Subject: Re: (Raptors) Aliens killed the dinosaurs on a hunting vacation.
From: George P Hrynewich
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 03:34:25 -0700
T. Mike Keesey wrote:
>
> On Sat, 19 Oct 1996, West wrote:
>
> > Due To The Beliefs Of Many Moviegoers and Stores nationwide ,
> > Velociraptor was a 3 FOOT Tall SCAVENGER!!! The Dinosaur they used in
> > Jurassic Park was Denonicus, a close reletive, but 3 feet TALLER. They
> > probably called it a Velociraptor because the name sticks in your head.
>
> Actually, JP's "'raptors" were too big even for Deinonychus. They must
> have been some dromaeosaurid that we haven't discovered yet.
>
> I remember when I first heard about Jurassic Park - someone told me the
> main predators were Velociraptors. "Velociraptors?" I thought. "Those
> little things???"
>
> I haven't heard any evidence that Veloviraptor was a scavenger. In fact,
> the recent find of one which died while fighting with a Protoceratops
> would tend to support the idea that they were genuine predators. Not to
> say they wouldn't have eaten any carrion they might have come across.
>
> -Michael Keesey
> tmkeesey@wam.umd.edu
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
> |eodilophoeucoelosaurusonyxvenatorgigaiguanotyrannuscheirusodonomimusrexnodo|
> |s /THE r|
> |a / Cladograms Essays Pictures a|
> |u http://www.wam.umd.edu/~tmkeesey_/ /DINOSAUR Genus List Book List Links p|
> |r \/\WEB Glossary Records Ask Mike! t|
> |u \ and all sorts of cool junk o|
> |s \PAGES r|
> |archaeomonoanchiornislambeocamaraultradocuslesothostegopholisheteroceratops|
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>according to the forward of bob bakkers' book "RAPTOR RED" (not the best book to read for entertainment!), they created the raptors for
dramatic effect. however, the discovery of 'Utahraptor' apparently lends
credence to the large size of spielbergs' 'imaginary' dino.
>> as for the protoceratops/raptor locked in combat. it was long thought that the protoceratops was defending her nest. however, the last i
heard, an examination of the embryos from said nest found the eggs to be
of raptors.
Subject: Need source/ info for Obsidian "needles"
From: Steve Lareau
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 06:04:00 -0700
Hi all,
This may seem like an off the wall question, but hope someone might point
me in the right direction..
Last year, a friend in Oregon sent me a small windchime made of
obsidian "needles"- a few inches long, and makes a very nice "tinkling"
sound.
They were obsidian needles dug up in the area of Oregon and northern
California, and seem to be naturally "heat tempered" during their natural
formation. I want to find a source of getting more of these for an art
project I'm working on.
Does anyone here know of a place to look for a supplier of minerals,
a web site that may have links to mineral or fossil dealers, etc.?
Thanks in advance for any help in finding these!
Steve in Chicago
Subject: Re: Hunger strike in United Institute of Physics of the Earth, RAS, Moscow
From: Brian Sandle
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 00:31:13 +1200
I am putting this article on nz.general also. I don't suppose that it is
yet time for New Zealand university people to take such drastic measures
in view of the proposed university staffing reductions, but something
must be done to find who must bear responsibility for the education on
which our future economic viability depends. Without that our ability to
avoid some getting to enforced starvation will decrease.
Brian Sandle.
************************************************************************
On 8 Oct 1996
strakhov@dir.iephys.msk.su wrote:
FROM THE STATEMENT FOR THE PRESS
by Academician V.N. Strakhov, General Director of UIPE RAS and
I.I.Naumenko-Bondarenko, Chairman of Trade Union Committee of
UIPE RAS.
On September the 30th, 1996, we, academician Strakhov Vladimir
Nikolaevich, General Director of UIPE RAS and Naumenko-Bondarenko
Igor Ilyich, Chairman of the Trade Union Committee of UIPE RAS started
a hunger strike in a protest against the policy of the Government
of the Russian Federation with regard to Russian science in
general and to the Russian Academy of Sciences in particular.
