Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Originally posted by Frosty
There will be no new elements to find in space, .
The list of elements formed in supernova is limited as well as materials and elements formed in geological events (I would imagine).
I dont agree with this, I highly doubt every single element ever formed in the entire vast universe happened to land on this little speck on nothing
we call earth.
The model of the universe does not even work if the elements we had on earth and can see were everything in the universe. Estimates of the amount of
matter present in galaxies, based on gravitational effects, consistently suggest that there is far more matter than is directly observable.
Scientist sometimes call this dark matter but its really just a term of expressions of our ignorance of whats in the universe. Astronomers don't
know what it is, but they know it makes up about 23 percent of the universe.
The universe is far too big and the amount humans have explored far too small to rule out anything yet.
Some elements such as the lanthinides and actenides are synthetic, like Plutonium, and as well as those listed afterwards. Most of the recently
discovered elements only last for days, minutes, seconds and some for just a fraction of the second and have no real economic use.
The amount of elements on the peroiodic table formed in supernova (or stars) goes up to iron. Everything else is a process of geology. There are
structures and molecules in space which humans can only observe from these points, but harvesting these would be like harvesting gold in the ocean. It
is far too dense to do so. Such as the structures of carbon that form around stars and cause a haze like distortion. These were then imitated to form
fullerenes, but I would be doubtful if you could find a naturally occuring fullerene outside earth.
Originally posted by ShadowXIX
I think one of the best reasons in the future to inhabit space will be mining. There is a platinum asteroid that is worth about $5 trillion or $6
trillion, as well as an asteroid that has more steel in it than all the iron on Earth.
Gold, Platinum, Iron , Nickel you name it its all out there in spades. Its access to near infinite raw materials.
As we get better tech to get into space cheaper and Earth's resources cant handle peoples needs space mining will take off.
[url=http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/reason_07_000723.html]http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/reason_07_000723.html[/
url]
Don't you mean 'there is more iron-oxide on the asteroid than iron in steel on earth'?.
[edit on 15-11-2005 by Frosty]
