/sci/ - Science & Math

Whoa, cool.

>>5531133
Buses and trucks passing parked cars trigger the car alarms all the time; it doesn't take much. (Fucking UPS I swear to god... so loud.)

That's not to say that the whole meteor thing isn't interesting; it surely is.

>trigger the car alarms all the time

never noticed that. either fewer people have car alarms here or they are less sensitive?

>>5531133
So are we to assume this is a smaller meteorite that was travelling along with the larger one that's passing us later today?

It makes me wonder, though. If the government knew of an impending large-scale meteor impact, and there was no time to try to stop it...would they bother to tell anyone? Or would they just let people go about their lives right up to the end, oblivious?

So, /sci/, be honest with me. How long do we have?

This is the end of the World!!! Vetter watch Out!!!!!!!!!

http://youtu.be/vMFviTXLEVg

>>5531172
It's the opening of Armageddon, where all the tiny asteroids spray us with cosmic scattershot.
Except they all hit the Russian back-country instead of meticulously hitting only major landmarks and capitals.

>the Russian back-country

The Chelyabinsk region, about 1,500km (930 miles) east of Moscow, is home to many factories, a nuclear power plant and the Mayak atomic waste storage and treatment centre.

550 people injured

IT's HAPPENING

this could be the 1st fatal asteroid strike in decades.

It takes almost three minutes for the shockwave to get there after the meteorite broke up. That's quite a distance away.

What some time ago some space rock hit another space rock and created something like shotgun blast, coming now in the direction of earth? I mean: this evening there will be that asteroid coming down near earth, right? They claim it's unrelated, but what if it actually is related? What if there is more of that shit, coming and the only piece of rock we know about is the biggest one.

>>5531206
hm. sounds not impossible, but isn't an army of telescopes pointed at the big one already? If there are more bigger than a piece of sand, someone should have noticed?

which direction did it come from compared to the one that will pass later ?

>>5531213

That army of telescopes did not detect this one.

And Russians say there might - not must, but might - be more coming.

great, i'm going to die and i can't even drive

So I don't know about it, but I assume the Russian one came from a different direction anyways?

The approaching cyclic comet cluster will initially look like a single blurred object. When it enters the inner solar system we'll have some serious fireworks going off. ETA is between now and next year.

>>5531252

>implying Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn won't catch most if not all of them

>>5531220
Same here

WORLD ENDS THIS YEAR


>>5531252

this is just the beginning

>>5531215
From BBC:

Scientists have played down suggestions that there is any link between the event in the Urals and 2012 DA14, an asteroid expected to race past the Earth on Friday at a distance of just 27,700km (17,200 miles) - the closest ever predicted for an object of that size.

Prof Alan Fitzsimmons, of the Astrophysics Research Centre at Queen's University Belfast, said there was "almost definitely" no connection.

"One reason is that 2012 DA14 is approaching Earth from the south, and this object hit in the northern hemisphere," he told BBC News.

>>5531217
Small meteorites like this cannot be reliably detected by any of our telescopes because they're so goddamn small. Had this tiny fucker hit the ground it would have been neat but not devastating (in scale, of course it would have been devastating if it hit an apartment complex or something).

>>5531303
It did hit.

>>5531366
It didn't, it exploded 10km up

>>5531373
and then the pieces rained to the ground and hit

>Pope hands in notice
>Suddenly metors

ITS TIME

>>5531174
The world's already ended, you missed it.

>>5531376

No, all those little bangs you hear after are the smaller fragments burning.

was this caused by global warming?

>>5531402

>>5531403
>infantile cartoon

SOON

>>>/x/12019173

>That Russian meteor footage is a nice reminder that we're flying through the universe in an organic spaceship with no roof.

>>5531406
>/x/

>>5531404
>infantile
I'm going to keep this civil anon. Refrain from your asinine comments so we can discuss our immediate demise.

>>5531381
>being superstitious
>2013
ISHYGDDT

Not even NASA could predict this.

More here
http://zyalt.livejournal.com/722930.html
Love, /g/.

>>5531432
world ends soon. solar maximum final nail in coffin

>>5531432
Sure, because that was a really huge meteor that nearly destroyed the entire world. How didn't NASA predict the arrival of such terrible doom?

Is there a way we can electronically bet money on whether the world will end or not?

Because I think we should do that.

>>5531449
I could make a web application that charges a 15% fee for every...

I have work to do

>>5531414
Most of the common people would rather spend money on war...and anything at would increase there wealth, drugs and sex...rather than on scientific research that gives them no emerita satisfaction....but obviously has the ability to make life possible in the long run. If a larger meteor does wipe us out, we deserved it....just a bunch do dumb animals.

>>5531432

It's not the end of the world if it does hit, however it will still be like having an entire city nuked.

I read somewhere that it has the kinetic energy equivalent of 2.5 megatons of TNT, not world ending but still be pretty fucking bad near a populated area.

Sorry...I'm typing on a touch phone. I ment to say no immediate

>>5531455
True.

>>5531440

Is it not true that a meteor on a certain projection could potentially unknown to us get slingshot by the suns gravitational pull on a path towards Earth and we would only have 8 minutes warning before impact?

>>5531462
the meteors moving at light speed?

>>5531406
I tried reading that, and it honestly hurt my brain.

>>5531458

Anyone else want it hit really fucking close to a major city so that people will actually start funding space again significantly?

>>5531455
Reminds of that image where some people on facebook are talking about hawking solving the economy or something if he is so smart instead of wasting his time.

>>5531464

ok say half an hour.

Well humanity we had a good run, remember when we walked on the moon?

Good times. Goodbye everyone.

>>5531482
If its in America, they wont, they'll all just cry and mumble words to their God. I honestly appreciate religion as a way for people to feel some consolation in situations outside of their control, but America has become dependent on spiritual solutions to problems what western society solved long ago. Also, the American religious landscape lowers the bar drastically for any kind of public policy rhetoric, as all someone has to do to be right is claim divine mandate. Got a little off track there, but my point is, in America major cities, the jewels of our otherwise backwards country, can easily be rationalized as beds of sin, the sodom to the religious moral highground of the suburban peasantry. So yeah, no, wiping out a city doesnt always have to work in your favor.

>>5531464
you do realize that that would put the meteorite at a little over the speed of light? Right?

