Meteor risk ‘bigger than previously thought’

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/meteor-risk-bigger-than-previously-thought-1.1586190?mode=print&ot=example.AjaxPageLayout.ot

Meteor risk ‘bigger than previously thought’

The threat of space rocks smashing into Earth is bigger than previously thought, according to scientists studying the terrifying meteor that exploded without warning over a Russian city last winter.

Meteors about the size of the one that streaked through the sky at 67,600 kph and burst over Chelyabinsk in February - and ones even larger and more dangerous - are probably four to five times more likely to hit the planet than scientists believed before the fireball, according to three studies published in the journals Nature and Science.

Until Chelyabinsk, the US space agency Nasa had looked only for space rocks about 30 metres wide and bigger, figuring there was little danger below that.

This meteor was only 19m across but burst with the force of about 40 Hiroshima-type atom bombs, scientists say. It released a shock wave that shattered thousands of windows and injured more than 1,600 people, and its flash was bright enough to temporarily blind 70 people and cause dozens of skin-peeling sunburns just after dawn in icy Russia.

Up until then, scientists had thought a meteor causing an airburst like the one in Russia was a once-in-150-years event, based on how many space rocks have been identified in orbit. But one of the studies now says it is likely to happen once every 30 years or so, based on how often these things are actually hitting.

Let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again.

Mint Aero

I'd say it's about the same as it ever was since time began.

Gee Bag

Certain meteor death and no legal weed all in the same evening

I'm going to bed.

Kersh

Mint Aero wrote: »

I'd say it's about the same as it ever was since time began.

Absolutely! No point worrying about it. Nothing we can really do right now. If they hit, they hit.

Sam Kade

If only they could find a way to blame humans and tax us more to help the situation

Hande hoche!

Thankfully the meteor defence training programme initiated in the 1980s and known as missile command should ensure our survival.

Archeron

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

LordSutch

The sooner we create a colony on the Moon (or Mars) the better the odds for the continuation of mankind in this solar system. Money and research should be put into 'Terraforming' rather than maintaining & paying for nuclear stockpiles on planet earth.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/terraforming.htm

branie

I'm scared too, kids!

PizzamanIRL

Ah we'll be grand.

Tea anyone?

wretcheddomain

I don't have to worry as I'm with Vodaphone. :cool:

Ace Attorney

wil

there was me thinking their network was overloaded or mobile broadband was down.

pharmaton

bit weird that it was on the main news earlier, are they trying to warn us of an impending doom ?

ciano1

What a pity, they just launched 4G and all

wil

pharmaton wrote: »

bit weird that it was on the main news earlier, are they trying to warn us of an impending doom ?

BBC
The earth is doomed.
Please carry on as normal

RTE
Talk to Joe

ITV
Please form an orderly queue to your local synagogue/church/mosque/brothel/pub

SKY
Watch it (repeated) here first

pharmaton

rte had it billed as a wake up call for humanity

http://www.rte.ie/news/2013/1106/485057-meteor-russia/

they all had twinkly eyes after telling us about it

SpaceTime

Channel 4 - embarrassing bodies - Diseases caused by nuclear fallout special

Rho b

Thankfully we are on a big wheel that just keeps on turning, turning. I think some fella came up with some sort of theory years ago.
Anyway - the wheel keeps on turning, turning ......

theblaqueguy

The end times are almost upon us!
We should all be preparing for the end!
I only have one question for the people of boards.

"When the big trucks stop rolling , how much food are you holding?"

I know I'm not a praying man, but save us Bruce Willis.

Rho b

A bit of yoga/flexibility wouldn't go amiss.

flazio

Soon as I saw the thread title my first thought was 'Good job I'm on Vodafone then.'

ElChe32

Zillah

I don't think I'll trust the analysis of someone that thinks a meteor explosion can cause sunburns.

My name is URL

I'm shocked that the word 'boffins' didn't appear in that article.

pharmaton

Zillah wrote: »

I don't think I'll trust the analysis of someone that thinks a meteor explosion can cause sunburns.

did you see the video? they looked like zombies

Karl Stein

Mint Aero wrote: »

I'd say it's about the same as it ever was since time began.

You'd be wrong I'd say.

NuckingFacker

theblaqueguy wrote: »

The end times are almost upon us!
We should all be preparing for the end!
I only have one question for the people of boards.

"When the big trucks stop rolling , how much food are you holding?"

Fcuk all, but I have feral kids and a gun. I'm gonna take yours. Gonna be fine. Is your wife purty?

General General

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...

NuckingFacker

They always hit Russia anyway. Even the space monkeys prefer the USA.

wil

General General wrote: »

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco...

you're just foolin around.

but once in a lifetime is allowed

theblaqueguy

NuckingFacker wrote: »

Fcuk all, but I have feral kids and a gun. I'm gonna take yours. Gonna be fine. Is your wife purty?

