Biography:Adrian Melott

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Short description: American physicist (born 1947)
Adrian Melott
Born (1947-01-07) January 7, 1947 (age 77)
Moundsville, West Virginia, U.S.
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
Known forCosmology, astrobiology, paleontology, and geophysics
Scientific career
FieldsPhysics
InstitutionsUniversity of Texas at Austin
University of Pittsburgh
Moscow State University (IREX Fellow)
University of Chicago (Enrico Fermi Postdoctoral Fellow)
University of Kansas
Doctoral advisorDennis Sciama

Adrian Lewis Melott (born January 7, 1947) is an American physicist. He is one of the pioneers of using large-scale computing to investigate the formation of large-scale structure in a Universe dominated by dark matter. He later turned his attention to an area he calls “astrobiophysics”, examining a variety of ways that external events in our galaxy may have influenced the course of life on Earth, including analysis of gamma-ray burst events.[1][2][3]

Life

Born in Moundsville, West Virginia, his early scientific interest was in physical chemistry, but later changed to study physics at Bethany College in West Virginia.

He became active in the antiwar and educational movements of the 60's, and was drawn into the Unitarian ministry. He attended Starr King School for the Ministry in Berkeley, California and was minister in Tampa, Florida for 7 years. During this time he continued his interest in physics. In 1977 he entered the physics program at the University of Texas at Austin where he met and quickly decided to work with noted cosmologist Dennis W. Sciama. He was among one of three groups who had initiated the numerical simulation of the formation of structure in a Universe dominated by dark matter.

He received his Ph.D. in 1981, and followed with postdoctoral work with Arthur M. Wolfe at Pittsburgh, with the group of Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich in Moscow, and as Enrico Fermi Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Chicago. In 1986 he joined the faculty of the University of Kansas, where he has been ever since.

In 1998–2001, he was active in the “controversy” surrounding evolution in the public school curriculum in Kansas. In 2002, he received the Joseph Burton Forum Award for his central role in organizing public support for the return of modern evolutionary biology to the Kansas public school curriculum[4]

He is married to Gillian, and has two sons, Christopher and Jesse.[citation needed]

Research

His work in dark matter focused on the formation of what has come to be called the “cosmic web” from Zeldovich pancakes. In 1983, before the existence of such structure was generally accepted, he and collaborators predicted its existence in a Universe dominated by cold dark matter. Later in the 80's, he worked with J. Richard Gott on the topology of large-scale structure, then with Sergei Shandarin[5] on the merging of hierarchical clustering models with the Zel’dovich pancake picture as a description of large-scale structure.

Beginning in 2003, he made an abrupt transition into a new area which began by examining the effects the radiation from a gamma-ray burst (GRB) would have upon the Earth,[6][3][7] and investigating a possible connection between a GRB and the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction.[2][8][1] Later, he investigated the Late Devonian Mass Extinction and its potential association with cataclysmic supernovae,[9] the effects of an end-Pliocene supernova on marine megafauna[10] and on human evolution,[11] the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis,[12][13][14][15] the effects of the 774-775 carbon-14 spike and its association with a solar flare,[16] and the Tunguska event.[17][18] He is also a member of the Comet Research Group,[19] which is best known for sponsoring a collaboration with biblical archaeologists who believe they have discovered the ancient city of Sodom at Tell el-Hammam, Jordan, and that it was destroyed by a comet.[20] On February 15, 2023, the following editor’s note was posted on this group’s paper, "Readers are alerted that concerns raised about the data presented and the conclusions of this article are being considered by the Editors. A further editorial response will follow the resolution of these issues."[21] He showed that 27 and 62 million-year oscillations in fossil biodiversity cut across a variety of data sets and has found clues to their cause,[22][23] which, however, is still an unsolved problem.[24][25]

Melott is a member of the Paleontological Society. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society[26] “For groundbreaking studies of the origin and evolution of cosmic structure” in 1996, and received its Joseph A. Burton Forum Award for his educational work in 2002.[27] In 2007, he was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science “For distinguished contributions to cosmological large-scale structure, for organizing public support for teaching evolution, and for interdisciplinary research on astrophysical impacts on the biosphere.”

