from Hacker News

Ice Theft in Antarctica

by simonebrunozzi on 5/22/25, 4:02 PM with 28 comments

• by johnisgood on 5/22/25, 5:13 PM

  The term "theft" and "steal" feels really odd to me when referring to ice or glaciers, or anything that is inanimate (?).

  For example this sentence: "Usually, when glaciers come into contact they merge and continue flowing together. They have also been recorded stealing ice from one another" just left me more confused than before. What does it mean for glaciers to "steal ice" from one another? I understand "merge" but not "steal" in this context.

• by bell-cot on 5/22/25, 5:58 PM

  IIR, "capture" is the geological term used when one river or stream starts taking water from another. (Generally due to erosion shifting their courses.)

  No idea if there is a correct geological term for what's happening here - but "theft", "steal", and "piracy" get the clicks, so...

• by metalman on 5/22/25, 5:52 PM

  the title could just be an example of how a person ends up thinking after bieng on station in antartica......glaciation starts to become personal

• by OutOfHere on 5/22/25, 5:39 PM

  This is another case of the theft of the word theft for something that wasn't a theft.