Edward Scott
Researcher, Hawai'i Institute of Geophysics and Planetology, UH Manoa

Ed Scott talks about when and if asteroids might strike the Earth

Click on photo to
watch a video
[Play|Stream 100 kb/sec]

What he does
Ed Scott studies meteorites to determine how they form, seeking clues to the origin of planets and asteroids.

How he got into science
Science runs in Ed's family. His father was a chemist; his older brother, a physicist. Ed studied crystals in college and meteorites in grad school.

Favorite accomplishments
Ed worked on a meteorite from Mars to see if it contained tiny fossils. He found the rock so damaged by asteroid impacts on Mars that fossils or life would not be preserved.

Recently, he's been working on a theory that some meteorites formed when asteroids collided.

In his free time
Besides caring for their two daughters, Ed and his wife Annelisa like to go to the beach and work on their house.

Quote
"If stars are giant thermonuclear reactors, are planets just piles of nuclear waste?"