Chinese space junk falls to Earth over Southern California, creating spectacular fireball (photos, video) 03APR2024

Chinese space junk falls to Earth over Southern California, creating spectacular fireball (photos, video)
Mike Wall, Space.Com, April 7, 2024
https://www.space.com/chinese-space-junk-fall-fireball-shenzhou-15

Yours,

Paul H.

New Zealand's 10th meteorite discovered 25MAR2024

New Zealand's 10th meteorite discovered

New Zealand's 10th meteorite discovered by couple sitting in Queenstown spa
by Juliet Speedy, NewsHub, March 22, 2024
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/03/new-zealand-s-10th-meteorite-discovered-by-couple-sitting-in-queenstown-spa.html

Newshub video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM92Hij6gx0

Meteorite falls and finds in New Zealand
https://teara.govt.nz/en/table/4694/meteorite-falls-and-finds-in-new-zealand

Aotearoa's 10th meteorite discovered
RNZ, March 21, 2024
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/512328/we-found-the-bastard-aotearoa-s-10th-meteorite-discovered

Yours,

Paul H.

Claims of Extrasolar Spherules from Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-08 Disputed 14MAR2024

Claims of Extrasolar Spherules from Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-08 Disputed

Recently, a preprint has been posted to the arXiv site that disputes proposal that Be,La,U-rich spherules recovered form
Pacific Ocean Site CNEOS 2014-01-0 are from an extrasolar origin. Instead, they argued to be microtektites of terrestrial lateritic sandstone.

The preprint is:

Desch, S., 2024. Be, La, U-rich spherules as microtektites of terrestrial laterites: What goes up must come down. arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.05161.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.05161

https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/2403/2403.05161.pdf


The proposed extrasolar spherules are discussed in:

Loeb, A., Adamson, T., Bergstrom, S., Cloete, R., Cohen, S., Conrad, K., Domine, L., Fu, H., Hoskinson, C., Hyung, E., Jacobsen, S., Kelly, M., Kohn, J., Lard, E., Lam, S., Laukien, F., Lem, J., McCallum, R., Millsap, R., Parendo, C., Petaev, M., Peddeti, C., Pugh, K., Samuha, S., Sasselov, D., Schlereth, M., Siler, J.J., Siraj, A., Smith, P.M., Tagle, R., Taylor, J., Weed, R., Wright, A., and Wynn, J. 2023.,

Discovery of Spherules of likely extrasolar composition in the Pacific Ocean site of the CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) bolide. 

arXiv preprint 2308.15623
https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.15623

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2308.15623.pdf

Loeb, A., Adamson, T., Bergstrom, S., Cloete, R., Cohen, S., Conrad, K., Domine, L., Fu, H., Hoskinson, C., Hyung, E., Jacobsen, S., Kelly, M., Kohn, J., Lard, E., Laukien, F., Lem, J., McCallum, R., Millsap, R., Parendo, C., Petaev, M., Peddeti, C., Pugh, K., Samuha, S., Sasselov, D., Schlereth, M., Siler, J.J., Siraj, A., Smith, P.M., Tagle, R., Taylor, J., Weed, R., Wright, A., and Wynn, J. 2024. 

Recovery and classification of spherules from the Pacific Ocean site of the CNEOS 2014 January 8 (IM1) bolide.
Research Notes of the American Astronomical Society 8: 39.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad2370/meta


Related paper, reprint and press release:
Desch, S., and Jackson, A., 2023. Critique of arXiv submission 2308.15623, "Discovery of Spherules of Likely Extrasolar Composition in the Pacific Ocean Site of the CNEOS 2014-01-08 (IM1) Bolide", by A. Loeb et al arXiv:2311.07699
https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.07699

https://arxiv.org/pdf/2311.07699.pdf


'Alien' spherules dredged from the Pacific are probably just industrial pollution, new studies suggest. LiveScience, Nov. 16, 2023
https://www.livescience.com/space/extraterrestrial-life/alien-spherules-dredged-from-the-pacific-are-probably-just-industrial-pollution-new-studies-suggest


Gallardo, P.A., 2023. Anthropogenic Coal Ash as a Contaminant in a Micro-meteoritic Underwater Search. 

Research Notes of the AAS, 7(10), p.220.
http://ispcjournal.org/journals/2024/32/PhC_vol_32_Lomas.pdf

Yours,

Paul H.

