Science Focus
original post »What’s in a rock? A few mineral deposits, maybe a ring of metal—and, possibly, a snippet of the Solar System’s origin story.
That’s the premise under which a team of researchers at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City is operating. By conducting three and two-dimensional image analyses of rocks brought to Earth from space, these scientists hope to demystify the elemental formations that birthed the planets we know today.
Denton Ebel, chair of the AMNH’s physical sciences division, explained that much of our understanding of the inchoate Solar System can be gleaned from studying chondrites, which are stony meteorites that contain molten droplets of minerals. Unlike most meteorites at the time of the Solar System’s formation, chondrites never joined a large planet or underwent extensive physical maturation; thus, they’re one of the most primitive forms of mass from the Solar System in existence, rendering them ideal candidates for this area of study.
Read 10 remaining paragraphs | Comments
#science
» see original post http://feeds.arstechnica.com/~r/arstechnica/science/~3/4ZiA71qk9s4/
See Zazzle gifts tagged with 'science'
No comments:
Post a Comment