31 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 31JUL10

Suspected meteorite was concrete lump that fell from passing plane
Daily Telegraph Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:42 AM PDT
A suspected meteorite that landed on a cricket pitch was in fact a lump of concrete probably dislodged from the bottom of a passing aircraft, experts have concluded....

Fireball SE of Tulsa, Oklahoma
At 11:03 PM CST last night (30JUL2010), I was traveling N-S on Hwy 169 in Tulsa when I
caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a fragmenting fireball south and east of
Tulsa. It appeared to be heading in a S-SW direction. Estimated rough
magnitude of -8 or so.
I only caught a brief glimpse, maybe a little more than a second. I did not
notice a persistent train afterward, although it was a hazy, muggy night with
bright moon low in the east.
I was cursing Delta earlier in the evening for getting me home much later than
scheduled, but the delay paid off in the end.
Will post a fireball report at AMS.
Bill, Coweta, OK- posted on meteorobs

Tour August's Sky by Eye and Ear!

Sky & Telescope
Prospects are good for this month's Perseid meteor shower — there's no interference from Moonlight! The year's best-known display of "shooting stars" peaks ...

30 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 30JUL10

Meteor shower event set for Clayton park

Cherry Hill Courier Post
CLAYTON — A "Star Party" will be held here to view the Perseid meteor shower on the night of Aug. 12. The free event, to be held weather permitting, ...

August good for meteor watchingPagasa INQUIRERnet Philippine News ...

MANILA Philippines – August promises to be a good month for meteor watchers as the Perseids meteor shower one of the oldest and most active showers can be ...

Debate Heats Up Over Meteor's Role in Ice Age - Yahoo! News

Some scientists have thought that the Earth's Ice Age conditions 12900 years ago were triggered by a meteor or comet. But a recent study suggests that the ...

Possible UK Meteor Impact Startles Cricket Match

Earthweek - A Diary of the Planet
A possible 4.5 billion-year-old meteor hurtled down from the sky and landed near unsuspecting spectators. A British cricket match was disrupted by a ...

The Sky in June: Perseids should produce the best meteor display of 2010

Scotsman
On the other hand, Jupiter is climbing to prominence on the oppos ite side of the sky and the Perseids meteor shower is poised to provide what should be our ...
Book Review: The Fallen Sky by Christopher Cokinos

Tucson Citizen
Upon seeing the flash of a meteor in the sky, “You can tell what the meteor's made of by the color of its tail – red for silicon, yellow for iron, ...

Starry, starry nights at UWM planetarium

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Perseid meteor shower, an annual show in the summer skies, will peak this year Aug. 12 and 13. City stargazers never get to see the panorama of the ...

Tonight looking great for seeing Delta Aquarid, Capricornid meteor showers!

Examiner.com
Last night, the peak of the Delta Aquarid meteor shower, was a cloud-out bust for people living in the Cleveland area. However, tonight is looking to be ...


ALIENS THROW METEORITES AT BOSNIAN MAN

Weekly World News (satire)
As soon as Lajic finishes his museum and garden, the aliens plan on hurling their biggest meteor at him yet. “I think this guy has rocks in his head,” said ...

29 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 29JUL10

Egyptian impact crater could mean we're at more risk
iTWire Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:01 PM PDT
A newly discovered meteorite that impacted in southwestern Egypt a few thousand years ago, and produced what is being called the Kamil Crater, could mean that we are all at greater risk of getting hit by one.
...

Space rock lovers descend on New York for meteor gathering

Christian Science Monitor
The Meteoritical Society meets this week in New York to discuss all things space rock. Ruben Garcia holds a 21-gram meteorite found by a member of his group ...

ADOT Reopens Meteor Crater Rest Area Along I-40

KPHO Phoenix
PHOENIX -- Drivers across northern Arizona can drive with a greater sense of relief now that the Arizona Department of Transportation has reopened Meteor ...


Delta Aquarid meteor shower peaks tonight!

Examiner.com
Tonight will mark the peak of the first meteor shower of what astronomers, both professional and amateur, refer to as meteor season. ...

