[meteorite-list] Pros at Work II

From: Galactic Stone & Ironworks <meteoritemike_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:23:12 -0500
Message-ID: <AANLkTimC5HPHQfpbtGVnsSy2YHBcixyxhtS2WwDOcjOK_at_mail.gmail.com>

Hi Martin,

I would think that a government-funded (or grant-funded, or
funds-limited) operation could utilize other official resources for
the effort to find meteorites.

For example, if Australia does not want to encourage private
participation to increase the number of people searching (and finds),
then perhaps one could enlist the help of school children. This has
been done numerous times, to good effect, around the world - in India,
in China, in the US, and elsewhere. It doesn't take a scientist to
spot a meteorite in a strewnfield. An 8-year old, with training, can
walk a grid and find meteorites. The child would call out to an
adult, who would them come over, log the find in-situ, and
congratulate the lucky finder.

A classroom of science-minded kids would get a field-trip out of the
boring classroom, get exposed to nature, and have a positive
experience which would educate and entertain. Granted, the desert is
not the best place to bring a classroom full of children, but the
point is still valid. A mock hunt could be done on school grounds
that simulates the conditions of a true field hunt. When they get
older, perhaps in high school, they could go on a real field trip to
the desert with full supervision and guidance.

This would provide a large number of "boots on the ground" to cover
grids, and it would be cheaper for the government (or institution)
than hiring private contractors or giving up a portion of the finds to
private hunters.

It's why they send kids door to door selling candy bars - it's free labor. ;)

I'd much rather see the participation of private hunters, like many on
this list, than see meteorites go undiscovered in the field. Sure, it
can be argued that they will last for thousands of years before
complete terrestrialization, but is not a fresh meteorite more
valuable to science?

Imagine, an "All Star" global meteorite hunt. Wherever a meteorite
has fallen, a roster of meteoritical personalities of repute would
descend upon the area. To map, grid, log and recover the specimens.
Team Arnold. Team Hupe. Team Farmer. And so on and so on - many
more familiar names with a long history of success hunting meteorites.
 All working in tandem with a common goal - to recover meteorites.

Instead, we see laws where this kind of participation and cooperation
is discouraged or outlawed. :(

Best regards and happy huntings,

MikeG

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Mike Gilmer - Galactic Stone & Ironworks Meteorites

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On 11/12/10, Martin Altmann <altmann at meteorite-martin.de> wrote:
> Nja...Al,
>
> there is room for improvements.
>
> Their names are Brix & Hopper,
> I tell it for the rhyme
> they found us each a dropper
> and had us cost no dime.
>
> Lalala...
>
> I mean, if two dogs are more successful than 8 or more trained scientists
> with all the fancy equipment,
> then there is certainly still some more room for improvements left.
>
> Also I think, one shouldn't believe too much in certain laws,
> I don't think, that after the big lonely meteoricist descended from the
> Ayers Rock with the tablets of stone, that these laws are necessarily made
> for eternity.
> Probably it's only a question of generations. I mean they had there now fun
> to test it for a long while, they saw, that it wasn't only good for nothing,
> but made everything remarkably worse.
> The laws there are simply outdated. We shall overcome.
>
> ;-)
> Martin
>
>
>
>
>
> PS. I fear e.g. in Western Australia it currently even doesn't help, if a
> meteorite is found on private ground.
> (Perhaps an old deep-rooted reflex of European Middle Ages, that they might
> think, that meteorites are so devilish and dangerous, that they better
> shouldn't be found, and if it happens though, that they have to be secured
> by the authorities, to avoid damage... but I'm no ethnologist)
>
>
> -----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von al mitt
> Gesendet: Freitag, 12. November 2010 19:16
> An: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Pros at Work II
>
> Hi Martin and all,
>
> They can record the falls but no one is allowed to collect material unless
> it falls on private ground ;-) Then no export. Wonder how large the
> stations are in Australia?? Are they owned or do they rent the gound for the
>
> ranches from the government?
>
> --AL Mitterling
>
>
>
>
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Received on Fri 12 Nov 2010 02:23:12 PM PST