Clipmarks | Meteorites Clips

Bio-Earth: Are Planets Living Super-Organisms?

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:48:23 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: He believes that expanding the study of life sciences to the core of our world and the depths of outer space will help us find distant relatives of our own Earth -- planets that could also sustain life.
To explain why contintental plates drift on the surface of the Earth's molten mantle, Maruyama argues that continents actually have life cycles. Old, cold plates on continental fringes sink to “plate graveyards” deep in the Earth’s mantle, and then rise again, creating volcanoes fueled by three-dimensional convection movements deep below the surface.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Japan's Maruyama Shigenori, one of the world's leading geophysicists, is working on a global formula for a vast new field of study that would include dozens of disciplines collaborating to produce an overall picture of the Earth.

Maruyama is creating a new institute called the Center for Bio-Earth Planetology will be launched in 2009 and fully dedicated to creating a new conception of life in space.He wants to find out if the continents will merge again in 250 million years to form a single super-continent; how meteorites change the chemical composition of the Earth; and what the connection is between the temperature of a planet and its magnetic field, which protects plants and animals from being bombarded with cosmic radiation, which in turn influences the rate of mutations and thus the development of new forms of life.

As he connects the dots from astronomy to life sciences, the outlines emerge of an all-encompassing image of entire planets, which appear as living super-organisms.

Tags: planet, gaia, geophysics

Fantastic clip of meteorite falling

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 02:13:14 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: muzich.blogspot.com

A SPECTACULAR and almost blindingly bright meteor sparked a flurry of emergency calls to the police after it lit up the skies over western Canada.

[Video]

Onlookers across the province of Alberta watched in awe, describing a kaleidoscope of colours as the rock rapidly descended.

More meteorites, fragments of rocks or metals that survive the fall from space to Earth, have been found in Alberta than any other Canadian province.

Shock Discovery of Ancient Space Invader

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 23:44:12 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: This rock sample contains fragments of the first asteroid ever discovered intact. The brown 'nuggets' in the sample once orbited the Sun, and are probably older than the planets in our Solar System.

Clip Source: www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

Deep in a huge crater, scientists have unearthed an astonishing find - the only preserved fragments of an asteroid ever discovered. We've always thought asteroids vaporised when they hit Earth head-on.

In South Africa an asteroid crater wider than London has surrendered some amazing space secrets - the first fragments of a large asteroid ever found. The impact crater, called Morokweng, formed when a huge asteroid slammed into our planet 145 million years ago.

Until now, scientists thought a large asteroid's energy turned into heat when it hit, vaporising the asteroid and melting the ground to form a so-called melt sheet. But drilling deep into Morokweng's melt sheet has revealed a beach-ball-sized lump of asteroid, along with lots of smaller fragments.

How the asteroid fragments came to be embedded in the melt sheet is a big question; they just should not be there.

Somehow chunks of this asteroid survived the impact.

Meteorites that hit in Antarctica are preserved by the extreme cold

Tags: astronomy, asteroid, geology, history, space

A New Picture of the Early Earth

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:05:52 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: In a new analysis, published in the current issue of the journal Nature, the zircons, the only bits of earth older than 4 billion years definitively known to have survived, provide another tantalizing hint about the Hadean period. Dr. Harrison and two U.C.L.A. colleagues, Michelle Hopkins, a graduate student, and Craig Manning, a professor of geology and geochemistry, report that minerals trapped inside zircons offer evidence that the processes of plate tectonics — the forces that push around the planet’s outer crust, forming and shaping the continents and oceans — had already begun.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

AGES AGO Analyses of crystals in rocks in Australia, left, have formed a new picture of the early Earth, depicted with young oceans in the painting at right.

The first 700 million years of Earth’s 4.5-billion-year existence are known as the Hadean period, after Hades, or, to shed the ancient Greek name, Hell.

That name seemed to fit with the common perception that the young Earth was a hot, dry, desolate landscape interspersed with seas of magma and inhospitable for life. Even if some organism had somehow popped into existence, the old story went, surely it would soon have been extinguished in the firestorm of one of the giant meteorites that slammed into the Earth when the young solar system was still crowded with debris.

That is no longer thought to be true.

Tags: earth, life, history, evolution, geological, time, geology, science

Earth could seed Titan with life

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 20:24:29 GMT

clipped by: Aribeth
clipper's remarks: Dr Gladman's team calculated that up to 20 terrestrial rocks from a large impact on Earth would reach Titan. These would strike Titan's upper atmosphere at 10-15 km/s. At this velocity, the cruise down to the surface might be comfortable enough for microbes to survive the journey.But the news was more bleak for Europa. By contrast with the handful that hit Titan, about 100 terrestrial meteoroids hit the icy moon.

"It's frustrating if you're a microbe that's been wandering the Universe for a million years to then die striking the surface of Europa," Dr Gladman mused.Asked after his presentation by one scientist whether he thought microbes would be able to survive Titan's freezing temperatures, Dr Gladman answered: "That's for you people to decide, I'm just the pizza delivery boy."