>>5531510
I just know they say it takes light about 8 minutes to get from the sun to the earth, don't know the exact timing

and by they I mean my teachers back in high school

NASA Space program: TOLD
Russia Space programm: TOLD
World Space programs: FUCKING TOLD

>>5531519
Russia had time to nail the damn thing with a missile so I'd say Russia Space Program is pretty okay

>>5531508

Consider the following;
> 3,000 dead in twin towers

billions in war funding

> Quarter of NYC obliterated

New golden age of space exploration?

>>5531540
>US goes hunting for terrorist asteroids

>>5531540
but there's no oil in space

Tiny issue, it landed near Kyshtym. There's a giant fucking former nuclear weapons plant there. The waste dump isn't exactly secure, it consists of a lake bed and a less wet hole in the ground. The entire area is the most contaminated spot on Earth (even beating Chernobyl). I rather hope the meteor didn't release the waste.

Does anyone know what the bearing of the meteor was?

>>5531562
>USA calls asteroids hitting the Earth "Terror-forming"

>>5531562
>US invades a third world country in Africa hunting said terrorist asteroids

>>5531574
you win

>>5531540
There was a clear enemy with the twin towers, plus they were brown people, which is an easy sell as enemies to the American people. If a bunch of Space-Arabs started launching rocks at us from Mars, Im sure we'd have boots on the ground in less than a year, but the American people have proven time and time again that all they want are specific actions to fix specific problems, not substantive change to fix a constant symptom. If a building in NYC collapsed due to a flaw in its foundation, there would be a 4 month campaign to inspect all the buildings in the city, but it would never go past that. If a meteor landed in NYC, there would be a 4 month campaign to watch the skies for more. Once the people think the danger is behind us, they will rapidly forget it and go about their lives.

As an added slant, the NY stock exchange could get wiped out, and people would, without a doubt, just chalk the whole thing up to divine intervention.

I wish I didnt wholeheartedly believe this about the American people as a whole, but I do. I think that even if rocks fell from the fucking sky, all we would do is learn how to dodge.

>>5531570

No but shit-tons of precious metals, yes; All the gold, platinum and titanium you can eat.

>>5531570
how do you know? have you even been to space?

>>5531584
none of those are vital to our economy, especially not at the price point space mines could provide.

>>5531573
nice theory, tinfoil

>>5531587
if there is octane in space, we may have to reconsider a few things

>>5531589
hey man, I think he has a slightly valid concern, its a bit tinfoil-y, but I think it at least deserves some investigation.

>>5531587
IF we knew there was oil in space, the Americans would've invaded.

>>5531596
It's as well documented as Chernobyl but it was covered up by the Soviets for a lot longer.

>>5531589

That's actually true though, there is a waste processing facility there.

>>5531580
>responding seriously
Are you German?

>>5531588

However subsidising it may be worth it because it would give the US security from overseas mineral supplies, plus the prices would gradually begin to fall.

Is there a stream for the fly by?

Meteorite enters atmosphere, an interesting scientific phenomenon.
>pic related: Today's journalism
>I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE
>LIKE WAR
>angry birds
What the fuck is wrong with our society.

>>5531573
Not sure where it landed, all I know is this:

>11:19 GMT: The Russian military has explored a meteorite crater that is reportedly 6 meters in diameter; normal radiation levels were detected at the site.

>>5531620
>normal radiation levels were detected
were they expecting a radioactive meteorite? because I don't believe those exist

>>5531573
Hazmat teams are on site partly out of concern for that place and partly because they didn't at first know whether it was an attack or a meteor.

Latest reports indicate normal radiation levels, so contamination is improbable.

>>5531619
Idiots are easier to govern.

>>5531220
at least you're not going to die virgin...right?

>>5531624
You can probably find some meteorites with elevated radiation levels, just like you can find uranium ore on earth.

Anyway, common sense to do and report the measurement as it calms the public.

>>5531635

FUCK, I AM.

at least I'm /fit/ thou. gonna be a beautiful corpse.

>>5531644
your skeleton probably doesn't look much different than anyone else your size

>>5531644
>beautiful corpse
>flash-baked, blasted, crushed, left to decay for months during the clean-up effort
Summer-issue cover of Health&Fitness.

>>5531610
No, Im an amerifat...

Is it wrong that my heart swelled with pride in response to that?

ITS OVER WERE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!

>>5531612
yeah, but the american people wont appreciate that kind of long-term strategy.

We'll bleed money while we subsidize it, and then a new politician will get rid of the subsidy, touting it as government waste with no return on investment.

>Meteorite falls

>OH GOD THE WORLD IS GOING TO END BECAUSE SOMETHING FELL FROM THE SKY HALF A DAY AGO

What the fuck is wrong with you people?

>>5531394
That's why there's an impact crater, right?

>>5531394
You should try to pay attention, plenty of bits of it struck the ground and buildings.

>>5531668
we're bored of daily life and want things to be like they are in the magic box?

>>5531656
or alternatively
>Somehow petrified in a flexing position on top of a scorched hill
>A monument to the human form for all eternity.

>>5531440
> 1500 people on planet watching skies
> less funded than SETI
> expects them to catch everything

I'm honestly shocked we can even detect 5% with how little effort we're putting into it.

>>5531668
0/10, you're not even trying

>>5531682
There are people in this thread saying exactly this.
Get out.

It's the Soviet Mars mission failing. There's no evidence to suggest otherwise.

Earth impact calculator:

http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEffects/

>>5531687
Yes, there are people saying that. And they'd be right.

>durrrr something falling from the sky can't kill us u guyz r idiot!!1 lol

Pls go.

>>5531690
Do you have any idea how fucking wrong AND retarded you are?

>>5531694
Do I have any idea how wrong I am about something falling from the sky being able to kill us? No, I don't. Please tell me.

>>5531690
I'll never understand why people come in trying to troll /sci/. /x/ and /b/ I understand, but here?

>>5531694
we need money to protect us from rocks falling from the sky
>rocks can't fall from the sky
rocks fall
>well, rocks from the sky can't kill anything
we find that they have
>well, that was a long time ago
new rocks fall and people die
>well, that was an isolated incident
more rocks fall and people get hurt
>that didn't count!
sigh
>MOOOOMMM, HE'S CALLING ME STUPID!!!

Just pray. God won't let it happen if enough of us pray.

>>5531702
How does a event that happened half a day ago have any bearing on your claim of another meteorite will magically appear and hit us?

