[meteorite-list] AD: METEORITE CLASSIFICATION SERVICE

From: Dave Freeman mjwy <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jul 14 09:13:29 2006
Message-ID: <44B79875.3000005_at_fascination.com>

A very large case of wanting "sumpthin-for-nuthin"???????????
Dave F.

stan . wrote:

>
>> The samples would be available
>> for the future experiments that anyone might conceive - rather than
>> sitting
>> lost in some dusty drawer...or in a membrane box, decaying away on
>> someone's
>> desk.
>
>
> Quite the contrary to this notion I feel that private collectors CAN
> and DO serve to protect the science that lies trapped in meteorites. I
> cant speak for all collectors (although i know othes who do this) but
> just this week I recived a request from a lab in europe for samples of
> material in my collection and I'll probably get around to sending them
> out after the weekend. I even offered to look for specific material
> they want that I dont have but may be able to aquire. My problem with
> this whole issue is reading articles like this:
>
> "Save the space rocks! The meteorites are vanishing and if something
> isn't done soon, most of Earth's rare space rocks could be gone in a
> lifetime or so says the University of Arizona's Southwest Meteorite
> Center, a newly founded organization created to combat what a UA
> scientist and a private meteorite collector identify as part of the
> problem: collectors. Samples that have fallen over millions of years
> are being found and collected over just a few decades. Dealers are
> buying meteorites at prices the scientific community cannot match and
> cutting them into small pieces for sale to bidders in a flooded
> market. In an attempt to save the space stones from becoming slivers,
> the SWMC will offer collectors, dealers and enthusiasts a fair price
> to obtain part of the vanishing meteorite legacy."
> http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/24/wa/SRStoryDetails?ArticleID=12216
>
>
> That sounds pretty darn anti-private collection and pretty darn
> pro-'soak up whatever we can' to me.
>
> essentially all unusual meteorites get classified. that means type
> specimins of all the 'good stuff' are being curated already,
> protecting the scientific legacy. the only thing 'new' about the SWMC
> is an organization trying to raise major funds to aquire major chunks
> of what is avalible to the public - above and beyond the simple
> curation of type specimins.
>
>
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>
Received on Fri 14 Jul 2006 09:13:25 AM PDT