Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Comets Form Like Deep Fried Ice Cream Scoops

Posted by samzenpus on from the hold-the-whipped-cream dept.

astroengine writes Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, Calif., have added another oddity to the cometary 'weird list': comets are best described as scoops of deep fried ice cream. "The crust is made of crystalline ice, while the interior is colder and more porous," said Murthy Gudipati of JPL, co-author of a recent study appearing in The Journal of Physical Chemistry. "The organics are like a final layer of chocolate on top."

3 of 37 comments (clear)

  1. Not really odd by Iamthecheese · · Score: 3, Informative

    That's what happens when you melt and refreeze the surface of a foamed polyphasic material. How is this odd?

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.
    1. Re:Not really odd by gstoddart · · Score: 2

      Because most of us have probably never heard of foamed polyphasic materials, and consequently don't know the effects of repeated melting and freezing of their surface?

      Just sayin' ... some of us need the ice cream analogy.

      --
      Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  2. So, hot fudge sundae... by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

    which falls on a Tuesdae this month, as I recall....

    --

    "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"