Library :: Dust Articles Extant
A magnificent magnified grain of cosmic dust, set against the South Pole sky. Credit: J. Freitag and S. Messenger. From here >>A quick heads-up on the potential power of dust.* Some scientists have postulated that cosmic dust may have helped end the last glacier age prematurely by causing global warming. Some people try to blame EVERYTHING on dust! Now some other scientists think they have proof that it wasn’t dust’s fault. I’m all for that.
Amongst other pertinent facts: “About 40,000 tons of space dust showers down on Earth each year. And it's been coming down at a steady rate for the past 30,000 years” In fact you’re soaking in it! Dog alone knows how the Americans will respond to the clear and present threat of interstellar dust invasion…
‘Cosmic Dust Ruled Out in Ancient Global Warming’ >>
Synchronistically, other researchers believe they have identified the main source of the cosmic dust that gets dumped on Earth – meteoroids. A new study shows that grains of dust left in meteoroid trails are larger than previously thought. As is shown in the picture above, the average grain of cosmic dust is somewhat larger than an apricot.
'Source of Cosmic Dust Found' >>
So the meteorites are in on it too! The sooner the US gets Star-wars off the drawing board and into space, the better! Obviously. Because they’re coming at us from outer space! We have to be ready to stop them or before we know it the entire surface of the world will be smothered by dust.
Oops sorry, I think I started to channel ….something.*
I think that it will be charming when the entire world resembles Terra incognita. Really. Thanks to everyone in the US and Australlia (particularly) for making it possible.
In other things that I didn’t previously know about cosmic dust:
“The detection of cosmic dust points to another facet of cosmic dust research: dust acting as photons. Once cosmic dust is detected, the scientific problem to be solved is an inverse problem to determine what processes brought that encoded photon-like object (dust) to the detector. Parameters such the particle's initial motion, material properties, intervening plasma and magnetic field determined the dust particle's arrival at the dust detector. Slightly changing any of these parameters can give significantly different dust dynamical behavior. Therefore one can learn about where that object came from, and what is (in) the intervening medium.”
Wikipedia >>
*I have been under a lot of pressure to present the public with clearly examples of examplery dust rather than the more allusive and imaginative material that I've been pursuing lately. So here it is.
Now get off my back and get back to work.
*Did I mention that Rapture didn’t happen on the third? MoD’s sympathy goes out to all those waiting for the ride of their lives’.
And now, could they just stop encouraging Armageddon? Perhaps they could join a reading group. I can recommend Oolon Culluphid's 'Where God Went Wrong', 'Some More of God's Greatest Mistakes', and 'Who is this God Person Anyway?'
PS Thanks to Mr W for the shove in the right direction...
posted by Director at 1:50 am
6 Comments:
Hey Chief!
Too late!! The museum has already been infiltrated by a meteorite! And I think it wants us to worship it!
Why don't you just write a letter to the newspapers? Next thing, you'll be calling the DHS and spilling your guts. If they find out that we're harbouring an enemy comabatant, there'd be hell to pay.
What the hell are comabatants? Deep sleeping spies? Zombies? A new warfare technique?
We told Dir. de Plume to just not say anything! Now the DHS will certainly have their ears pricked. Certain militery theorists hypothesis that meteorites employ a cunning ruse, they pretend to be so deeply comatose as to be inanimate. However, one only has to check the eg linked by its curator above to see that even the smallest meteorite has pretensions of grandeur.
I know I'm new on staff, but I believe it's traditional to blame absent staff members for any problems. And that would be Inky, would it not?
Whilst that may be the case in other establishments, here at MoD we like to put the blame where it's due. In this case with the newest member of staff... (where it almost inevitably lies).
So please be aware that this is an official warning. If, James, you feel the need to publicise elements of the collection, please in future get approval from marketing and internal security. We realise that in the MoD's absence the latter may be difficult, but that's the rules, and if we start making exceptions for you... well, who knows where it'll end! Luckily for all of us, we have inside information that suggests that DHS has put the intergalactic threat into the too-hard basket and is now fully engaged in sweeping it all under the carpet.
Phew.
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