Study finds no evidence meteors killed the mammoths; also no diamond meteor nanodusts or He-buckybal

[silylene old]

<p>I don't know if this subject fits best in SSA, or Environment, or Animals, or even History.&nbsp; It spans them all but I will put it here for maximum discussion.</p><p>It seems as if that rathery&nbsp;absurd "A meteor killed the mammoths" hypothesis is likely wrong.&nbsp; You may remember all the media hype, &nbsp;the science by press release, the Fox&nbsp;News and USA Today articles, and then the NOVA 60 min show.&nbsp;&nbsp;I had always thought so, it lit up the red bulb on my bogameter.&nbsp; Always beware of science by press release!</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong><u>further bogacity in other recent meteoric debris stories?</u></strong></p><p>And it seems that the signature evidence for and the meteoric diamond nanodusts falling on earth&nbsp;might be also&nbsp;bogus,&nbsp;as it&nbsp;gives the wrong NMR shifts.&nbsp; And the He filled buckball meteoric dusts has never been reproduced.&nbsp; And even some of the the observations of Ir-rich dusts may be due to modern contamination.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>from today's <em>Science</em></p><p>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/319/5868/1331</p>

<table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p id="article-info"><em>Science</em> 7 March 2008:<br />Vol. 319. no. 5868, pp. 1331 - 1332<br />DOI: 10.1126/science.319.5868.1331</p>