Rosetta Probe Reveals What a Comet Smells Like 53
An anonymous reader writes If you like the smell of rotten eggs, horse urine, formaldehyde, bitter almonds, alcohol, vinegar with a hint of sweet ether, you'd love the smell of a comet. Researchers at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, determined the odor of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet by analyzing the chemicals in its coma, the fuzzy head surrounding the nucleus. The molecules were collected by an instrument aboard the Rosetta spacecraft, which has been flying in tandem with the comet.
So, perfume? (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds like a list of ingredients for perfume. Rosetta perfume, anyone?
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Sounds like a list of ingredients for perfume. Rosetta perfume, anyone?
Sure! I mean, I may not care much for horse urine, but we use components of urine in lots of perfumes.
The combo of eggs, almonds, and vinegar sound tolerable as pickled eggs are a popular dish in many countries. And alcohol scented, no problems there. Sweet ether sounds reasonable, as well.
Time to fire up the marketing machine.
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If you like the smell of rotten eggs, horse urine, formaldehyde, bitter almonds, alcohol, vinegar with a hint of sweet ether,
If only. That would be an upgrade to those synthetic smelling nasal assaults the department stores generously call perfumes.
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No! He's describing Limburger.
It's not the moon that's made of cheese, it's Comets!
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Sounds like a list of ingredients for perfume. Rosetta perfume, anyone?
Unlock the language of the opposite sex!
(I know, we're talking about a comet here... but still)
Stop and smell the roses (Score:4, Funny)
So it smells like your average public men's restroom?
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FELLATIO.
A new scent by George Michael.
Futurama (Score:4, Funny)
I'm waiting for the smelloscope! Think of the astronomical odors you'd be able to smell thanks to the smelloscope!!
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Hey, as long as you don't make me smell Uranus.
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So asteroids are intergalactic trash? (Score:2)
I mean, look at the ingredients, there's little in there that isn't simply the waste product of organic processing.
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Ever wonder what alien raced did with sewage in space?
Smelloscope? (Score:1)
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Good news everyone!!
We're all fired?
lots of organics (Score:3)
A bit surprising to me. It has implications for space colonization as organics are critical to food production and synthetic materials.
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The Klingons are already there.
Ooooold news (Score:1)
Why do I read that in /. a week later than in my very local newspaper.
Will /. announce next week who finally won the WWII?
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But you come here for the 'insightful' comments.
I am about 1-2 days away from just adding 127.0.0.1 for www.slashdot.org into my hosts file. That way I will not be tempted to come here...
Don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out.
I always wondered what a comet smells like... (Score:2)
... just don't make me smell Uranus. :D
Poison! (Score:4, Interesting)
sex panther (Score:1)
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cute description (Score:1)
Re: cute description (Score:2)
Reminds Me of Some Apartments (Score:2)
Reminds me of some apartments I woke up in during the seventies. Horse urine is weirdly specific, though.
Carl Sagan said; (Score:1)
In other words (Score:4, Informative)
If you like the smell of rotten eggs, horse urine, formaldehyde, bitter almonds, alcohol, vinegar with a hint of sweet ether,
In other words, a comet smells like a college frat house.
The one that killed the dinosaurs.. (Score:1)
..blasted out a huge fart smell which became encoded in the survivors' genes. Millions of years later, every time my coworker farts in my office, that 65 million year old genetic alarm is triggered and he becomes death, the destroyer of worlds.
The sorry state of journalism (Score:2)
"Smell" is just a sensationalized way of saying chemical composition.
It's not like the human smell faculty would work in a vacuum.
Smells LIke? (Score:2)
Refueling source? (Score:1)