Including Original "Paul H. Letters" Copyright © 1996-2024 Paul V. Heinrich / website © 1996-2024 Dirk Ross - All rights reserved.



Wednesday 30 December 2009

Dreamtime Meteor Impact Found Near Alice Springs, Australia

Dreamtime Meteor Impact Found Near Alice Springs, Australia

Paul Heinrich oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Wed Dec 30 17:01:22 EST 2009

Dreamtime Meteor Impact Found with Google Earth
Steve Nerlich, December 30th, 2009, Universe Today

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/12/30/dreamtime-meteor-impact-found-with-google-earth-2/

"His suspicions were confirmed when he visited the
site with a team of geophysicists and astrophysicists,
who found evidence that a popular tourist location in
the national park called Palm Valley contains the
remains of an ancient impact crater.

"We found shocked quartz, which is only produced by
a substantial impact and its presence in the rock samples
and the morphology of the structure are the major
indicators that Palm Valley is a crater,” Mr Hamacher said."

Google, Dreaming lead to ancient crater by Deborah
Smith, Sydney Morning Herald, December 28, 2009

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/google-dreaming-lead-to-ancient-crater-20091227-lg9e.html

Google Earth confirms Dreamtime meteor legend by Annie
Sanson, Northern Territory News, December 30, 2009

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/google-earth-confirms-dreamtime-meteor-legend/story-e6frf7jx-1225814665715

Mystery solved by Dream by Annie Sanson, Northern
Territory News, December 30, 2009

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/12/30/112341_ntnews.html

Yours,

Paul H.

NASA considers missions to Venus, moon and asteroid

NASA considers missions to Venus, moon and asteroid

Paul Heinrich oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Wed Dec 30 16:53:29 EST 2009

NASA considers missions to Venus, moon and asteroid
by Stephen Clark, Spaceflight Now, December 29, 2009

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0912/29newfrontiers/

Yours,

Paul H.

Russia looks to divert asteroid from Earth

Russia looks to divert asteroid from Earth

Paul Heinrich oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Wed Dec 30 16:50:06 EST 2009

Russia looks to divert asteroid from Earth
Seattle Post Intelligencer,

http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/189567.asp

"Russia is erring on the side of caution,
Perminov said in the report: "Better to
spend a few hundred million dollars to
create a system for preventing a collision
than to wait until it happens and hundreds
of thousands of people are killed.""

Giant asteroid to pass earth at close range
Toronto Star, Cathal Kelly,
http://www.thestar.com/news/sciencetech/article/744268--giant-asteroid-to-pass-earth-at-close-range

NASA Refines Asteroid Apophis' Path Toward
Earth, NASA,
http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2009/oct/HQ_09-232_Apophis_Update.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Tuesday 29 December 2009

Meteorite Deaths? Interesting old article-read

Meteorite Deaths? Interesting old article-read

by Paul Heinrich
Tue Dec 29 23:33:54 EST 2009

Susan K. Webb wrote:

"Most of the bulk of my post involved the old Chinese
recorded incidents. Lewis took those from the Yau,
Weissman and Yeomans' paper:"

Yau, K., P. Weissman, and D. Yeomans, 1994, Meteorite
Falls in China and Some Related Human Casualty Events.
Meteoritics. vol. 29, pp. 864-871.

http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1994Metic..29..864Y

PDF file at: http://tiny.cc/ChineseFalls or

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?1994Metic..29..864Y&data_type=PDF_HIGH&whole_paper=YES&type=PRINTER&filetype=.pdf

Thank you for the citation and reference to the Chinese
falls. It is a rather interesting and very useful paper.

Webb also wrote;

"Paul's response suggests that field work
could be profitable if the site could be
located. That took me by surprise; I assumed
too much time had passed. It's an exciting
thought."

I agree with you that this is a very interesting thought.
It the case of the reported falls that involve just a few
stones, it highly unlikely that much of anything could
be found.

However, in case of certain reported falls, in which
it appears that thousands of pieces might have fell,
I think even after a few hundred years, that there is
a fair chance that there might still be meteorites that
can be found. I suspect, if a person took into account
what geoarchaeologists call "site formation processes"
and used what is known about the geomorphology and
geomorphologic history of the area, a good geomorphologist
/ geologist / geoarchaeology could make specific
predictions as to where any meteorites from a fall
eventually came to rest and where to best look for them.
It is matter of using the enormous amount of knowledge
already gathered about geomorphology, surficial
landscape processes, and "site formation processes" to
predict the best places to look for meteorites deposited
from a possible fall.

