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Alien Comet May Have Infiltrated the Solar System

Posted by kdawson on from the starseed-lure dept.

New Scientist has a piece about Comet Machholz 1, whose uncommon molecular composition suggests, but does not prove, that it may be an interloper from another star system. "Comet Machholz 1 isn't like other comets. David Schleicher of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, measured the chemical makeup of 150 comets, and found that they all had similar levels of the chemical cyanogen (CN) except for Machholz 1, which has less than 1.5% of the normal level. Along with some other comets, it is also low on the molecules carbon-2 and carbon-3."

31 of 208 comments (clear)

  1. Oh, no, Alien Comet! by to6o · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure the other comets are freaking out

    --
    "People's problem is not that they are mortal, but that they are suddenly mortal" Terry Pratchett
    1. Re:Oh, no, Alien Comet! by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Funny

      it could be worse - imagine all of the trucks suddenly freaking out.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
    2. Re:Oh, no, Alien Comet! by Directrix1 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Wouldn't it be even more wild if the message was: "You die now!!"

      --
      Occam's razor is the blind faith in the natural selection of least resistance and in universal oversimplification. -- EF
    3. Re:Oh, no, Alien Comet! by Gilmoure · · Score: 2, Funny

      ...I'm suspecting more "boring" origins, such as a cold spot in our own solar system.

      My first ex-girlfriend made this?

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    4. Re:Oh, no, Alien Comet! by Whiteox · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh shut up already. He got +5 for literary style, not correctness.

      Mod AC up for wisdom, correctness, clean living and being of fine character.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  2. Well.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new interstellar-traveling, cyanogen-lacking space overlords.

    1. Re:Well.. by wisty · · Score: 3, Funny

      All hail Xenu!

  3. Entry is Free. by retech · · Score: 5, Funny

    It entered our system the moment it heard Obama had Nasa's budget on the chopping block. Coincidence? I think not.

    1. Re:Entry is Free. by Hognoxious · · Score: 5, Funny

      What is the escape velocity for getting out of a star system?

      African or European?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Entry is Free. by Ihmhi · · Score: 5, Funny

      I could go for some three-bodies interaction.

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
    3. Re:Entry is Free. by rbanffy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Is the comet carrying coconuts?

      --
      http://www.dieblinkenlights.com
    4. Re:Entry is Free. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, the odds are astronomical.

      Oh, wait...

  4. Alien bastards by LockeOnLogic · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, am sick to death of these alien comets just waltzing into our solar system taking jobs away from good hard working comets of our own solar system!

    1. Re:Alien bastards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      They tuuk uuuhr juuuubs!

    2. Re:Alien bastards by Hurricane78 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dek uur deeewww!!!

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    3. Re:Alien bastards by asylumx · · Score: 3, Funny

      That's it. Everybody back to the pile!

    4. Re:Alien bastards by corbettw · · Score: 3, Funny

      They're just doing the jobs that lazy Solar System comets refuse to do. Besides, it's the hard working, entrepreneurial comets that are willing to travel a trillion miles for a chance at a better life for themselves and their satellite debris that made this star system great.

      --
      God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
  5. Let's remember what might happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    This is an Italian spy satellite hovering over America to discover the locations of our Hot Dogs, so that Giuseppe Franconi ("Barack Obama") can send jack-botted Italian enforcement agents to confiscate them and replace them with salami! Danger, America!!!!

  6. Re:Nuke it! Nuke it now! by master5o1 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Only if it is on a collision course with Earth and we can send Bruce Willis up there to do the drilling.

    --
    signature is pants
  7. Ow no ! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    It's a rogue comet from the planet Klatuh.
    Do you want to know more ?

  8. Re:Nuke it! Nuke it now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Could we just send him up anyway?

  9. Re:Shock and Awe by Andr+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

    - So, Mr. ... Machholz 1, you say you got to this star system without a visa by mistake? I'm sure Machholz 2 and 3 would be happy to join us in this beautiful, sucessful star system... right? Tell us the truth... you'd get an ilegal job and start bringing your lazy, alien-speaking relatives, that's the truth, isn't it? Don't lie to me, you foreign scum!

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  10. Naquadah by CarpetShark · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, if it's made of naquadah, they'll WANT you to nuke it.

    1. Re:Naquadah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      sorry, retry with a startrek reference

    2. Re:Naquadah by Ihmhi · · Score: 3, Funny

      We need to reverse the polarity on Earth's deflector shields!

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  11. In related news.. by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 5, Funny

    Scientists have discovered a Buddhist monk who is not human.

    Tensing Abowtaleven isn't like other humans. Hans Gripperpienis of the Starbucks, somewhere, measured the chemical makeup of 150 humans, and found that they all had similar levels of the C8H10N4O2H2O except for Abowtaleven, which had less than 0.5% of the normal level. Along with some other humans, he is also low on the molecules C2H5OH and Coc.

    food for thought...

    --
    I don't therefore I'm not.
  12. Re:This is a long shot by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm fairly sure all comets are extra-terrestrial, what with not being from Earth or its atmosphere.

    --

    Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

  13. Re:Does anybody know by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Pylon? Alien comet? OMG! We're being invaded by Protoss!

  14. New Comet Checklist by moxley · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's see:

    1. Kool Aid (it should be blue) - CHECK
    2. Cyanide - CHECK
    3. Video Cameras to record our ascension to the spaceship that will take us to heaven - CHECK
    4. Special freaky "cult blankies" to cover up with so when they find our "empty shell vessels" they know that this was a joyous occasion, and not some weird cult suicide thing - CHECK

    I think we're ready....You guys just head to the mansion, there's plenty of kool-aid for everyone, but I olny have 25 futuristic cult blanky death shrouds, so you may want to bring you own, I suggest blue or black, but whatever you do just make sure it doesn't have snoopy or south park or some cartoon character...Star Wars is okay - we're videoing everything.

  15. Re: "Screw Star Trek" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oldie? would you prefer a "Treehouse" reference lil' one?

  16. Re:Nuke it! Nuke it now! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Or, failing that, just nuke him here on earth ?