This policy which has been conducted since 1992 has virtually resulted
in a collapse of the Russian science, first of all of a branch
one. Non-payments of budget financing in 1996 put a final and irrevocable
elimination of the Russian science including the Russian Academy
of Sciences on the agenda. The main features of the process of
the agony of the Russian science are being defined by the following:
a) a criminally low level of wages for an overwhelming majority of
scientists, including Candidates and Doctors of Sciences which
does not provide even a subsistence minimum;
b) a heavy moral state of a majority of scientists caused by
a miserable level of wages;
c) a quick loss of professionalism of a higher level by
a majority of scientific staff due to enormous stress;
d) absence of young specialists inflow;
e) a moral and physical wear of the material-technical basis of science;
it is not possible to obtain the results of the world level
without modern experimental equipment and modern computer technique;
f) absence of a necessary level of informational supply of science
( by books, journals, telecommunications, work-shops, conferences
etc.)
At present a lag from a level of the world science for 5-7 years is
equal to a complete death of science. The Russian
science has been already lagging behind for five years.
To develop a common state plan of reorganization of science it
is necessary to be guided by long term considerations relating to
a steady development of the country and its population:
a) expenses for science are sure to be transferred to a number of
protected articles of the budget;
b) special programs on technical re-equipment of science, and
first of all - the kept RAS Institutes, should be envisaged;
c) a general level of expenses on science should annually grow,
making 4% of the expenditure part of the budget in 1997,
according to a recently adopted law.
September 30th, 1996
United Institute of Physics of
of the Earth, RAS. Moscow.
TO ALL AND EVERYBODY !
A staff of UIPE RAS fully shares the demands of academician
Strakhov Vladimir Nikolaevich, Director of the Institute, and
Naumenko-Bondarenko Igor Ilyich, Chairman of the Trade Union Committee, who
came forward with an extreme action, dangerous for their health, and
appeals to the scientific community of Russia and the whole world
to support this action by all the possible ways of a civic protest.
Would you, please, convey this information on the present events to
all the public and scientific collectives, to all the people
capable of influencing the policy conducted by the government.
Would you, please, inform us about your support and actions
of protest carried out by you through E-mail:
strakhov@dir.iephys.msk.su
fax:(7 O95)255-60-40, 254-90-88
P.S.
If you have an e-mailing list of appropriate organizations for sending
the information you are free for using it.
***************************************************************************
Subject: PRAYER 20OCT96, Advanced Alien code, hydrogen to 231Pu
From: Archimedes.Plutonium@dartmouth.edu (Archimedes Plutonium)
Date: 20 Oct 1996 11:38:56 GMT
In article <5476k5$dnt@dartvax.dartmouth.edu>
Archimedes.Plutonium@dartmouth.edu (Archimedes Plutonium) writes:
>
> Proof would be a repeating symmetrical line of pulses between many
> asymmetrical lines of pulses. For example, code the periodic table of
> isotopes(elements) out to say isotope 300 (advanced aliens may go out
> to element 188 with isotopes up to 500). And pulse this table, then
> pulse a different clump of information call it clump 1 , then repeat
> the table pulse, then pulse another clump of information, clump 2 where
> clump 1 does not equal clump 2, repeat the table pulse, then pulse
> clump 3 where clump 3 /= clump 2 /= clump 1. And so on.
How more obvious. The first coded message would be the isotopes from
hydrogen all the way up to 231Pu and stop at 231Pu then repeat that
code backwards starting with 231Pu, 231@94 and going down through the
isotopes back to hydrogen of 1@1.
But if we search the skies first without transmitting and finding
messages, there should be many messages with 231Pu highlighted in the
message. They knowing full well that the universe is one atom of
plutonium.
Subject: Re: Gypsum ore composition
From: Splatter
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 06:19:45 -0700
William Cordua wrote:
>
> In article <325EEA0D.436F@sunline.net>, blady@sunline.net wrote:
>
> > Splatter wrote:
> > >
> > > Can someone please tell me what the chemical make-up of gypsum ore is ?
> > >
> > > In case there is more than one type, the stuff I'm asking about is a
> > > rather hard, bright white stone.
> > > There is an old mine near where I live. Falkland, BC. Canada.
> >
> > Gypsum is hydrous calcium sulfate (CaSO4.2H2O).
