The Cosmic Tusk

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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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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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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April 10, 2010

Curious George

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April 9, 2010

Whipple Watch

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April 8, 2010

Napier invokes Whipple: Challenges NASA's Morrison

[Whipple Obit] In an independent defense of David Morrison’s ham-handed screed in the (giggle) Skeptical Inquirer challenging the science of the YDB event, respected British astronomer Bill Napier invokes some greats of the past — in particular, Fred Whipple of Harvard, the grandfather of American comet science — in support of his central claim that the Taurid complex of…

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April 8, 2010

Napier telegraphs from Old Country: Eats lunch of NASA's Morrison, USA

TEXT OF BILL NAPIER’S REPLY to the [Morrison paper in Skeptical Inquirer] forwarded by Leroy Ellenberger: “It is too late to add anything on Napier’s paper. My colleagues who do dynamics are unimpressed with this work, however, and they consider it to be almost as unreasonable as the original Firestone et al. impact hypothesis.” David Morrison, NASA, Addendum to…

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April 7, 2010

Citizen Catastrophist Burchard apologizes to NASA official Morrison

From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: 4/6/2010 7:33:33 P.M. US Mountain Standard Time Subj: Re: No YDR? An Apology to Dave Morrison Dear David, Sorry to have used words that you find offensive and to which you object understandably. You have my sincere apology for having overstated things. My choice of words betrayed my own inner biases, unfortunately. On this…

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April 7, 2010

Morrison of NASA disputes Younger Dryas Impact Team -- touts Tusk despite obscurity

Unfortunately, the overcrowded session ran late, and there was no time for discussion or questions. Even when their conclusions were challenged, most of the scientists in the audience chose not to respond. The result was a lost opportunity for real debate. Perhaps not surprisingly, the AGU session received very little press attention. Indeed, following the AGU and GSA meetings, the…

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Latest Posts

The archives

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

Whipple Watch

Napier invokes Whipple: Challenges NASA's Morrison

Napier telegraphs from Old Country: Eats lunch of NASA's Morrison, USA

Citizen Catastrophist Burchard apologizes to NASA official Morrison

Morrison of NASA disputes Younger Dryas Impact Team -- touts Tusk despite obscurity

Archive

Don’t miss

The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis: A Guide for the Perplexed: Marc Young provides a six-part counter-gallop

NYT: 6000 word Sunday feature article on the YDI and Comet Research Group