[meteorite-list] Gilligan's Island Meteorite Answer

From: MexicoDoug_at_aol.com <MexicoDoug_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed Jun 29 18:52:20 2005
Message-ID: <81.2a9e0f1f.2ff4801c_at_aol.com>

Mark B. wrote:

Answer: False Cosmic rays in meteorites, a form of radiation, is far too
weak to be of
danger to anyone. It is however possible that high expose to cosmic rays
could be of danger.

Hello, The above itself is FALSE, with the precautionary note that I am NOT
picking on its author in my favorite public discussion forum. The Professor
would have been better off looking for cosmic rays in the pearls and jewels
of Ginger's intimate wardrobe, because:

For a good rundown of the energy of cosmic "rays", don't miss the Fantastic
Four movie which should be premiering in 1st string countries any day now.
Even Dr. Richards underestimated the energy of the cosmic "rays". Shame, he
should have put some simple magnetic deflection shields on the ship, since
cosmic "rays", unlike what we mean by regular "radiation", are principally
charged particles (with neutrons, etc., I guess, ok) and become significantly
deflected by magnetic fields. That is why relatively few reach the Earth -
thanks to the magnetic field orientation in our "iron core", in addition to the
Solar wind sweeping them out into interplanetary space - since the Solar wind
is just a stream of charge particles suitable for interation as well.

Note, Cosmic "rays" are NOT a form of radiation in the electromagnetic
sense. The confusion with radiation gets worse when one considers that collisions
of cosmic "rays" with other molecules, atoms, and particles can release true
radiation in the form of the most powerful radiation: gamma radiation and
subatomic particles from what they collide with like muons...
Cosmic "rays" are typically nuclear particles, simply going soooooo fast
after probable ejection from supernovas elsewhere, that each "ray" a.k.a.
particle, packs a tremendous whallop. The most powerful cosmic "ray" on record, I
believe, (might be a proton or probably a nucleus of something larger) with
the same energy as pitched 100 mph (160 km/hr) fastball (baseball)! That an
object like a meteorite be a source of Cosmic rays is sillyness. While it may
have been exposed to cosmic rays in space, particles going this fast will
likely be about as far away as Mars by the time the meteorite hits the ground,
and travel for another 5,000,000 years maybe before the next event happens to
it. The typical speed of these babies is 50% to ever so slightly less than
100% the speed of light. That explains the scalp scratching question of how
a baseball's energy can be packed into one little proton!

And regarding the test for "Cosmic Ray Age" age of a meteorite, any
reasonable scientifically inclined meteoritical type worth his water should be able
to relate that cosmic "ray" determinations assume cosmic "ray" bombardment
until arrival at earth, when it mostly stops instantly, due to earth's
shielding. What is measured is the resulting isotopes produced by cosmic ray particle
collisions in the "interstellar" (or approximated by interplanetary) medium.
 In other words heavy atomic fragment called heavy helium 3 suddenly appears
after a collision altered a larger particle. And of course some radiation
to balance the energy was released to maintain an energy balance...and if the
residual happens to be still radioactive, well then you have a new radiation
source, but it most certainly isn't a cosmic "ray",,,
Damn transporter, beam me up, Doug
Received on Wed 29 Jun 2005 06:52:12 PM PDT