It’s a little uncouth to post twice in a few minutes, but this “second article on the lawsuit by the Russian mother in the Seattle Times”:http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002347919_comet25.html
escaped my attention when last I scanned news.google.com. Wowsers. You gotta love this quote:
“If the Americans can study comets with the help of bombs, why not the Chinese?” she asked. “Americans want to be ahead of everybody. And maybe that’s good, but not in this case. It’s a barbaric method, to study the universe with bombs.”
That’s from Marina Bai, the plaintiff in the suit. She’s mostly concerned that the collision will upset “mystic forces” in the universe. Wait a sec. Let me check. Hang on. Well, a quick scan of my physics texts indicate the gravitational force, the electromagnetic force, the strong and weak nuclear force, the Higgs field… but, thankfully, no mystic force to upset. She should be able to sleep now.
Oh, and as I’ve indicated in the past, these natural forces will really not notice this eensy-weensy little impact. I mean, after all, they survived the Big Bang. They can take a little probe hurtled into a comet by a single species on a tiny planet in an average galaxy.
As for “studying the universe with bombs”, she should tell that to nature. Nature is the one that makes supernova, gamma ray bursts, solar flares, and a wide variety of other deadly and explosive phenomena that affect us every day. Our little probe doesn’t even qualify as a bomb, and even if we were hurtling something like a nuclear weapon at the comet the sun would still giggle at our feeble attempt to blow something up. To compare this probe to a bomb is to scream and wail at every mosquito bite.
