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Science Peruvian Meteorite Mystery Solved
Jason Mick (Blog) - September 24, 2007 11:32 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 72 comment(s) - last by winterspan.. on Sep 30 at 2:13 AM

A view of the massive impact crater.  (Source: Reuters)
The cause of illness from meteorite impact was discovered to be decidedly not out-of-this-world.

A significant cosmic event occurred when a massive meteor struck on September 15th outside the farming village of Carancas, near Lake Titicaca.  The meteor created an imposing eight meter (26-foot) deep, 20 meter (65 foot) wide crater.  Almost immediately the object was ruled to be a meteor and not something of terrestial origin.

The massive crater emitted strange fumes, which made over 30 villagers violently ill, with headaches and nausea.  Reports on the exact number of victims ranged from 30 to "about 200."  Speculations on possible "out-of-this-world" causes were rampant.

Police blocked off the crater, and the villagers were transported to hospitals.

The director of the health ministry in the Puno region, Jorge Lopez, said none of the patients was in serious condition but that they would have to undergo blood and neurological tests as a precaution in three to six months.

Now, a team of Peruvian researchers have determined the true cause -- ground water tainted with arsenic.

The villagers' reactions were the result of inhaling arsenic fumes, according to Luisa Macedo, a researcher for Peru's Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology Institute (INGEMMET), who visited the crash site.

Peru's soil is rich in arsenic deposits and when the meteor hit, columns of steam were created by the heat from the meteor.  This steam bore particles of arsenic, causing the various afflictions.

Villagers described the event as a terrifying experience as they observed the massive flaming ball of rock hurtled at high speed from the skies and the impact scattered debris over a wide radius.  Debris landed on the roof of the closest house, 390 feet from the crater, but no fires were reported to be caused by the debris.

The medical mystery of the meteor and its solution goes to show that there are practical explanations for many "out-of-this-world" phenomena.  The event also was a significant cosmological event, as it marks one of the largest meteor impacts in recent years.  For now, the people of Carancas, probably just want to never see another meteorite again.

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Whoa
By troublesome08 on 9/24/2007 1:30:35 PM , Rating: 2
That's a pretty big crater, imagine if that had hit a populated area or tall building, lucky it was out in the middle of nowhere




RE: Whoa
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 1:38:12 PM , Rating: 2
I can think of a few non-open areas that I wouldnt mind that thing hitting....


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:18:40 PM , Rating: 2
Jack Thompson's house.....Michael Moore's house.....


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:34:10 PM , Rating: 3
The entire state of California....


RE: Whoa
By zerocool84 on 9/24/2007 2:47:13 PM , Rating: 3
Ouch baby......very ouch


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:54:30 PM , Rating: 2
Sacrifices must sometimes be made for the good of the many....


RE: Whoa
By 16nm on 9/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: Whoa
By thartist on 9/24/2007 9:57:07 PM , Rating: 2
I won't be angry at you, just tell you that the name comes from native people's culture, and it resembles pronunciation of their usual speech. That's it.


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 10:35:39 PM , Rating: 2
.......what?


RE: Whoa
By ZmaxDP on 9/25/2007 7:38:48 PM , Rating: 2
How about the 5 year old who posted about the lake being named by a five year old... (There is more than one language spoken on this planet last time I checked...)


RE: Whoa
By The Sword 88 on 9/24/2007 2:51:16 PM , Rating: 2
That would work.


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 3:21:31 PM , Rating: 2
I take it those in California are against this?


RE: Whoa
By Adonlude on 9/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 4:31:36 PM , Rating: 2
Good luck on that one.


RE: Whoa
By rcc on 9/26/2007 6:19:52 PM , Rating: 2
Half of California's problems are caused by those immigrants from mid-western states (c'mon really, it is the mid-east, look at a map) arriving and going nuts in the sunshine. : )


RE: Whoa
By EODetroit on 9/24/2007 3:52:51 PM , Rating: 2
Notre Dame's football stadium.


RE: Whoa
By Arramol on 9/24/2007 4:09:51 PM , Rating: 2
I like how you get modded down for California, but nobody seems to mind about Michael Moore and Jack Thompson.


RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 4:34:04 PM , Rating: 3
Nobody likes them. Even themselves.


RE: Whoa
By BillyBatson on 9/24/2007 6:29:23 PM , Rating: 4
HEY what is wrong with the state of california!? I lova cali.
Now Texas, that is a pretty useless state.