Of course after several hundred years, any meteorites found
would likely be too weathered to be of any interest to
collectors. However, I suspect that scientifically useful
information can still be collected despite how badly
weathered the specimens might be. Of course, any search
for such reported falls would not be easy and there would
be no guarantee of success.

Looking at Yau et al. (1994), the reported 1490 fall, in my
opinion, might be a promising candidate for a search for
meteorites because of both the reported number of objects
and the reported size, 1.0 to 1.5 kg, of individual pieces.
Unfortunately, at this time, I cannot determine what the
modern name for Ch'ing-yang, China and its exact location
is at this time given the different and changing ways that
Chinese names have been and are transliterated into English.

Best Wishes,

Paul H.

Questions About 1490 Ch'ing-yang, Shansi Event

Questions About 1490 Ch'ing-yang, Shansi Event

by Paul Heinrich
Tue Dec 29 16:55:40 EST 2009

Larry wrote:

"For all of his "research" on these falls, Lewis did not
make any effort to try to validate the events beyond his
interpretation of the writings. It has been a long time
since I read the book or talked to him about it."

This brings up some questions about the alleged 1490
falls in Ch'ing-yang, Shansi, China.

1. Are exact citations and translations of the text from
the reports that Lewis interpreted as describing an massive
meteorite fall and thousands of death in 1490 available
anywhere?

2. Has anyone else examined and commented in detail
on the contents of these reports in regard to a possible
meteorite fall and associated deaths in 1490?

Given the nature of the proposed 1490 meteorite fall,
it would be quite fascinating to be able to read the
translations of the primary Chinese text and learn exactly
what is written in them about this event. If there is any
credible information at all in in these reports that supports
such a massive event, it seems like a person could prepare
a publishable paper alone that presents the translated text
concerning what, if anything, happened in 1490, and the
text's interpretation.

Because of the spectacular nature of this hypothesized
event, it seems like more could be written about it then
the short excerpts that I have been able to find.

Yours,

Paul H.

Online Impact Cratering Powerpoint Presentations

Online Impact Cratering Powerpoint Presentations

by Paul Heinrich
Tue Dec 29 16:30:36 EST 2009

Dear Friends,

Out of curiosity, I did an Advanced Google search
for "impact cratering" while restricting the file type to
ppt (Powerpoint presentation) format. I found a
number of interesting Powerpoint presentations.

They included:

1. Impact Cratering Mechanics and Morphologies
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/grad/classes/spring2008/Melosh_596f/Lecture3.ppt

2. Impact Cratering Dating by Nathan Marsh
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~shane/PTYS_395_MOON/presentations/marsh_cratering_dating.ppt


3. Impact Cratering by Virginia Pasek
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~shane/PTYS_395_MOON/presentations/pasek_catering.ppt


4. Impact Cratering Mechanics and Morphologies
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~shane/PTYS_411_511/lectures/PTYS_411_511_cratering_mechanics_morphologies.ppt


5. Impact Cratering Lecture 3, Impact Cratering Lecture 3
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/grad/classes/spring2008/Melosh_596f/Lecture3.ppt

6. Impact Craters
http://www.astro.ufl.edu/~paola/imp_cra.ppt

7. Terrestrial Geology Basics
http://planetologia.elte.hu/impact.ppt

8. MORPHOLOGY of IMPACT CRATERS Henrik Hargitai
http://planetologia.elte.hu/impact.ppt

9. Apocalypse Maybe: Unlikely Doomsday
Scenarios for the End of the Earth
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/UMICH/physics/Home/Seminars%20and%20Colloquia/Saturday%20Morning%20Physics/Previous%20Years/Saturday%20Morning%20Physics%20Fall%202006/ER_20061111.ppt


Yours,

Paul H.

Meteorite deaths

Meteorite deaths

by Paul Heinrich
Tue Dec 29 13:25:31 EST 2009

Grondine asked:

"Has anyone ever thought of going to those fall sites
in China and hunting them? Or doing archeology in
the case of the larger falls?"

I have not heard of anyone attempting to find evidence
of the larger falls. However, that does not mean much
because usually the results of such research when it is
negative (nobody finds anything) is typically not published
simply because either the authors or editors do not
consider such negative results as being significance
enough to publish.

It is a very good question for which I do not have an answer.

Yours,

Paul H.