>>5531713
Again, your claim is entirely fucking retarded.
There is no second meteorite.

One falling half a day ago does not indicate that more will magically fall from the sky to kill you.

gg. had this been larger we would of had no chance of survival. i'm done. take away all the funding for nasa and other space agencies.

>>5531715
Because there's more than one earth-orbit-crossing rock in the solar system?

Or because we're getting our closest approach with one in recorded history today?

Maybe it's that that asteroid has a massive dirty cloud of debris ahead and behind of it?

Take your pick.

>>5531715
I never claimed a meteorite is going to magically appear and hit us, but thanks for the straw man. What YOU said was "THE WORLD IS GOING TO END BECAUSE SOMETHING FELL FROM THE SKY HALF A DAY AGO" which implies that nobody should be concerned about things falling from the sky. And when I said, "durr something falling from the sky can't kill us" you seemed to agree with me.

So no, please continue to tell me how wrong I am about that. Or are you just going to keep attacking an argument I never made?

What the hell are we wasting money on NASA for again? That money would be better spent on defensive measures spearheaded by the military

>>5531724
>Partially destroyed ONE building

>ANY BIGGER AND ENTIRE PLANET DED XDDD
Who let /x/ in?

>>5531727
>Because there's more than one earth-orbit-crossing rock in the solar system?
Irrelevant
Those have always been there, and are not going to start suddenly all dropping out of the sky because one idd

>Or because we're getting our closest approach with one in recorded history today?

Irrelevant, not going to impact.

>Maybe it's that that asteroid has a massive dirty cloud of debris ahead and behind of it?
If that asteroid had a debris cloud following that was worth paying attention to, we would be able to see it.

>>5531732
Have you not read this thread?
There are numerous posts of idiots saying "RIP EARTH, I'M GOING TO DIE FROM ANOTHER METEORITE NOW".

>>5531735
>That money would be better spent on defense
2/10 for getting me to reply

>>5531736
Just go, you're embarrassing yourself.

So how does this meteor compare to that one that exploded in Sudan a couple years ago? The one that was detected and tracked before it entered the atmosphere?

Were we just lucky with that one, or were just unlucky with this one?

>>5531723
>there is no second meteorite
Do you know that asteroids tend to move in groups? The atmosphere is probably being peppered by a cloud of small pebbles right now.

Is it probable that there's a citykiller in that cloud? Yes.
Is it probable that it hits the Earth? No.
Is it probable that in case it hits the Earth, it hits a city? No.
But that doesn't make it impossible.

You don't put on your seatbelt because you're going to crash, but because you might crash.

>>5531743
You still can't argue that if NASA hadn't wasted money putting gay little golf carts on other planets we might have prevented this.

>>5531747
>Is it probable that there's a citykiller in that cloud? Yes.
No.

You are making shit up now.

>>5531755
It was rather small and came from the direction of the sun.
You would need more money then the mars rover program has to detect those from a safe distance and prevent them.

>>5531745
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_TC3

The Sudan meteorite was larger, but it traveled at less than half the speed and exploded over the Nubian desert. The explosion was estimated at 2.1 kilotonnes, less than the russian one.

>>5531755

>agency uses practically nothing to send shit to other worlds and gain immeasurable wealth of knowledge
>wasted money

Yeah, nah, you're a cunt.

Meanwhile ...
>some rusemaster in the middle east says he has a missile
>spend a gorillion dollars to look for sand in a sand country
>not wasted money

>>5531758
>No.
If the DA14 was in a slightly different trajectory and airburst over a major metropolitan area, you're gonna see more than just a thousand people with cuts and bruises.

The main body probably hit this lake here
Maybe they will actually dig the fucker out sometimes.

>>5531755
>gay little golf carts on other planets

10/10

>>5531786
>>Is it probable that there's a citykiller in that cloud?
Has absolutely nothing to do with your response, are you fucking retarded? Or just illiterate? or both?

>If the DA14 was in a slightly different trajectory
Irrelevant.
These people are claiming that we are all about to die from a random meteorite / asteroid impact, not a hypothetical scenario with 0 change of actually occurring right now.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279020/Russian-meteorite-Moment-meteorite-exploded-doctors-treat-500-people-injured.html?ICO=most_read_module


They make a mention that the meteor could have been intercepted by air defense systems.

Does Russia have this capability?

>>5531794
Well stop arguing the diametrically opposed but equally retarded point that asteroids aren't a threat.

I'm not saying we're gonna die today, I'm trying to point out that both parties are wrong and the answer lies in the fucking middle.

>>5531802
If they had seen it time, they probably could have nailed it, yea.

>>5531801
>Well stop arguing the diametrically opposed but equally retarded point that asteroids aren't a threat.
I never said this. Never.

I said that their claims that we are all about to die because a meteorite fell half a day ago is fucking retarded, there is no correlation between the two. Get your shit straight

>>5531802
Nobody does, this thing was traveling at 20 km/s and was likely not detected until it hit the atmosphere, if it was even detected then.

>>5531802
Only Moscow has an anti-missile defense system. Not like it would matter anyway when the "missile" is a goddamn fireball brighter than the sun. Everyone has a primitive air defense system though; it's called the atmosphere.

IT'S TIME

>>5531808

A big burning rock is just like an aircraft to hit ie a piece of piss. Russia has the best anti-air tech in the world, good chance an area with nuclear facilities would have some decent air defences kicking around.

>>5531802
In theory is possible, but in practice. as we've seen today, no
Of course we're considering small meteorites, that aren't easily trackable before they enter the atmosphere, like the one from today

>>5531816
Except this rock was moving at 20 m/s in a direction that you do not normally look for aircraft coming from.

>>5531821
>20 m/s
20 km/s, oops.

>>5531805
No, they couldn't have done anything significant.
To start with, they need ballistic missile defence to even have a chance of hitting it, but even a direct hit wouldn't do shit against it as it's a solid rock with extreme kinetic energy.

Against a ballistic missile, you only need to cause some moderate damage and it's disabled. Against a space rock, you'd need to vaporize it with a massive explosion to stop its descent.

>>5531824
I said they could have nailed it, which they could have.

>>5531816
>good chance an area with nuclear facilities
It's a civilian power plant and a waste dump. In the 50s and 60s it made the plutonium and tritium for their bombs but now it's just an absolute environmental mess. Defending it would be like defending Love Canal.

