Mountain Views News, Sierra Madre Edition [Pasadena] Saturday, March 24, 2018

Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 24, 2018 11THE WORLD AROUND US 
A PASSING STAR DISTURBED THE COMETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 70,000 YEARS AGO 
Mountain Views-News Saturday, March 24, 2018 11THE WORLD AROUND US 
A PASSING STAR DISTURBED THE COMETS OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 70,000 YEARS AGO 
At a time when modern humans were beginning to 
leave Africa and the Neanderthals were living on 
our planet, Scholz’s star—named after the German 
astronomer who discovered it—approached less 
than a light-year from the Sun. Nowadays it is 
almost 20 light-years away, but 70,000 years ago 
it entered the Oort cloud, a reservoir of trans-
Neptunian objects (potential comets) located at 
the confines of the solar system.

This discovery was made public in 2015 by a team 
of astronomers led by Professor Eric Mamajek of 
the University of Rochester (USA). The details 
of that stellar flyby, the closest documented so 
far, were presented in The Astrophysical Journal 
Letters. 

Now two astronomers from the Complutense 
University of Madrid, the brothers Carlos and Raúl 
de la Fuente Marcos, together with the researcher 
Sverre J. Aarseth of the University of Cambridge 
(United Kingdom), have analyzed for the first 
time the nearly 340 objects of the solar system 
with hyperbolic orbits (very open V-shaped, not 
the typical elliptical), and in doing so they have 
detected that the trajectory of some of them is 
influenced by the passage of Scholz´s star.

“Using numerical simulations we have calculated 
the radiants or positions in the sky from which all 
these hyperbolic objects seem to come,” explains 
Carlos de la Fuente Marcos. 

“In principle,” he adds, “one would expect those 
positions to be evenly distributed in the sky, 
particularly if these objects come from the Oort 
cloud; however, what we find is very different: a 
statistically significant accumulation of radiants. 
The pronounced over-density appears projected 
in the direction of the constellation of Gemini 
(the Twins), which fits the close encounter with 
Scholz´s star.” 

The moment in which this star passed close to 
us and its position during prehistory coincide with 
the data of the new investigation and with those of 
Mamajek and his team. “It could be a coincidence, 
but it is unlikely that both location and time are 
compatible,” says De la Fuente Marcos, who points 
out that their simulations suggest that Scholz´s 
star approached even closer than the 0.6 light-


CHRISTOPHER Nyerges 


WILD FOOD MAN PETER GAIL: 
GOODBYE! 

by Christopher Nyergesbooks, articles, and his tours for those interested in 

[Nyerges is the author oflearning more about these people who seem firmly

“Extreme Simplicity,” “Self-rooted in the technology of a century ago.

Sufficient Home,” “How Perhaps Gail’s most popular book is histo Survive Anywhere,” and other books. Nyerges“Dandelion Celebration”, a book which tells 
has known Gail for over 30 years. Informationyou everything you’d ever want to know about 
about Nyerges’ books and classes is availabledandelions. He’s also authored the “Delightfulat Box 41834, Eagle Rock, CA 90041, or www.Delicious Daylily”, “Violets in Your Kitchen,” “TheSchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]Messy Mulberry and What to do with it”, and “The 

Wildfood Man Peter Gail died on Valentine’s Volunteer Vegetable Sampler”, which profiles theDay, 2018, in Cleveland.culinary and medicinal values of 41 of the most

Peter grew up nearby in the San Gabriel Valley,common backyard weeds.
and eventually moved to Ohio where he earned hisThe least known of Gail’s pursuits outside 
PhD. In botany. Peter was a giant in promoting wildof Northern Ohio were the educational field 
foods, and was a backup speaker to Euell Gibbons.experiences he provided for people curious aboutAmong other things, he created a database for thethe Amish and what they have to teach us. SeveralUnited States so anyone could find a wild foodtimes a month in spring, summer and fall, he wouldeducator close to their home. This is my story load up a bus or van, and take people into the heartabout Peter and the Amish. of the Northeastern Ohio Amish community.
It was a grey winter day driving eastbound onThese were day-long affairs, where his peopleUS 422 in northeast Ohio with Peter Gail. The were treated to a lunch at an Amish home, told the 
clouds made it difficult to see very far into thehistory and beliefs of the Amish, and then taken torural countryside. The sound of the windshieldtheir stores to look at and buy Amish goods.
wipers provided a steady background tempo to ourI had the good fortune to spend time with Peterconversation. Gail here in Southern California and in Ohio, 