Meteorite Deaths? Interesting old article-read

Meteorite Deaths? Interesting old article-read

by Paul Heinrich
Tue Dec 29 12:38:10 EST 2009

One of the instances of a reported meteorite fall that
resulted in human deaths that Sterling K. Webb quoted:

"The most startling is a report of an event in early
1490 in Ch'ing-yang, Shansi, in which many people
were killed when stones "fell like rain." Of the three
known surviving reports of this event, one says that
"over 10,000 people" were killed, and one says that
"several tens of thousands" were killed."

Does anyone know where Ch'ing-yang, Shansi is in China?

I ask this question because, unlike many of the other
alleged meteorite falls reported to have caused either
injury or death to humans, this fall, as reported, would
have been extensive enough to have left behind some
sort of "findable" physical evidence in the form of
actual meteorites. Applying the basic principles of
geomorphology, Quaternary geology, and site formation
processes as developed by archaeologists, a well-
trained Quaternary geologist, archaeological geologist,
or geomorphologists should be able to locate the
landforms and colluvial or fluvial deposits of the right
age in which any of these numerous meteorites would
have been concentrated and either them or their
weathered remains possibly preserved

For example, on landforms that predate 1490, the
meteorites would have been buried by bioturbation.
As the local soils were churned by farming and
soil fauna, any meteorites that would have fallen on
the land surface would have eventually sunk to the
base of the soil's biomantle. As a result, they would
be concentrated as a layer at the base of bioturbation
called a "carpedolith". In gullies and other exposures,
they would occur as a "stone line" at the base of the
biomantle. Also, using what is known about the
archaeology and geomorphology of the area, a
person could locate the buried land surfaces or
deposits of the right age and origin that should contain
these meteorites, if they indeed exist.

This is the sort of methodology I discuss in relationship
to the alleged tektites found in Rapides Parish, Louisiana
in "Reevaluation of Tektites Reported from. Rapides
Parish, Louisiana" at either:

http://www.lgs.lsu.edu/deploy/uploads/Summer_09_LGS_Newsletter.pdf or

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18698759/Alleged-Tektites-From-Rapides-Parish-Louisiana

A hypothetical stone line can be seen in "Animation on
Dynamic Denudation/Biomantle Evolution" at;

https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/jdomier/www/temp/biomantle.swf

and discussed in:

Johnson, D. L., 1989, Subsurface Stone Lines, Stone Zones,
Artifact-Manuport Layers, and Biomantles Produced by
Bioturbation via Pocket Gophers (Thomomys Bottae).
American Antiquity. vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 370-389

http://www.jstor.org/pss/281712

and Johnson, D. L., 1990, Biomantle Evolution and the
Redistribution of Earth Materials and Artifacts. Soil
Science. vol. 149, no. 2, pp. 84-102.

http://journals.lww.com/soilsci/Abstract/1990/02000/Biomantle_Evolution_and_the_Redistribution_of.4.aspx

Meteorites will behave very much like the artifacts discussed
in the above paper.

Yours,

Paul H.

Sunday 27 December 2009

Off-Topic Science: Russia's Conquering Zeros

Off-Topic Science: Russia's Conquering Zeros

by Paul Heinrich
Sun Dec 27 16:55:11 EST 2009

Dear Friends,

This off topic from meteorites, but has something
to say about the practice of science in general in
different countries.

Russia's Conquering Zeros The strength of
post-Soviet math stems from decades of lonely
productivity by Masha Green, New York Times

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740004574513870490836470.html

Yours,

Paul H.

Downloadable PDF Files of Papers About Massive, Earth-like planets, Mars, and So Forth

Downloadable PDF Files of Papers About Massive, Earth-like planets, Mars, and So Forth

by Paul Heinrich
Sun Dec 27 15:50:10 EST 2009

Dear Friends,

There are a few downloadable PDF files about Massive
Earth-like planets, Mars, and other interesting topics on
Edwin Kite's web at:

page of publications at http://eps.berkeley.edu/~kite/ .