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Terrestrial rocks blown into space by asteroid impacts on Earth could have taken life to Saturn's moon Titan, scientists have announced.

Earth microbes in these meteorites could have seeded the organic-rich world with life, researchers believe.

the impact on Earth that killed off the dinosaurs could have ejected enough material for some to reach far-off moons such as Titan

The theory of panspermia holds that life on planets like Earth and Mars was seeded from space, perhaps hitching a ride on meteorites and comets.

To get terrestrial, life-bearing rocks to escape the Earth's atmosphere and reach space requires an impact by an asteroid or comet between 10 and 50km across.

Million-year journey

One of them is the asteroid strike 65 million years ago, which punched a crater between 160 and 240km wide in what is today the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

targets

Titan and Europa

Titan is rich in organic compounds

potential energy source for primitive life forms

Europa

thought to harbour a liquid water ocean

Tags: science, space

Bio-Earth Planetology: Planets as Living Super-Organisms

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:34:05 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: finally reaching the gaia hypothesis?

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

As he connects the dots from astronomy to life sciences, the outlines emerge of an all-encompassing image of entire planets, which appear as living super-organisms.

Tags: gaia, planetology

Diamonds Suck!

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 23:03:37 GMT

clipped by: fukengruvin
clipper's remarks: The big difference between moissanite and diamond is that moissanite can be manufactured reliably and efficiently in a laboratory. The result: flawless, brilliant gemstones at about 1/10th the cost of a comparable diamond.

Clip Source: diamondssuck.com

A Personal Essay on the Virtues of Moissanite & Why You Should NEVER Buy a Diamond

Moissanite is a rare, naturally-occuring gemstone that is typically found in very small quantities in meteorites, corundum deposits, and kimberlite. (The chemical name of moissanite is Silicon Carbide.) Moissanite has several qualitites in common with diamond: it is transparent, extremely hard (9.25 on the Mohs scale, compared to 10 for diamond), and has a high index of refraction (2.65 - 2.69, compared to 2.42 for diamond). When a large rough moissanite sample is cut and polished, the end result is a very bright, brilliant, transparent gemstone that is indistinguishable from diamond to the human eye.

Photo: Moissanite (left) vs. Diamond (right) during a brilliance/fire laboratory test. Moissanite wins hands-down. (Photo credit: Charles & Colvard)

Tags: diamond, gems

Giant Impactor Theory

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:26:57 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: what makes science attractive, is the ability to develop methods to test the solidity of the basic theories.
one has to wait and see what would be the impact

Clip Source: www.universetoday.com

New Instrument Could Reconstruct Planetary and Moon Origins

One of the leading theories for how our Moon formed is the Giant Impactor Theory, which proposes a small planet about the size of Mars struck Earth early in our solar system's formation, ejecting large volumes of heated material from the outer layers of both objects.

The new instrument, a plasma source mass spectrometer separates ions (charged particles) according to their masses and allows for a close examination of iron isotopes.

Previous studies of basalt found little or no separation of iron isotopes, but those studies focused on the rock as a whole, rather than its individual minerals.

The instrument was tested on the lava of Kilauea Iki crater in Hawaii.

If applied to a variety of terrestrial and extraterrestrial basalts, including moon rocks, meteorites from Mars and the asteroids, the method could provide more definitive evidence for a the Giant Impactor Theory, and provide clues the formation of Earth's continents

Tags: science, space, physics, theory

Earth's rebirth may have begun 13,000 years ago

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:42:06 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Scientists say comet killed off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers

Clip Source: www.chicagotribune.com

First an explosion as powerful as thousands of megatons of TNT rained meteorites down on North America. Then forest fires broke out across the continent, sending up a thick layer of soot and dust that blocked out the sun. A sudden ice age ensued, and some of the Earth's largest animals went extinct in a blink of geological time.

It's well-known that a meteorite colliding with Earth is considered the most likely reason why dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. Now a team of scientists says it has found new evidence that a comet triggered a similar extinction much more recently: 13,000 years ago, when humans were around to witness the event and suffer its terrible consequences.

The researchers also think that when the comet exploded above the planet's surface—ultimately killing off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and other large mammals that roamed North America—Chicago wasn't far from ground zero.

Tags: earth, science, discovery, chicago

Scientist rethinks global warming position

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 22:19:07 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners

Clip Source: www.canada.com

Astrophysicist Nir Shariv, one of Israel's top young scientists, describes the logic that led him -- and most everyone else -- to conclude that SUVs, coal plants and other things man-made cause global warming.

Step One Scientists for decades have postulated that increases in carbon dioxide and other gases could lead to a greenhouse effect.

Step Two As if on cue, the temperature rose over the course of the 20th century while greenhouse gases proliferated due to human activities.

Step Three No other mechanism explains the warming. Without another candidate, greenhouses gases necessarily became the cause.

