DB's Pixnet

International Herald Tribune, Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Page 7, Health + Science
The giant iceberg was only part of the story
by William J Broad

What doomed the Titanic is well known, at least in outline. On a moonless night in the North Atlantic, the liner hit an iceberg and disaster ensued, with 1,500 lives lost.

The theories on the sinking vary widely, placing the blame on everything from inept sailors to flawed rivets.

Now, a century after the liner went down in the early hours of April 15, 1912, two new studies argue that rare states of nature played major roles in the catastrophe.

The first says Earth's nearness to the Moon and the Sun--a proximity not matched in more than 1,000 years--resulted in record tides that help explain why the Titanic encountered so much ice, including the fatal iceberg.

And a second, put forward by a Titanic historian from Britain, contends that the icy waters created ideal conditions for an unusual type of mirage that hid icebergs from lookouts and confused a nearby ship as to the liner's identity, delaying rescue efforts for hours.

The author, Tim Maltin, said his explanation helps remove the stain of blunder from what he regards as a tragedy...

David CK Chang, SSN057-86-4042,
April 11, 2012, Wednesday,
National Central Library,
Taipei City