>
> If the ore is hard,it's not gypsum. Gypsum has a hardness of 2 on the Mohs
> scale and can be easily scratched by your fingernail. If your mineral is
> harder, it must be some different mineral. Can you tell us some more about
> this material?
Gladly, The rock is not quite as hard as knife steel, but definatly
harder than my fingernail. It has a slightly translucent aspect to it,
making me think of a quartz-like mineral. It is also very white, I'd say
a fair bit "whiter" than the landscape limestone I see for sale.
This is quite definatly a gypsum deposit. The Falkland mine was, for
some 50 years, the largest working gypsum mine in North America, it was
mostly closed it the late 60s;but, is still worked, on an occasional
basis, by a local concrete manufacture (Lafarge of Kamloops).
Subject: Re: "Clean" coal mining?
From: Splatter
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 07:11:59 -0700
Collin Stewart wrote:
>
> > >Dale E. Heltzer
> > >dheltzer@sparc.isl.net
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> > If they use deep longwall mining, the surface contours won't be touched -- but
> > you'll still have some gob piles to be hidden somewhere, and the groundwater
> > will inevitably leach through the mine tunnels after the mines are closed and
> > result in the same "yellow dog" pollutant that fouls streams and wells.
[[snip-snip-snip]]
> The yellow-dog is a product of high sulfur coal. The
> majority of the coal deposits in the western US are low-sulfur coal with
> minimal problems.
[[snip]]
> > If they use deep longwall mining, the surface contours won't be touched
> > -- but you'll still have some gob piles to be hidden somewhere, and the
> > groundwater will inevitably leach through the mine tunnels after the
> > mines are closed and result in the same "yellow dog" pollutant that
> > fouls streams and wells.
>
> The gob piles are generally a product of washing the coal, ie., removing
> rock from the final product. Many western US coals to don't require
> washing. I am not familiar with the quality parameters of the Utah coals
> in question. However, you are again projecting eastern experience and
> conditions to western conditions with out a basis in fact. As I stated
> above, the Utah coals are low sulfur and the yellow dog pollutant is a
> minimal to non-existent problem. Again, here in the west, state
> regulations control mine water discharge from coal mining.
My limited experience sides with Collin here. As a former resident of
Nanaimo, BC., an area with a 100 year history of underground coal
mining. The old mine tailing piles, even today, seem benign, as regards
the leaching of "not good minerals". People with wells quite near both
tailing sites, and old mining areas have very good water, seemingly free
of any sulpur. And in all the creeks, swamps and lakes in the area, I
never saw anything that would pass for the "yellow dog".
Subject: A reference on mineral end products
From: S Downs
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 11:28:06 -0700
Hello again! Another bout of research, this one on the importance of
minerals in everyday life. Can anyone recommend a good reference showing
the end products of minerals: i.e., zinc is used in paint, tires,
galvanizing, etc. This is to illustrate uses of minerals to kids.
Thanks, Sandy
Subject: Re: Three Mars Missions to Launch in Late 1996
From: jbartlo@ouchem.chem.oakland.edu (Joseph Bartlo)
Date: 20 Oct 1996 15:29:22 GMT
Interesting. This is not especially appropriate for this
newsgroup, but perhaps others have wondered the same thing.
What has prevented a human Mars landing similar to Apollo
11 ? Spaceships have made the journey in slightly > 4
months (perhaps less), and people have survived okay in
near-weightlessness for over twice that long. Thus, I
assume adequate oxygen, water, and food would be available.
Its rotation rate is very similar to Earth's. Perhaps
temperature might cause a problem, but energy for heating
should be obtainable during daytime. Its gravity is only
slightly > than twice that of moon, so if escape speed can
be achieved there, it should be able to be for Mars. Do
wind storms cause much of a problem ? (So perhaps this is
appropriate here). I assume such would be an international
mission, since the Soviets were nice enough about the moon
landing.
Does anyone have info regarding that ?
Joseph
Subject: Re: Creation VS Evolution
From: myers@netaxs.com (Paul Myers)
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 12:32:32 -0400
In article <3269BAFC.2460@one.net>, steeldrv@one.net wrote:
> vanomen wrote:
> >
> > Superstition? I call it Faith. God gave us a free will to decide on
> > our own. YOu have decided your way and I mine. 2 things to think
> > about though
> > #1 If I am wrong and there is no God? WEll worst case I have still
> > tried to live a life and set an example for my family of a way of life
> > that is steps and leaps above the way most people live and treat each
> > other
> > #2 However if I am correct and there is a God(which I am sure there
> > is) then I have eternal Life.