Interstellar Meteorite was Just a Truck 09MAR2024

Interstellar Meteorite was Just a Truck

Interstellar Signal Linked to Aliens was Actually Just a Truck
  The findings from a Johns Hopkins University-led team raise doubts that materials pulled last year from the ocean are alien
materials from a 2014 meteor fireball John Hopkins University, HUB, March 7, 2024
https://hub.jhu.edu/2024/03/07/alien-meteor-truck/


Seismic Rumble From an 'Alien Technology' Meteor Was Actually a Passing Truck, Scientists Say The rumblings of
\the motor vehicle apparently resembled that of a fireball passing through Earth’s atmosphere.
By Isaac Schultz, Gizmodo, March 8, 2024
https://gizmodo.com/rumble-alien-technology-meteor-actually-truck-2014-1851319770

Yours,

Paul H.

Physicists suggest a possible way to confirm or deny the existence of the Chinguetti meteorite ...

Physicists suggest a possible way to confirm or deny the existence of the Chinguetti meteorite
by Bob Yirka , Phys.org
https://phys.org/news/2024-03-physicists-deny-chinguetti-meteorite.html


The paper is:

Warren, R., Warren, S. and Protopapa, E., 2024. 

New evidence on the lost giant Chinguetti meteorite. arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.14150.
DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2402.14150
https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.14150


Yours,

Paul H.

Strange Metal From Beyond Our World, Found in Ancient Treasure Stash, The Treasure of Villena, Iberia

Strange Metal From Beyond Our World, Found in Ancient Treasure Stash, The Treasure of Villena, Iberia
Michelle Starr, ScienceAlert, February 2024
https://www.sciencealert.com/strange-metal-from-beyond-our-world-found-in-ancient-treasure-stash


The paper is:

Rovira-Llorens, S., 2023 ¿Hierro meteorítico en el Tesoro de Villena?
(Meteoritic iron in the Villena Treasure?) Trabajos de Prehistoria 80 (2) julio-diciembre 2023, e19
https://tp.revistas.csic.es/index.php/tp/article/view/929/1110


Yours,

Paul H.

Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs below the K/Pg boundary, Las Encinas, Formation. Coahuila, Mexico

Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs below the K/Pg boundary, Las Encinas, Formation. Coahuila, Mexico



There is an interesting paper about the tracks of footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs found below the K/Pg boundary in the Las Encinas Formation, State of Coahuila, Mexico.

 Although it is in Spanish, a more or less usable translation can be obtained using document option of Google Translate at-
https://translate.google.com/?hl=en&sl=auto&tl=en&op=docs

The open access paper is:
Serrano-Brañas, C., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Flores-Ventura, J., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E., Cadena-González, D., and Vega, F.J., 2024. Huellas de aves, pterosaurios, dinosaurios y el límite K/Pg en Coahuila, México (Footprints of birds, pterosaurs, dinosaurs and the K/Pg limit in Coahuila, Mexico). Revista-Maya-Geociencias, Febrero 2024. pp. 96-105.
https://revistamaya.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Revista-Maya-Geociencias-Febrero-2024.pdf

https://revistamaya.com/?page_id=73


PDFs of more issues of Revista Maya Geociencia at
https://revistamaya.com/?page_id=73


A related paper is:
Serrano-Brañas, C.I., Espinosa-Chávez, B., Ventura, J.F., Barrera-Guevara, D., Torres-Rodríguez, E. and Vega, F.J., 2022. New insights on the avian trace fossil record from NE Mexico: evidences on the diversity of latest Maastrichtian web-footed bird tracks. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 113, p.103686.

Yours,
Paul H.

Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact

LIBYAN DESERT GLASS- Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact

Libyan desert yellow glass: how we discovered the origin of these rare and mysterious shards, Elizaveta Kovaleva Lecturer,
University of the Western Cape The Conversation, November 20, 2023
https://theconversation.com/libyan-deserts-yellow-glass-how-we-discovered-the-origin-of-these-rare-and-mysterious-shards-217565

Strange yellow glass found in Libyan desert may have formed from lost meteor impact By Elizaveta Kovaleva
Live Science, December 03, 2023
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/geology/strange-yellow-glass-found-in-libyan-desert-may-have-formed-from-lost-meteor-impact

The paper is:
Kovaleva, E., Helmy, H., Belkacim, S., Schreiber, A., Wilke, F.D. and Wirth, R., 2023. 

Libyan Desert Glass: New evidence for an extremely high-pressure-temperature impact event from nanostructural study. 

American Mineralogist, 108(10), pp.1906-1923.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/370143218_Libyan_Desert_Glass_new_arguments_for_an_extremely_high-pressure-temperature_impact_event_from_nano-structural_study

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizaveta-Kovaleva-2/research

Yours,
Paul H.

Holocene impact craters on Earth

Holocene impact craters on Earth

An interesting recently published open access summary of Holocene Impact Craters.

