Ask HN: Submission algorithm too agressive?

I see a lot of high comment, high point posts are getting pushed off the front page rather quickly. I'm presently thinking of http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1401117, which has 89 points, 145 comments, and is at #43 a mere 9 hours after it was posted, but there have been multiple recent examples that follow the same mold. In the past, I rarely noticed large or high scoring posts on the second page, but it seems increasingly necessary to check more than the front page to digest the events of even a single day. Are there hidden variables that explain why, e.g., http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1401059 ranks higher, despite being older, having fewer points, and having fewer comments?