You will never get my vast supplies from my underground bunker it can't be broken into with your gun
Yes she is very purty a 10/10:D
Good luck scavenging for supplies with your gun when the sh!t hits the fan!
"Fail to prepare , prepare to fail"

worded

Right off to sleep after those happy thoughts ......

COYVB

If we're gonna get smashed into by a meteor I hope I'm around to see it!

endacl

LordSutch wrote: »

The sooner we create a colony on the Moon (or Mars) the better the odds for the continuation of mankind in this solar system. Money and research should be put into 'Terraforming' rather than maintaining & paying for nuclear stockpiles on planet earth.

http://www.howstuffworks.com/terraforming.htm

On the moon? With no atmosphere? No air = no airburst. Which would be a bad thing. I'll take me chances here thanks!

Paulie Gualtieri

"Well if were still alive in the moring , then we'll know were not dead"

Randy Marsh

danniemcq

Zillah wrote: »

I don't think I'll trust the analysis of someone that thinks a meteor explosion can cause sunburns.

I too was confused by this so started digging.

So the way flame detectors work is by looking at the UV light that nearly all fires produce.

So there was UV light from the flash/fireball.

When you add to that the colour of it (really fecking bright blinding flash) we are going well passed visable light and into the UV range. So yeah I can see how it could create "sunburn effects" shall we say if the intensity is large enough

worded

How to stop a meteor hitting earth?

Would a giant spring loaded tennis racket loaded on the back of a truck be the answer. If the trajectory can be predicted the truck could be deployed and volley the fecker back into space. I realise extra strong string would need to be used.

A really good tennis shot would land it on Laois.

danniemcq

worded wrote: »

How to stop a meteor hitting earth?

Would a giant spring loaded tennis racket loaded on the back of a truck be the answer. If the trajectory can be predicted the truck could be deployed and volley the fecker back into space. I realise extra strong string would need to be used.

then you run into an issue with Newtons third law.

"every action has an equal and opposite reaction"

whatever force is used knocking it away would also be applied wherever on the world the truck is.

you would also need a huge racket as you would want it to hit it before it would hit the atmosphere close to earth (where it would be dense) as that is what caused the airburst and shockwave seen in Russia

Untouchable Peasant

A meteor hit some telephone lines down the country a few years back and caused telephones to ring in two Garda stations at the same time.

Hilarity ensued.

worded

worded wrote: »

How to stop a meteor hitting earth?

Would a giant spring loaded tennis racket loaded on the back of a truck be the answer. If the trajectory can be predicted the truck could be deployed and volley the fecker back into space. I realise extra strong string would need to be used.

A really good tennis shot would land it on Laois.

I always thought the best solution would be to utilise our own meteor (or big sphere of metal) which has rockets on the end of it to nudge it out of the way. Or alternatively if you attach a massive laser to it you can call it a Death Star.

syklops

Kersh wrote: »

Absolutely! No point worrying about it. Nothing we can really do right now. If they hit, they hit.

This post shows lack of creativity to me.

Zillah wrote:

I don't think I'll trust the analysis of someone that thinks a meteor explosion can cause sunburns.

Not sure I'll trust your analysis any more. The flash caused by the meteor in Russia in Feburary was 30 times brighter than the sun. 20 people suffered UV burns as a result.

Bog Standard User

Dónal wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/meteor-risk-bigger-than-previously-thought-1.1586190?mode=print&ot=example.AjaxPageLayout.ot



Let's go burn down the observatory so this will never happen again.

time to build reagan's star wars defence grid?

it would be like playing that old 70's game asteroids

danniemcq

Dónal wrote: »

I always thought the best solution would be to utilise our own meteor (or big sphere of metal) which has rockets on the end of it to nudge it out of the way. Or alternatively if you attach a massive laser to it you can call it a Death Star.

Like knocking 2 snooker balls together?

few issues - force. The speed at which the object is heading towards us is HUGE, it may also be fairly small but could be quite dense itself so with force = Mass*Acceloration you would have to either MASSIVE or travelling at an immense rate of speed.

actually getting something of such a mass into space would also take huge amonts of energy and would create problems with supply and construction and would probably cripple the economy of the earth too.

But if you were able to get enough dense metal and enough rockets to create the force and most importantly get it all together in time to combine/plan and launch and hit it perfect you still aren't in the clear.

the slightest flaw in your ball could cause failures causing it to split open and not take that much energy, it could also find itself knocked back into earths orbit and then we would have all our metal (that could possibly be radioactive depending on where it came from, how long in space and what was used to get it there plus all the pieces from the meteor that would have shattered but continmued on the way

danniemcq

danniemcq wrote: »

Like knocking 2 snooker balls together?

Yep, that's the idea. There's hundreds of things wrong with that, but from an avoiding extinction option I was thinking of it. I suppose if it'd be possible to 'capture' a meteor in earths gravity to use just in case of an extinction risk, that'd be another option.

pharmaton

Thinking about this now reminds me of the experiment Derren Browne did last year

CrazyRabbit

We've been polluting space for decades now. Space is just getting its own back on us.