>
> 3) It's not *your* God, it's somebody else's. And boy, is he
> pissed after you Christians wiped out/converted his followers.
>
> Have fun being being 'target of the day' at Valhalla's practice
> field - forever (until Ragnarok, that is...)
>
And further, #1 is a non sequitur. Atheists _can_ and _do_ live good
moral lives, setting a good example for their families, etc. Being an
atheist does not mean one is an unethical brute, just as being a
christian does not mean one is a greedy, hypocritical televangelist.
And let's consider #4:
#4) You are correct, and there is a god, only it's the god of the
right-wing fundamentalist christians. You get to spend eternity in the
company of Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, Tammy Faye Bakker, etc., all
lorded over by a small-minded, provincial, and vengeful god of the
old testament. In this case, there is little difference between heaven
and hell, and we're all damned no matter what we do.
--
Paul Myers Department of Biology
myers@netaxs.com Temple University
http://fishnet.bio.temple.edu/ Philadelphia, PA 19122
Subject: Re: Quicksand, Tarzan, Knelson
From: abg21@dial.pipex.com (Nick Hunter)
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 17:54:32 +0000
Lane Blundell wrote:
> I am doing a science project involving quicksand.
> However, I don't know how to make quicksand,
> and I would greatly appreciate it if someone could
> post a message or email me telling me how.
Firsat find out about the Knelson concentrator.
Quicksand is the operating principle devised by inventor (and now very
successful metallurgical recovery guru) Byron Knelson. It all started
when he was watching Tarzan on TV. Tarzan was hanging on a liana over
quicksand and the liana was being cut...
Suddenly Knelson knew he had to make quicksand in order to concentrate
gold and he devised his concentrator spinning inside a water jacket. The
water jacket supplies the back pressure to keep the quicksand bed
stirred. The result is a brilliant recovery device which has pushed gold
particle recoveries way below the 40 micron limit of normal gravity
devices, down to about the 5 microns range.
Also look at thickeners, floating coal in artificially dense water-sand
suspensions, artificially heavy media, viscosity, the properties of
solid-water slurries, hindered settling, mineral jigs, Marconaflow, and
the pipeline transport of solids, mostly in mineral dressing or
metallurgical texts like Peele, or Taggart.
Good luck - it sounds like a very interesting project. And why not post
a summary of your findings here?
Subject: Re: Top geology Schools
From: PALEOMAN@msn.com (S.W. Grasse)
Date: 20 Oct 96 15:53:03 -0700
To be honest, I was wondering that myself. The article was a reprint
found in Geotimes, June 96, pp.7. It stated:
"US News and World Report Released its latest ranking of geology
graduate departments earlier this year. The university officials
polled produced the following rankings:"
Unfortunately, it did not reveal which issue of USN&R; it was found
in, but that would be the article to look up. If any one has that
issue, we would all be interested, I'm sure, in the methodology used
in the compilation of statistics or polling results that were used.
Subject: Discussion meeting : Assessment of schemes for earthquake prediction
From: russ@seismo.demon.co.uk (Russ Evans)
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 20:50:54 +0100
Readers of these groups may be interested in a meeting which David Booth
and I are organising on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society and the
Joint Association for Geophysics. Entitled "Assessment of schemes for
earthquake prediction", the emphasis is on discussion of how we should
go about the process of deciding whether a proposed scheme for
predicting earthquakes has promise or not. The range of papers that has
been offered is very wide, ranging from assessment of certain specific
schemes, through a discussion of why earthquakes may be fundamentally
unpredictable, to how the earthquake science can best communicate its
findings to funding agencies, planners and the public. Bob Geller, Yan
Kagan and Francesco Mulargia will be giving keynote lectures.
