Aftermath of massive comet strike on earth.

[bdewoody]

I watched this show on the Science channel last night. It assumes we are unable to deflect a large comet from hitting earth. Not a very pretty picture. One thing got me though. What are the odds of another massive comet hitting the earth in exactly the same place as 65 million years ago? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

The odds of it hitting at the same place would be astronomically <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> small.<br />First, the chance of an impact is very small to begin with, and second, the earth has a lot of surface area.<br />196,940,400 square miles or 510,073,294 sq km. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[qso1]

Did the show actually speculate on the comet hitting exactly the same place as 65 million years ago? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[bdewoody]

Yes it did, Yucatan Peninsula. I thought it was pretty lame of them. It appeared to be sort of a docu drama of what the aftermath might be like something like the one last year depicting a super volcano erupting at Yosemite. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[qso1]

I remember the supervolcano one. I think they sometimes just build shows around the latest computer graphics capabilities just to have an entertaining show to sell. CGI has gotten so well developed that almost anything can be portrayed nowadays. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[alokmohan]

Agreed.

 

[CalliArcale]

I caught a little bit of the show. I turned the channel once I realized that it was just another "ooh, look how scary it would be" shows. It seemed rather padded to me, and short on science data. It could've been both dramatic and useful for science education, but instead it seemed like a chance to play with computer graphics without having the bother of coming up with a storyline. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[bdewoody]

I didn't watch it much beyond the point when they projected the impact to be the Yucatan Peninsula. Went back into my computer room and continued flying online in Fighter Ace, much more interesting.<br /><br />On a related note. They seem to be running out of interesting science programming for the various Discovery channels. What they have shown previously has been good but I've seen them all two or three times by now. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em><font size="2">Bob DeWoody</font></em> </div>

 

[CalliArcale]

And frankly, they're not all that good at entertaining. At least not in my opinion. They're too heavily padded, and often fail to tell a coherent narrative.<br /><br />Sometimes I wonder if these docu-dramas aren't what people make if they can't hack drama . . . . <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[tuckerfan]

Color me disappointed. I thought that this thread would be an announcement that we were all doomed. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[qso1]

Have patience, I'm sure there will be such a thread soon enough LOL. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>

 

[weeman]

<font color="yellow"> Color me disappointed. I thought that this thread would be an announcement that we were all doomed. </font><br /><br />I would have to agree. When I die, I want to go out while witnessing the end of the world. How cool would that be!? Then at least I know there won't still be people living and having fun after I'm dead <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[nimbus]

I'm wondering why no one has volunteered yet to try manning a fast one way probe to distant targets during the last years of their life, either in the solar system, or to Centauri (or something). <br /><br />If nothing else, I'd like to ride a one way rocket to one of the planets, or the sun. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

I would if I thought I was on my last legs.<br /><br />Perhaps the first human on Io, Europa, Ganymede or Callisto. Titan or Triton.<br /><br />I would like Io, but the shielding required for the suit would make that a non starter.<br /><br />Would settle for Ganymede or Callisto though.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[spacefire]

bvdewoody, have you tried Aces High?<br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[nimbus]

I would research it myself, but I don't have enough time to read even just the threads I find interesting; to what extent would cost be lessened if a spacecraft was reduced to the minimums for such a trip? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

I think that this is a moot point. It had been suggested that the first humans on Mars may<br />be on a one way suicide trip. Perhaps when the oxygen runs low, they could either <br />take cyanide pills, or better still, just open their suits up outside!!!<br /><br />Somehow, I do not think for one minute that NASA would ever contemplate such a scenario. <br />They will want the crew back home safe.<br /><br />The Chinese, that could be different if the Taikonauts were brainwashed into serving the<br />'collective good', for Mother China.<br /><br />Could be wong though. I hope that I am.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[robnissen]

Could be <font color="yellow">wong</font>though.<br /><br />Pun intended? <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[MeteorWayne]

Ain't Freud Wonderful? LOL.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

I see it you two!!!!!! <img src="/images/icons/crazy.gif" /><br /><br />Very funny. <img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br />A crappy typo error on my part, forgetting the 'r'. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /><br /><br />Thanks for bringing it to my attention.<br /><br />I had better be careful, after all I have a Chinese Wife. <img src="/images/icons/blush.gif" /><br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[dragon04]

I don't think that the arbitrary impact site decided by the producers of that show really matter; it could have been anywhere on the planet.<br /><br />Rather, a body of a specific size, and arbitrary mass at a conceivable velocity was used to describe the effects of its impact on our planet.<br /><br />The odds of any such object smacking Earth after all this time might be vanishingly small. However, it's not impossible.<br /><br />Despite improbability, I don't find any small value in the desire to describe how we might avoid or survive such an impactor. In fact, I think we should have a plan for such a possibility.<br /><br />It's always prudent to have a "Plan B" ready to go when we're talking events that could cause global extinction.<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>