RE: Whoa
By mdogs444 on 9/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: Whoa
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:45:52 PM , Rating: 2
Who have you been talking to?

>.>

<.<


RE: Whoa
By winterspan on 9/30/2007 1:29:15 AM , Rating: 2
If only we could gather together all of the dumb$hit republican politicians. Even better would be the meteor shifting and instead hitting the entire southeast of the country (less Miami and the keys) A.K.A. the putrid wasteland of rednecks, methamphetamine, and Christian Fundamentalists® . That would by proxy take care of the right-wing politician problem.

Alas, for now I would be satisfied with it hitting Fox News's primary studio.


RE: Whoa
By Frallan on 9/25/2007 7:03:44 AM , Rating: 1
The White House...


RE: Whoa
By ninjit on 9/24/2007 1:40:07 PM , Rating: 1
I was just wondering how close to the village the impact was.
Anyone know?

It could have been much much worse, deaths from a direct hit + probably more from arsenic poisoning, as their exposure would have been much greater


RE: Whoa
By PrezWeezy on 9/24/2007 2:22:29 PM , Rating: 3
Well it says the closest house was 390 feet away. So that should give you some idea.


RE: Whoa
By imaheadcase on 9/24/2007 3:26:02 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
That's a pretty big crater, imagine if that had hit a populated area or tall building, lucky it was out in the middle of nowhere


Well math is better than luck, the % chance of something hurling millions of lights years away to hit earth itself is pretty astronomical in mathematical terms.


RE: Whoa
By masher2 (blog) on 9/24/2007 7:49:32 PM , Rating: 2
Millions of light years? No...this meteorite was almost certainly a denizen of our solar system.


Coverup!
By headbox on 9/24/07, Rating: 0
RE: Coverup!
By James Holden on 9/24/2007 1:15:15 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
The conspiracy sites say this is a coverup, and that it was actually a US spy satellite that was destroyed while spying on Iran.

So wtf was it doing in Peru then?

Riiiiiight...


RE: Coverup!
By MonkeyPaw on 9/24/2007 2:07:55 PM , Rating: 6
Maybe it was programmed by Miss South Carolina.


RE: Coverup!
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:22:09 PM , Rating: 4
ROFL!

Sadly I now live in South Carolina.....I wanna go back to Florida where all we've got is old people too dumb to vote properly.


RE: Coverup!
By encryptkeeper on 9/24/2007 3:28:21 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah I live in SC too. But not for long, in a month I'm moving to Pennsylvania. Go Steelers!


RE: Coverup!
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 3:59:20 PM , Rating: 2
PA is much better? LOL.

Just kidding - im from ohio - so i hate the steelers.


RE: Coverup!
By ToeCutter on 9/24/2007 7:09:44 PM , Rating: 1
The shuttle's "emergency" landing strip is in the Azores?

Check a map...


RE: Coverup!
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 1:28:01 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah ok. Those people are idiots.


RE: Coverup!
By TimberJon on 9/24/2007 1:45:24 PM , Rating: 2
Just another attention-whore spinning up a story that makes no sense. Next they will say that coconuts used to be potatoes but something "happened" to them.


RE: Coverup!
By mdogs444 on 9/24/2007 1:52:36 PM , Rating: 2
....and there really was a UFO in Roswell....

again...idiots with too much free time & mental issues.


RE: Coverup!
By ToeCutter on 9/24/2007 7:08:02 PM , Rating: 2
...and satellites don't run on batteries or solar cells!

Which are made with ......arsenic.

Hmm...


RE: Coverup!
By Freze on 9/24/2007 1:55:01 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Next they will say that coconuts used to be potatoes but something "happened" to them.


They weren't?


RE: Coverup!
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 2:24:38 PM , Rating: 2
And the Hubble Telescope was actually designed spy on Hillary Clinton in the shower......god I almost vomited to make this joke.......


RE: Coverup!
By retrospooty on 9/24/2007 9:53:15 PM , Rating: 1
What a co-incidence. I almost vomit when reading many of your ultra tightey-rightey-whitey posts. LOL =)


RE: Coverup!
By FITCamaro on 9/24/2007 10:38:26 PM , Rating: 3
Wanna not make it almost?

quote:
tightey-rightey-whitey


What are you 10?


RE: Coverup!
By retrospooty on 9/25/2007 12:31:38 AM , Rating: 2
No, I am a full grown 36 1/2 year old ;)

I stated it that way jokingly, I thought you were at least bright enough to pick up on the fact that "tightey-rightey-whitey" refers to the ultra white, backward-assed republican, anal retentive rhetoric that you grace us all with on this tech site.


