Smells like rotten eggs

Uranus in 2005  (NASA/ESA)

What they didn’t tell us in grade school was how the planets smell (especially since rocks don’t have noses).

Science has progressed since those days of yore, and now we know the sad truth: Uranus smells like rotten eggs.  So stash a clothes pin in your rocket pocket.

And what causes that delightful odor?  According to a study published in Nature Astronomy, “deep bulk sulfur/nitrogen.”  For those who are rusty at chemistry, this mimics the composition of human flatus (look it up).

Resources

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article209685489.html

Copyright April 25, 2018 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved