Meteor Over Midwest

Meteor strikes not that uncommon by Drunken+Coward · 2003-03-28 05:44 · Score: 4, Interesting

Meteor strikes like these are not as uncommon as one may think, it's just that the information is rarely released in such a public fashion. Who wants to release news that may create mass hysteria?

The issue is that the scientific community has chosen to withhold any information regarding the potential threat of meteors for this very reason. With more public acknowledgement of the problem, we could develop something like the Patriot missile defense system for extraterrestrial bodies so things like this would not happen. The trillions of dollars spent on SDI and later the Patriot system would have been better spent on such protection.

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Have you been stalked by Seth today?

Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by br0ck · 2003-03-28 06:12 · Score: 2, Interesting

Like how the Patriot is targeting friendly aircraft?

On Sunday, a Patriot Missile battery on the Kuwait border accidentally shot down a British Royal Air Force (RAF) Tornado GR-4 aircraft that was returning from a mission over Iraq . Two British pilots were killed in the incident. Then on Monday a U.S. F-16 fighter jet fired at and destroyed a Patriot battery's radar dish after the pilot said the Patriot had "locked on" to the plane. Published reports have linked the mishaps to software problems with the Patriot.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by juhaz · 2003-03-28 06:27 · Score: 2, Interesting

Even if that 10km large rock would be broken down to fine sand, it's total mass and velocity will still be that of the original 10km large rock. That's a same amount (a lot) of kinetic energy, no matter whether it's in one piece or 100000000.

It's not going to just magically disperse and do nothing, that would violate the laws of thermodynamics, that energy has to go somewhere, namely into the atmosphere as heat, and none of us would probably want to be on a receiving end of a weather effect that would result from dumping dumping all that matter and heat into atmosphere very quickly.

For small rocks breaking them up into so small parts that they will burn totally should work reasonably well, but I wouldn't try that with anything huge.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by Servo · 2003-03-28 07:25 · Score: 2, Interesting

Isn't that region also known to rain frogs, rocks, and other oddities?

Joking aside... the chance of being in the right place at the right time to get hit by an object falling from a random trajectory is nearly impossibly unlikely, but the bigger that object the more damage it can do. I'm sure few slashdot readers are well read enough to have heard about the downfall of the dinosaurs. :) You don't have to be in the physical path of a meteor to feel its affects.

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A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. -Benjamin Franklin
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by Maeryk · 2003-03-28 07:48 · Score: 2, Interesting

I remember back in the '80's when Ronnie first proposed SDI, I seem to recall that the price tag was a couple trillion dollars. I'm guessing that the prevailing thought at the time was that all the GDP savings in the world don't amount to a hill of beans if we all get vaporised to our component atoms by those damn commies.

Speaking of SDI. niven was on Screen Savers the other night, and mentioned that he was one of the people involved in proposing SDI (if I heard right) to Reagans government. That initiative was enough (according to him, and I kind of agree after thinkign about it) to end the cold war, because Russia just couldnt keep up. They bankrupted themselves trying, especially for something we werent really "doing" we were just planning on doing and debating over.

Probably one of the best and most memorable modern military feints I can think of.

Maeryk

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Feminine Protection? What is that? A chartreuse flame thrower?
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by SillySlashdotName · 2003-03-28 08:44 · Score: 2, Interesting

Ever shot a shotgun? Using shot, starting from the same starting point and being pointed in one direction, they do not all wind up at the target in the same tight wad that they were in the shot shell. In addition, the recoil of the shot may be quite uncomfortable, but at 50-60-70 yards a single pellet may not have enough energy left to even break the skin.

A slug, on the other hand, hits much harder and at much greater range.

So you hit the rock as far out as you can, breaking it into the smallest pieces you can. There will be dispersal of some of the debris to the point where it will not even strike the atmosphere, some will strike but at an angle that - depending on how close to a tangent it is - may not be in atmosphere for any length of time and remains largely intact, probably causing little or no harm.

In addition, the amount of "space dust" currently hitting the earth has been estimated to be between 14 MILLION tons (by Hans Pettersson of the Swedish Oceanographic Institute in 1957, based on studies of dust collected on Hawaiian mountains - he stated in his write-up that that number was probably quite high) to 10,000 tons based on satellite collection. This is per year, so the per day rate would be that amount /365, or almost 55,000 pounds per day (based on the 10,000 ton rate) that we are CURRENTLY receiving.

I don't know how big a rock would be that would weigh 27.5 tons (about as big as a VW? /*VBG*/) but we do seem to be dealing with the heat created by the kinetic energy just fine.

I see the problem as one of calculation - i.e., deciding with enough advanced warning that an object will in fact strike the earth and must have something done about it, as opposed to MIGHT strike the earth, but might not, so if we break it up and create a bunch of smaller pieces (but each large enough to be dangerous on their own) the possibility of one of them hitting is greater than the possibility of the larger mass hitting. In addition, the energy added in whatever means of breaking the larger mass into smaller pieces would disrupt the path of the object, so a period of observation would be required to start predicting its new path - time that might be needed for additional efforts to break up pieces that had been redirected directly at earth.

