Meteor the size of Texas

[Topperharly]

why would a coin kill someone? they did it on mythbusters, and nothing happend.

[smrtolet]

It probably woudn't knock earth out of orbit, the sun's gravity is too much for that, but it would change the orbit. That alone would kill everyone over the long run. And then we have the nuclear winter, water evaporation, crust cracking and so on, that's just icing on the cake that we know would happen/has happened with a smaller hit. An object this big could do much worse.

[Kornath]

Guys.. Guys...

We'll simply ask every country with nuclear bombs and missiles to fire them at the meteor.

And I'm sure we have a photon/laser/plasma cannon somewhere in this world... Transformer movie had one... They're just hiding it!

[Topperharly]

Guys.. Guys...

We'll simply ask every country with nuclear bombs and missiles to fire them at the meteor.

And I'm sure we have a photon/laser/plasma cannon somewhere in this world... Transformer movie had one... They're just hiding it!

Doesn't work. If the Meteor comes, we will send Chuck Norris to blew it up. He is going to die too, but we know, we did everything we could.

[Seresumuerte]

why would a coin kill someone? they did it on mythbusters, and nothing happend.

You're right, its because a coin is very light and therefore its max air speed velocity is a lot lower.

[Epox]

Just to put things into perspective people should read abot the Tunguska event

[Deleted]

It wont. It would most likely kill most larger lifeforms of earth excluding humans in bunkers and possible other stuff, life in deep oceans etc. But it will not make every organism on earth extinct. Single cell organisms will survive and when "the dust settles" begin anew.

[Twoflower]

And I'm sure we have a photon/laser/plasma cannon somewhere in this world... Transformer movie had one...

Now if that isnt scientific evidence that puts us all at ease, I dont know what is.

/sarcasm off

[Topperharly]

It wont. It would most likely kill most larger lifeforms of earth excluding humans in bunkers and possible other stuff, life in deep oceans etc. But it will not make every organism on earth extinct. Single cell organisms will survive and when "the dust settles" begin anew.

there is no earth left. earth will be vaporisiert....

[Kornath]

I think we can handle a meteor the size of Texas.

With our advanced technology we should have weapons capable of destroying it, or at least break it up into smaller pieces.

That might just make the situation worse... Then we'll just blow up the smaller pieces.

That's why I voted: No.

[TeeZed]

I think it's a trick question... A Meteor the size of texas WOULD destroy the earth... if it hit the earth. However the odds of that happening are about as slim as holy paladins getting a survivability nerf in pvp. *pray*

Only a meteor could stop em anyway, either way. WIN WIN for wow

[Voij]

The speed at which it hits plays a huge role. A meteor hitting earth at 10,000 mph vs a meteor hitting at 900,000,000 mph leave quite a different looking earths.

But I have to say it wouldn't. It would cause a global black out because of dust flying out and blocking the sun and so forth, but people would survive. A LOT of people would die, but many would survive.

Uhm... that's about 1,5 times the speed of light... You either fail at physics or at hyperbols, not sure which one yet.
...I'll go ahead and assume that it's probably both.

The dinosaurs e.g. did not all disappear right after the impact. There were hundreds of years of darkness with ashes falling from the sky constantly, not to mention the huge shockwave, wave of fire and the gigantic waves of water that went across the globe.[Wind, Fire and Water!] It took "ages" for Earth to recover, no doubt that a meteor of even bigger size would just crush the planet's life.
(I'd imagine that the only safe places would probably be about 4-5km below the surface in the oceans, aswell as in space.)

So yeah, while I'm sure that, if we knew beforehand, some humans would survive, I highly doubt that the species would be able to prosper again.
Just can't imagine us being able to create a safespot quickly enough that would actually be able to create enough food, water, electricity and the like for hundreds of years.

[Writhes]

PFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTT, What a retarded question. The truth is a meteor only a 20th the size of Texas could wipe out the earth.

At the end of the day the size of the meteor only plays part of the role in its destructive potential. Velocity also plays a role.

[exquisite]

We just have to get everyone on Earth to stand close together so it will spread the damage out amongst us. That's how meteors work.

[Deleted]

Lol, an asteroid the size of texas would probably shatter the whole planet, considering a 1 mile wide asteroid would wipe out almost all life on earth.

[Topperharly]

Uhm... that's about 1,5 times the speed of light... You either fail at physics or at hyperbols, not sure which one yet.
...I'll go ahead and assume that it's probably both.

The dinosaurs e.g. did not all disappear right after the impact. There were hundreds of years of darkness with ashes falling from the sky constantly, not to mention the huge shockwave, wave of fire and the gigantic waves of water that went across the globe.[Wind, Fire and Water!] It took "ages" for Earth to recover, no doubt that a meteor of even bigger size would just crush the planet's life.
(I'd imagine that the only safe places would probably be about 4-5km below the surface in the oceans, aswell as in space.)

So yeah, while I'm sure that, if we knew beforehand, some humans would survive, I highly doubt that the species would be able to prosper again.
Just can't imagine us being able to create a safespot quickly enough that would actually be able to create enough food, water, electricity and the like for hundreds of years.

i think he was just saying, tha the speed is an important factor too.

[Voij]

I think we can handle a meteor the size of Texas.

With our advanced technology we should have weapons capable of destroying it, or at least break it up into smaller pieces.

That might just make the situation worse... Then we'll just blow up the smaller pieces.

That's why I voted: No.

Destroying something the size of Texas is far from an easy feat. The firepower that would be necessary is gigantic. Several nuclear missiles, probably.
I think we'd have to take off bits of it one by one.

---------- Post added 2011-02-02 at 12:26 PM ----------

i think he was just saying, tha the speed is an important factor too.

Yes, but if I were to discuss the dangers of crashs with a car, I wouldn't bring up a car driving at the speed of 10'000 mph either.

[Kornath]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asteroi...ion_strategies

There, we already have measures to deal with it.

[Deleted]

there is no earth left. earth will be vaporisiert....

Even inpact with something the size of Mars didnt vapourize Earth, it created moon though, a little rock like the size of Texas wouldn't do that either.

[Writhes]

Uhm... that's about 1,5 times the speed of light... You either fail at physics or at hyperbols, not sure which one yet.
...I'll go ahead and assume that it's probably both.

The dinosaurs e.g. did not all disappear right after the impact. There were hundreds of years of darkness with ashes falling from the sky constantly, not to mention the huge shockwave, wave of fire and the gigantic waves of water that went across the globe.[Wind, Fire and Water!] It took "ages" for Earth to recover, no doubt that a meteor of even bigger size would just crush the planet's life.
(I'd imagine that the only safe places would probably be about 4-5km below the surface in the oceans, aswell as in space.)

So yeah, while I'm sure that, if we knew beforehand, some humans would survive, I highly doubt that the species would be able to prosper again.
Just can't imagine us being able to create a safespot quickly enough that would actually be able to create enough food, water, electricity and the like for hundreds of years.

A meteor with the destructive potential to destroy the earth would more than likely consume the entire surface of the with fire. All life would be eradicated. Even if humans did manage to build a hole deep enough into the crust of the earth eventually air and food would run out.