>>5531816
You'd need anti ballistic missile defense, it's far too fast for normal anti air missiles to have even the slightest chance of hitting.

And even a anti-ballistic interceptor(unless nuclear tipped, and russia don't use those anymore) wouldn't be enough to destroy it.

>>5531826
I don't give a fuck what you said.
They cannot hit an object of that size entering the atmosphere at 20km/s, they are lucky if they even detected that, let alone had time to launch a missile and intercept it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnUXuTQcDwc

Watch that shock wave

In soviet russia, the meteor finds you

>>5531842
SO FUNNEH XDDD

ETA on the big one?

>>5531850
approx. 3 hours

>>5531806
>Never.
You may not have meant it, but your comments come out like you did.

>>5531860
seems like an issue on your end then buddy.

My first post indicates no such thing, nor does my second or third.

>>5531857
Guess ill be dying in my sleep then.
If god helps us and make sure it stays on the expected course would it be possible to see the thing?

>>5531787
when is this from? you're not saying this is from this meteor are you?

>>5531920
that is from this meteor, the russian one.

Its on Russia Today.

One of its fragments caused this.

what bothers me most is that since it hit russia we'll never get to know what it's made of until the next decade when they decide what to tell everyone else

[latex]\b{test}[/latex]

>>5531925
Yes, because McCarthy was right and science isn't a global collaborative effort.

>It makes me wonder, though. If the government knew of an impending large-scale meteor impact
It's not that easy to detect small meteorites.

>>5531946
i'll see you in a couple of months

there's notices about another possible shower of debris passing by in the close future, what are the chance of them hitting russia again?

>>5531802
>They make a mention that the meteor could have been intercepted by air defense systems.

No, they report that someone said it was hit by air defense systems.
That unnamed person may have had no information at all, like the person in the same article that said it was a plane, the guy who said it was a new American weapon, or the people talking about seeing flames.

Missile defense doesn't launch nearly fast enough.
Missiles also don't fly all that fast, but not all debris has to be going 20 km/s.

>>5531826
>I said they could have nailed it, which they could have.

Fantasy.
If you knew how long it takes to launch a missile, and how fast missiles flew, you wouldn't be so assured.

>>5531966
official info in a single graphic

enjoy everyone

>>5531965
>hurrdurr evul rushans

>>5531975
>2m diameter
>going at 21km/s
jesus dick

>>5532001
if that had came in more direct....that city...

>>5531975
Cool.
So, in theory, if the asteroid would turn into a meteorite, where would it probably hit ?

>>5532012
Nonsense question;
it doesn't have such a path.

So, there is no way to say what it would hit -- you're just asking if it had a different path, where would it be?

You make up a destination if you like, it has no meaning to say where it might have hit.

>>5532047
I might have been too vague.

Let me say it this way:
try to think of the rock approaching Earth in 3D space.
It is going to miss the Earth.
But, if you were to suggest how it could hit the Earth, you'd have to make up a direction and magnitude of how its path were different first.

So let's say you move the path to strike the direct gravitational center of Earth; then an astronomer could calculate the rotation and say where on Earth it would hit at its current velocity.
But his answer is based on the supposition of changing the path; it could be changed to any other value and direction, too.
The answer for what would happen if it struck Earth toward the center of Earth's gravity is as imaginary as just inventing other rocks to strike -- it doesn't have any significance to the one you already know is missing us.

>>5531975
That is really great.
Also I know about Chelyabinks as the place the soviets had some nuclear disasters long before chernobyl that were kept secret.

>>5532012
as stated before it isnt going to hit so there is nowhere it would "probably" hit. However, if it did hit Earth it wouldn't really matter where it hit, as the size of the impact would cause a cataclysm on a global scale.

>>5531501

So it's moving at roughly 1/4 the speed of light..? Son I don't think you understand how fast the speed of light is. The one that blew up Russia was moving at 21km/s (last I read). That is the equivalent of NOT MOVING AT ALL compared to the speed of light.

>>5532063
If it had a slightly altered trajectory, it could potentially hit anywhere on the half of the earth pointing towards it at the time. Mostly southern hemisphere. It doesn't really make sense to say it would hit any one particular spot though.

Every car should have a dashcam

Driving in Russia:
youtube.com/watch?v=itMdLTd1l4E

>>5531462
What you are saying is NOT true.

I think you have confused solar events (CME in particular), which we would currently have no warning about and would technically take 8 minutes to arrive.

Meteors do not move on scales like light speed,
but they do have a lot of variation in speed, and anything that named an 8 minute time before impact could not have been talking about meteors.

>>5531501
>ok say half an hour.

I think you're confused about the variables.
For rocks, the time from our awareness of the rock (and our ability to calculate it's trajectory) is the critical factor, but it could vary from no warning to several years.

And it's damage to us is really only a function of it's momentum and location of the strike, nothing about the time of warning at all (because we cannot do anything to it either way, and there is almost nothing to prepare, either.)

>>5531644
Gahiji go die

>>5532109
>I think you have confused solar events (CME in particular), which we would currently have no warning about and would technically take 8 minutes to arrive.

Revising; the light from the event would take 8 minutes.
I don't know what the difference range for the actual CME wavefront to arrive is like. It is probably not very far behind, and there is nothing to do to prepare.

How easy is it to see? I got a telecope last week for unrelated reasons but assume it'll be moving too fast for that. Will naked eye be ok? Or should I just assume I won't be able to see it

>>5532126
>Coronal mass ejections reach velocities between 20km/s to 3200km/s with an average speed of 489km/s.
12 hours of warning at the least.

IF anyone is interested, you can watch "the big one" 2012 DA14 live on ustream right now as it approaches. The channel is /nasajpl2

>>5532133
passing right now; go look on
http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2%C2%A0

Don't bother with outdoor viewing unless it's absolutely moonless and clear out right now.

One quick question. Why wasn't the Russian Space Agency not aware of this...?
Dis ain't no meteor gays

I'm calling DARPA

how can it explode 10kms up, if it made that hole in the ice?
Does it get to explode AND hit something too?
how small was this one compared to tunguska?

>>5532134

Oh, that's much, much slower than I supposed.
Sounds too slow by magnitudes.

I'm having trouble considering one as slow as 20km/s which is also large enough to reach Earth.

>>5532133
DA14 has magnitude 7.2. There are 14000 stars that are brighter than 7.0. How many do you see?

>>5532150
>how can it explode 10kms up, if it made that hole in the ice?
'Explode' doesn't mean 'vanished' -- it means it broke.
When things explode they don't go away (except in movies and cartoons).

>Does it get to explode AND hit something too?
Everything that explodes does.
Some things explode efficiently, into molecules rather than chunks, but in the natural world, exploding just means lots of smaller bits strike instead of one large one.

>>5532150
It can explode to shed parts of it, exploding =/= vaporized. It basically became buck shot, with the heaviest piece making the hole in the lake.

>>5532146
>Why wasn't the Russian Space Agency not aware of this...?

Seriously?

Why are they not aware of something moving very fast toward Earth that is under 3 meters wide and is probably negligibly reflective?

Earth is probably surrounded by objects that size -- why are YOU not aware of just how many?

>>5532168
>exploding =/= vaporized.

And, as much as 'vaporized' is used in modern language, it is almost never true. It's hyperbole.

Invisible aliens fired a huge shotgun shell at our earth.

I mean think about it. The bullet traveled at very high speed relative to the earth, it broke into many pieces, and made a loud bang.

Thought you guys might find this interesting. It's an interactive map that shows all known meteorite hits on the planet. Disregard the text, and look at the map:

>http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/02/15/alle-meteorietinslagen-op-aarde-op-interactieve-kaart/

>>5532169
Correcting myself; newest estimate says 15m before it hit atmosphere.

>>5532199

I'll never understand why people greentext links

>>5532199
Well, they cluster in population centers because that's where people actually report them.

>>5532203
Just to give any anon that clicks it the extra 2 seconds of annoyance of highlighting the > first, realizing it fucks up the link and having to highlight it a second time and manually cut off the >.

>>5532210
Yeah, I figured as much. Pretty cool still though.

>>5532210
it's so odd that they never hit water, though.
I know rocks like to bounce on water... I guess it works well enough to span an ocean.

If DA14 was on a collision path with Earth would we have the resources to stop it, and what method would be used to prevent such a collision?

>>5532223
troll/10

>>5531809
REX! REX TREMEDAE!

>>5532247
Not trolling... humor.
Not very clever humor, but definitely not trolling.

I hates'em trolls.

>>5532252
alright, fair enough

technically though, everyone on this board is a troll. It's in our blood

>>5532239
There is nothing we could do.

The only scenario I can consider right now where we would have some chance of changing the consequence is a slow-moving asteroid in our orbital path that we can put explosives on well before the final pass.

That is, 'land' some probes with explosives and time them to deflect the asteroid a year in advance, so that it might actually be far enough out of our path on the next orbit.

Every other situation requires too much advance notice, too much distance for a response device, and far, far more force than we can bring to bear.

>>5532239
Yes and yes.

You could fit it easily in a football stadium. It could be shattered into harmless rumble with a tonne or two of TNT.

>>5532239
I wonder if we would actually stop it or not

Best video I could find of the sound yet.
No clipping or compression on the boom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzFGYgzW4XU&feature=share&list=FLfHFPw1cfLHdLFSv-TmQtJw

>>5532266
Sorry, I wasn't really addressing DA14-like size here, but asteroidal sizes in general.

I can't believe the internets gone bananas because of a small meteorite (perhaps, a few). It's not a nuclear war or something. Or that idiotic histeria about DA 2012 14 which is still small and won't collide. Have a break. You americans have tornados every year for example. Surely it would be a pity if that rock fell on nuclear factories there but it didn't so it's fine.

>>5532281
What happened happens once every decade.

>>5532047
>>5532093
I clearly meant that if you change its path and everything else would stay the same.

Can someone edit one of the videos with this over the top?

It's all I could think about when i saw it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=4H0JDomv8ac#t=85s

>>5531570
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrocarbons_on_other_planets

We've still got a long way to go before this become even remotely possible (let alone viable) but don't talk about this you don't know jack shit about in the future please.

>>5532281
>I can't believe the internets gone bananas because of a small meteorite (perhaps, a few). It's not a nuclear war or something. Or that idiotic histeria about DA 2012 14 which is still small and won't collide. Have a break. You americans have tornados every year for example. Surely it would be a pity if that rock fell on nuclear factories there but it didn't so it's fine.


It's an unusual event that was caught on video and impacted several thousand lives.

Shame on you for criticizing a genuinely interesting event because it wasn't a nuclear war.

>Russian meteorite last night
>Cuban meteroite an hour ago
>Close call scheduled for later today

This is it
It's Armageddon
Hide your Godzilla merchandise

>>5532325
>I clearly meant that if you change its path and everything else would stay the same.

Yes, that was understood.
The problem is, there are many ways to change the path, and all of them change where it hits.

You see, the change you are asking about is infinite across a 2D plane as large as Earth. It's an unanswerable question.

Now, the way it could be answerable is to ask how much the path would have to change to hit a specific city -- that is something someone could calculate.

>>5532345
If you change his path to "slice" the earth, I'm sure you're going to get a clear cut and I meant that "cut area".

ignorant person here

did they predict the russian meteor? I hadn't heard anything about it until it hit this morning. I've heard about DA14 for ages

>>5532362
i see
when was the last time a meteor hit like that? i cant remember seeing anything like it in the news

>>5532357
nope too small

>>5532357

Fuck no, yet they claim to rocket it down lol.

Ammatures found the asteroid too. No one else

>>5532341
What's so interesting about a piece of rock or iron falling from space? It's just junk that threatens human lives. Who cares how it burns, falls apart etc.? There are no laws for that and we can't control it.
>tfw you will never understand people thrilled by meteorites and comets

>>5532351

Are you saying that changing the path results in a line drawn across Earth?

That is not correct -- the impact will have a specific time, resulting in a single impact location.

Unless you are supposing we also change the speed of the asteroid, but I don't think the question was asking for that much control.
I think the guy was just wondering which impact location was being spared today.

>>5532364
No one has claimed to have hit the meteor.

>>5532365
Because this shit came from SPACE. It's been orbiting the sun for who knows how long, came from who knows where, and yet ended it's journey through the solar system right here on earth. That's amazing, at least to me.

Also, you have to remember all the stuff we can learn through it. It's composition can give us clues to it's formation and origin. We have an asston of video of it coming down, which means we can trace it's path back into orbit and through the solar system. We learn so much from stuff like this, which is important because the next one could land on your house.

