In contrast to Earth, Mars's middle atmosphere appears driven by gravity waves
22 comments
·March 9, 2025colanderman
> Not to be confused with gravitational waves from massive stellar bodies, [gravity waves] are an atmospheric phenomenon when a packet of air rises and falls due to variations in buoyancy.
For those similarly confused by the title as I.
stronglikedan
I used to thing programmers were bad a naming things until I became interested in physics.
DiggyJohnson
Related to this discussion, astronomers’ usage of ‘metal’ is a fun example.
dmoy
"it can't be that bad, can it?"
> astronomers use the word metals as convenient shorthand for all elements except hydrogen and helium
what, ok
hamilyon2
And musicians!
dylan604
Salts in chemistry too
andrewflnr
Worse than math, where set theory, type theory, group theory, and category theory all exist and refer to barely-related things?
bane
Wait until you spend time learning probability, or worse, biology.
divbzero
One type of gravity waves can be seen on Earth where its atmosphere meets large bodies of water. These are commonly known as ocean waves.
erkt
I am cynical but, I am pretty sure the ambiguity was intentional
NotYourLawyer
Seriously, what a dumb title. Anybody who knows what gravity waves are is gonna read it and go “what?? no.”
fleeb_
As always - relevant XKCD - https://xkcd.com/2340/
Referenced article: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2023JE00...