Surprise! Meteor Whizzes By Same Day Asteroid is Due
Well, nothing like an unexpected meteor shower to spice up the day. By now, many have seen the incredible pictures and video from Russia. (Phil Plait at Slate has many good links.) As CNN reminds us, this
comes on the same day that a hefty asteroid is due to charge past the Earth at a pretty close range, in space terms.
Chances are the meteor flyby is just a “cosmic coincidence,” as Oliver Morton of The Economist said on Twitter. Still, I’m with Tom Chivers:
This “meteorites spotted over Russia” stuff is how every single alien invasion begins youtube.com/watch?v=7c-0iw… via @sarahknapton
— Tom Chivers (@TomChivers) February 15, 2013
I bet the doomsday prepper forums will be crackling today.
UPDATE: Excellent explainer on the space rock that burned up over Russia.
UPDATE: I took out “shower” from the headline, based on advice from smarter people than I.
It’s the North Koreans. They were aiming at the US.
What a great collection of data for people to examine. The videos are stunning.
Yes, a temperature increase of 0.8C over a century is definitely what we should be worried about leading to the end of days. We have our priorities straight.
What are the chances of having an asteroid flyby and a meteorite impact one day appart? OMG – the same as having two major weather events in the SAME YEAR!
Asteroid flybys and meteorite impacts HAVE INCREASED DRAMATICALLY IN THE LAST TWO DAYS! If they keep increasing at this rate, THE PLANET WILL BECOME A FIREBALL BY LATE MARCH!
(climate reasoning applied to asteroid impacts)
http://www.ted.com/talks/james_balog_time_lapse_proof_of_extreme_ice_loss.html
Something to watch on a boring rainy afternoon
http://www.ted.com/talks/james…
Something to watch on a boring rainy afternoon
Well this should make everyone feel nice and safe and sound, right?
Q: What do we do if we spot something big heading for Earth?
A: A recently formed working group of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space would be called into session.
could be right about that
as you can clearly see in the graph below meteorites strike during downturns in Monsanto’s stock price. If we simply require a market-based “Floor and Trade” to ensure Monsanto stock price never drops, we can prevent meteor strikes in the future, according to this model (airplane glue I’m sniffing). Do it for the children!
http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=MON
“The Only Thing That Can Stop This Asteroid is Your Liberal Arts Degree.”
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-only-thing-that-can-stop-this-asteroid-is-your-liberal-arts-degree
Heh. I expected to get pummeled for tweeting that.