Losiak, A., 2023. Holocene impact craters on Earth. Miscellanea Geographica. Vol. 27 • No. 4
https://intapi.sciendo.com/pdf/10.2478/mgrsd-2023-0016

https://sciendo.com/journal/MGRSD

Yours,

Paul H.

OT - Happy New Year with Cats

OT - Happy New Year with Cats

Cats have nearly 300 facial expressions,
including a 'play face' they share with humans
By Jennifer Nalewicki, Live Science, October 30, 2023
https://www.livescience.com/animals/cats/cats-have-nearly-300-facial-expressions-including-a-play-face-they-share-with-humans

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Paul

Open access paper supporting Bolaven Plateau as location for source crater of Australasian strewn field

Open access paper supporting Bolaven Plateau as location for source crater of Australasian strewn field

Kerry Sieh, Dayana Schonwalder Angel, Jason Herrin, and Jia Yong Quah, 2023. Proximal ejecta of the Bolaven extraterrestrial impact, southern Laos, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 120 (50) e2310351120
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2310351120

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2310351120

Yours,

Paul H.

Harvard astronomer’s “alien spherules” are industrial pollutants

Harvard astronomer’s “alien spherules” are industrial pollutants
Big Think, November 14, 2023
https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/harvard-astronomer-alien-spherules/

The open access paper is:
Gallardo, P.A., 2023. Anthropogenic Coal Ash as a Contaminant in a Micro-meteoritic Underwater Search. Research Notes of the AAS, 7(10),
p.220.
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2515-5172/ad03f9/meta

Yours,

Paul H.

The Moon Is 40 Million Years Older Than Thought, Lunar Rock Samples Suggest

The Moon Is 40 Million Years Older Than Thought, Lunar Rock Samples Suggest
By Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, October 23, 2023
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-moon-is-40-million-years-older-than-thought-lunar-rock-samples-suggest-180983117/

Scientists believe moon is 40 million years older than first thought
By Simon Druker, UPI, October 23, 2023
https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2023/10/23/moon-40m-years-older-lunar-surface-cyrstals/4101698072068/

The Moon is 40 million years older than previously thought
ScienceDaily, Northwestern University, October 23, 2023
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231023124332.htm

The open access paper is:

Greer, J., Zhang, B., Isheim, D., Seidman, D.N., Bouvier, A., and Heck, P.R., 2023. 4.46 Ga zircons anchor chronology of lunar
magma ocean Geochemical Perspectives Letters v27, Published 23 October 2023
https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2334

https://www.geochemicalperspectivesletters.org/article2334/

Yours,

Paul H.

Suspected extraterrestrial impact crater reported from North Korea

Suspected extraterrestrial impact crater reported from North Korea

A suspected extraterrestrial impact crater, the Hapcheon impact
crater, is reported from North Korea by the below open access papers.

Lim, J., Hong, S.S., Han, M., Yi, S. and Kim, S.W., 2021.
First finding of impact cratering in the Korean Peninsula. Gondwana Research, 91, pp.121-128.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1342937X20303105

Lee, J.Y., Shin, S., Yoon, H.H., Kim, J.C., Choi, Y., Nahm, W.H. and Kim, H., 2023. 

The Sedimentary records of the Hapcheon impact crater basin in Korea over the past 1.3 Ma. Frontiers in Earth Science, 11, p.1102785.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2023.1102785/full

Yours,

Paul H.

NASA asteroid sample lands safely in Utah before being whisked away by helicopter

NASA asteroid sample lands safely in Utah before being whisked away by helicopter
Nell Greenfieldboyce, All Things Considered, September 24, 2023
https://www.npr.org/2023/09/24/1201386042/watch-live-nasa-sends-an-asteroid-sample-back-to-earth

Nasa hails 'awesome' rescue mission as asteroid sample reaches military base, Rebecca Morelle and Jonathan Amos, BBC News, September 24, 2023
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/science-environment-66881285

Yours,

Paul H.

The paper about the Hopewell airburst event has been retracted.

The paper about the Hopewell airburst event has been retracted.

The open access note about it is:

Tankersley, K.B., Meyers, S.D., Meyers, S.A. et al. Retraction Note:
The Hopewell airburst event, 1699–1567 years ago (252–383 CE).
Sci Rep 13, 14201 (2023). 

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41237-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-41237-8

Yours,

Paul H.

This Ancient Meteorite from the Birth of Our Solar System

This Ancient Meteorite from the Birth of Our Solar System

This Ancient Meteorite Is A Time Capsule From The Birth of Our Solar System
by Michelle Starr, ScienceAlert, August 30, 2023
https://www.sciencealert.com/this-ancient-meteorite-is-a-time-capsule-from-the-birth-of-our-solar-system

The open access paper is:

Krestianinov, E., Amelin, Y., Yin, QZ. et al. Igneous meteorites suggest Aluminium-26 heterogeneity in the early Solar Nebula. Nat Commun 14, 4940 (2023).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40026-1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40026-1#citeas

Yours,

Paul H.