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Acts of massive stupidity are almost never covered by warranty. --me.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon by Dark+Bard · 2003-03-28 09:20 · Score: 2, Interesting

Not entirely true. The date for birds keeps getting pushed back. Feathered reptiles have been found that date back nearly to the point where Dinosaurs and mammals split. The evidence seems to really indicate that birds, dinosaurs and mammals all split at roughly the same time. Birds and dinosaurs may have split last but it was within tens of millions of years not hundreds of millions of years of the mammal split. The dominant theory is still tree to air not ground to air. The one major flaw in the dinosaur to bird theory always has been that there has never been found a single tree climbing dinosaur. Birds and dinosaurs are closely related but dinosaurs didn't change into birds. No one has ever explained how a T-Rex, arguably the most advanced Dinosaur turned into a parakeet.

Great Reminder. by pete-classic · 2003-03-28 06:08 · Score: 5, Interesting

"I thought, 'Is it God? Is it an attack? Are we going to die?' The light freaked me out. It felt really funny, like it went through me," she said.

I need to see something like this, from time to time. It reminds me that, on an evolutionary time scale, we just stepped out of the caves a few moments ago.

I'm not saying the human race is doomed. But we do still have one hell of a long road ahead of us. I'm going to read some Sci-Fi now.

-Peter

Re:Great Reminder. by crustBro · 2003-03-28 06:48 · Score: 4, Interesting

me and a bunch of friends were out on a week long mountain biking trip in the wilderness Moab, Utah the third night out we were treated to the full lunar eclipse that occured while the Hale-Bopp Comet was visible we were toally awed by the celestial display one of my friends commented that "A few thousand years ago, this would have been taken as an omen. Perhaps an omen of the end of the earth!" we all chuckled and got a bit smug about how far we've come as a civilization five days later we returned from the wilderness, switched on the TV in the motel room and were treated to the news of the Heaven's Gate mass suicide in Rancho Santa Fe (about 20 minutes from where we all grew up). We had to re-evaluate our smug attitude about how far our civilization has progressed. Just stepped out of the cave. Indeed.

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Entropy sucks.

Kinda Scary by panda · 2003-03-28 06:09 · Score: 2, Interesting

This is actually kind of scary if you think about it. This stuff is hitting our atmosphere all the time, and more of it gets through than you'd like to think. When I was a kid, a friend of the family and I used to go looking for meteorites in the hills and valleys of Lincoln Co., WV. We even found some on occasion.

What's scay is when you think of what meteors are. They are chunks thrown off of much larger comets as they pass through the solar system. There are often meteor showers before and after a comet's passing, and the meteors can hang around for a long time after, such as the Perseids. (I mean long in an astronomical sense, not a human sense.)

So every time there's an unexpected meteor shower or a strike like this, I have to wonder, is this just a precursor of something bigger that's on its way, or is this just the left over detritus of something that came and went a while ago?

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Just be sure to wear the gold uniform when you beam down -- you know what happens when you wear the red one.

Deep Impact Thoughts by Jack Handy by teamhasnoi · 2003-03-28 06:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

Commander Mike McNamara of the Park Forest Police Department said about 60 pieces of space rock ranging from gravel-sized to softball-sized were brought in to the police station.

Why are these people bringing in their rocks? Are they turning them in? They've got to be worth some money, though less than before this 'windfall'. Will NASA be suing these rocks?

He said three homes in Park Forest were damaged, along with the fire department and possibly one car. Two homes in the nearby town of Matteson also were struck by meteorite pieces.

Since there are all these new damaged objects, I think that the Ford Pinto? that was smashed will likely no longer be worth as much - scarcity breeds value. IIRC, the value placed on that car was somewhere in the 6 digits.

Sipiera said it's very rare for meteorites to fall on populated areas.

I know that with the rampant humping that's going on, this will only become more common. Hopefully, we can have natural selection return with meteors. If we could fit the meteors with stupidity finders, the world would be a better...OW! Ding dang moon rock jist hit me! I'll whup it's ass!!

Nasa Cave Dude by invid · 2003-03-28 06:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

I think it's time we follow the advice of this guy: NasaCaveDude

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The Moore-Murphy Law: The number of things that will go wrong will double every 2 years.

Re:Why Not by DeadSeaTrolls · 2003-03-28 06:13 · Score: 2, Interesting

So why do astronomers always compare the size of meteors to Volkswagen bugs?

Because most people on the planet know what a VW Bug/Bettle looks like. A Land Rover might be another good example of an internationally recognized vehicle. Note I didn't say "Universal".

Probably few in Europe known WTF a Ford Pinto is, and equally those in the US probably don't know what a Ford Prefect looks like (beyond the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy angle).

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"There's no scarcity of spectrum any more than there's a scarcity of the color green.", David Reed

Re:Why Not by fishbowl · 2003-03-28 06:26 · Score: 4, Interesting

It would not surprise me in the least to hear of VWOA issuing cease and desist orders against the use of "Volkswagen" and "Bug".

This isn't even a joke.

I understand that corporations are obligated to defend their trademarks, but I disagree that they are forced into the brutally hostile position, like in VW's case, attacking the people who have made the whole aircooled vw hobby possible, making aftermarket parts, doing rallys, publishing magazines, that sort of thing.

