Stones aren’t known to move around much on their own. The most notable exceptions are the sailing stones of Racetrack Playa, which seemingly scoot around a dried-up lakebed all on their own. After years of hypothesizing about the reasons for the stones’ movement, scientists caught the sailing stones in action in 2013. Water accumulates on the playa in the winter, and when the weather conditions are just right, a thin layer of ice forms. As the ice breaks up into sheets, the wind pushes them around and they in turn push…
