[meteorite-list] Dave Shiflett-- no fan of the brenham

[Matt Morgan]

Who bought it for a"cool million"?? Museum?
Matt

Darren Garrison wrote:


>"...a 1,400-pound space rock that resembles a massive, slightly rotting yam.

>Ugly is only skin deep, however. This monstrosity sold for a cool million." 

>

>

>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=a.flI69Q4Dvg&refer=muse

>

>Pilot Science Show Features Meteorites, Stem Cells, Speedy Cars 

>

>By Dave Shiflett

>

>Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- A new PBS show promises breaking news from the world of

>science, a nice alternative to cable news alerts whenever the president stubs

>his toe. 

>

>``Wired Science,'' which debuts tomorrow at 8 p.m. New York time, is part of an

>interesting contest in which viewers will help decide PBS's next weekly science

>program. Two other pilots, ``Science Investigators'' (Jan. 10) and ``22nd

>Century'' (Jan. 17), round out the competition. 

>

>``Wired Science,'' a fast-paced, far-reaching collaboration between PBS and

>Wired magazine, will be hard to beat. 

>

>The hour-long show kicks off with a segment on professional meteorite hunters.

>Viewers contemplating a career move should take note: Sometimes heaven rains far

>more than pennies. 

>

>Steve Arnold, a professional meteorite hunter, drags a jerry-built metal

>detector through an otherwise nondescript Kansas field. Strange noises emanate

>from the machine and fierce digging commences. Wired correspondent Adam Rogers

>reaches down into the dirt and pulls out a meteorite the size of an anvil. 

>

>It won't bring as much as an earlier find: a 1,400-pound space rock that

>resembles a massive, slightly rotting yam. Ugly is only skin deep, however. This

>monstrosity sold for a cool million. 

>

>Meteorites 

>

>Indeed, there's a competitive market for meteorites, which some people consider

>art. At one ``meteorite gallery'' we see a fairly modest projectile on sale for

>$89,000; the one unearthed earlier in the show is appraised at $12,000. 

>

>In another segment, a plasma television is sawed in half, followed by a short

>tutorial on how plasma works. We also learn that screens in the future will

>likely be paper-thin. 

>

>Later, we visit an underwater facility off the Florida coast where astronauts

>prepare for life in the stars. Water is a ``close analogue'' to space and the

>10-day, highly confining experience helps determine if would-be spacefolk can

>hack life locked in an alien environment. 

>

>The only touch of controversy comes in a segment on embryonic stem-cell

>researcher Renee Reijo-Pera, who started her career as a bookkeeper in an

>auto-repair shop. 

>

>These cells, she explains, have no fixed identity and so can be used to repair

>muscle, nerve, liver, skin and other damaged cells. As for suggestions that

>embryos should be considered sacrosanct, she responds they have a great deal of

>``potential'' but ``no potential if discarded.'' 

>

>Electric Car 

>

>On a lighter note, there's a look at those ``rocket packs'' made famous by James

>Bond and once considered a possible weapons system. That project, known as

>Operation Grasshopper, didn't return much on investment though there was intense

>interest at high levels. 

>

>Archived footage shows President John F. Kennedy at one flight demonstration.

>This was neat stuff, but a rocketing soldier could easily be brought down by

>even a slightly talented marksman. 

>

>As the show winds down there's a brief interview with Elon Musk, former chief

>executive officer of PayPal Inc. and now involved in higher-tech developments,

>including an electric car that will go from zero to 60 in under four seconds.

>That's faster than all Porsches and almost all Ferraris. 

>

>`Good Viruses' 

>

>The first model is scheduled to roll out in six or seven months, Musk says,

>though where to drive these earth-bound rockets is a subject left untouched. 

>

>The show ends with a look at ``good viruses'' found in the highly acidic thermal

>fields of Yellowstone. So-called ``extremomphiles'' can be hollowed out and used

>to transport chemotherapy directly into cancer cells. 

>

>These microscopic multitaskers can also be used to produce hydrogen -- thus

>helping us beat our addiction to foreign oil -- and develop hard drives with

>storage capacity 10,000 times that of those currently available. 

>

>Viewer response, augmented by market research, will determine if this show, or

>one of its competitors, gets a 10-week gig starting next fall. The winner will

>provide a viewing alternative to the presidential horserace, which will by then

>be in full gallop. 

>

>A no-brainer, no matter which show prevails. 

>

>For more information, visit http://www.pbs.org . 

>

>(Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his

>own.) 

>

>To contact the writer of this story: Dave Shiflett at dshifl at aol.com . 

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