I've been a VW enthusiast for a very long time. My first car was a beetle, in 1979. I've owned 7 vw's of various types. But VW's trademark escapades were the main influence against me buying a Passat. I won't touch VW ever again, after what they've done to the hobbyists in the name of "trademark protection".

I really do not believe there's any law that obligates you to be an asshole. That's just how it is interpreted by people who need an excuse to play bully.

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-fb Everything not expressly forbidden is now mandatory.

Under-appreciated movie by Dr.+Evil · 2003-03-28 06:48 · Score: 3, Interesting

Back when Armageddon, Deep Impact, and other Americans-save-the-world propeganda was flying around, there was a great little Canadian film called "Last night"

The situation is... a little while ago scientists figured out the world was going to end. They tried to do something about it, but realized it was utterly futile. People panicked a bit after that... but that didn't change anything. Yep, the world is going to end and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. It's great :-)

http://users.aol.com/aleong1631/lastnight.html

What makes it extra beautiful for the geeky crowd is that it doesn't even touch the sci-fi aspects. It just ignores that stuff... they don't even really get into why or how the world is going to end. It's just some un-discussed astronomical disaster.

Oh, and the review is a little off... it's not that the world ends at the end of the millenium, it is that they adjust the clocks and calendars so that the world ends at that point. No trite, sucky 'fate' or religious apocolypse overtones...

Re:Under-appreciated movie by Enigma2175 · 2003-03-28 07:35 · Score: 2, Interesting

What makes it extra beautiful for the geeky crowd is that it doesn't even touch the sci-fi aspects.
Doesn't that make it a less desirable movie for the geeky crowd? I like science. I enjoy movies that have science in them. I think many geeks feel the same way. Why would a touchy-feely movie be "extra beautiful" for the geeky crowd?

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Enigma
Re:Under-appreciated movie by Dr.+Evil · 2003-03-28 08:59 · Score: 2, Interesting
Beautiful in the irony that the complete absense of any sci-fi will make it better sci-fi for the geek crowd. Think about it, one of two things will happen if they explained the disaster to a geek audience:
1. They'll devise an implausible disaster scenario which will just ruin the movie
2. Some geek will find a solution for their problem.. also ruining the movie
Better just to write around it. Besides, part of the movie is that hope is long gone. Just deal with the fact that it's hopeless.

Why?? by pair-a-noyd · 2003-03-28 06:52 · Score: 2, Interesting

"I thought, 'Is it God? Is it an attack? Are we going to die?' The light freaked me out. It felt really funny, like it went through me," she said.

Why do so many people jump to attribute unexplained natural events to a supernatural, invisible "being" that lives in the sky and controls everything in existence and know the number of hairs on the head of every living being??

Might as well attribute meteor showers to the Easter Bunny, or hey, maybe it's a "sign" from the Heaven's Gate folks!

I saw it too, and have to admit I freaked by Mr.FreakyBig · 2003-03-28 07:00 · Score: 3, Interesting

I was driving home in the south west suburb of Naperville, and saw the sky light up. It was cloudy, so I could not see where the light came from, but it was intensly bright.

I have to admit it made me think we'd been nuked. But then the light went away a few seconds later. I only heard a bit of a rumble over the roar of my 4 banger running at 3500 RPM at 80 mph. If I had not been going so fast, I would have stopped to take a look around, and soak up some good radiation if was a nuke.

All I can say is I'm glad that some local news made it past all the Iraq coverage.

Re:Scientists can be Wierd by circletimessquare · 2003-03-28 07:15 · Score: 2, Interesting

does a computer scientist want to be rooted by a worm?

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intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it

Saw the flash by weeboo0104 · 2003-03-28 07:51 · Score: 2, Interesting

Didn't bother to "duck and cover".

I thought it was lightning and didn't really give it much thought. The only thing I thought was weird at the time was the fact that it was so bright and I didn't hear any thunder. Did any /.ers in the Chicago area besides me see the flash? If so, did you hear any sonic boom? How long after the flash did you hear the boom?

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It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men. -Frederick Douglass

I saw it by pdrome4robert · 2003-03-28 10:23 · Score: 2, Interesting

I saw one of the meteorites coming down at 11:50 PM CST while driving north from St. Louis to Alton, IL on hwy 64. It fell just before I crossed the Mississippi River at the Clark Bridge into Alton. It looked like a green firework that started to glow overhead. The City of Alton shoots fireworks over the Mississippi here so I was not concerned at first. It seemed to float a little, then began to rapidly shoot down in a stream of green light toward the left of the bridge. By the time the meteor looked to be even with the top of the bridge pylons it broke up and the streak turned from green to bright yellow/white. When it hit, it looked like it hit behind Alton and exploded in a flash of light like a bomb. I have never seen anything like it, not even during a meteor shower. Mentally, I went through a list of the possibilities: airplane crash, missle, lightning, meteorite, or space junk. No news outlets had any information at that time. There was just a creepy calm when I got home. I only wish I had a picture of it.

pdrome4robert

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