RE: Coverup!
By FITCamaro on 9/25/2007 9:57:45 AM , Rating: 2
I don't affiliate myself with any particular party.

But yes I am white (what difference does it make what race I am though) and don't pretend to be anything else. I have no problem with anyone of any race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. as long as they realize that they are in the USA, follow our laws and don't try to overwrite our culture with their own.

I also am against government handouts(welfare for able-bodied people, "free" healthcare), like to keep the money I make, don't pity the poor, don't hate the rich, hate big corporations who control our government, think our Senate (Republicans and Democrats alike) cares more about being re-elected than serving their constituents, think our legal system is horribly flawed considering things like "hate crimes" actually exist (as opposed to a kind crime?), am against Affirmative Action, have no respect for blacks who think white people owe them something because of what happened in the past, think parents are the fault of their kids being dumb (not the school), believe that I should be able to defend myself when attacked, believe the UN is a joke that the USA should have no part of, and believe China and illegal immigration are the biggest threats to our way of life currently. I'm sure I missed a few things.

So if all that makes me a stupid, ignorant, "backward-assed" person, fine with me.


RE: Coverup!
By retrospooty on 9/25/2007 10:46:07 AM , Rating: 2
Well, nothing wrong with the particular things you listed... You are especially right about "our Senate (Republicans and Democrats alike) cares more about being re-elected (and making more money) than serving their constituents". Although it seems as if you hold many of the positive republican values, and neglected to mention the negatives.


RE: Coverup!
By winterspan on 9/30/2007 2:06:51 AM , Rating: 2
I don't think ANYONE particular enjoys the government distributing social services to people who don't need them. However, those who are physically disabled or have mental illnesses SHOULD be taken care of, just as we (well maybe not anymore with the Bush admin) support our injured war veterans. Honest, hard-working, normally self-sufficient people SHOULD be helped out if they lose their job and can't support their family. Should the receive an unlimited amount of free money? No. Should they receive unemployment (which they paid into) while they are struggling to find a new job? YES.
I could go on and on. The point is many people tend to fall into the 'moderate' or 'independent' political category because for most issues, there is usually a moderate, common-sense solution.

Most of what you wrote in your post is regurgitated, long-standing, ignorant misconceptions and false arguments that have persisted in the intolerant and uneducated areas of the country.

What I take offense to however is your characterization of hate crime statues as "horribly flawed". Your reasoning that because there exists no "kind crimes", therefore, "hate crimes" shouldn't exist is so fundamentally flawed I am not even going to attempt a response.

My response to your comment about "blacks that think white people owe them something" would simply be - do you have any friends who are black? I think you should get to know a few before spouting stereotypes in public forums.

And finally, about parents being responsible for their kids "being dumb"... I am going to leave that one alone as obviously you have much more experience with that issue than anyone else on this website...


RE: Coverup!
By dice1111 on 9/25/2007 11:42:48 PM , Rating: 2
This does not explain why you still live in your mom's basement, however...


RE: Coverup!
By encryptkeeper on 9/24/2007 3:01:27 PM , Rating: 1
Um, yeah you know you're missing Iran by about a hemisphere.


RE: Coverup!
By roastmules on 9/25/2007 11:12:36 AM , Rating: 2
Two hemispheres even...

East-West and North-South

Nearly opposite sides of the planet.


Solved mysteries
By oTAL (blog) on 9/24/2007 2:15:54 PM , Rating: 3
The most elegant mystery I have ever heard of began with a family dispute in which one of the families involved was cursed - and thus 'The Curse' was born.

'The Curse' would attack the family from time to time. Most often, members of the family would suddenly die in a car accident, while driving to the family estate, alone, through a wide straight road. This road was surrounded by ancient trees, and there was no explanation as to why the driver would just suddenly drive against one of those. 'The Curse' lasted for many decades unexplained and claimed several lives.

The first clue to offer an explanation was that the accidents always happened at around the same time - sunset.

Check for the answer on the next comment... ;)




RE: Solved mysteries
By oTAL (blog) on 9/24/2007 2:22:36 PM , Rating: 3
The answer was a medical one.
There was a genetic trait in the family which was transmitted through the generations.

When driving through that road, at a given speed, when the Sun was setting, an intermittent light pattern was created that provoked epileptic seizures on susceptible persons. Those can be pretty nasty when you are driving surrounded by large trees... and thus 'The Curse' would claim another life...

