How long would evidence of an extraterrestrial visit survive: an educational exercise

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2022-05-27 DOI:10.20450/mjcce.2022.2502

J. Trefil

引用次数: 0

Abstract

With the discovery of objects entering the solar system from interstellar environments, the discussion of the possibility of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth has resumed. We examine the question of how long the evidence for such visits could be expected to last on Earth and on the Moon. Using geological estimates and our current knowledge of the lunar regolith, we conclude that evidence for visits to Earth more than 100,000 years ago would not survive to the present. Radiocarbon dating of some organic material (assuming large C-14 abundance) is of the same order of magnitude. Similarly, evidence of visits to the lunar surface would not survive for more than 100 million years.

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外星人造访的证据能存活多久：一项教育演习

随着从星际环境进入太阳系的物体的发现，关于外星访客造访地球的可能性的讨论又重新开始了。我们研究了这种访问的证据预计会在地球和月球上持续多久的问题。根据地质估计和我们目前对月球风化层的了解，我们得出结论，10多万年前访问地球的证据将无法保存到现在。一些有机物质的放射性碳年代测定（假设C-14丰度大）具有相同的数量级。同样，访问月球表面的证据也不会存在超过1亿年。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.