The Cosmic Tusk

April 26, 2010

Smoke Linked to Gun: Napier upheld by Nesvorný and Jenniskens on Zodiacal Cloud and short-period Comets

Richard Kerr, the oldest rat in the barn over at Tusk competitor Science Magazine, has written a disturbingly matter-of-fact piece reporting the myth busting work of David Nesvorný and Peter Jenniskens (hereafter N&J) on the source of Interplanetary Dust and the Zodiacal Cloud. N&J are the same fellows who last month deduced massive ancient meteoritic airburts in Antarctica from ice…

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Random Tusks

April 25, 2010

Creepy notes: E.P. Grondine fingers Obama Asteroid Mission as reaction to comet Schwassmann Wachmann's next pass

I’ve asked Ed Grondine to put some more some flesh on these bones, but he recently sent me some notes with background on the lead up to Obama’s bold asteroid mission. One can devine his drift — but the Tusk needs more…. BTW, Ed’s “Dead Car Book Special” is still underway, I recommend his Man and Impact in the Americas. WILL PASS THROUGH INNER SOAR SYSTEM…

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Random Tusks

April 21, 2010

Wisconsin fireball causes....fires?

Bob Kobres is a good friend and a peer when it comes to finding intellectually provocative information about strange things from space and posting or reposting the info and speculation regarding it on the Internet. In addition, Bob has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things bolide. Gene Shoemaker among others has appreciated Bob’s contributions to the study of impact phenomena. For…

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Random Tusks

April 19, 2010

Obama whipsaws nation from Moon to Asteroid: Is he WISEing up?

You’ve got to wonder sometimes what could be going on behind the scenes. Could it be that the early results of the WISE mission and other disturbing government science projects are encouraging the bold (but not entirely unexpected) move of the White House to ditch the return to Moon in order to land on an Asteroid, or — dare we say — a Comet!? It could be. I think the…

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Random Tusks

April 14, 2010

Oldie but Goodie: The 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly Evidenced By Micro-debris Fallout, Surface Combustion And Soil Explosion

Abstract of talk by Marie-Agnès Courty CNRS-CM. Lab. de Science des Sols et Hydrologic, INA P-G, 78850 Grignon, France. email: fedoroff[at]diamant.jouy.inra.dr Presented at the SIS Conference: Natural Catastrophes during Bronze Age Civilisations (11th-13th July 1997) Further investigations allow to re-examine the nature, age, causes and effects of the third millennium catastrophe identified from…

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Random Tusks

April 13, 2010

Dutch spurns geology and challenges Firestone on his home turf -- Isotopic Chemistry

Steve Dutch, a geologist and avocational skeptic, has gone from criticism of the Great Lakes as impacts craters (not a central claim of the YDB team, in any case) to taking on Rick Firestone and others in Isotopic Chemistry. The interdisciplinary nature of this debate is fun and healthy, but if were Dutch, I would stick with midwestern geology, and leave the isotopic chemistry to Firestone &#8212…

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Random Tusks

April 13, 2010

Heinrich and Dutch to Firestone: Hang it up on Great Lakes crater speculation

Dear Friends, Dr. Firestone wrote: “The other argument against the YD impact is that there is no crater near the Great Lakes. That is not necessarily true. The second deepest terrestrial place on earth is the Lake Superior basin and the basins of three other Great Lakes are deeper than Death Valley despite lying in the flat Midwest far from major tectonic activity. The mid-Continental…

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Random Tusks

April 12, 2010

Tusk bullish on old Taurid Comet papers

Articles pertaining to the Taurid Complex: Title: Meteor observations in Japan: new implications for a Taurid meteoroid swarm Authors: ASHER, D. J.; IZUMI, K. Affiliation: AA(Communications Research Laboratory, 893-1, Hirai, Kashima-shi, Ibaraki-ken 314-0012, Japan), AB(Nippon Meteor Society, 812-8 Namiki-machi, Shibukawa-shi, Gunma-ken 377-0033, Japan) Journal: Monthly Notices…

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Random Tusks

April 11, 2010

Crater Hunter blog turns it up a notch

The Tusk recommends the blog Crater Hunter: A Catastrophe of Comets as another stop to study strange claims and the science that supports them. I think it is authored by Dennis Cox(?), but regardless, the author is clearly a brave and dedicated soul — and the writing ain’t half bad. The more I learn about “ ignimbrites,” to this blog as Carolina bays are to the Tusk, the…

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Random Tusks

April 10, 2010

Curious George

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Latest Posts

The archives

Smoke Linked to Gun: Napier upheld by Nesvorný and Jenniskens on Zodiacal Cloud and short-period Comets

Creepy notes: E.P. Grondine fingers Obama Asteroid Mission as reaction to comet Schwassmann Wachmann's next pass

Wisconsin fireball causes....fires?

Obama whipsaws nation from Moon to Asteroid: Is he WISEing up?

Oldie but Goodie: The 2350 BC Middle East Anomaly Evidenced By Micro-debris Fallout, Surface Combustion And Soil Explosion

Dutch spurns geology and challenges Firestone on his home turf -- Isotopic Chemistry

Heinrich and Dutch to Firestone: Hang it up on Great Lakes crater speculation

Tusk bullish on old Taurid Comet papers

Crater Hunter blog turns it up a notch

Curious George

Archive

Don’t miss

Marc Young to Holden Thorp: Retract Sun et al.

Journal of Academic Ethics: Data vs. Derision: The Ethics of Language in Scientific Publication. The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis as a Case Study