Did it bring any interesting space stuff to analyze?
I love that kind of stuff

>>5532373
Why do you not understand...
What is so hard to understand about my post. I don't even know how else to write it so it's even simpler.

aw shit guys
5 mins until closest point to earth

>>5532393
Closest approach just a few secs ago.

Mozzeltav

fuck sake nothing happened

Have you seen the mission they're preparing. Getting a sample from a Near Earth Object. :P

>>5532411
What ware you expecting?

More video for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGvx1cAJChQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIAm5hq8WWc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNTNYI5lEKk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R39lp3qBqQw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wUqmS35REY

>>5532384
Vaporized on contact most likely.
But maybe they will find some fragments.

>>5532411
Yet something happened.

>>5532384
>>5532424
The eagle has landed

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/02/15/russian_meteorite_fragment_may_have_fallen_in_frozen_lake.html

>>5532418
There are also plans to send a manned mission to an asteroid in the 20's.

>>5532442
But they already look like that.

>>5531540
>New golden age of space exploration?
A man can dream...

>>5532411
A meteorite blew up over russia. That's what happened. Little bits of it touched down. It's interesting, and I don't know what the fuck you expected.

meteor seen from space

>>5532211
>not highlighting right-to-left
ISHYGDDT

>>5532572
This one? Can you sauce that?

>>5532368
can find no recorded case of a meteorite causing casualties on this scale, but that is likely a function of a more crowded planet (more targets) and better global communication.

The Tunguska Object had a lot more energy as it came down, also in Russia.

Google Meter craters on Earth for some sobering pictures.

>>5532604
www.eumetsat.int/Home/index.htm

One just hit Cuba guys.

This is not related to 2012 DA14 guys.

It's not it's not it's not

>posted1 hour ago
>"The explosion shook the houses in the place," reported witnesses to the local TV stations. In a report released by Rodas, in the province of Cienfuegos some residents have described a very bright light that has come to have large size, comparable to that of a bus, before exploding in the sky.
>Marcos Rodriguez, an expert in the area, claimed that it was a "fireball," a piece of stone and metal, which entered the Earth's atmosphere at high speed. " Cuban specialists are examining the area for possible remains Rodas minerals falling from the sky, the TV station added.

>>5531809
Too vulnerable to F-16s

>>5531482
We all do, anon.

Why don't we do something about it? Like, anything, let's write letters to CNN, anything.

>>5532665
>cnn

just get the fuck out

>>5532665
Lol when the rest of the world was talking about the strike in russia last night CNN was still leading with their cruise ship 'shit boat of terror' story that no one cares about.

Cnn is weeks behind drudge which is days behind 4chan.

>>5532640
Reports are that a fireball may have exploded over Cuba on Wednesday. Reports are very sketchy, and since it seems to have done no damage, it was not particularly interesting at the time.

IF it is a real event, getting new life following today's news from Russia, it is clearly unrelated -- Wednesday is a long time ago at the rate these things move.

>>5532665
Not CNN -- they had an anchor asking Bill Nye if the asteroid passing by today was linked to global warming. These are not the allies we're looking for.

>>5532673

>RT
>God tier

>>5532619
Thank you.

>>5532695

>>5532687
>since it seems to have done no damage

That is a flat out lie contradictory to the witness accounts.

>>5532695
>CNN -- they had an anchor asking Bill Nye if the asteroid passing by today was linked to global warming.

>>5531133

sauce of higher resolution pic please?

>>5532712
try a tineye reverse image search or even a google reverse

>>5532706
Sauce? I have seen no reports of injuries associated with the fireball reported in Cuba.

>>5531217
This meteor came from a completely different angle than 2012 DA14. They didn't detect this one since they weren't focused on it at the time. I am certain with all of the shit looking at DA14 right now, nothing like the Russian meteor will come from DA14 without notice.

>>5532723
Injuries are not damage.

>>5532695
>CNN's face when

>>5532726
Hai guys obviously the russian and cuban meteor strikes has nothings to does wit 2012 DA14 it's just one HELL of a cosmic coincidence lolololololoololololololololol

Like, impossible odds. Literally impossible odds.

>>5532737
And if another meteor strike occurs within the next five days that is also unrelated to 2012 DA14 as well guys.

Yep. Tell your friends so they can stop being your friends.

England here. Just looked up from my garden and I could see the asteroid. The moon is a fucking weird colour though.

>>5532695
Really? Tits.

>>5532740
California here, I was walking the dog for like an extra half hour last night just hoping.

Also, yeah the moon was really off-color. I didn't see comets (darn) but I did make a note of that.

>>5532745

Why are you on this board?

>>5532750
I was looking out my window last night in CA. Wasn't interesting. In Oakland.

>>5532740
Pic? it's cloudy here.

>>5532769
the ball is rolling

>>5532695
>>5532673
>>5532681

Then who? Getting this ball rolling could help all of man.
Even the tiniest of efforts on our parts could start something.

>>5532766
Tell me again how the only two major meteor strikes in years are unrelated to the massive comet streaking towards us.

This is a great story I am putting in popcorn.

>>5532750
I wonder if it's to do with the asteroid entering close to our atmosphere which is having an effect on the moon.

>>5532730
I'll be more specific.

The only reports I have seen from Cuba indicate a fairly normal fireball with maybe associated sonic boom, no injuries, no damage. They are all reports made today, recalling an event on Wednesday. They are clearly inspired by the fact that a more newsworthy event just happened in Russia, and include things like "It was the size of a bus," which is not something El Senor Peasant would know, and seem lifted from some of the reports on Russia's meteor. It is unclear whether Cuba is playing "me too," a hoax is being perpetrated or whether there was an actual event on Wednesday.

I've you've seen something else, I'd like to see it.

>>5532764
Can't provide pics but the asteroid resembled Venus a little but just slowly snaking across the sky. The moons a crescent one but it has this dark yellowish tinge.

>>5532791
I agree the word is still out on Cuba. However I read that there were broken windows as well, totally common when a massive explosion occurs.

I for one hope we get many more strikes in the next week.

>>5532793
>dark yellowish tinge

Yeah that's what I noticed as well.

>>5532777
There are any number of fireballs that resemble reports out of Cuba every year -- a ball of fire, a sonic boom.

Unless anybody can link to credible reports saying otherwise, that is all that happened in Cuba on Wednesday.

Can you come up with a plausible scenario that would link an object colliding with Earth on Wednesday with an asteroid passing by today? This is a serious question, I can't.