For the time being, most of the documents relating to the meeting,
including the second circular, program and the abstracts available so
far, can be found on my personal web site beneath
http://www.seismo.demon.co.uk/Nov7th/
Other abstracts and updates will be added as they are received. In
addition, there is a press release and some other relevant material on
the main RAS site
http://www.ras.org.uk/ras/
Response so far has been extremely strong. So, if you would like to
attend, you would be well advised to pre-register, especially if you are
not a member of either the RAS or the Geological Society, or will be
travelling any distance.
Russ
Subject: Re: Gypsum ore composition
From: "Eric B. Powell"
Date: 20 Oct 1996 20:24:07 GMT
Splatter wrote in article
<326A26F1.76D1@junction.net>...
> William Cordua wrote:
> >
> > In article <325EEA0D.436F@sunline.net>, blady@sunline.net wrote:
> >
> > > Splatter wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Can someone please tell me what the chemical make-up of gypsum ore
is ?
> > > >
> > > > In case there is more than one type, the stuff I'm asking about is
a
> > > > rather hard, bright white stone.
> > > > There is an old mine near where I live. Falkland, BC. Canada.
> > >
> > > Gypsum is hydrous calcium sulfate (CaSO4.2H2O).
> >
> > If the ore is hard,it's not gypsum. Gypsum has a hardness of 2 on the
Mohs
> > scale and can be easily scratched by your fingernail. If your mineral
is
> > harder, it must be some different mineral. Can you tell us some more
about
> > this material?
>
> Gladly, The rock is not quite as hard as knife steel, but definatly
> harder than my fingernail. It has a slightly translucent aspect to it,
> making me think of a quartz-like mineral. It is also very white, I'd say
> a fair bit "whiter" than the landscape limestone I see for sale.
>
> This is quite definatly a gypsum deposit. The Falkland mine was, for
> some 50 years, the largest working gypsum mine in North America, it was
> mostly closed it the late 60s;but, is still worked, on an occasional
> basis, by a local concrete manufacture (Lafarge of Kamloops).
Quartz is 5.5 on the Moh's scale, so it will be harder than a knife blade.
Chances are good that the crystal is Calcite (or maybe dolomite) (hardness
of 4 I believe).
To test this theory, scare a bit of powder of the crystal and place a drop
of lemon juice or vinegar on the powder. if an effervescent reaction
occurs, the mineral is a carbonate.
Also look for a series of parallel fracture surfaces. Calcite should have
faces that, if connected, form a rhombehedron (i think -= I am flying from
memory here..).
I don't remember the crystal form nor the fracture of dolomite (although
large crystals are rare).
Subject: New Galileo Images of Ganymede
From: baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov (Ron Baalke)
Date: 20 Oct 1996 23:26 UT
NEW GALILEO IMAGES OF GANYMEDE
October 20, 1996
New Galileo images of Ganymede are now available on the Galileo home page:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo/
These images are of the Galileo Regio region and the Uruk Sulcus region of
Ganymede, the solar system's largest moon. The captions to the
images are appended below.
Ron Baalke
baalke@kelvin.jpl.nasa.gov
Galileo Home Page Curator
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Ganymede's Galileo Regio Region
- Galileo Mosaic Overlayed on Voyager Data
A mosaic of four Galileo images of the Galileo Regio region on Ganymede
(Latitude 18 N, Longitude: 149 W) is shown overlayed on the data obtained
by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1979. North is to the top of the picture,
and the sun illuminates the surface from the lower left, about 58 degrees
above the horizon. The smallest features that can be discerned are about
80 meters (262 feet) in size in the Galileo images. These Galileo images
show fine details of the dark terrain that makes up about half of the surface
of the planet-sized moon. Ancient impact craters of various sizes and
states of degradation testify to the great age of the terrain,
dating back several billion years. The images reveal distinctive variations
in albedo from the brighter rims, knobs, and furrow walls to a possible
accumulation of dark material on the lower slopes, and crater floors.
High photometric activity (large light contrast at high spatial frequencies)
of this ice-rich surface was such that the Galileo camera's hardware data
compressor was pushed into truncating lines. The north-south running gap
between the left and right halves of the mosaic is a result of line truncation
from the normal 800 samples per line to about 540. The images were taken
on 27 June, 1996 Universal Time at a range of 7,580 kilometers (4,738 miles)
through the clear filter of the Galileo spacecraft's imaging system.
