Space and science geeks... US believed hit by quark nuggets in the 1990s.

Site Notices

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Space and science geeks... US believed hit by quark nuggets in the 1990s. (Page 1 of 2)

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:30:02 AM EDT

Interesting.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2002%2F05%2F12%2Fwnugg12.xml

Earth punctured by tiny cosmic missiles
By Robert Matthews, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 12/05/2002)

FORGET dangers from giant meteors: Earth is facing another threat from outer space. Scientists have come to the conclusion that two mysterious explosions in the 1990s were caused by bizarre cosmic missiles.

Microsoft

The two objects were picked up by earthquake detectors as they tore through Earth at up to 900,000 mph. According to scientists, the most plausible explanation is that they were "strangelets", clumps of matter that have so far defied detection but whose existence was posited 20 years ago.

Formed in the Big Bang and inside extremely dense stars, strangelets are thought to be made from quarks - the subatomic particles found inside protons and neutrons. Unlike ordinary matter, however, they also contain "strange quarks", particles normally only seen in high-energy accelerators.

Strangelets - sometimes also called strange-quark nuggets - are predicted to have many unusual properties, including a density about ten million million times greater than lead. Just a single pollen-size fragment is believed to weigh several tons.

They are thought to be extremely stable, travelling through the galaxy at speeds of about a million miles per hour. Until now, all attempts to detect them have failed. A team of American scientists believes, however, that it may have found the first hard evidence for the existence of strangelets, after scouring earthquake records for signs of their impact with Earth.

The team, from the Southern Methodist University in Texas, analysed more than a million earthquake reports, looking for the tell-tale signal of strangelets hitting Earth.

While their very high speed gives strangelets a huge amount of energy their tiny size suggests that any effects might be extremely localised, and there is unlikely to be a blast big enough to have widespread effects on the surface.

The scientists looked for events producing two sharp signals, one as it entered Earth, the other as it emerged again. They found two such events, both in 1993. The first was on the morning of October 22. Seismometers in Turkey and Bolivia recorded a violent event in Antarctica that packed the punch of several thousand tons of TNT. The disturbance then ripped through Earth on a route that ended with it exiting through the floor of the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka just 26 seconds later - implying a speed of 900,000 mph.

The second event took place on November 24, when sensors in Australia and Bolivia picked up an explosion starting in the Pacific south of the Pitcairn Islands and travelling through Earth to appear in Antarctica 19 seconds later.

According to the scientists, both events are consistent with an impact with strangelets at cosmic speeds. In a report about to be submitted to the Seismological Society of America, the team of geologists and physicists concludes: "The only explanation for such events of which we are aware is passage through the earth of ton-sized strange-quark nuggets."

Professor Eugene Herrin, a member of the team, said that two strangelets just one-tenth the breadth of a hair would account for the observations. "These things are extremely dense and travel at 40 times the speed of sound straight through the Earth - they'd hardly slow down as they went through."

The good news is that, despite their force, the impact of strangelets on an inhabited area would, probably, be less violent than that of a meteor. Prof Herrin said: "It's very hard to determine what the effect would be. There would probably be a tiny crater but it would be virtually impossible to find anything."

Scientists say that the discovery of strangelets would be a significant breakthrough, solving several long-standing mysteries. These include the nature of "dark matter", which, astronomers say, makes up more than 90 per cent of our galaxy. With their high density and stability, strangelets may account for much of this invisible matter.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:32:50 AM EDT

[#1]

hmmmmmm

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:34:40 AM EDT

[#2]

This explains all the apparent brain damage people have these days.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:36:12 AM EDT

[#3]

what??

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:38:19 AM EDT

[#4]

so the sky IS falling........

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:39:50 AM EDT

[#5]

Shit, that blows the 50 BMG out of the water.

I wonder when Quark Nuggets will be banned in California?

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:41:39 AM EDT

[#6]

What would happen if one of these hit someone?

Would it punch right through and you wouldn't even notice or would the huge energy blow an arm right off?

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:42:02 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
what??

Imagine getting shot by a single tiny bullet about the size of a single red blood cell that was traveling at 1000 miles per hour. It would cause some damage, but would you even notice? Kinda freaky.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:43:40 AM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:
Quoted:
what??

Imagine getting shot by a single tiny bullet about the size of a single red blood cell that was traveling at 1000 miles per hour. It would cause some damage, but would you even notice? Kinda freaky.

more like 900,000 miles per hour

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:46:31 AM EDT

[#9]

cool, more evidence for the Big Bang

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:46:57 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
What would happen if one of these hit someone?

Would it punch right through and you would notice an extremely small hole in your arm or would the huge energy blow it right off?

It would just punch a very tiny, neat hole through you, I think. In order to do any damage to you other than just punching a tiny hole, it would need to transfer energy to you. Since it's so small and moving so fast, I don't think there would be any significant energy transfer.

But I guess there might be some kind of "shockwave" that would move through you as it displaces what tiny amount of stuff it will displace. It depends on how "hard" those shockwaves are.

Or maybe it would just push out a "plug" of your tissues along its path. That'd be freaky.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:47:48 AM EDT

[#11]

Um the artical doesn't say anything about these things hitting the US. Earth yes, US no.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:48:34 AM EDT

[#12]

That sounds very strange.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:50:44 AM EDT

[#13]

Make sure to wear your k-pot at all times outdoors.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:51:01 AM EDT

[#14]

Now that i think about it, if you somehow one of these remained on the earth's surface, there would be no way to pick it up, The sheer weight of it would punch right through anything

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:51:19 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
Quoted:
What would happen if one of these hit someone?

Would it punch right through and you would notice an extremely small hole in your arm or would the huge energy blow it right off?

It would just punch a very tiny, neat hole through you, I think. In order to do any damage to you other than just punching a tiny hole, it would need to transfer energy to you. Since it's so small and moving so fast, I don't think there would be any significant energy transfer.

But I guess there might be some kind of "shockwave" that would move through you as it displaces what tiny amount of stuff it will displace. It depends on how "hard" those shockwaves are.

Or maybe it would just push out a "plug" of your tissues along its path. That'd be freaky.

I do believe you'd be dead as hell.

This is the ultimate small caliber high velocity projectile, and don't forget that a yeast grain sized bit of this stuff weighs tons.

So, I suspect localized effecs simlar a a couple thousand pounds of TNT, which is what the article says in terms of what they see seismically.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:51:56 AM EDT

[#16]

Not saying I'm skeptical but...

I have to get a job where my funding depends on me finding strange, hypothetical things that can only be detected using special equipment I design myself. The more far-fetched it sounds the more moeny I get. The less people understand, and the less tangible the results, the more money I get.

I'm all for the scientific method but how would we ever know we're being fleeced?

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:52:36 AM EDT

[#17]

Feinstein is drawing up legistlation now...

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:52:50 AM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
what??

Imagine getting shot by a single tiny bullet about the size of a single red blood cell that was traveling at 1000 miles per hour. It would cause some damage, but would you even notice? Kinda freaky.

more like 900,000 miles per hour

Only if you were the size of the Earth. I scaled it down.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:53:06 AM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
Shit, that blows the 50 BMG out of the water.

I wonder when Quark Nuggets will be banned in California?

i dont know, but i'll take a Quark Nugget Rifle in the 900,000mph velocity range please....i wanna take pop-shots at the moon.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:54:02 AM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
Not saying I'm skeptical but...

I have to get a job where my funding depends on me finding strange, hypothetical things that can only be detected using special equipment I design myself. The more far-fetched it sounds the more moeny I get. The less people understand, and the less tangible the results, the more money I get.

I'm all for the scientific method but how would we ever know we're being fleeced?

Two words.

Peer review

(or two other words - Cold Fusion

)

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:54:49 AM EDT

[#21]

I, for one, would like to welcome our new Strangelet overlords...

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:55:06 AM EDT

[#22]

Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
What would happen if one of these hit someone?

Would it punch right through and you would notice an extremely small hole in your arm or would the huge energy blow it right off?

It would just punch a very tiny, neat hole through you, I think. In order to do any damage to you other than just punching a tiny hole, it would need to transfer energy to you. Since it's so small and moving so fast, I don't think there would be any significant energy transfer.

But I guess there might be some kind of "shockwave" that would move through you as it displaces what tiny amount of stuff it will displace. It depends on how "hard" those shockwaves are.

Or maybe it would just push out a "plug" of your tissues along its path. That'd be freaky.

I do believe you'd be dead as hell.

This is the ultimate small caliber high velocity projectile, and don't forget that a yeast grain sized bit of this stuff weighs tons.

So, I suspect localized effecs simlar a a couple thousand pounds of TNT, which is what the article says in terms of what they see seismically.

Yeah, but that is going through thousands of miles of earth. The effects wouldn't be near that in a few inches of tissue.

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:56:07 AM EDT

[#23]

Cool.

Soo tagged. . .

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:56:38 AM EDT

[#24]

I think I may have passed one of these nuggets after dinner last night....

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:58:01 AM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:
What would happen if one of these hit someone?hock.gif

Would it punch right through and you wouldn't even notice or would the huge energy blow an arm right off?hock.gif

Maybe this finally explains spontaneous combustion
Rick

Posted: 8/15/2005 11:59:47 AM EDT

[#26]

It was really

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:03:59 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:
I, for one, would like to welcome our new Strangelet overlords...

Kent Brockman?

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:05:00 PM EDT

[#28]

Hmmm...I guess the jury is still out on these little dudes. It took quite a while to prove the existence of neutrinos as well, so it'll be interesting to see if any type of measurement system can be devised to detect or prove/disprove their existence.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:12:30 PM EDT

[#29]

I've released a few ass nuggets that had a pretty severe density, caused a lot of damage too.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:17:50 PM EDT

[#30]

Who's got that little "BS" flag?

R.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:18:47 PM EDT

[#31]

Quoted:
Quoted:
I, for one, would like to welcome our new Strangelet overlords...

Kent Brockman?

Yep, classic Simpsons

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:19:25 PM EDT

[#32]

OMFG, I'm the first to say it ...
GROUP BUY !!!

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:21:14 PM EDT

[#33]

Impossible.....Quark was on DS9 at the time......Couldn't have been him. Those were chicken McNuggets....

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:25:00 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:
Impossible.....Quark was on DS9 at the time......Couldn't have been him. Those were chicken McNuggets....

Chicken McStrangelets?

Very Strange.

If 90% of the matter in the universe is strangelets and it is more or less evenly distributed why haven't we been hit more often? Wait ... they are more dense than ordinary space stuff ... so there only have to be a few out there ... this IS strange.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:27:04 PM EDT

[#35]

I got hit by one of those once. Sucked.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:31:36 PM EDT

[#36]

Quoted:
Who's got that little "BS" flag?

R.

Yeah - post it, along with your degree in astrophysics and high-energy particle physics.

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:36:24 PM EDT

[#37]

Quoted:
cool, more evidence for the Big Bang

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:41:27 PM EDT

[#38]

I always said that a small caliber high velocity round would never work as a planet killer.

More suited for small asteroids, perhaps a moon but not something as large as a planet.

GM

Posted: 8/15/2005 12:41:40 PM EDT

[#39]

Sounds like another cancer causing agent. Time to ban quarks will be the rallying cry of the global warmers.

Posted: 8/15/2005 1:12:30 PM EDT

[#40]

I got him by a strangelet once. Felt like a 9mm.

Posted: 8/15/2005 1:18:15 PM EDT

[#41]

If it hasn't been said already;
"I'm the only one here who can take a full power shot from a strangelet."

Posted: 8/15/2005 1:28:53 PM EDT

[#42]

Someone find Old Painless... we really need to test this in the "Box of Truth".

Posted: 8/15/2005 1:35:02 PM EDT

[#43]

Quark Nuggets sounds like a breakfast ceral for graphic designers.

Posted: 8/15/2005 2:08:09 PM EDT

[#44]

This could explain some of the Local Group's motion. And why there seem to be points of high gravitational density with little or nothing visible in those areas.

Its probably a bit early to wave the:

Here's another, somewhat recursive, link

Posted: 8/15/2005 2:55:42 PM EDT

[#45]

The real question is:

who here could take a full power shot from a quark nugget?

Posted: 8/15/2005 3:06:08 PM EDT

[#46]

Quoted:
I think I may have passed one of these nuggets after dinner last night....

That would be a butt nugget

Posted: 8/15/2005 3:14:34 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:
"implying a speed of 900,000 mph."

"These things are extremely dense and travel at 40 times the speed of sound"

So, if 900,000mph is 40 times the speed of sound...
that means the speed of sound is 22500 mph.

Not on this planet.

The speed of sound in steel is 13332 mph.