Hope you guys like this one... I'd like to give credit but I don't know the origin. I believe it is a true tale.


RE: Solved mysteries
By Bladen on 9/25/2007 4:49:02 AM , Rating: 2
Here I was thinking that "The Curse" referred to lycanthropy. However, it is also referred to as "The Gift" by some, but those that do are usually werewolves.


RE: Solved mysteries
By oTAL (blog) on 9/25/2007 7:27:58 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
it is also referred to as "The Gift" by some, but those that do are usually werewolves.


You should get out more....


RE: Solved mysteries
By Bladen on 9/27/2007 6:19:44 AM , Rating: 2
Ahh, it was a joke...


RE: Solved mysteries
By winterspan on 9/30/2007 2:13:33 AM , Rating: 2
that was a great story!


In a perfect world.
By Misty Dingos on 9/24/2007 1:25:15 PM , Rating: 5
Science prevails. How bizarre.

If this had happened in the US there would be a group of people that would blame the president (republican or democrat would not matter) until the end of time. And a news caster, with frighteningly white straight teeth, would be standing in front of the smoking crater telling everyone “Yes the crater is really smoking.” with a smile on their face. When told that perhaps they should get back to a safe area by a government employee a TV producer and lawyer would show up within three minutes. Then the eco-freaks would get into a brawl with the UFO-freaks. And in a perfect world those two groups would be arrested and hauled off in black helicopters with no markings. Never to be heard of again.




RE: In a perfect world.
By The Sword 88 on 9/24/2007 2:53:38 PM , Rating: 1
Dont get my hopes up. I wish the UFO freaks and the eco freaks would both disappear, but then who would I make fun of on the internet?


RE: In a perfect world.
By Misty Dingos on 9/24/2007 3:29:45 PM , Rating: 2
Crop circle chasers!


Andromeda Strain
By gsellis on 9/24/2007 2:20:41 PM , Rating: 2
OK, how many thought of the Andromeda Strain when they first heard this story?

I know that was my first thought.




RE: Andromeda Strain
By hobbes7869 on 9/24/2007 8:15:05 PM , Rating: 2
Exactly my first thought as well. I figured perhaps Michael Crichton is a new Nostradomus. Perhaps we will eventually really have dinosaurs again on this planet as well. That would be cool.


RE: Andromeda Strain
By Dfere on 9/25/2007 12:43:18 PM , Rating: 2
I thought... "show no emtion"


Change the title picture!
By Alexvrb on 9/24/2007 6:08:26 PM , Rating: 2
They should change the JPEG by the title to the "meteor" from Joe Dirt.

Mystery solved, fumes and all!




RE: Change the title picture!
By Bladen on 9/25/2007 4:51:12 AM , Rating: 2
I was thinking along similar lines. That the sickness was caused by the meteor landing in a big old pile of poo.


Very Sad
By Dactyl on 9/24/2007 3:33:12 PM , Rating: 3
Arsenic carries serious cancer risks.

If people were exposed to enough of it to make them physically ill, I wonder how much their risk of getting cancer has increased.




Significant cosmic event
By tcsenter on 9/25/2007 4:40:23 AM , Rating: 2
Meh...this is extremely insignificant, as cosmic events go. Technically, it isn't a cosmic event at all.

"Andromeda Galaxy disappears into massive black hole" would be a significant cosmic event, though not really in the grand scheme of things.




The Truth
By Egglick on 9/24/2007 2:28:49 PM , Rating: 1
I still say this was a rancid chunk of cheese that fell from the moon. People in Peru probably aren't used to stinky cheese.




Great Cornholio
By mal1 on 9/24/07, Rating: -1
RE: Great Cornholio
By Grast on 9/24/07, Rating: -1
RE: Great Cornholio
By encryptkeeper on 9/24/2007 3:42:58 PM , Rating: 1
You need professional help. I think this may have been funny, 10 years ago.


RE: Great Cornholio
By StillPimpin on 9/24/2007 5:45:36 PM , Rating: 2
And it's funny today too.


RE: Great Cornholio
By mal1 on 9/24/2007 7:28:30 PM , Rating: 2
Are you threatening me?


RE: Great Cornholio
By Myrandex on 9/25/2007 2:32:51 PM , Rating: 2
rofl love it. I have the collection on DVD :) great response, as it is still funny today and I don't see that ending anytime soon


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