Posted on 02/01/2023 7:03:10 PM PST by Fractal Trader
A team of researchers has discovered five new meteorites in Antarctica—one of which weighs a whopping 16.7 pounds.
For about a week and a half, the scientists rode snowmobiles and slept in tents, enduring the cold Antarctic summer temperatures of 14 degrees Fahrenheit as they searched for space rocks in the ice. Their largest find is among the heaviest meteorites ever found on the continent and could provide a glimpse into our solar system’s history.
“The object comes from the asteroid belt and probably plopped down into the Antarctic blue ice several tens of thousands of years ago,” Ryoga Maeda, a researcher at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel who co-led the team, tells the Brussels Times’ Lauren Walker.
Frigid Antarctica is a hotspot for meteorite discoveries. To date, scientists have uncovered some 45,000 space rocks from the continent—and as many as 300,000 more might still be in the ice. Most meteorites on Earth are found in deserts, and Antarctica, because it receives so little precipitation, is a polar desert. These dry conditions are prime for preserving space rocks, which fall evenly across Earth. Plus, dark rocks from the cosmos are easy to spot amid the pale icescape, and a general lack of terrestrial rocks limits look-alikes from our own planet.
(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...
ping!
Sounds like a good movie plot. I hope they thaw them out very carefully!
Nephew is down there right now.
Construction in a place that is under the administration of NZ.
It was only 76 below wind chill the other day..AND IT IS SUMMER down there.
whoever wrote the article is cruel as.
But I laughed.
“The meteorites will now thaw under controlled conditions at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, where they will be analyzed.”
Yep, most of 'em are 16 or 18 pounds!
Summertime, and the Antarctic is easy,
The wind is howling, and the meteorites fly;
Your government’s rich and it pays you for lookin’,
So hush, scientist, don’t you sigh...
Slot Limit.
1st explorer: “We gotta get outta here. Now.”
2nd: “Why?”
1st: “See these holes drilled here? This sucker is someone’s bowling ball and they might be coming over to pick it up.”
What a monumental waste of money, resources and talent.
Yeah..just throw it in the pile with the other 45,000.
I saw a video recently that said it takes 1000 people in support roles like cooks mechanics and the like to maintain a Cadre of 300 scientists.
All the money spent is just wasted.
Antarctica is cold, has ice and penguins, and space rocks. It is uninhabitable without massive dollar subsidy. NO ONE has chosen to live there ever. It gave us most of its secrets 20 years ago.
We should say “Good job!” and turn out the lights.
The Thing
Who Goes There?
James Arness!
They should check around for an extra Stargate
Thanks! Will ping, must travel.
Some years ago,I attended a presentation by a professional astronomer who spent the Summer(Northern Hemisphere Summer) at the South Pole. It was fascinating listening to him describe his experiences and viewing the pictures he took while he was there. He was there when the fragments of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 hit Jupiter, and he and his colleagues were able to capture the entire event on film, as well as watch the impact marks each come into view.
Pretty amazing stuff.
It four months.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