Meteor showers light up the sky

WTAM.com
People often call it shooting stars but it's technically meteor showers. Reynolds encourages everyone to go outside and look up in the sky. ...

28 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 28JUL10

Earthsky Tonight-July 28, Moonlight wipes out Delta Aquarid meteor showerBerthoud RecorderThe annual Delta Aquarid meteor shower is expected to peak before dawn on Thursday, July 29. Not that it really matters in 2010. ...

Summer skies bring out best in starsMassLive.comAnd don't miss this year's Perseid meteor shower, a free show brought to you by nature, which peaks the night of Aug. 12 and early morning of Aug. 13. ...

Meteorite Attacks Cricket PitchRight PunditsBut Jan Marszal and Richard Haynes claim they were struck by a meteorite during a cricket pitch. That's cricket "match" to you Yanks! ...

KOLD News 13Meteor shower peaks Friday morningKOLD-TVThe meteors can peak up to 15 per hour, which is not as impressive as other meteor showers, but it's still a sight for which it is worth setting you alarm ...

27 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 27JUL10

Venus and the Delta Aquarid Meteor ShowerSan Diego Reader (blog)The Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower, typically one of the year's ten best showers, will be mostly spoiled this year by a coinciding full moon. ...

Research centre studies impact of meteor strikesRiverview ThisWeekJohn Spray says most people have no idea Fredericton is home to a world-class research centre that studies the impact of meteor strikes on Earth. ...

Untouched meteorite impact crater found via Google EarthPhysOrg Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:11 AM PDT(PhysOrg.com) -- A pristine meteorite impact crater has been found in a remote area of the Sahara desert in southwest Egypt. The crater was originally noticed on Google Earth images, and is believed to be only a few thousand years old. ...

Egyptian impact crater could mean we're at more risk
iTWire Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:43 AM PDTA newly discovered meteorite that impacted in southwestern Egypt a few thousand years ago, and produced what is being called the Kamil Crater, could mean that we are all at greater risk of getting hit by one. ...

Meteorite crater found in Egypt
OverTheLimit.info (blog)Discovered in 2008 on Google Earth, and located in 2009, the meteorite crater known as Kamil is one of the best preserved sites ever discovered. ...

Ice Age Not Caused by Meteor Impact
SoftpediaThis time frame has been dubbed the Ice Age, and experts have believed for a long time that it was caused by a meteorite, or other space rock, slamming into ...

Moon, Shooting Star & Mt. RainierKING5.com... Way taking pictures of the moon and Mt. Rainier when I happened to take a shot a meteor streaking across the sky between the moon and the mountian. ...

IT pro has close encounter with meteorite
Network World Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:26 AM PDTIT consultant Jan Marszel was watching an English cricket match with a pal Richard Haynes when from out of nowhere came flying toward them a five-inch rock, which upon hitting the field directly in front of them broke in two. ...

'Meteorite' crashes to earth during county cricket match, hitting spectator in the chest
Daily Mail Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:05 AM PDTJan Marszal, 51, and Richard Haynes, 52, were watching Middlesex play Sussex in a county championship match in Uxbridge when what's thought to be a meteorite hurtled towards them, hitting Mr Marszal. ...

Meteorite hits cricket pitch
Eurosport.co.uk via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:29 AM PDTTwo cricket fans' enjoyment of a cricket match was interrupted when a meteorite sailed towards the boundary ropes. ...

Cricket fan claims he was hit by piece of meteorite during matchMirror.co.ukA cricket fan claims he was hit by a piece of meteorite during a match. Jan Marszal, 51, and Richard Haynes, 52, were watching Middlesex play Sussex in ...

Weather Focus 3: Summer meteor shower season in full swing for northeast OhioWKYC-TVCLEVELAND -- Astronomers and those who love to star gaze find mid summer the perfect time to see meteor showers in full bloom across the northern hemisphere ...

