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World's Largest Asteroid Impacts Found In Central Australia
schwit1 writes Scientists doing geothermal research in Australia have discovered evidence of what they think is the largest known impact zone from an meteorite on Earth. The zone is thought to be about 250 miles across, and suggests the bolide split in two pieces each about 6 miles across before impact. The uncertainty is that the evidence for this impact is quite tentative: "The exact date of the impacts remains unclear. The surrounding rocks are 300 to 600 million years old, but evidence of the type left by other meteorite strikes is lacking. For example, a large meteorite strike 66 million years ago sent up a plume of ash which is found as a layer of sediment in rocks around the world. The plume is thought to have led to the extinction of a large proportion of the life on the planet, including many dinosaur species. However, a similar layer has not been found in sediments around 300 million years old, Dr Glikson said. 'It's a mystery – we can't find an extinction event that matches these collisions. I have a suspicion the impact could be older than 300 million years,' he said."
It wouldn't be surprising if this is true - Australia is already the home of the deadliest form of everything else on this planet.
The biggest and most powerful military force in the world says imperial units are just fine.
Which, presumably, is why we use 5.56mm rounds in our rifles, 9mm rounds in our pistols, 7.62mm in our machineguns, 60mm, 81mm & 107mm mortar rounds, 105mm, 155mm & 203mm artillery, 120mm tank guns, 25mm IFV guns, and an assortment of artillery rockets in various SI calibers, right?
That said, if a mile was good enough for Big Julie, it's good enough for me. And multiplying by 1.6 isn't really all that stressful to those of us bright enough to handle decimal points....
"I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
I thought the US military uses "klicks" (which is a kilometer) rather than miles.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...