>>5532801
I'm not harping on it in an assholish way -- but can you provide a source for that? I am really trying to find out what actually happened, if anything, in Cuba.

>>5532818
Me too, unfotunately all the media I can find other than a snippet of RT are things like godlikeproductions and beforeitsnews.

Here is Havana Times article and again, who knows how credible they are.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=87761

http://investmentwatchblog.com/breaking-meteor-crash-this-time-in-cuba/

Compilation of reports from Cuba, much bad translating, it is interesting that only the last one mentions it was last Wednesday.

>>5532810
the one that landed in russia supposedly had a trajectory that was different from DA 2012 14. Maybe they're not asteroids at all. Maybe they are undetonated nukes, which will be remotely detonated at a later time. Using the asteroid as cover would be plausible explanation for the meteorites/nukes falling. Once all the nukes are in place, they all detonated by remote simultaneously.

>>5532834

*Plausible

>>5532834
>Maybe they are undetonated nukes, which will be remotely detonated at a later time

>Using the asteroid as cover would be plausible explanation

>Once all the nukes are in place, they all detonated by remote simultaneously.

>>5532829
http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=87761

That opens a report on the Russian meteor.

>>5532772

Here's a thought: letters to American congress?

Officials are now saying over 1,000 people were injured.

http://rt.com/news/scientists-explain-chelyabinsk-bolide-337/

Also, neat images of the 10 ton bolide entering.

>>5532879
>congress

Unless your letter contains the maximum allowable political donation don't expect them to give two Florida ballots about your letter.

>>5532295
Can you point to an earlier incident with as many as a thousand people injured by a meteor impact?

Or at least one building knocked down?

Or multiple video recordings?

It's not unprecedented that an object of this magnitude hit the Earth, the results are unprecedented and interesting.

>>5532896
there will be more over the next five days

please please please scare all of earth so that we can stop talking about useless social issues

>>5532895
Former Congresisonal staffer here.

This is not really true.

Obviously, money DOES buy influence. But congressoids also follow public opinion, especially in their state or district.

Emails are generally ignored, or were in my office. Form letters and petitions are ignored. Real letters and phone calls are counted and tabulated and shared with the Congressman/congresswoman/senator and staff involved in that area of policy, and usually with the political guru.

A single letter would have little impact.

Many letters and calls, over time, NOT form letters, can sway opinion.

>>5532906

>useless social issues

You're right.

Scrap medicare and social security and give the money to NASA. We cannot possibly touch the military budget, so don't ask.

Yes/no. Will you give up your future financial security and the security of millions of others just for a childish wish?

>>5532281
but it's cool and interesting

>>5532906
So you are psychic.

Too bad we are not able to place a sizable cash bet -- the odds do not favor you.

>>5532925
i would take the bet that we will have at least three atmospheric strikes in the next three days.

>>5532920
The NASA budget annually is worth one month in Iraq.

Besides, I don't support increased funding of NASA at all. Space industry has taken the form of the computer industry in the late 80's. The government rightly did all the heavy lifting, figured out what works and what sucks and now they have passed it over to private industry.

We're about to live through a space boom to rival the tech boom of the 90's.

As far as social issues I was more referring to standing on the graves of dead children to attack law abiding tax payers, gay marriage and racism hunts.

>>5532939
>We're about to live through a space boom to rival the tech boom of the 90's.

Whatever sweet lies give you hope.

I just hope you don't condemn the religious. It'd be ironic.

>I was more referring to standing on the graves of dead children to attack law abiding tax payers

Yeah, fuck aaron shwartz. I'm glad everyone has started to forget about his martyr ass.

Russian Meteor Drinking Game:

Every time you hear a newscaster call this a "meteor shower," curse under your breath and take a drink.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOPjfrkLslI

RT news broadcast, lots of footage...

>>5532933
There will be more than three, there are every day.

How do you define your three strikes, what's big enough to be unique and be counted? Shall we say damage to structures on the ground?

>>5532963
Forgot to say, spectacularly stupid commentators.

>>5532969
Let's say damage to structures OR damage to the crust in any measurable way?

how about this, I am a man of honor. If there are no obvious strikes within the next three days I will never post on /sci/ again. Ever.

If there are more than three in the next three than you will never post on /sci/ again.

We can both still lurk.

>>5532963

>a meteor exploded above the earth causing a meteor shower

>>5532975
Nah, let's don;t do that. I think maybe we are both relatively intelligent posters.

Send $100 to the charity or cause of your choice if I win, I'll do the same if you do. I have no idea what your financial situation is, if that is too much we can play for less. It;s the upper limit on what I'll risk.

Note: I'll be out of the country from Monday through the 27th, will unlikely be able to post until then. I'll post if I lose after I get back.

Men of honor and all, I like it.

>>5532963
>basically what happened was there was an asteroid which entered the atmosphere and then broke into several pieces, thereby turning into a meteor

I have been thinking, what if this "meteor" is a seismic warhead being tested by the government and funded by glass window corporations? They tested it first in a culturally dead region of the world so that it attracts relatively little attention, and now that it showed to be very effective they will bring it to our important cities like Manhattan and Houston?
I'm sure the glass market "skyrocketed" (get it?) after this.

>>5532991
$100 it is, assuming we do not all die in a fiery apocalyptic hellstorm before then :)

>>5532998
Stop thinking it is only harming you :/

>>5532975
This meteor is not related to 2012 DA14 for your information, the angle of entry is completely different.
You lose the bet before it even started.

>>5533000
Bit of luck for me if we do -- would save me $100...

Virtual handshake ,,,

>>5533007
Yes, I'm sure it was an impossible cosmic coincidence you must be right.

>>5533007
Other bettor here. He might not -- it is always possible an unrelated strike will happen. The odds are... astronomical... however.

>>5533008

>>5533010
You might want to explain how a fragment of the "main" asteroid somehow entered Earth from a completely different orbit then.

>>5533010
>impossible

>>5533010
Meteors of this size are relatively common, happening more than once a year. We just don't hear about them because the Earth is 70% ocean and there are not many populated areas where cameras are so common.

>at least three atmospheric strikes

current confirmed fireballs per day: 6.98 (day 46 of 2013)

trend continues, see pic

>>5533041
Please let it be end times.

>>5533041
Are we as a solar system moving through a trashier portion of the galaxy?

What accounts for this?

>>5533049

I am cool with it.

>>5533092
You can't be cool if you are being fried by meteors.

>>5533083
Any thoughts on this?

>>5533083
>>5533049
implying single accounts of human observation are proof of anything.

>>5533104
>>5533093
>>5533041

Please see
also, mfw when this is /sci/ and u guys automatically take a single graph as concrete evidence of more meteorite activity.
>>5533106

>>5533106
>>5533109
the graphic has a source listed you are saying it is false?

>>5533106
>>5533109
Are you saying the source is false?

>>5533132
>>5533149
No, I'm saying that more accounts of something does not necesarrily imply that it is actually more frequent.

Correlation does not imply causation. Which is what you guys are say.

>>5533160

I AM SAY

>>5533160
so in your opinion there is NO increase in meteorite activity in the last ten years.

What are you basing this off of, your skepticism?

>>5533198

meteorite =/= meteor

asteroid = nowhere near earth
meteor = in earth's atmosphere
meteorite = meteor that survived landing (stationary probably in some museum)

>>5533083
>moving through a trashier portion of the galaxy?

probably, yes. increasing dust in the higher atmosphere also points to that.

>>5533083
population increasing, more observers, and more cell phones with cameras, which make each observation easier to confirm.

IT HASN'T EVEN BEGUN

>>5533315

and maybe fewer self-calmers?

>>5531449
longbets.org

>>5533315
The ams data are not based on imagery.

>>5533316
True, "but you can see it from here."

>>5531562
Don't you8 mean Russia?

>>5532424
>Vaporized on contact most likely.
>But maybe they will find some fragments.

There's the misused word again.
Do you understand 'vaporized' means 'was made into vapor'?

If it were vaporized, there cannot be fragments -- fragments are not vapor.

That's why reports are saying it 'exploded' -- 'exploded' means it came apart into fragments, violently.
And yes, the rock exploded, and many fragments hit -- this was known immediately, as some hit a zinc factory and a big chunk hit a lake.
There are probably going to be hundreds of bits found over the next couple days.

>>5532737
>obviously the russian and cuban meteor strikes has nothings to does wit 2012 DA14

Um... we know the Russian one isn't connected, that's been reviewed -- but how do you know the Cuban one is not?

Are you aware that rocks in space break apart but don't separate by very much distance? It is easy, simple, and common for many rocks to travel together and strike a planet.

Hell, in 1994 the world watched a giant stream of cometary pieces strike Jupiter over many hours!

>>5532793
Was this just about dusk?
Did it traverse the sky in about 4-8 minutes?
If so, you were more likely seeing a satellite.

>>5532834
>the one that landed
'Landed'? A fireball, explosion, and fragmentation over the countryside is 'landing'?

>Maybe they are undetonated nukes, which will be remotely detonated at a later time.
Ah, that's very discreet. A missile that explodes, gets everyone's attention, is immediately found, and is disguised as broken rocks bits.

>Using the asteroid as cover would be plausible explanation for the meteorites/nukes falling.
Right, because we wouldn't want anyone to notice. And there is no other way to get weapons someplace, except missiles.
Missiles that explode. And go to a remote little town with a very old zinc factory.

>Once all the nukes are in place, they all detonated by remote simultaneously.
Detonate on our valuable allies, the Russians, because old fools still make movies making them evil-ish.
That's what the world needs -- destroy all allies!

>>5532879
>Here's a thought: letters to American congress?

No, I don't think it could have been.
Letters don't explode like that, there wasn't a lot of paper residue in the videos, and the delivery route to Congress doesn't go through the Urals.


;)

>>5532906
>there will be more over the next five days

Why do you (and perhaps one other) specifically say 5 days?

>>5532975
>how about this, I am a man of honor. If there are no obvious strikes within the next three days I will never post on /sci/ again. Ever.

No deal; /sci/ needs people who would make honorable statements they will stand by.

How about food? I'm hungry.

>>5532998
>I have been thinking, what if this "meteor" is a seismic warhead being tested by the government and funded by glass window corporations?
Seismic... but explodes in atmosphere?
Do you really think windows are more expensive than firing a big explosive missile?

>...they will bring it to our important cities like Manhattan and Houston?
Houston? Did you write HOUSTON?

>I'm sure the glass market "skyrocketed" (get it?) after this.
No, there's plenty of glass around.
Laborers are going to be in high demand, but let's not suggest glaziers got together to do this.
: : :)

>>5533106
Maybe you misunderstand the graph -- it is of CONFIRMED events, not of individual sightings.
You cannot criticize it because the observations were by humans (who else reports them?) or because they are single (the graph doesn't include how many humans reported each event at all).

>>5533160
>I'm saying that more accounts of something does not necesarrily imply that it is actually more frequent.
Actually, it really does.
As long as you aren't filtering the methods of direct observation, or you are filtering them appropriately and randomly, real observation is exactly what matters.
Or, put differently, you don't discard the data until you can point to some reason that the observations are higher.

>Correlation does not imply causation.
That's correct, but nothing we are addressing is about what causes them; this is simply the actual observation going up.
You don't discard real observation (that's data) because it is changing.

Cosmic Catastrophe and Social Hysteria

www.blogtalkradio.com/sottnet

Sunday 17th February 2013 19:00 UTC

Callers welcome!


Not a day goes by without news reports indicating that increasing hysteria has taken ahold of people. From mass panic in schools because fifth-graders are 'caught' playing with toy paper guns to fears that a 'zombie apocalypse' is upon us, people are reacting in increasingly bizarre and paranoid ways.

There is strong evidence that, over the course of human history, repeated cometary bombardment from space has wiped the slate clean on our little planet. These cleansing events were naturally terrifying for people who lived through them. In time, the progenitors of those who survived rebuilt civilizations anew and eventually the horrors of the past were forgotten.

Increased fireball sightings in recent years (among other tell-tale signs), indicate that we have now entered another period of potential cosmic catastrophe. We are also living in a time when an endless 'War on Terror' is being waged - ostensibly to 'protect our freedoms' and Western civilization from evil-doers 'over there'.

The result has been a significant increase in real - actual and felt - terror that is evidenced in the form of social hysteria.

But what if the real threat has always been "out there" rather than "over there"? Will our leaders and authorities be able to keep us safe from a cosmic threat? Do they even know about it?

Why isn't this a sticky? This is a major event in geology and astronomy. They recovered fragments.