[X] My Assistant

[Guest_paulanderson_*]

This is the first source I've come across for this, an interview with Carey Michael Lisse, member of the Deep Impact Science Team and Principal Investigator for the Chandra X-Ray and Spitzer telescope Deep Impact spectrometer results:

http://www.earthfiles.com/news/news.cfm?ID...ategory=Science

Interesting results, including 50% + water ice, limestone-like carbonates and amino acid precursors, just presented at the 9th International Asteroids, Comets and Meteors Conference in Brazil.

[Guest_BruceMoomaw_*]

Now, how can you say that? The item on the mystery of large numbers of "mutilated, bloodless kangaroos" being found in Australia was fascinating. If there's a pack of vampire kangaroos hopping around in the Outback, wouldn't YOU like to know about it before camping there?

Meanwhile, Hawaii's Jeffrey Bell tells me he's very skeptical of the carbonate detection, because carbonates aren't being found in the cometary dust particles collected by U-2s from Earth's stratosphere. Question: could vaporized carbonates have been formed on the spot in the very high-temperature gases produced by the Impactor's impact, out of the carbonaceous-chondrite dust and CO2 in the comet? Indeed, could both carbonates and the detected CO2 have been formed out of a quick reaction between the chondrite dust and the oxygen released by the high-temperature breakdown of water ice? (He also tells me that "Linda Moulton Howe... is a regular on the Art Bell show and has a long history of zany pseudoscientific beliefs. Back in the 1980s she pretty much created the modern myth of cattle mutilations by UFOs and/or black helicopters." However, I don't see any obvious BS in her quotes from Lisse, and Paul Anderson tells us he heard Lisse saying the same things in person.)

[Guest_RGClark_*]

Now, how can you say that?  The item on the mystery of large numbers of "mutilated, bloodless kangaroos" being found in Australia was fascinating.  If there's a pack of vampire kangaroos hopping around in the Outback, wouldn't YOU like to know about it before camping there?

Meanwhile, Hawaii's Jeffrey Bell tells me he's very skeptical of the carbonate detection, because carbonates aren't being found in the cometary dust particles collected by U-2s from Earth's stratosphere.  Question: could vaporized carbonates have been formed on the spot in the very high-temperature gases produced by the Impactor's impact, out of the carbonaceous-chondrite dust and CO2 in the comet?  Indeed, could both carbonates and the detected CO2 have been formed out of a quick reaction between the chondrite dust and the oxygen released by the high-temperature breakdown of water ice?  (He also tells me that "Linda Moulton Howe... is a regular on the Art Bell show and has a long history of zany pseudoscientific beliefs.  Back in the 1980s she pretty much created the modern myth of cattle mutilations by UFOs and/or black helicopters."  However, I don't see any obvious BS in her quotes from Lisse, and Paul Anderson tells us he heard Lisse saying the same things in person.)

Bruce, carbonate HAS been observed in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs):

Carbonate Mineralogy in Stratospheric IDPs: Compositions, Co-Existing Smectite and Comparison to CI Carbonaceous Chondrites.
D. J. Joswiak and D. E. Brownlee, Dept. of Astronomy, Box 351580, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, e-mail: joswi**@*****.washington.edu, brownl**@*****.washington.edu
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2001/pdf/1998.pdf

Perhaps you could do an interview with Lisse to establish the validity of these detections.


Bob Clark