Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Discovery may not be a breath of fresh air Date: Tue, 27 Oct 92 13:27:07 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN \SS (WS) \HD Discovery may not be a breath of fresh air \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. - Scientists said yesterday they may never know whether air drawn from a sealed colonial coffin comes from the 17th century or if it can be used as a tool to analyze changes in the atmosphere. Further tests will be conducted. "It is a distinct possibility that we may decide it is a pristine sample, but we may not be able to resolve it. We may never be able to know," said Henry Miller, chief investigator of the lead coffins project. Scientists from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., tested samples of air that were drawn Friday from one of the three coffins, but said the tests were inconclusive. They were looking for freon - a man-made chemical used since the 1940s as a refrigerant and solvent - but said an unusually high level of gases created by decomposition made it impossible to detect the presence or absence of freon. If the air did not contain freon, then scientists would know it has been untouched by the industrial age. "If you can do that, then you can resolve the question about the atmosphere. But I also want to point out we may not be able to resolve that question. We may not be able to separate these factors," said Randy Cofer, a senior research scientist at NASA Langley. Preserved 17th-century air would provide scientists with a valuable research tool in determining how industrialization has affected the Earth's atmosphere. "We would be able to see how the greenhouse gases have changed over the last 100 years because of human activity," said Joel S. Levine, another research scientist at Langley. The sample tested by NASA showed high levels of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, three of the so-called greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere. Mr. Cofer said he believed the excess amounts of gases were caused by decomposition, and he would try to determine what proportion were created that way. "This particular analysis may never yield an answer to the question," of whether the air comes from the 17th century, he said. Scientists were able to draw roughly 2 liters of air from the coffin Friday. The air was taken from a coffin believed to contain the remains of a member of Maryland's founding family, the Calverts. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM