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back to article Comet 67/P CAKED in LIFE-GIVING RUBBLE, say astroboffins

When the Philae lander failed to touch down cleanly on Comet 67P/Churyumov­-Gerasimenko, the mission looked like a mess. But the probe's four bounces across the comet's surface turn out to have been a blessing in disguise because they've given us more close-ups of 67P than expected. The results have now appeared in a special …

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  1. Pen-y-gors
    Thumb Up

    Thumbs up

    ...for probably being the only article written in any news publication today that correctly uses the word 'literally';

    "we've just about literally only scratched the service of the worldlet on which it rests

    It's so nice to read material written by a literate journalist!

    10 0 Reply
    1. AbelSoul
      Reply Icon
      Trollface

      Re: Thumbs up

      ...for probably being the only article written in any news publication today that correctly uses the word 'literally';

      "we've just about literally only scratched the service of the worldlet on which it rests

      It's so nice to read material written by a literate journalist!

      "scratched the service" sounds like an unfortunate, crockery-themed mishap.

      Hope it wasn't the good China plates!

      3 0 Reply
  2. DropBear
    Trollface

    While certainly quaint, "worldlet" seems a bit un-specific. I propose we call 67/P a "dwarf comet"...

    4 0 Reply
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Scratch and sniff

    Hmmmm, smells like...

    1 0 Reply
    1. Grikath
      Reply Icon

      Re: Scratch and sniff

      Death... for us at least..

      " methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde and acetamide" plus some of the usual stuff makes for a heady sniff.... of Doooom.

      Mind.. I'm still waiting for apologies from some people who laughed in my face in the 90's at the notion that molecular precursors to bio-organics could exist in open space, as indicated by Miller and others....

      4 1 Reply
  4. AbelSoul
    Trollface

    Re: granules less than 10 cm across

    That's still pretty impressive for a granule.

    3 0 Reply
    1. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      Re: granules less than 10 cm across

      I get granules about that size in my gravy

      1 0 Reply
      1. AbelSoul
        Reply Icon
        Trollface

        Re: I get granules about that size in my gravy

        Oh aye? Is that what the kids are calling them these days?

        0 0 Reply
  5. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge

    'Finding the compounds listed has boffins excited: they're considered “prebiotics” '

    So what we're saying is that comets aren't dirty snowballs -- they're frozen Activia yoghurts.

    4 0 Reply
  6. ravenviz Silver badge
    Headmaster

    .

    Those yogurts are probiotic, but I like what you did!

    0 0 Reply
    1. Brewster's Angle Grinder Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: .

      But I never claimed it was frozen Greek yoghurt!

      To decode this joke recognise that pre- comes from the Latin for before while pro- happens to be the Greek for, um, before --- specifically, according to my OED, "before in time, place, or order: proactive." Thus I feel the sophistry in my original pun out-smarted your pedantry. :P :P :P

      3 0 Reply
      1. Mark 85
        Reply Icon

        Re: .

        Well-played, sir.

        0 0 Reply
  7. x 7

    methyl isocyanate

    lets rename it comet Bhopal. Maybe we could get Union Carbide to sponsor a repeat mission?

    1 0 Reply
  8. WereWoof

    The mission may not have gone entirely as planned, but I am still in awe of what has been achieved.

    0 0 Reply

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