Launched in October 1989, Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter
on December 7, 1995. The spacecraft's mission is to conduct detailed studies
of the giant planet, its largest moons and the Jovian magnetic environment.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Ganymede's Uruk Sulcus Region
- Galileo Mosaic Overlayed on Voyager Data
A mosaic of four Galileo images of the Uruk Sulcus region on Ganymede
(Latitude 11 N, Longitude: 170 W) is shown overlayed on the data obtained
by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in 1979. North is to the top of the picture,
and the sun illuminates the surface from the lower left, nearly overhead.
The area shown is about 120 by 110 kilometers (75 by 68 miles) in extent and
the smallest features that can be discerned are 74 meters (243 feet) in size
in the Galileo images and 1.3 kilometers (0.8 miles) in the Voyager data.
The higher resolution Galileo images unveil the details of parallel ridges
and troughs that are principal features in the brighter regions of Ganymede.
High photometric activity (large light contrast at high spatial frequencies)
of this ice-rich surface was such that the Galileo camera's hardware data
compressor was pushed into truncating lines. The north-south running gap
between the left and right halves of the mosaic is a result of line truncation
from the normal 800 samples per line to about 540. The images were taken
on 27 June, 1996 Universal Time at a range of 7,448 kilometers (4,628 miles)
through the clear filter of the Galileo spacecraft's imaging system.
Launched in October 1989, Galileo entered orbit around Jupiter
on December 7, 1995. The spacecraft's mission is to conduct detailed studies
of the giant planet, its largest moons and the Jovian magnetic environment.
The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA manages the mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC.
Subject: Re: Gypsum ore composition
From: "H.W. Stockman"
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 19:45:47 -0600
Eric B. Powell wrote:
> > Gladly, The rock is not quite as hard as knife steel, but definatly
> > harder than my fingernail. It has a slightly translucent aspect to it,
[...]
> > This is quite definatly a gypsum deposit. The Falkland mine was, for
> > some 50 years, the largest working gypsum mine in North America, it was
Massive forms of gypsum are a lot harder to scratch with the
fingernail. The
hardness 2 applies to the dominant cleavage surface; most anisotropic
minerals have anisotropic hardness. It doesn't take much admixed
calcite
to wear down the fingernails quickly.
> Quartz is 5.5 on the Moh's scale, so it will be harder than a knife blade.
Quartz is 7; glass is closer to 5.5.
"Tall Girls Can Flirt And Other Quaint Things Can Do"
(Talc=1, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite, Orthoclase, Quartz=7,
Topaz, Diaomond=10)
> Chances are good that the crystal is Calcite (or maybe dolomite) (hardness
> of 4 I believe).
3 for calcite.
> I don't remember the crystal form nor the fracture of dolomite (although
> large crystals are rare).
Same as Calcite (a few degrees off!), though crustals often have curved
faces.
Crystals of ~ 1 cm are common in the Lockport dolomite of Upstate NY,
and in the
Tri-state district. There are metamorphic dolomite marbles with
fair-sized xals.
Subject: Re: Creation VS Evolution
From: Landis.Ragon@ibm.net (Landis D. Ragon)
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 01:32:08 GMT
vanomen wrote:
Is it? Could it be? Is it possible? No, I don't believe it!
>Superstition? I call it Faith. God gave us a free will to decide on
>our own. YOu have decided your way and I mine. 2 things to think
>about though
>#1 If I am wrong and there is no God? WEll worst case I have still
>tried to live a life and set an example for my family of a way of life
>that is steps and leaps above the way most people live and treat each
>other
>#2 However if I am correct and there is a God(which I am sure there
>is) then I have eternal Life.
Yes, yes, yes... I knew it. Pascal's Wager! and only for the
13,484,533 time!
Subject: Re: Mars Rock Question
From: "Hoffman, Nick N"
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 11:40:08 +1100
GeronimoDG wrote:
>
> Just to clear up a point. Although Hawaiian volcanoes don't have truly
> Plinian eruptions, they do have occasional alkali basalt eruptions which
> are more explosive then the norm. These occur after magma in the
> near-surface chamber has had time to differentiate mafic minerals. And
> occasionally, when magma intrudes into an area that has been quiet for
> thousands of years (and had time to develop a water table), a phreatic
> explosion occurs. King Kamehameha was warring with a rival faction in the
> late 1700's when one of these occurred, killing most of the rivals.
>
> DSG
I beg to differ on this point. Deep drilling on
Hawaii (Hilo) has shown rare, but significant base
surge deposits, indicative of very large scale,
probably Plinian eruptions.
refer to the archives of the Hawaii Volcano
Observatory:
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/hvo/
Nick Hoffman Geophysicist Extraordinaire
"Insert Disclaimer of your choice
here"
Subject: Re: Need source/ info for Obsidian "needles"
From: Sanman
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 21:56:53 -0400
Steve Lareau wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> This may seem like an off the wall question, but hope someone might point
> me in the right direction..
>
> Last year, a friend in Oregon sent me a small windchime made of
> obsidian "needles"- a few inches long, and makes a very nice "tinkling"
> sound.
> They were obsidian needles dug up in the area of Oregon and northern
> California, and seem to be naturally "heat tempered" during their natural
> formation. I want to find a source of getting more of these for an art
> project I'm working on.
>
> Does anyone here know of a place to look for a supplier of minerals,
> a web site that may have links to mineral or fossil dealers, etc.?
>
> Thanks in advance for any help in finding these!
>
> Steve in Chicago
try http://mineral.galleries.com/default.htm
Subject: Re: A reference on mineral end products
From: Sanman
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 1996 21:58:31 -0400
S Downs wrote:
>
> Hello again! Another bout of research, this one on the importance of
> minerals in everyday life. Can anyone recommend a good reference showing
> the end products of minerals: i.e., zinc is used in paint, tires,
> galvanizing, etc. This is to illustrate uses of minerals to kids.
>
> Thanks, Sandy
Try http://mineral.galleries.com/default.htm
Subject: Re: help-limestone mining
From: ahca@sedona.net (robin eddingfield)
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 01:29:55 GMT
"H.W. Stockman" wrote:
>robin eddingfield wrote:
>> carrj@voyager.co.nz (Julie Carr) wrote:
>> >We have been studying limestone rocks, their composition, and uses
>> >particularly in manufacturing cement. We need to know of any adverse
>[...]
>> As someone who lives less than 1/4 mile from a cement plant, I'll
>> relate some of my experiences. Cement dust is a caustic substance that
>> will etch glass, car paint, etc. The particle size of cement dust is
>> in a range with cigarette smoke and radon, not particularly good for
>Huh? Same size as Radon? A Radon atom is about 1-2 Angstroms across,
>and a typical cement particle is on the order of 10000 to 100000
>Angstroms.
>Cement contains a fraction quicklime, but is mainly calcium silicates
>and
>aluminates.
>Cement dust is certainly a significant irritant, but it is not in the
>class
>of cigarette smoke for carcinogenicity.
Dear HW,
The source for this info was a page photocopied from a text by my Env.
Sci Prof. If I ever remember where I filed it, I'll let you know where
it came from. It wasn't listed as a carcinogen, Just in an inhalable
particle size range, with the ability to adhere to lung tissue.
Robin
Subject: Re: Obsidian needles
From: Steve Lareau
Date: Mon, 21 Oct 1996 01:19:53 -0700
> Last year, a friend in Oregon sent me a small windchime made of
> obsidian "needles"- a few inches long, and makes a very nice
"tinkling"
> sound.
> They were obsidian needles dug up in the area of Oregon and northern
> California, and seem to be naturally "heat tempered" during their
natural
> formation. I want to find a source of getting more of these for an art
> project I'm working on.
> > Does anyone here know of a place to look for a supplier of minerals,
> > a web site that may have links to mineral or fossil dealers, etc.?
> try http://mineral.galleries.com/default.htm
Thanks-I ran across this place with a web search, but these are
different. Seems that thay were similar to a crystal "point", in that
they were very narrow, almost as if the were formed into a tiny "
square tube" formation, (bad descrpition, I know!) and are "found" in
this manner. Having a hard time digging up a source for them. Someone
suggested cutting up some obsidian with a lapidary saw, but that would be
a pain, and expensive. Oh well, we tried, right? :)
Thanks for the tip though- I appreciate it!
Still searching,
Steve