE: "...we need a volume measurement..."

        Bulgarian airbag

  3. SuperTim

    How many times?

    Icebergs are measured in Belgiums. A smaller iceberg must therefore be measure in MilliBegiums or MicroBelgiums. I suggest this Icesheet could be a two-Brusseller!

  4. Torben Mogensen

    First, we take Manhattan.

    Then, we take Berlin!

    1. That Awful Puppy
      Thumb Up

      Genius.

      My hat is off, good sir.

      +1000 internets to you.

  5. The Indomitable Gall

    Variable standards

    The introduction of "the Berlin" is to be resisted -- Berlin, like any urban centre, is constantly growing, and this will lead to an appearance of iceberg shrinkage over time, and may be used in the future to cover up an emerging global catastrophe.

    Manhattan, on the other hand, is a cocktail, and you need ice for it. I think the Americans have underestimated the number of drinks they could make from that 'berg, cos you only need 2 or 3 cubes per glass....

  6. No such thing as an Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Manhattan - becuase it's the capital of the world...

    Just ask Rudy Giuliani.

    I second "The Kardashian" over "The Paris" as a measurement unit, at least there is a hint of volume to it.

  7. That Awful Puppy
    Meh

    One Kardashian ...

    Could also be a unit of guilty pleasure. I often find myself imagining doing unprintable things to Ms. K, but I always feel guilty afterwards because, well, she's just icky, isn't she?

  8. Bassey

    Isn't this quite straightforward

    The Berlin is the metric equivalant of the Imperial Manhatten. As long as NASA don't need to carry out space-craft related projects that require converting one to the other we should be fine to use either and/or both.

  9. Schick
    Boffin

    Absurd

    The Beeb's rejection of a Manhattan is clearly nothing more than lefty knee-jerk anti-merikanism ...although I fail to see why the Wight won't do. However, if milli-, centi- kilo, mega- (and etc.) Wights are too difficult, then by all means incorporate Helgos, Manhattans, Sardins (dump Wales!*) and Icelys. The progressions from one to the next are then the perfectly logical and easily derived Vibronachi multipliers of ~36, ~6, ~62 and ~5. ( "~" due to tides and shifting sandbanks ...oy! - nothing is perfect ).

    *No, nothing against Wales, it's just that a measure of area must be surrounded by water. Everybody knows that for chrissake.

  10. badbeard
    IT Angle

    Kardashian Units

    I'm afraid the Kardashian is already taken. How many Kardashians have you been married for?

    http://bryanforbes.github.com/kardashian-calc/

  11. Mr Young
    Meh

    "birthing of a giant iceberg"???

    There really is something I don't like about that phrase - sounds a bit touchy feely maybe? Sort of "I tried to get to know her but she seemed a little cold and distant. Then she gave birth to a little iceberg and I don't even know if I'm the father!"

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Kardashian et al.

    I think one on earth is equal to the 72 in heaven for some :) Possibly another scale of measure as well

  13. Pete 8

    I'm so confused

    Kardashians, Imperials, Thermetricians, Morlocks, Berlins, Bernankies, Euros, Neuros.

    Its hard to know what mall a girl should to go to next.

    Exchanging any of these units across borders and language barriers with actually available IP provides a perfectly private pretext, even on paper.

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