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Ice Age Beasts Blasted from Space

Posted by samzenpus on from the the-galactic-shotgun dept.

ianare writes "Eight tusks and a bison skull all show signs of having being blasted with iron-nickel fragments, typical meteorite material. Raised, burnt surface rings trace the point of entry of high-velocity projectiles; and the punctures are on only one side, consistent with a blast coming from a single direction. But the team was astonished to find the animal remains were about 35,000 years old, rather than from the known impact of 13,000 years ago."

25 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. Hey! I remember that episode by alshithead · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wasn't that when the Enterprise went back in time and Captain Kirk made a hand held cannon that used primitive gunpowder and meteor fragments to blast the bad alien beasties?

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    1. Re:Hey! I remember that episode by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude, you are mixing your episodes... Isn't that considered a serious faux pas around here? They did NOT go back in time for the episode where the captain had to go one on one against the Gorn Captain. That one was setup by an advanced race - the Metrons. There were time jumping episodes, but the one where he had to make gunpowder from raw sulphur, salt peter (or whatever - go ahead and correct me), etc. was definitely NOT a time jumping one.

      However, I do believe this "Gorn" episode was the one that "Galaxy Quest" targeted (precisely) when they had "crewman number 6" (Guy) ask Commander Tagert if he could construct a "rudimentary lathe".

      Damn. If you are going to invoke Trek - get it right!

  2. so *that's* where buffalo nickles came from by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Ok, I got nothing.

  3. That was no comet by Tyrsenus · · Score: 5, Funny

    The simplest explanation tends to be the best. Tyrannosaurs in F-14's.

    1. Re:That was no comet by B3ryllium · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ah yes, the good old "Occam's Space Laser" theory.

    2. Re:That was no comet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      But their arms are too short....how are they supposed to turn and fire at the same time?

  4. Re:uhhmm by Enoxice · · Score: 3, Funny

    Sounds like someone didn't do too well on the SATs.

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  5. Re:1,000,000,000 to 1 by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey! I just got hit by a small meteor, you insensitive clod! Ouch!

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  6. Re:Cool by RuBLed · · Score: 5, Funny

    Zombiesaurs...

    (Hey why isn't there a movie about dinosaur zombies yet?)

  7. Isn't it obvious? by raddan · · Score: 3, Funny

    The mammoth and bison remains all display small (about 2-3mm in size) perforations.

    Raised, burnt surface rings trace the point of entry of high-velocity projectiles; and the punctures are on only one side, consistent with a blast coming from a single direction.

    The ratios of different types of atoms in the fragments meant it was most unlikely they had originated on Earth, the team told the AGU meeting. A meteorite would not be my first thought. That would be alien hunters.
    1. Re:Isn't it obvious? by John+Hasler · · Score: 3, Funny

      > A meteorite would not be my first thought. That would be alien hunters.

      Inept alien hunters, hunting mammoths with birdshot. Now if they just look around the site maybe they will find a trampled alien...

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  8. Xenu is my homeboy by scubamage · · Score: 3, Funny

    These actually aren't earth animals, they're the skeletons from Xenu's spacecraft! Tom Cruise was right all along!

  9. Re:1,000,000,000 to 1 by da_foz · · Score: 3, Funny

    That would be pretty impressive...considering so far they have seven tusks and a skull that show the impact marks. If it was one animal that would be one hell of a large skull. Maybe something like this but even bigger: http://www.geekroar.com/film/archives/rotk_war_elephants.jpg

  10. Re:1,000,000,000 to 1 by Prof.Phreak · · Score: 4, Funny

    Or from scientist's perspective, it was in the right place at the right time.

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  11. Re:uhhmm by Kohath · · Score: 3, Funny

    Nice try James. We know it's you.

  12. Second Obvious Conclusion... by aasmodeus · · Score: 4, Funny

    God sneezed. Intelligent Sneezing, no less!

  13. Blast points? by QuantumFlux · · Score: 5, Funny

    Too accurate for Sandpeople. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.

  14. Ahh! by Cleon · · Score: 3, Funny

    So that's how the Ice Age movies finally end!

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  15. Re:Neat Story, Shitty Summary by selfdiscipline · · Score: 2, Funny

    I dunno, the summary seems cooler than the story to me. I was expecting an article about aliens mounting a war against mammoths, and was quite disappointed.

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  16. Drive-by shooting by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is old news... We've known for how-long now that mammoths had shotguns!

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    1. Re:Drive-by shooting by Hal_Porter · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, it's in my Republican Edition bible. God gave them firearms just after he created them.

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  17. That's impossible. by TomatoMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    The earth is only 6,000 years old.

    Anybody who studied science in Kansas knows that.

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  18. Re:Cool by Viceroy+Potatohead · · Score: 2, Funny

    Finally, we have it!!!!!

    2. ???^WZombiesaurs

  19. Re:Cool by xPsi · · Score: 2, Funny

    (Hey why isn't there a movie about dinosaur zombies yet?) They did. It was called Woodstock
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  20. Re:Cool by HateBreeder · · Score: 2, Funny

    A movie? I don't know about that.

    But I'm sure there's porn for it.

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