Re: The Extinction Challenge

From: CurtAdams@aol.com
Date: Sat Jul 31 1999 - 23:49:15 MDT


In a message dated 7/31/99 21:44:17, jonkc@worldnet.att.net wrote:

>I don't need to check the calculations of your theory, I know you're wrong
>because it doesn't fit the facts. As I already said, the 1987 supernova
event
>produced about 20 neutrinos in one second that were detectable in one of
>our primitive neutrino observatories, and it was not close, it was in
another galaxy.
>The best the sun could manage is 1 or 2 a month. I don't want to be
>impolite but this is not a gray area, I'm right and you're wrong.

But even by your figures, a 100 kg mass would expect 2 x 10^7 hits from
a supernova 2 ly away. In a body of many billions of cells, that's quite
trivial. Only about 1 cell in a 1000 will take a hit, and the vast majority
of hits don't do anything significant. A lethal dose of radiation needs
enough
for most cells to take multiple hits to their DNA. This is still many orders
of magnitude short. I'll bet an X-ray does far worse although I don't have
figures in the house. It takes a lot of photons, even X-ray, to make an
image.



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