Pre–Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation in southern California

Pre–Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation in southern California

How Early Humans May Have Transformed L.A.’s Landscape Forever
Science Friday, NPR, August 25, 2023
https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/la-brea-saber-tooth-cat-fires/


The paper is:

O’Keefe, F.R., Dunn, R.E., Weitzel, E.M.,Waters, M.R., Martinez, L.N., Binder, W.J., Southon, J.R., Cohen, J.E., Meachen, J.A.,
DeSantis, L.R. and Kirby, M.E., 2023.
Pre–Younger Dryas megafaunal extirpation at Rancho La Brea linked to fire-driven state
shift. Science, 381(6659), p.eabo3594.
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michael-Waters-5/publication/373173502_Pre-Younger_Dryas_megafaunal_extirpation_at_Rancho_La_Brea_linked_to_fire-driven_state_shift/links/64de6911177c590413009230/Pre-Younger-Dryas-megafaunal-extirpation-at-Rancho-La-Brea-linked-to-fire-driven-state-shift.pdf

https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.abo3594

Yours,

Paul H.

Mysterious patches of glassy rock across Atacama Desert- Pica Glass and Atacamaites, Chile

Mysterious patches of glassy rock across Atacama Desert- Pica Glass and Atacamaites, Chile

In Mysterious patches of glassy rock across Atacama Desert,
https://www.mail-archive.com/meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com/msg131785.html

Robert Verish asked:
>This story caused a big splash on the Internet back in late-2021, but I'm still looking for a published paper.
>Has anyone heard anything more about this speculated comet impact?

Here is a follow-up article (dated Nov. 8, 2021) regarding a reported finding of impact-melt glass from a suspect "comet impact in the Atacama Desert".
https://www.sci.news/space/atacama-desert-comet-10247.html

Here is the original CNN article:

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/03/world/atacama-desert-glass-comet-scn/index.html

Below are some papers:

Gattacceca, J., Devouard, B., Barrat, J.A., Rochette, P., Balestrieri, M.L., Bigazzi, G., Ménard, G., Moustard, F., Dos Santos, E.,
Scorzelli, R. and Valenzuela, M., 2021. A 650 km2 Miocene strewnfield of splash-form impact glasses in the Atacama Desert,
Chile. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 569, p.117049

Koeberl, C., Crósta, A.P. and Schulz, T., 2022, March. Geochemistry, Highly Siderophile Elements, and Re-Os Isotope Signatures of
Impact Glasses from the Atacama Desert, Chile. In 53rd Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (Vol. 2678, p. 2616).
https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2022/pdf/2616.pdf

Roperch, P., Gattacceca, J., Valenzuela, M., Devouard, B., Lorand, J.P., Arriagada, C., Rochette, P., Latorre, C. and Beck, P., 2017.
Surface vitrification caused by natural fires in Late Pleistocene wetlands of the Atacama Desert. Earth and Planetary Science
Letters, 469, pp.15-26.
https://hal.science/hal-02889687/file/Pica_Glass_Paleomag_data.pdf


Schultz, P.H., Harris, R.S., Perroud, S., Blanco, N. and Tomlinson, A.J., 2022. Widespread glasses generated by cometary fireballs
during the late Pleistocene in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Geology, 50(2), pp.205-209. open access
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/50/2/205/609354/Widespread-glasses-generated-by-cometary-fireballs


Yours,

Paul H.

Possible asteroid crater 520km in diameter buried deep in southeast Australia 19AUG2023

Possible asteroid crater 520km in diameter buried deep in southeast Australia

Asteroid crater 520km in diameter buried deep in southeast Australia, scientists say
Dy Andrew Glikson, Australian Geographic.com,UNSW Sydney • August 16, 2023
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2023/08/asteroid-crater-520km-in-diameter-buried-deep-in-southeast-australia-scientists-say/


World’s largest asteroid impact may be buried in Australia
Magnetic patterns beneath New South Wales' Murray Basin correspond to a colossal impact structure.
Sade Agard, Interesting Engineering, August 14, 2023
https://interestingengineering.com/science/worlds-largest-asteroid-impact-australia


The paywalled paper is:

Glikson, A.Y. and Yeates, A.N., 2022. Geophysics and origin of the Deniliquin multiple-ring feature, Southeast Australia. 

Tectonophysics, 837, p.229454.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195122002487


Yours,

Paul H.