Astronomers found that charged particles from the sun cause water to form in stardust. (STEREO/NASA) [Nine Space Discoveries We've Already Made in 2014 (sic) by Laura Dattaro]
Posted on 02/23/2014 7:10:03 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Whether water is produced by solar wind (SW) radiolysis has been debated for more than four decades. In this paper, we exploit the high spatial resolution of electron microscopy and sensitivity of valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy to detect water (liquid or vapor) in vesicles within (SW-produced) space-weathered rims on interplanetary dust particle (IDP) surfaces. Water in the rims has implications for the origin of water on airless bodies like the Moon and asteroids, the delivery of water to the surfaces of terrestrial planets, and the production of water in other astrophysical environments... The solar wind (SW), composed of predominantly ∼1-keV H+ ions, produces amorphous rims up to ∼150 nm thick on the surfaces of minerals exposed in space. Silicates with amorphous rims are observed on interplanetary dust particles and on lunar and asteroid soil regolith grains. Implanted H+ may react with oxygen in the minerals to form trace amounts of hydroxyl (−OH) and/or water (H2O). Previous studies have detected hydroxyl in lunar soils, but its chemical state, physical location in the soils, and source(s) are debated. If −OH or H2O is generated in rims on silicate grains, there are important implications for the origins of water in the solar system and other astrophysical environments. By exploiting the high spatial resolution of transmission electron microscopy and valence electron energy-loss spectroscopy, we detect water sealed in vesicles within amorphous rims produced by SW irradiation of silicate mineral grains on the exterior surfaces of interplanetary dust particles. Our findings establish that water is a byproduct of SW space weathering. We conclude, on the basis of the pervasiveness of the SW and silicate materials, that the production of radiolytic SW water on airless bodies is a ubiquitous process throughout the solar system.
(Excerpt) Read more at pnas.org ...
Astronomers found that charged particles from the sun cause water to form in stardust. (STEREO/NASA) [Nine Space Discoveries We've Already Made in 2014 (sic) by Laura Dattaro]
Sounds like post-modernist Marxian exegesis of patriarchal hegemony.
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Possible explanation(in part) for how our water on Earth came to be?
I’m not sure I buy the whole ‘comet theory’, but who knows. It’s more of a matter of my not being able to quite comprehend it. To me it’s like someone telling me all of the water in a large lake came from snowballs being thrown into it. Not impossible I suppose, given a billion or so years, but difficult for me to wrap my small mind around it.
Thank you for posting this. It reminds me of how my writing must look to non-life scientists, and helps me to be mindful of how to express scientific concepts to lay people.
Oh, I found the abstract understandable because I *do* speak the language—but this topic is outside my area of expertise.
:)
This sort of thing is why I believe that if there are space faring civilizations out there, they won’t come here intentionally.
Virtually everything that exists on earth, exists in vast abundance all across the universe and its all there for the taking. That only leaves a few possible reasons to visit earth. Scientific curiosity, they’re looking for friends, or they’re hungry for animal flesh.
Bookmark
Are those even real words...?
There are plenty of reasons — they might come for political reasons, for example, they may have the equivalent of a Malthusian jackass running things. They may have been in expansion for generations already, and don’t know any other life. The presence of resources is a great reason to go places.
My pleasure.
It’s not magic, it’s just math. :’)
Small Comets and Our Origins
University of Iowa | circa 1999 | Louis A. Frank
Posted on 10/20/2004 2:13:25 AM by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/1250694/posts
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