Comet dust yiels up some surprises

[TechBear_Seattle]

Scientists studying the first solid comet samples ever retrieved from space have just announced some preliminary findings concerning the make-up of the comet dust, reporting that it contains some of the most primitive and exotic chemical structures ever studied in a laboratory. Since NASA's Stardust mission returned to Earth in the Utah desert some eleven months ago, nearly 200 scientists from around the globe have studied the minuscule grains, looking for clues to the physical and chemical history of our solar system.

The researchers' efforts to-date have focused on answering questions regarding the nature of the comet samples, including determining mineral structures, chemical composition, and the chemistry of the organic, or carbon-containing, compounds they carry.

The full article can be read at http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/20061119014904data_trunc_sys.shtml

[aquart]

1. So cool.

[TlalocW]

2. From what I heard about the make-up of the comet...

Richard Pryor was right

Plutonium: 15.08%
Tatalum: 18.06%
Xenon: 27.71%
Promethium: 24.02%
Dialium: 10.62%
Mercury: 3.94%

And finally...
Tar 0.57%

(Keep away from Kryptonians)

TlalocW

[valerief]

4. Tar but no nicotine? (just ignore my silliness). nt

[nashville_brook]

3. so much for the dirty-snowball theory of comets... very cool.