The temperature was in the high 30s, and it waswhere he gave me a tour of the Amish countryside,
about the same temperature inside Peter’s van. Iand introduced me to his Amish friends nearly 20 
was tense from the cold, hunched a bit, trying toyears ago.
stay warm. I’m from California. Peter was relaxed,If you’re unfamiliar with the Amish, they usesmiling, pointing out each feature as we droveno electricity and shun most modern so-calledalong. He’s a Cleveland resident and used to theconveniences. This means no electric lights, nocold. On this day he was my tourguide to theelectric refrigerators, no television, no CDs--veryAmish countryside of Ohio.few of the modern devices that most folks take for 

Peter Gail’s most famous business associate granted. They have managed to live their lives, andwas Euell Gibbons, who authored Stalking theproduce most of their needed items, by simple old-
Wild Asparagus and starred in Grape Nuts cerealfashioned ingenuity. Wood stoves, oil lamps, use ofcommercials in the 1970s, making him the butt ofice, horse-drawn tractors, building houses in suchcomedians jokes about eating everything from olda way to take advantage of the heat of summer,
tires to freeway overpasses.and be protected from the cold of winter, large

That was a long time ago. During those years,windows near the work areas, hand tools, and the 
Gail edited Gibbons’ articles for Boys Life magazine,use of diesel and small gasoline engines to generate 
and worked with him and others to develop thepower.
National Wilderness Survival Training CampOn one of our tours, we were driving on afor the Boy Scouts. Together they developed andcountry road and noted a farm house with lots oftaught a foraging course at Rutgers University injunk and rusty tools and cars piled about.
New Jersey. When Gibbons had become nationally“That’s not Amish,” Peter said matter-of-factly,
famous from the commercials and Johnny Carson’snodding towards the rust and the tallish weeds thatjokes, and was overbooked, Gail occasionallynearly obscure them.
substituted for him on the lecture circuit. “One of the major contrasts between the neat,

Gibbons died way back in 1975 -- no, not fromclean Amish places and the ‘Yankees,’ as they call alleating a poisonous plant! -- and Peter Gail hasus non-Amish in this region -- is that the Yankeestirelessly carried the torch for wild food enthusiasts.live in that kind of trash -- old rusty cars, junk allThough Gail has made no cereal commercials, hearound their houses. You won’t see that around the 
has appeared on such national TV shows as GoodAmish homes. We, by the way, are called “English”
Morning America, Lifetime TV’s “Our Homein most other Amish settlements -- it all dependsShow,” Food TV Networks “Extreme Cuisine, who the non-Amish settlers were who the Amish 
has authored numerous books on the subject ofencountered when they got to different regions.
wild foods and related topics, and he continuedHere, they encountered Connecticut Yankees.” 
to lecture about the virtues of the ubiquitous wildWhile we drove, Peter explained that he gotplants and those people who still use them as a partinterested in wild foods at an early age in Sanof daily life.Gabriel, California after his father died. Peter 

While Gail was best known on the national collected “goosefoot” – the common lamb’s quartercircuit for his “Dinner Underfoot” and “Healing-- to help feed the family. Lamb’s quarter is arguablywith Weeds” lectures and workshops, locally heone of the most tasty and nutritious greens inwas even better known for his work among thethe world. This is why he named his companyNortheastern Ohio Amish community, the 4thGoosefoot Acres. Goosefoot Acres is still operatedlargest in the world. As a Ph.D. ethnobotanist andby family members, selling his books and selling aanthropologist, Gail studied the Amish for over 50top quality dandelion coffee-substitute.
years to discover the lessons their simple life stylePETER GAIL’S books on wild plants can behas to teach us. He interpreted that knowledge in purchased from www.dandyblend.com 

(the Harp), very far from Gemini; therefore it is of the Sun, around which a smaller and much 

not part of the detected over-density, “says De la less bright brown dwarf orbits. It is likely that our 

Fuente Marcos. He is confident that new studies ancestors saw its faint reddish light in the nights of 

and observations will confirm the idea that a star prehistory. 

passed close to us in a relatively recent period.
Scholz´s star is actually a binary system formed You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@ 

by a small red dwarf, with about 9% of the mass MtnViewsNews.com. 


