To be or not to be, that is the question: The Marsala meteorite (Italy, 1834) and the role of the doubtful meteorites in the history of meteoritics

AbstractThis work focuses on the historical and scientific investigation of a presumed meteorite fall that occurred in the Sicilian township of Marsala in 1834. Preliminary studies have classified this phenomenon as a "doubtful meteorite." This term describes, according to the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society, an object for which there was significant uncertainty over whether it was a real meteorite or, in some cases, whether it ever existed. Thanks to the analysis of untapped sources, the first objective of this work is to clarify the nature of the event. Subsequently, the results of the minero‐chemical analyses that were performed, in 1835, on two fragments recovered after the event are discussed for the first time. This work then shows the collecting history of one of the presumed meteorite specimens. Based on the results presented here, this work highlights the role of doubtful meteorites as a fundamental resource for the history of meteoritics and meteorite collecting as well as for studying the processes that have led to the scientific study of meteorites

SEM-EDX and SEM-CL to Characterize Lapis Lazuli from Different Provenances

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, August 7–August 11, 2011

Os Meteoritos como Património Cientifico

This paper investigates the importance of meteorites as a scientific heritage. While the significance of meteorites as natural heritage is relatively easy to establish, the implication of their meaning as scientific heritage may be more difficult to define. With this aim in mind, in this paper, we present the catalogue standards for meteorite specimens, preserved either in natural history museums or in private collections, proposed by the Italian Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione–ICCD (Central Institute for Catalogue and Documentation). This work outlines the structure of the catalogue card that describes the meteorite specimen along with other information related to the sample (e.g., archival documentation on collectors and traders, museum catalogues and inventories, general bibliography). This essay concludes discussing the cataloguing, according to ICCD standards, of two Renazzo meteorite specimens, which fell in the eponymous Italian village in 1824 and are now preserved at the Natural History Museum of the University of Firenze

Just a Grand Duke who Loves Chemistry. Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine (1747–1792) and his Chemical Cabinet at the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History

This article dealt with the history of the chemical cabinet established by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine (1747–1792), at the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History in Firenze during his regency. To achieve this goal, it investigated untapped archival sources (e.g., administrative and commercial documents, minutes, correspondences, inventories) concerning the museum management from its foundation in 1775 to the departure of the Grand Duke for Vienna to be crowned as Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II in 1790. The article analyzed the chemical cabinet's manuscript catalog, whose entire transcription is presented in the Supplementary Information Files. The work then examined the connections between the activities performed at the chemical laboratory and Peter Leopold's interests in experimental chemistry. Concerning this research question, the scientific relationship he held with the naturalist Giovanni Valentino Mattia Fabbroni (1752–1822) – Vice-director and then Director of the Imperial and Royal Museum of Physics and Natural History – who helped the Grand Duke navigate all aspects of his interests in chemistry and natural sciences, was also discussed

The next step in sustainable dining: the restaurant food waste map for the management of food waste

In recent years, out-of-home food waste is growing exponentially and therefore represents an important focus of attention, albeit little research has been done on this instance. A few researchers have developed frameworks to better explain wasteful behaviors away from home, however a comprehensive interpretation of the phenomenon giving indications for maps/guidelines for the foodservice managers has not been carried out. In this paper, as a result of a thematic literature review, the Restaurant Food Waste Map (RFWM) was designed to describe the phases in which the food waste phenomenon occurs, and to identify mitigation activities of food waste generation processes. The proposed map is aimed to describe three phases in which the food waste phenomenon occurs: (1) kitchen food preparation, (2) food service, and (3) clients' consumption. Moreover, the present map highlights the approaches that restaurants could take into consideration to better manage the food waste: (1) prevention, (2) reduction, and (3) reuse/redistribution of food waste. These approaches set out guidance on the preferred methods of dealing with food waste so as to minimize its impact on the environment and society. The present study provides literature knowledge about food waste management at the restaurant level, and highlights some practical implications. Further studies could explore and analyze out-of-home waste from both the client and business perspective according to the proposed RFWM, to target specific attitudes and behavioral changes, and to quantify the impacts of the suggested changes. Reducing food waste is a key sustainability challenge for the food service industry. Despite the significance of this issue, a comprehensive interpretation of the phenomenon giving indications for maps/guidelines for the foodservice managers has received limited attention in the literature. As a result of a thematic literature review, the RFWM was designed to describe the phases in which the food waste phenomenon occurs, and to identify mitigation activities of food waste generation processes with practice-driven initiatives an organized map has been developed. The proposed map is aimed to describe three phases in which the food waste phenomenon occurs: (1) kitchen food preparation, (2) food service, and (3) clients' consumption. Moreover, the present map highlights the approaches that restaurants could take into consideration to reduce food waste: (1) prevention, (2) reduction, and (3) reuse/redistribution of food waste. The present study provides literature knowledge about food waste management at the restaurant level, and highlights some practical implications. Further studies could explore and analyze out-of-home waste from both the client and business perspective according to the proposed RFWM, to target specific attitudes and behavioral changes, and to quantify the impacts of the suggested changes. The concepts discussed here could help practitioners to become more aware of the factors that drive the adoption of food waste management practices

Structural Characterization of Iron Meteorites through Neutron Tomography

In this communication, we demonstrate the use of neutron tomography for the structural characterization of iron meteorites. These materials prevalently consist of metallic iron with variable nickel content. Their study and classification is traditionally based on chemical and structural analysis. The latter requires cutting, polishing and chemical etching of large slabs of the sample in order to determine the average width of the largest kamacite lamellae. Although this approach is useful to infer the genetical history of these meteorites, it is not applicable to small or precious samples. On the base of different attenuation coefficient of cold neutrons for nickel and iron, neutron tomography allows the reconstruction of the Ni-rich (taenite) and Ni-poor (kamacite) metallic phases. Therefore, the measure of the average width of the largest kamacite lamellae could be determined in a non-destructive way. Furthermore, the size, shape, and spatial correlation between kamacite and taenite crystals were obtained more efficiently and accurately than via metallographic investigation