They include:

1. Kite, E. S., I. Matsuyama, M. Manga, J. T.
Perron, and J X. Mitrovicad, 2009, True polar
wander driven by late-stage volcanism and the
distribution of paleopolar deposits on Mars.
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, vol. 280.
pp. 254–267. PDF file at:

http://eps.berkeley.edu/~kite/Kite_et_al_EPSL_2009.pdf

2. Kite, Palaeo-ice streams in the Equatorial Transition
Zone, Mars, 2006, 19th UCL Astronomy Colloq. Windsor.
poster. Image file at:

http://eps.berkeley.edu/~kite/CL2006/19UCLposter.jpg

3. Kite, E. S., 2006, Massive Earths: modelling
challenge, extraterrestrial diamond anvil,
long-lived habitat?, Hubbert Prize 2006, winning
essay. PDF file at:

http://eps.berkeley.edu/~kite/Huppert_Essay.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday 25 December 2009

Old-Time Cosmic Catastrophism is Alive and Well

Old-Time Cosmic Catastrophism is Alive and Well

by Paul Heinrich
Fri Dec 25 03:25:25 EST 2009

Dear friends,

While searching the Internet, I can across examples that
show that no-holds-barred cosmic catastrophism is still
alive and well. Some examples include:

Spedicato, E., 2009, Hypotheses and Scientific Approaches
to Human Memory of Four Great Catastrophes. The 2009
Conference on Quantavolution, Kandersteg, Switzerland.

http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/fromfirstdayinge/index.html
http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/fromfirstdayinge/genexodus.pdf

Another lecture by Dr. Spedicato, "Solomon and Dionysus:
Who Were They? Two Mysteries Solved, Again Confirming
the Validity of Ancient Texts" at:

http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/solomonanddionys/index.html
http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/solomonanddionys/soldion2.pdf

Spedicato, E., 2008a, The Flood of Deucalion. The Paris
Conference on Quatavolution 2008, Université Pierre-et-
Marie-Curie, Paris, France.

http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage13/index.html
http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage13/deucalione-testo-inglese-1-.pdf
http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage6/index.html

Spedicato, E., 2008a, From Phaethon to Pachamacac
Hypotheses and scientific approaches to human memory
of great catastrophes. The Paris Conference on
Quatavolution 2008, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie,
Paris, France. at

http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage13/index.html
http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage13/phaethon-to-chapamacac.pdf
http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage6/index.html

A 2007 Conference on Quatavolution paper of his, "Geography
and Numerics of Eden, Kharsag and Paradise: Sumerian and
Enochian Sources Versus the Genesis Tale" is quite revealing.

http://www.2007-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/geographyandnume/index.html
http://www.2007-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/geographyandnume/kharsag-emilio.pdf

A similar catastrophist paper is:

Barbiero, F., 2007, Changes of Rotation Axis of Earth
after Asteroid/Cometary Impacts and Their Geological
Effects. 2007 Conference on Quantavolution. Kandersteg,
Switzerland. It can be found at:

http://www.2007-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/changesofrotatio/index.html
http://www.2007-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/changesofrotatio/confer-kandersteg-poles-ingl.pdf

In the 2009 Conference on Quantavolution, Barbiero has a
paper titled "Space-Time as a Field of Mass - A Proposal for
a New Model of Physical Reality" at

http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/space-timeasafie/index.html
http://www.2009-kandersteg.q-conferences.com/space-timeasafie/spacetime-as-a-field-new.pdf

I have absolutely no clue as to what Barbiero is talking about
in his 2009 paper. From what I found in this paper, I very likely
only need to start worrying if I did find something in this paper
that I understood.

However, Spedicato did get a paper published in a peer-
reviewed book: It is:

Spedicato, Emilio, 2008, Homer and Orosius: A Key to
Explain Deucalion's Flood, Exodus and Other Tales, in
S. A. Paipetis, ed., Science and Technology in Homeric
Epics, vol. 6, pp. 369-374. History of Mechanism and
Machine Science, Springer Netherlands.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/p4q2u4w414866053/
http://interval.louisiana.edu/conferences/2007_Stenger/Slides_of_talks/homer-fetonte-lampos.pdf

2006 version of this paper can be found at:

http://wwwdata.unibg.it/dati/bacheca/63/21693.pdf

It seems like Spedicato is an excellent example of how
far off the deep end that a scientist, in this case a
mathematician, can go when they conduct "research"
that is way outside their area of expertise.

Another paper that also appears in "Science and Technology
in Homeric Epics" is "A Comet During the Trojan War?" by Dr.
Stavros Papamarinopoulos at either

http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage12/phaethon-in-springer-1-.pdf ,
http://www.2008-paris-conference.org/mapage12/index.html , or
http://www.springerlink.com/content/q721u76w20r64431/

Yours,

Paul H.

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Off-Topic, But Fun, Comments About Snowflakes and Christmas

Off-Topic, But Fun, Comments About Snowflakes and Christmas

by Paul Heinrich
Wed Dec 23 23:32:02 EST 2009

What's Wrong With This Snowflake? by Jon Hamilton
All Things Considered, NPR

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121827582&ps=cprs

Christmas card snowflakes 'corrupt nature' by
defying laws of physics by Ian Sample, Guardian
Dec. 23, 2009

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/dec/23/christmas-card-snowflakes-nature-physics

Snowflakes on Christmas cards drawn wrong by
Jeanna Bryner, MSMBC

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34576934/ns/technology_and_science-science/

The correspondence is;

Koop, T., 2009, 'Snow joke as festive season
gives rise to a blizzard of fake flakes. Nature.
vol. 462, p. 985, doi:10.1038/462985a; Published
online December 23, 2009

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v462/n7276/full/462985a.html

Additional stuff:

1. A Snowflake Primer ... The basic facts about
snowflakes and snow crystals ..."

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/primer/primer.htm

2. Libbrecht, K. G., 2005, The physics of snow
crystals. Reports on Progress in Physics. vol. 68,
pp. 855-895. doi:10.1088/0034-4885/68/4/R03

Dowload PDF file from

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/publist/rpp5_4_R03.pdf

3. Snow Crystals Site

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~atomic/snowcrystals/

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Eveyone

Paul H.

Sunday 13 December 2009

Indian scientists detect signs of life on Moon

Indian scientists detect signs of life on Moon

oxytropidoceras at cox.net oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Sun Dec 13 12:26:07 EST 2009

Indian scientists detect signs of life on Moon by Bhargavi Kerur,
DNA, Read the World, december 12, 2009

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_indian-scientists-detect-signs-of-life-on-moon_1322785

Life on the moon, The Irish Times, December 12, 2009

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1212/1224260586652.html

Sounds like a reporter is getting carried away with his imagination.

Does anyone know anything about the claim in the first article that:

"However, traces of amino acids, which are basic to life,
were found in the soil retrieved by the Apollo-11 astronauts."?

Yours,

Paul H.

Saturday 12 December 2009

Earth's Atmosphere Came from Outer Space

Earth's Atmosphere Came from Outer Space

oxytropidoceras at cox.net oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Sat Dec 12 07:29:55 EST 2009

Earth's Atmosphere Came from Outer Space, Scientists Find
Science Daily, Dec. 11, 2009,

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091210153538.htm

The paper is:

Holland, G., Chris J. Ballentine, and Martin Cassidy, 2009,
Meteorite Kr in Earth's Mantle Suggests a Late Accretionary
Source for the Atmosphere. Science. vol. 326, no. 5959,
pp. 1522 - 1525 DOI: 10.1126/science.1179518,

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/326/5959/1522

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday 11 December 2009

Four PDF Files of Papers About Asteroid Impact Generated Tsunamis

Four PDF Files of Papers About Asteroid Impact Generated Tsunamis

oxytropidoceras at cox.net oxytropidoceras at cox.net
Fri Dec 11 14:04:55 EST 2009

The papers are:

1. Tsunami From Asteroid And Comet Impacts: The Vulnerability of
Europe by Jack C. Hills and Patrick Goda

2. Asteroid Tsunami Inundation of Japan by Charles L. Mader

3. Modeling The Eltanin Asteroid Tsunami by Charles L. Mader

4. Modeling Asteroid Impact And Tsunami by David A. Crawford
and Charles L. Mader

All of these papers are found in vol. 16, no. 1 (1998) of the
"Science of Tsunami Hazards". The 3.7 MB PDF of this
issue of Science of Tsunami Hazards, which contains the
above paper can be downloaded from:

http://library.lanl.gov/tsunami/00394718.pdf

The table of contents.with links for PDF files, for this and
other issues of the Science of Tsunami Hazards is at:

http://library.lanl.gov/tsunami/sth.htm

Yours,

Paul H.

Friday 4 December 2009

Reigniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene firestorm debate Thursday, December 3, 2009

Re-igniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene firestorm debate

Thursday, December 3, 2009 7:20 AM

Belcher, C. M., 2009, Reigniting the Cretaceous-Palaeogene
firestorm debate. Geology. vol. 37, no. 12, pp. 1147-1148

Abstract and text at:

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/37/12/1147.full.pdf+html


PDF file at:

http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/37/12/1147.full.pdf+html


Yours,

Paul H.