See also

  • Ordovician–Silurian extinction event

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Melott, Adrian Lewis; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Laird, C. M.; Martin, L. D.; Medvedev, M. V.; Thomas, Brian C.; Cannizzo, J. K.; Gehrels, N. et al. (5 August 2004). "Did a gamma-ray burst initiate the late Ordovician mass extinction?". International Journal of Astrobiology 3 (1): 55–61. doi:10.1017/S1473550404001910. Bibcode: 2004IJAsB...3...55M. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-astrobiology/article/abs/did-a-gammaray-burst-initiate-the-late-ordovician-mass-extinction/F37A58C811EB82496CEF6CF989159807. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Melott, Adrian Lewis; Thomas, Brian C.; Hogan, Daniel P.; Ejzak, Larissa M.; Jackman, Charles H. (21 July 2005). "Climatic and biogeochemical effects of a galactic gamma ray burst". Geophysical Research Letters 32 (14): 1–5. doi:10.1029/2005GL023073. Bibcode: 2005GeoRL..3214808M. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2005GL023073. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thomas, Brian C.; Melott, Adrian Lewis; Jackman, Charles H.; Laird, Claude M.; Medvedev, Mikhail V.; Stolarski, Richard S.; Gehrels, Neil; Cannizzo, John K. et al. (20 November 2005). "Gamma-Ray Bursts and the Earth: Exploration of Atmospheric, Biological, Climatic, and Biogeochemical Effects". The Astrophysical Journal 634 (1): 509–533. doi:10.1086/496914. Bibcode: 2005ApJ...634..509T. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/496914/meta. Retrieved 22 October 2022. 
  4. ↑ "2018 Stanley Corrsin Award Recipient". https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm. 
  5. ↑ "Sergei Shandarin, Professor". University of Kansas. http://www.physics.ku.edu/vita/shandarin.html. 
  6. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Thomas, Brian C. (20 May 2011). "Astrophysical Ionizing Radiation and Earth: A Brief Review and Census of Intermittent Intense Sources". Astrobiology 11 (4): 343–361. doi:10.1089/ast.2010.0603. PMID 21545268. Bibcode: 2011AsBio..11..343M. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2010.0603. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  7. ↑ Thomas, Brian C.; Jackman, Charles H.; Melott, Adrian Lewis; Laird, Claude M.; Stolarski, Richard S.; Gehrels, Neil; Cannizzo, John K.; Hogan, Daniel P. (28 February 2005). "Terrestrial Ozone Depletion due to a Milky Way Gamma-Ray Burst". The Astrophysical Journal 622 (2): L153–L156. doi:10.1086/429799. Bibcode: 2005ApJ...622L.153T. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/429799/meta. Retrieved 22 October 2022. 
  8. ↑ Melott, Adrian L.; Thomas, Brian C. (8 April 2016). "Late Ordovician geographic patterns of extinction compared with simulations of astrophysical ionizing radiation damage". Paleobiology 35 (3): 311–320. doi:10.1666/0094-8373-35.3.311. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/paleobiology/article/abs/late-ordovician-geographic-patterns-of-extinction-compared-with-simulations-of-astrophysical-ionizing-radiation-damage/A9C201BDA44C06D00ED04549DC3E61F9. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  9. ↑ Fields, Brian D.; Melott, Adrian Lewis; Ellis, John; Ertel, Adrienne F.; Fry, Brian J.; Lieberman, Bruce S.; Liu, Zhenghai; Miller, Jesse A. et al. (1 September 2020). "Supernova triggers for end-Devonian extinctions" (in en). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 117 (35): 21008–21010. doi:10.1073/pnas.2013774117. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 32817482. PMC 7474607. Bibcode: 2020PNAS..11721008F. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343730067. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  10. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Marinho, Franciole; Paulucci, Laura (11 June 2019). "Hypothesis: Muon Radiation Dose and Marine Megafaunal Extinction at the End-Pliocene Supernova". Astrobiology 19 (6): 825–830. doi:10.1089/ast.2018.1902. PMID 30481053. Bibcode: 2019AsBio..19..825M. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2018.1902. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  11. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Thomas, Brian C. (21 July 2019). "From Cosmic Explosions to Terrestrial Fires?". The Journal of Geology 127 (4): 475–481. doi:10.1086/703418. Bibcode: 2019JG....127..475M. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/703418. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  12. ↑ Overholt, Andrew C.; Melott, Adrian Lewis (September 2013). "Cosmogenic nuclide enhancement via deposition from long-period comets as a test of the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 377-378: 55–61. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2013.07.029. Bibcode: 2013E&PSL.377...55O. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X13004044. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  13. ↑ Wolbach, Wendy S.; Ballard, Joanne P.; Mayewski, Paul A.; Adejeji, Victor; Bunch, Ted E.; Firestone, Richard B.; French, Timothy A.; Howard, George A. et al. (1 February 2018). "Extraordinary Biomass-Burning Episode and Impact Winter Triggered by the Younger Dryas Cosmic Impact ~12,800 Years Ago. 1. Ice Cores and Glaciers". The Journal of Geology 126 (2): 165–184. doi:10.1086/695703. Bibcode: 2018JG....126..165W. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/695703. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  14. ↑ Wolbach, Wendy S.; Ballard, Joanne P.; Mayewski, Paul A.; Parnell, Andrew C.; Cahill, Niamh; Adedeji, Victor; Bunch, Ted E.; Domínguez-Vázquez, Gabriela et al. (1 February 2018). "Extraordinary Biomass-Burning Episode and Impact Winter Triggered by the Younger Dryas Cosmic Impact ~12,800 Years Ago. 2. Lake, Marine, and Terrestrial Sediments". The Journal of Geology 126 (2): 185–205. doi:10.1086/695704. Bibcode: 2018JG....126..185W. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/695704. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  15. ↑ Wolbach, Wendy S.; Ballard, Joanne P.; Mayewski, Paul A.; Kurbatov, Andrei; Bunch, Ted E.; LeCompte, Malcolm A.; Adejeji, Victor; Israde-Alcántara, Isabel et al. (5 December 2019). "Extraordinary Biomass-Burning Episode and Impact Winter Triggered by the Younger Dryas Cosmic Impact ~12,800 Years Ago: A Reply". The Journal of Geology 128 (2): 000. doi:10.1086/706265. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/706265?journalCode=jg. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  16. ↑ Thomas, Brian C.; Melott, Adrian Lewis; Arkenberg, Keith R.; Snyder II, Brock R. (12 February 2013). "Terrestrial effects of possible astrophysical sources of an AD 774-775 increase in 14C production". Geophysical Research Letters 40 (825–830): 1237–1240. doi:10.1002/grl.50222. Bibcode: 2013GeoRL..40.1237T. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/grl.50222. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  17. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Thomas, Brian C.; Dreschhoff, Gisela; Johnson, Carey K. (1 April 2010). "Cometary airbursts and atmospheric chemistry: Tunguska and a candidate Younger Dryas event". Geology 38 (4): 355–358. doi:10.1130/G30508.1. Bibcode: 2010Geo....38..355M. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article-abstract/38/4/355/130242/Cometary-airbursts-and-atmospheric-chemistry. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  18. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Overholt, Andrew C. (1 April 2015). "Comment on "Direct evidence of ancient shock metamorphism at the site of the 1908 Tunguska event" by Vannucchi et al. (Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 409 (2015) 168–174)". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 415: 213–214. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2015.01.021. Bibcode: 2015E&PSL.415..213M. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012821X15000424. Retrieved 28 May 2023. 
  19. ↑ "Scientists & Members". 10 September 2016. https://cometresearchgroup.org/scientists-members/. 
  20. ↑ Boslough, Mark (2022). "Sodom Meteor Strike Claims Should Be Taken with a Pillar of Salt". Skeptical Inquirer 46 (1): 10–14. https://www.unm.edu/~mbeb/Publications/Boslough_Skeptical_Inquirer_Sodom_2022.pdf. 
  21. ↑ Kincaid, Ellie (February 21, 2023). "Journal investigating Sodom comet paper for data problems". https://retractionwatch.com/2023/02/21/journal-investigating-sodom-comet-paper-for-data-problems//. 
  22. ↑ Lieberman, Bruce S.; Melott, Adrian Lewis (22 August 2017). "Considering the Case for Biodiversity Cycles: Re-Examining the Evidence for Periodicity in the Fossil Record". PLOS ONE 2 (8): e759. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000759. PMID 17712407. 
  23. ↑ Melott, Adrian L.; Bambach, Richard K. (18 July 2013). "DO PERIODICITIES IN EXTINCTION—WITH POSSIBLE ASTRONOMICAL CONNECTIONS—SURVIVE A REVISION OF THE GEOLOGICAL TIMESCALE?". The Astrophysical Journal 773 (1): 6. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/6. Bibcode: 2013ApJ...773....6M. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/773/1/6/meta. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  24. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Bambach, Richard K. (28 January 2014). "Analysis of periodicity of extinction using the 2012 geological timescale". Paleobiology 40 (2): 177–196. doi:10.1666/13047. https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/paleobiol/article-abstract/40/2/177/86641/Analysis-of-periodicity-of-extinction-using-the?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  25. ↑ Melott, Adrian Lewis; Bambach, Richard K. (1 September 2010). "Nemesis reconsidered". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 407 (1): L99–L102. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2010.00913.x. Bibcode: 2010MNRAS.407L..99M. https://academic.oup.com/mnrasl/article/407/1/L99/1052689. Retrieved 27 May 2023. 
  26. ↑ "Fellowships : Archive (1995-present)". American Physical Society. 2009-06-17. http://www.aps.org/programs/honors/fellowships/archive-all.cfm?initial=M&year=1996&nom_unit=&institution=. 
  27. ↑ "2002 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award Recipient". https://www.aps.org/programs/honors/prizes/prizerecipient.cfm?last_nm=Melott&first_nm=Adrian&year=2002. "For his outstanding efforts in helping to restore evolution and cosmology to their proper place in the K-12 scientific curriculum. As both a distinguished cosmologist and respected member of the clergy, he played a key role in helping the people of Kansas reverse their State Board of Education's anti-science action." 

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