26 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 26JUL10

Untouched meteorite impact crater found via Google Earth
PhysOrg.com(PhysOrg.com) -- A pristine meteorite impact crater has been found in a remote area of the Sahara desert in southwest Egypt. The crater was originally ...

Star gazers of Akashmitra unite at astronomy lecture series
Indian ExpressAt the age of 16, Rucha Deshpande has seen a Venus transit and several meteor showers, is the proud owner of two telescopes, and on Sunday, she delivered an ...

Research Yields Greater Precision In Determining Age of MeteoritesSpace Dailyby Staff Writers Researchers have aged dated a very important group of meteorites with far greater precision than previously possible by using a different ...

First Person: False Alarm Leads to Once-in-a-Lifetime Shooting StarSpace.comI enjoyed some doozies during the 2001 Leonid meteor shower. Some are created by bits of natural space debris no bigger than a pea, often chunks of ...

Meteorite' lands on cricket pitch during county matchTelegraph.co.ukUnless, that is, it turns out to be a meteorite. By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent Jan Marszel, 51, and Richard Haynes, 52, were on the boundary ...

'Meteorite' lands on cricket pitch during county matchTelegraph.co.ukUnless, that is, it turns out to be a meteorite. By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent Jan Marszel, 51, and Richard Haynes, 52, were on the boundary ...

25 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 25JUL10

Meteor shower could be the year's best
The Durango HeraldIt's the Perseid Meteor Shower, perhaps this year's best. Certainly, it'll be the most viewed, thanks to summer's warm nights. ...

Four planets come together in western sky
Akron Beacon JournalThe Perseid meteor shower may be exceptionally good this year. The shower is expected to peak on the mornings of Aug. 12 and 13, and the moon sets at dawn ...

What's Up in August Spectacular Perseids, tight planet trio to light up night sky
Press HeraldTwo meteor showers will grace our skies in August, including the famous Perseids. A short period comet should also get bright enough to be seen with a pair ...

24 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 24JUL10

Southern Cross Stargazer
MiamiHerald.com
Midnight through dawn, the South Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower will be most visible radiating from Aquarius in the south. The bright moon will reduce the ...

Will chip off an old rock yield secrets of the universe and our planet
Kitchener - Waterloo Record Fri, 23 Jul 2010 14:18 PM PDT
TORONTO - Researchers are hoping a fresh slice of a rare 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite will yield new information about our planet. ...

Meteor Crater Discovered With Google Earth
Wired News Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:03 PM PDT
Researchers poring over Google Earth images discover one of Earthâs freshest impact craters -- a 45-meter-wide pock in southwestern Egypt that probably was excavated by a fast-moving iron meteorite no more than a few thousand years ago. ...

Meteorite Impact Crater Found with Google Earth
Discovery News Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:56 AM PDT
The massive pock in southwestern Egypt was created no more than a few thousand years ago. ...

Impact Crater Found In The Sahara Desert
redOrbit Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:11 AM PDT
Researchers sifting through Google Earth images have discovered what may be the worldâs best-preserved small impact crater in a remote area of the Sahara desert in southwestern Egypt. The immaculate, 148 ft. wide crater was likely excavated by a fast-moving iron meteorite, a few thousand years ago, scientists said Thursday.Dubbed Kamil, the crater is remarkably preserved when compared with most ...

Royal Ontario Museum Acquires World's Largest Mass of Rare Meteorite
Art Daily Thu, 22 Jul 2010 18:34 PM PDTIan Nicklin, Mineralogy Technician, holds the meteorite. © Royal Ontario Museum, 2010. TORONTO.- The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has acquired the worldâs largest piece of the Springwater pallasite, a rare and scientifically important meteorite that was first discovered near Springwater, Saskatchewan in 1931. The new discovery of the almost 53 kilogram (117 pound), 4.5-billion-year-old specimen ...

Summer meteor shower season in full swing
msnbc.com
This table shows a list of the minor summer meteor showers for 2010 and the best times to view them. by Joe Rao For skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere, ...

Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for Gebel Kamil
History: A total of about 1600 kg of iron meteorite shrapnel (thousands of pieces), ranging in mass from < 1 to 35000 g, plus a single 83 kg individual ...
tin.er.usgs.gov/meteor/metbull.php?code=52031

Perseids 2010 International Meteor OrganizationThe Perseids are one of the most exciting and dynamic meteor showers; producing fast-moving shooting stars throughout July and August. ...

Meteor Crater Discovered With Google Earth Wired Science Wiredcom
Researchers poring over Google Earth images have discovered one of Earth's freshest impact craters — a 45-meter-wide pock in southwestern Egypt that. ...

Meteorite Impact Crater Found with Google Earth
Discovery News
During expeditions to the site early in 2009 and again this year, scientists found more than 5000 iron meteorites that together weigh more than 1.7 tons. ...

Scientists Use Google Earth to Spot a Meteor Crater in Egypt
Discover Magazine (blog)
Earth's weather quickly erodes a crater's structures, making it difficult to determine how exactly a meteorite struck. The Kamil crater, study leader Luigi ...

New Trove of Iron Meteorites
Sky & Telescope
The largest known piece from the Gebel Kamil meteorite field, found 750 feet north of the crater, weighs 183 pounds (83 kg). The characteristic dimples on ...

23 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 23JUL10

Summer Meteor Shower Season in Full Swing
Space.com By Joe Rao
For skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere, late summer is usually regarded as the prime "meteor-viewing season," with one of the best displays ...

"Fresh" Crater Found in Egypt; Changes Impact Risk?
National Geographic
on their calculations, the team thinks that a 4.2-foot-wide (1.3-meter-wide) solid iron meteor weighing 2267 to 4535 pounds (5000 to 10000 kilograms) ...

Royal Ontario Museum Acquires World's Largest Mass of Rare Meteorite
Art Daily
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) has acquired the world's largest piece of the Springwater pallasite, a rare and scientifically important meteorite that was ...

Delta Aquarid meteor shower begins July 21, peaks July 30, 2010
Examiner.comThe 2010 Delta Aquarid meteor shower will last from July 21 to August 23. This year's Delta Aquarids will peak on July 30, 2010. The Delta Aquarid meteor ...

Chip Off An Old Rock - 4.5 Billion Years Old - Could Deliver A World Of Information
Free Internet Press Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:46 PM PDT
Canadian r esearchers are hoping a fresh slice of a rare 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite will yield new information about our planet. ...

Rare meteorite lands at ROM
Dose Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:51 AM PDT
The Royal Ontario Museum is the new home of the world's largest piece of the Springwater pallasite, a rare meteorite that was discovered in Saskatchewan in 1931. ...

4.5-billion-year-old meteorite sliced
CNews Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:41 AM PDT
It came from out of this world to Toronto -- via Saskatchewan. ...

Trekkie inspired sculpture decoded
Borders Today Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:08 AM PDT
THE world is to be taken over by a warrior race, if a mysterious inscription carved on a meteorite in the Glentress Forest is to be believed. (22/07/2010) ...

ScienceShot A WellPreserved Meteor Impact ScienceNOW
ScienceShot: A Well-Preserved Meteor Impact - ScienceNOW. ...

APOD 2010 July 22 The Meteor of 1860
A different astronomy and space science related image is featured each day, along with a brief explanation. ...

NASA Chat: Crumbling Comets Create Marvelous MeteorsRedOrbitFinally, sit back and enjoy the show as bits of leftover comet burn up in our atmosphere, creating the celestial displays that we call meteor showers. ...

22 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 22JUL10

Boffins achieve greater precision in determining meteorites' age
Sify
Scientists have aged dated a group of meteorites with far greater precision than previously possible - by using a different type of radioactive dating on a ...

52 Kg Springwater Meteorite on CBC News - Video
3 min Video on YouTube.com
52 Kg Springwater at Royal Ontario Museum. Discovered by Michael Farmer, Shauna Russell, Jim Strope, and Robert Ward Spring ...

Fox Park Observatory - Summer Viewing Schedule
WILX-TV
August 11, 11:00PM, Persied Meteor Shower, Peak of the Persied Meteor Shower. Observatory will not be open but everyone is invited to bring a lawn chair and ...

Meteorites -Video
4 min Video on Youtube
What is a meteorite? Scientist from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History explain. ...

CBC News - Technology & Science - Rare meteorite ... -Video
Mineralogists at Toronto's Royal Ontario Museum have taken their first look inside a rare chunk of meteorite found in ... cbc.ca

Meteorite offers clues about earth
Toronto Sun By IAN ROBERTSON, Toronto Sun
And at the Royal Ontario Museum, scientists are hoping close inspection of a rare 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite will yield ...

Slice of meteorite could hold Earth's secrets
CTV.ca(Adrian Wyld / THE CANADIAN PRESS) TORONTO —
Researchers are hoping a fresh slice of a rare 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite will yield new information about ...

Late summer viewing of the night sky
Cincinnati.com
Topics to be covered are: observing the moon; the Perseids Meteor shower in August; and what planet to look for in the sky during July and August. ...

Rare meteorite sliced open
CBC.ca
Mineralogists at the Royal Ontario Museum had their first look Wednesday inside a rare, 53-kilogram meteorite chunk found in Saskatchewan in 2009. ...

20 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 20JUL10

Man claims aliens targeted his home with meteorites
Telegraph.co.uk
A man whose house has been hit by meteorites six times believes he is being targeted by aliens. Radivoke Lajic, 50, said that his house being hit by rocks ...

19 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 19JUL10

Astronomers discover 95 'near-Earth' asteroids
SINDH TODAY
However, the threat of a destructive meteor bombardment is remote at present. WISE will continue to make such discoveries as it starts its survey mode once ...

16 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 16JUL2010

Meteorite master finds
19 La Crosse Fri, 16 Jul 2010 17:06 PM PDT
VIROQUA, Wisconsin (WXOW)- The meteorite which hit western Wisconsin last April captured some attention. In some cases, it also attracted meteorite hunters. When the meteorite appeared on scene, Bill ...

13 July 2010

France Daytime Fireball 12JUL2010 13JUL2010

France daytime fireball, July 12th, 06 h34 UT

A French amateur astronomer witnessed a bright daytime fireball on July
12th, 06 h34 UT, from his car, while he was driving close to
Aix-en-Provence (South-Eastern France, 43°30' N, 005°27' E) .
I didn't receive any other reports on it yet, and was wondering if anybody
had heard, seen, or recorded it from Italy or Switzerland. According to
the witness, it appeared N or NNE from his position (I'm waiting for
further information on the real trajectory). The fireball dazzled him, and
took a green, and then red color, followed by an orange train.

Thanks in advance for your help and answers!
Clear skies,
Karl Antier posted on www.Meteorobs.org

12 July 2010

N. California Fireball 11JUL2010

Three second Fireball triangulated N.Calif fireball illustrated.













photo by Yuba City Sentinel (c) 2010

A very nice 3 second fireball at 20100711_0105 PDT, (0805 UT) crossed Yuba
City sky nearly at zenith traveling 135 degrees of Azimuth at an apparent
Altitude of 55 degrees to 50 degrees East to West.

Big meteor over Sacramento area this morning.

In the early morning hours of July 11, 2010 at 0105:22 (1 hour past
midnight).

Photo is a composite image of stacked frames in .jpg of this 3 second
meteoroid (Fireball).

Movies are Quick Time & MPEG-4 (unable to post) on two different meteor monitoring systems
located in Yuba City.


Date and Time on one is PDT. The other is Universal Time. (PDT + 7 hours).


The Carson City Sentinel tracking station did a very nice job on difficult
imaging from a distance of about 150 miles.

see at:

http://astronomy.sierracollege.edu/Department/MeteorCamera/MeteorCamera.htm


YCSentinel

08 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 8JUL2010

New York goes extra-terrestrial as meteorite experts descend on the city in July
EurekAlert! Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:27 AM PDT
( American Museum of Natural History ) Hear talks by experts in the extra-terrestial at the 73rd annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society this July 26-30. Symposium sessions will include discussions of the age of the solar system, the origin of organic material found in meteorites, and the rate of meteorite impacts on Earth and other planets. ...

Meteorite punches hole in driveway
Wise County Messenger Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:30 AM PDT
A smoldering chunk of rock from outer space punctured the driveway of a home in Decatur (Texas) on Sunday....
[Hoax! and poor reporting]

07 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 7JUL2010

NASA releases videogame, Moonbase Alpha

AFP
"Returning from a research expedition, you witness a meteorite impact that cripples the life support capability of the settlement. ...

Zodiacal light: zombie comets to blame

New Scientist
In 2003 he was looking into the origin of meteor showers, which arise when Earth passes through streams of space junk, causing pieces of rocky detritus ...

Spend an evening with the stars

Western News
According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Delta Aquarids meteor shower will be active between July 14 and Aug. 18, and is best seen an hour or two ...

India seeks World Heritage status for Lonar Lake
Channel NewsAsia Mon, 05 Jul 2010 09:47 AM PDT
INDIA : India is trying to secure a world heritage status for its only lake formed by the impact of a meteorite. ...

Viewers report strange lights on the Fourth

KY3
No major meteor shower was occuring... and the Moon wasn't full. After conferring with others wise in the way of atmospherics, National Weather Service ...

03 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 3JUL2010

Meteors And A Trio Of Planets Highlight Night Sky

NPR
FLATOW: And those of us not lucky enough to do that, we'll also have -always have a good fallback and that's the Perseid meteor shower, right? ...

When worlds collide, you get a guided tour

Arizona Daily Star
Doug Kreutz/Arizona Daily Star People can get a closer look into the Meteor Crater near Winslow. METEOR CRATER - This would not have been a good place to be ...

Moon rocks reveal what hit the Earth 3.8 billion years ago

io9
Analysis of old moon rocks has turned up a special type of carbon that could only come from a massive meteor impact 3.8 billion years ago. ...

Bats and meteors on menu

Swindon Advertiser
On August 12 there is a meteor shower night walk from 8.30pm to 10.30pm revealing Stonehenge at night, rich in archaeology, intriguing stories and a sky ...

How the moon got its whiskers

New Scientist
The best bet is that they arrived in a meteor shower that may also have dumped molecules essential for life. Graphite just one atom thick is better known as ...

02 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 2JUL2010

Stuff of Pencils Discovered on the Moon
By Charles Q. Choi - SPACE.com Contributor --posted: 01 July 2010 02:02 pm ET
Scientists have discovered the first evidence of graphite on the moon — the same carbon-rich stuff used in pencils today — after taking a new look at a lunar rock collected by astronauts nearly 40 years ago. ...
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/apollo-moon-rock-graphite-100701.html


Cheap thrills

Charlotte Observer
July 28, 29 - Southern Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower. The Delta Aquarids can produce about 20 meteors per hour at their peak. The shower usually peaks on
...


01 July 2010

Meteor/Meteorite News 1JUL2010

Meteor Meets End in Washington Skies

DCist.com
When meteroids hit the Earth's atmosphere and create a visible streak in the sky, they're "meteors" (also what some call "shooting stars," the, ahem, ...


06/22/2010 - Major meteor find - VIEW NEWS: A Neighborhood Newspaper

Jerry Henkel/ViewCount Guido Roberto Deiro recently discovered a 30-pound meteorite near Pahrump. The stone is said to be billions of years old and very ...

Earthsky Tonight—June 30:When is the next meteor shower?

Berthoud Recorder
We get lots of questions about meteor showers. Kathlen in the Bronx wrote, “When is the next meteor shower going to happen? ...

June 30, 1908: A Very Close Encounter of the Second Kind

Wired News
Whatever it was — an exploding fragment from a disintegrating meteorite seems the likeliest explanation — scientists concluded there was no actual impact. ...