Dr. Shariv, a prolific researcher who has made a name for himself assessing the movements of two-billion-year-old meteorites, no longer accepts this logic, or subscribes to these views. He has recanted: "Like many others, I was personally sure that CO2 is the bad culprit in the story of global warming. But after carefully digging into the evidence, I realized that things are far more complicated than the story sold to us by many climate scientists or the stories regurgitated by the media.

"In fact, there is much more than meets the eye."

Dr. Shariv's digging led him to the surprising discovery that there is no concrete evidence -- only speculation -- that man-made greenhouse gases cause global warming. Even research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change-- the United Nations agency that heads the worldwide effort to combat global warming -- is bereft of anything here inspiring confidence. In fact, according to the IPCC's own findings, man's role is so uncertain that there is a strong possibility that we have been cooling, not warming, the Earth. Unfortunately, our tools are too crude to reveal what man's effect has been in the past, let alone predict how much warming or cooling we might cause in the future.

Tags: global warming, climate change, science

Life from Mars theory put to test

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 14:29:16 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

An image of the unmanned Foton M3 spacecraft. Picture by ESA

A rock quarried on Orkney was blasted into space to find out if meteorites could carry primitive life from one planet to another.

One theory being tested is whether life could have arrived on Earth from Mars.

University of Aberdeen experts had the rock attached to an unmanned Russian craft and found life would probably only survive in a large meteorite.

Further details about the experiment will be revealed at the Highland Science Festival on 3 November.

Tags: mars, life, science

We're all Martians?

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:54:26 GMT

clipped by: hudgal1
clipper's remarks: I suppose it's POSSIBLE that we evolved from some organic matter that hitched a ride on a flying space rock, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

We could have alien origins, say scientists who sent fossilized microscopic life-forms into space and back inside an artificial meteorite.

he researchers attached the baseball-size rock to the outside of the European Space Agency's Foton M3 spacecraft to test whether biological material could survive the round-trip journey.

Sculpted from stone from the Orkney Islands in northern Scotland, the rock contained fossilized microbes and the molecular signatures of microbes.

"In the bit of rock we got back, some biological compounds have survived,

Preliminary findings suggest that it's possible simple organisms could arrive via meteorites, he said.

Tags: space, mereors, metiorites, life, aliens

Swarm of meteorites may solve Peru impact mystery

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 00:27:04 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: space.newscientist.com

Last year's meteorite impact in Peru has puzzled scientists. Fragments found at the site reveal the impactor was a stony meteorite, but stony meteorites usually shatter when they hit the Earth's atmosphere, raining many small pieces over a wide area.

So how could the meteorite make it all the way to the ground and gouge out a 15-metre-wide crater, such as the one found in the Peruvian town of Carancas?

The answer, says a team of scientists, may be that the original meteorite did break up when it slammed into the atmosphere, but then a shock wave formed around the fragments as they fell to Earth. This shock wave acted as a barrier that kept the pieces together so they could blast out a crater on impact.

Tags: meteorites, impact, craters, peru, geology, science

Intriguing meteorites

Tue, 29 May 2007 01:20:43 GMT

clipped by: amgumen

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Detail of Gibeon (IVA) iron meteorite specimen with sculpted "arm"

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Oriented Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite with deep flowing regmaglypts

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite specimen with natural patina

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite specimen with natural patina

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite specimen with natural hole

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite with extremely rare incidence of two natural holes

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Oriented Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite with deep regmaglypts

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite with two impact pits caused by collisions with micro meteoroids

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Sikhote-Alin iron meteorite with impact pit caused by collisions with micro meteoroid

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Highly oriented Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite with well-defined rollover lip

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Oriented Taza iron meteorite (NWA 859) with regmaglypts, desert patina, and fusion crust

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Campo del Cielo iron meteorite with natural hole

Clip Source: www.aerolite.org

Highly sculptural Sikhote-Alin (IIB) iron meteorite with unusual shape

Tags: geology, interesting, nature, science

New Studies Show Microbial Hitchikers Can Survive Millions of Years in Outer Space

Mon, 19 May 2008 14:01:13 GMT

clipped by: tabsey
clipper's remarks: Microbes with interesting stories.

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

In a unique experiment on a galactic scale, millions of bacterial spores have been purposely exposed to space, to see how solar radiation affects them and the results supported the idea that not only could life have arrived on Earth on meteorites, but that considerable material has flowed between planets.

Closer to home, scientists have analyzed aerial dust samples collected by Charles Darwin and confirmed that microbes can travel across continents without the need for planes or trains - rather bacteria and fungi hitch-hike by attaching to dust particles. Their results clearly show that diverse microbes, including ascomycetes, and eubacteria can live for centuries and survive intercontinental travel.

In a paper published in Environmental Microbiology, Dr. Anna Gorbushina (Carl-von-Ossietzky University, Oldenburg, Germany), Professor William Broughton (University of Geneva, Switzerland) and their colleagues analyzed dust samples collected by Charles Darwin and others almost 200 years ago.

Tags: space