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Millions of comets coming--Yeah? Where are they?
- To: <deantemp@hotmail.com>, <meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
- Subject: Millions of comets coming--Yeah? Where are they?
- From: "Louis Varricchio" <varricch@aero.und.edu>
- Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 09:21:33 -0500
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- Resent-Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 10:19:27 -0400 (EDT)
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My overall reaction to the current spate of comet- and asteroid-impact
hysteria is that it is mostly just that--hysteria and hyperbole! The
"Discovering Archaeology" piece--finding comets and asteroids at every bend
and twist of history--is a real stretch of an overactive imagination!
Impacts of any significance are very rare events. The popular culture of
the 1990s--fueled by a few scientists who are humping their theories and
seeking grant funding for various projects from near earth asteroid tracking
to space defense systems--have replaced the threat of atomic annihilation in
the popular imagination with death by extraterrestrial (ET) means.
Oh, sure, mass extinctions happen--some (but certainly NOT all) caused by
ET means. But all this media hype still doesn't help the public's
understanding of the dynamics of the Earth-Moon system, the rarity of
planet-threatening impacts, and the many influences on extinction events.
But fueling the fear does keep a few astronomers employed as Chicken
Littles. (My opinion.)
LOUIS VARRICCHIO
Environmental Information Specialist/Research Associate
Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium
Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, N.D. 58202-9007
Phone: 701-777-2482
Fax: 701-777-2940
E-mail: varricch@umac.org (in N.D.)
morbius@together.net (in Vt.)
"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get."--Robert Heinlein
LOUIS VARRICCHIO
Environmental Information Specialist/Research Associate
Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium
Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences
University of North Dakota
Grand Forks, N.D. 58202-9007
Phone: 701-777-2482
Fax: 701-777-2940
E-mail: varricch@umac.org (in N.D.)
morbius@together.net (in Vt.)
"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get."--Robert Heinlein
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