Meteorite containing previously unknown mineral discovered i : Othor Games

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:54 pm

http://www.space.com/11309-antarctic-meteorite-mineral-wassonite.html

"Wassonite is a mineral formed from only two elements, sulfur and titanium, yet it possesses a unique crystal structure that has not been previously observed in nature," NASA space scientist Keiko Nakamura-Messenger said in a statement. The amount of the new mineral found in the 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite was tiny — less than one-hundredth as wide as a human hair. Still, that was enough to excite the researchers who announced the discovery Tuesday (April 5).

Isn't it amazing? However I suggest they keep that alien crystal far away from Superman.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:47 am

Is there anything we can actually do with Wassonite? Or does it simply give us new information about conditions 4.5 billion years ago and what could have formed?

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:54 am

... How the hell do people even say it's 4.5 Billion years old, there is no way anyone could be accurate with that estimate.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:34 am

... How the hell do people even say it's 4.5 Billion years old, there is no way anyone could be accurate with that estimate.

If memory serves, there is a process known as radiocarbon dating. There is a possibility that is what was used. While they cannot get an exact age, they can get a pretty good estimation of it's age trough this process.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:24 am

Sigh, this is how it always starts.

Only a matter of time before it morphs into some kind of liquid-state biomechanical alien horror with massively destructive tendencies and otherwordly bullet-resistance.

A brave, handsome scientist will no doubt join forces with the beautiful scientist daughter of a skeptical but good-natured professor and save the world from the meteor-borne alien... but I really wish the authorities would prepare better for this sort of thing.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:45 pm

It is a device by aliens to determine if there is life on another planet so they can invade it to eat brains with fish.

guess what...we just activated it

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:54 am

Of course, it takes the aliens 1 year and 8 months to reach Earth. *cough* December '12 *cough*

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:30 am

Is there anything we can actually do with Wassonite?

It'll take a long time to figure out what practical applications it can be used for and even then we'd need to find an efficient way to mass produce it if we did find an application for that material.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:13 am

So scientists happen to discover a new mineral, and now everyone's off saying "OH It's gotta be aliens, amirite brah?"

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:21 pm

So scientists happen to discover a new mineral, and now everyone's off saying "OH It's gotta be aliens, amirite brah?"

I was actually thinking it was space whale poop.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:12 am

Space whale poop, that's gotta put the exorbitant price of earthly whale barf to shame.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 9:26 pm

I was actually thinking it was space whale poop.

How big was the whale then if the only sample was 1/100th as big as the width of a human hair?
And people are soooo eager to hear about aliens, that anything new/from space makes people foam at the mouth about "OMG ALIENZZZZSss"

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 4:21 am

How big was the whale then if the only sample was 1/100th as big as the width of a human hair?

Well it is 4.5 Billion years old... probably collided with other space poop and chunks went flying everywhere since...You are just looking at a smaller piece of poop in the poop.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:36 am

Well it is 4.5 Billion years old... probably collided with other space poop and chunks went flying everywhere since...You are just looking at a smaller piece of poop in the poop.

And so the poop in the poop got blasted apart into microscopic pieces and then got wedged into a meteor?

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:29 am

... How the hell do people even say it's 4.5 Billion years old, there is no way anyone could be accurate with that estimate.

+/- a few million. Even if it was 100 million years out that would still be 97.5% accuracy.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 6:40 am

So scientists happen to discover a new mineral, and now everyone's off saying "OH It's gotta be aliens, amirite brah?"

No where in the article did it say anything about aliens. When people say alien mineral they just mean it came from space and isn't indigenous to Earth. They are not saying that aliens had something to do with it.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:27 pm

Awww, It wasn't Naquadah :sad:

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 8:29 am

Awww, It wasn't Naquadah :sad:

At least it wasn't Naquadria :shrug:.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:05 pm

Sigh, this is how it always starts.

Only a matter of time before it morphs into some kind of liquid-state biomechanical alien horror with massively destructive tendencies and otherwordly bullet-resistance.

A brave, handsome scientist will no doubt join forces with the beautiful scientist daughter of a skeptical but good-natured professor and save the world from the meteor-borne alien... but I really wish the authorities would prepare better for this sort of thing.

Nope, it'll just be a bearded Kurt Russell.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:53 am

At least it wasn't Naquadria :shrug:.

I'm confident that I can solve the exponential energy output problems, or at least make a really big boom trying

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:12 am

I was actually thinking it was space whale poop.

I knew the http://i.imgur.com/qG36c.jpg was real!

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:22 am

If memory serves, there is a process known as radiocarbon dating. There is a possibility that is what was used. While they cannot get an exact age, they can get a pretty good estimation of it's age trough this process.

So what's to stop them from deciding that something that has only been around for several thousand years for something way off?

If I remember right, they made an estimate with one object and said 'anything that we don't reconize from this period is now millions of years off!'.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:59 am

Sounds like Megatron to me. Keep digging.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:45 am

So what's to stop them from deciding that something that has only been around for several thousand years for something way off?

If I remember right, they made an estimate with one object and said 'anything that we don't reconize from this period is now millions of years off!'.

As the moose said, they can be tens of millions of years off and still be fairly accurate in this case.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:56 am

As the moose said, they can be tens of millions of years off and still be fairly accurate in this case.

Oh well, the world may never know. :spotted owl: