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Re: Millions of comets coming--Yeah? Where are they?

That should have read "as of yet UN-classified..." in the last letter.

Chris L. Ball

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris L. Ball <ballhome@mako.com>
To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
<meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thursday, September 16, 1999 3:16 PM
Subject: Re: Millions of comets coming--Yeah? Where are they?


>>>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.)
>>
>>  The majority of astronomers I would think also try to squash such
>>nonsense, at least I would hope so.
>>
>
>Mass exctinctions are misunderstood by most non-scientists, and sound
>omnious and foreboding, so the "Chicken-Littles" of the world gobble em up!
>
>My understanding of the mass extinctions is that if you take the first and
>last species considered to be within the "mass Extinction" the fossil
>remains show that they are 100,000 years apart, between the "first" and
>"last" species within the extinction.
>
>When you look at a geological chart, a 100,000 doesn't look like much, on a
>scale of 4.5 billion, but logically it doesn't make much sense that a
single
>event could affect organisms for 100,000 years.
>
>I got this information from a Dr. Of Paleontology at the school I attended,
>but I myself am not a paleontologist.
>
>Also, the species counted are only those that leave fossil remains: many
>species of soft bodied organisms may have existed and not left any fossil
>remains.  I have a fossilized worm track, no worm, but it did leave trails
>in the mud.
>
>And think about the fact that species thought to be extinct show up.
>
>There should be ongoing evolution, and new speciation.  As far as I can
>tell, what makes a "Mass Extinction" is the "rapid" decline in the number
of
>species in a given time period vs. the "normal" extinction rate of species.
>I think a comparison to new speciation must be made, but how can it be
done?
>We know there a hundreds, thousands of species as of yet classified, and
new
>ones are found every year, so how can you even make the comparison?
>
>Regardless, if you think about, in the largest mass extinction, roughly 94%
>of all fossil bearing life was wiped out, what does that say about life?
It
>tells me that no matter what happens, short of vaporizing the planet, life
>will continue.
>
>Chris L. Ball
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Tom Randall <trandall@idsi.net>
>To: meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com
><meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com>
>Date: Thursday, September 16, 1999 2:19 PM
>Subject: Re: Millions of comets coming--Yeah? Where are they?
>
>
>>At 09:21 AM 9/16/99 -0500, Louis wrote:
>>>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!
>>
>>   Absolutely. The media overblows things (what else is new?!), that and
>the
>>few asteroid/comet movies of recent release. The UFO believing crowd and
>>prophesy folks are claiming somethings coming and "we're not being told
the
>>truth!".
>>So that deosn't help either. As an amateur astronomer I try to help squash
>>such nonsense when it comes up.
>>
>>Regards,
>>Tom Randall
>>(who's getting hit by Floyd's REALLY heavy rains and winds as he types,
>it's
>>a real miss here in southern N.Y.)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>
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