Watch: Massive, Moving Ice Disk Takes Center Stage, Mesmerizing Maine
January 16, 201912:22 PM ET
Amy Held at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., July 25, 2018. (photo by Allison Shelley) (Square)
There is more than just January's cold currently gripping the city of Westbrook, Maine. An immense, icy disk doing a solitary pirouette on the Presumpscot River is dazzling observers, local and distant alike.
Scientists say the disk is naturally occurring and has been seen before. Most of us have spotted eddies in flowing water, that is when a cross current creates a small whirlpool. But winter's cold adds a whiff of mystery to this phenomenon.
Paul Nakroshis, an associate professor of physics at the University of Southern Maine, tells Maine Public Radio that the formation of the ice disks is not totally understood.
https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685816019/a-massive-moving-ice-disk-takes-center-stage-mesmerizing-maine