OUT TO PASTOR 

A Weekly Religion Column by Rev. James Snyder 

SPRING HAS SPRUNG A LEAK THIS YEAR 

It was in the middle of She didn’t say much, but she sighed very deeply 
February during a very all morning long. Fortunately for me, I had work 
shivering cold time that the to do and so occupied myself with that work.

Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage said most Isn’t it strange that man, being who he thinks he 
dramatically, “I can’t wait for Spring. When in the is has no control of the weather? It rains when it 
world is Spring going to get here?”rains and it snows when it snows and there’s not a 

As a veteran husband, I knew this was not thing man can do about it.
a question for me to ponder or even to answer. The weatherman is a very strange individual. 
Rather, it was something I needed to ignore It doesn’t matter if he gets the whether right or 
completely. I learned these things down the years, wrong, he still has a job. Nobody thinks badly of 
which is why I have survived so many years. If him because he miscalculated the weather. 
silence is golden then I have reached those golden Then my wife made a very interesting comment, 
years of life.“Why can’t Mother Nature keep to the schedule at 

I wouldn’t say this to her, but I was thinking the hand. Spring is supposed to be nice weather.” 
same thing myself. When is Spring ever going to It was a good point. We have a date for Spring 
get here?and Mother Nature should keep that date. We 

I was counting the days when it would be have all year long for rain and tornadoes and 
Spring and we could enjoy some graciously warm lightning and thundering why can’t she organize 
weather for a change. This weather has been her schedule a little better. 
stinking chilly for a long time and I was getting I might recommend that my wife take over 
tired of it. I could tell my wife was getting tired of the duties of Mother Nature. If anybody can 
it too, but I didn’t want to go in that direction with organize anything, it’s her. Well, she hasn’t quite 
any kind of conversation. Sometimes the best organized me, but that’s a different story. But she 
thing to do is not do or say anything.can organize everything right down to the second.

It was unusually cold here in Florida and I was If there was an opening for a new Mother 
tired of it. Personally, I was looking forward to Nature, I think I would recommend my wife. I’m 
Spring when things would automatically change not sure she would have much competition there, 
and I could put away my sweater.and she would win hands down. Then we would 

That magical day arrived. The day before my have weather organized on a very strict schedule.
wife said, “Well, tomorrow is Spring and all this Under her supervision, we would have rain 
nasty, rainy, chilly weather will be over.” when it’s scheduled and snow when it’s scheduled. 

If only my wife was in charge of the weather. The sun would shine, without clouds, at least 90% 
That would be a wonderful thing because the of the time. I wanted to say 100%, but I’ll give her 
weather would be perfect every day. At least a little leeway in this.
according to her calculation.Thinking about this I have come to the 

I remember when I tried to explain to her that conclusion that there are a lot of things in this 
we needed change in the weather and we needed world and also in my life that I cannot control. 
rain in order for crops to grow, trees to grow and The frustration of life is when I try to control 
so forth. After my explanation she put both hands things that I can’t control. Even though I know I 
on her hips and stared at me one of those stares can’t control everything, at least I try. And I try to 
that I’m so familiar with. She didn’t say anything, my own failure.
she didn’t have to. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is, 

My wife has relatives up in the state of New “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean 
York. Not New York City, thankfully. One of the not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways 
things she enjoys doing during the winter time is acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” 
to text them and tell them how wonderfully warm (Proverbs 3:5-6).
and sunny it is down here. This year, however, she One of the hardest things in my life to do is to 
wasn’t able to do that. simply trust God for everything in my life. When 

When Spring did arrive, there was no magical I try to control things in my life, I always make 
change in the weather. In fact, it was the worst a mess. Just ask the Gracious Mistress of the 
rainy weather we had all year. It was rainy and Parsonage. 
thundering and even in some places there were 
tornadoes. It didn’t look or feel like Spring.Dr. James L. Snyder is pastor of the Family of 

I didn’t say anything all morning. I knew no God Fellowship, Ocala, FL 34472. He lives with his 
matter what I would say it would get me in trouble. wife in Silver Springs Shores. Phone 352-687-4240 
She wasn’t in the mood for any joking or jestering or e-mail jamessnyder2@att.net. The church web 
on my part. site is www.whatafellowship.com. 

Checkout section Bfor our OpinionPage
years pointed out in the 2015 study as the lower 
limit. 

The close fly-by of this star 70,000 years ago did 
not disturb all the hyperbolic objects of the solar 
system, only those that were closest to it at that time. 
“For example, the radiant of the famous interstellar 
asteroid Oumuamua is in the constellation of Lyra 

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