Asteroids and Comets: Deadly Dangers from Above

CBN News ^ | June 15th, 2004 | Gailon Totheroh

[wbill]

What's next "Sharks from outerspace"....???

So long as they don't have frickin' "lasers" attached to their heads. Then we'd all be in trouble.

[wbill]

Bah! You beat me to it...... :-)

[blam]

Did Asteroids And Comets Change The Tides Of Civilization?

Yes.

[6ppc]

I can't even wrap my mind around the scope of such an events; and the effects afterwards.

Then read Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pournelle.

This is something we need to be serious about. Planning and hardware must be in place when (not if) the event occurs. You can't throw something together at the last minute and expect it to save our butts.

[blam]

The Dark Ages: Were They Darker Than We Imagined?

Yes.

[blam]

Disaster That Struck The Ancients

Iraqi Crater

[JustPlainJoe]

"We'll get one to two events per century that will be equal to all the destructive power of all the weapons in World War II."

Name the last one, pal. Wasn't WWII the most destructive power we've seen in the 20th century? If there was a natural disaster of that magnitude, I missed it.
How do these clowns who guesstimate EVERYTHING now KNOW that these calamities WILL happen any time now?


"With funding, that could take about 10 years, and by then government officials could come up with a plan to at least minimize the potential global impact."

- Now THERE'S the solution - ANOTHER government research program! They'll fix it-they can fix ANYTHING!

I thought from the old thread last week that we only have until this Friday, June 18 before the asteroids start falling and wiping out life on this planet.

[pragmatic_asian]

I've never heard of a single American ever dying from a meteor impact but I do remember several airline crashes. Obviously a large enough meteor strike would kill all Americans but for the average person at any single point in time, the odds aren't equivelant. This is one of those ridiculous stats that has no empirical basis.

[theDentist]

Boy, just saying we're testing a physics package in space will drive the environmentalists into such a frenzy it might be worth it for entertainment value alone. Us surviving would just be frosting on the cake!

[steve86]

Little "Comets"

http://sask.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View filename=meteors040517

[King David]

Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena has been tracking asteroids, both past and future. They know all the dates, locations, distances in their Near Earth Object Program clear out to the year 2100.

http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/

[backtothestreets]

For the record, I do not support asteroids and comets.

[tet68]

Remember when BIC lighters were killing people by the dozen by exploding in people's pocketS?


Well, that WAS before the safety locks,
and before the three day waiting period,
and before the no bic zones around schools,
and before bic proof vests,
and before the assault bic.

Everyone has a right to fire, we all know this, but the
founding fathers really only had in mind flint and steel or
perhaps matches BUT NOTHING MORE than that.

/rant.

[backtothestreets]

No need to wonder what the reaction would be if a large natural disaster were to strike. You would see some of the greatest acts of bravery and kindness, but also much of the worst of humanity.

Written accounts from disasters like the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, and the 1989 Loma Pieta earthquake give a good record of expectations. While great acts of heroism and kindness were widely reported, much darker events were also unfolding.

In the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake, looters roved the streets stealing jewelry from victims. In the moments after the 1989 earthquake, some people climbed onto the collapsed freeway, and unlike those people trying to rescue victims, these people began searching for jewelry and other valuables to steal. In that same earthquake, telecommunications were down. Emergency personnel could neither receive calls, nor dispatch personnel to many necessary areas. Roving gangs, well armed, took control of downtown intersection and would not allow vehicles to proceed until the occupants had emptied their pockets of valuables.

The immediate events following natural and man made disasters are quite similar. Similar events unfolded during the Rodney King riots. They absolutely polarize the population in ways no one might imagine. Many innocent people are caused great suffering at the hands of others.

If another earthquake strikes the Hayward fault, such as that of the 1906 earthquake, you'll get a full view of what such a high magnitude disaster will bring. That fault, which geologists suggest in 60 years overdue for another big quake, is considered the deadliest in the world. A similar earthquake today could kill 100,000 in the earliest moments. Some would die in collapsing buildings, an equal number would die in flash floods crested by the collapse of outdated dams. The worst part will come immediately after and the days following. It will bring deaths at the hands of roving gangs trying to seize upon a moment of weakness. It's not a pretty sight to imagine. Such criminal activities during dire emergencies have the effect of making law abiding citizens suspect everyone, even other law abiding citizens as potential threats. Vigilante groups will form to protect neighborhoods.

BTW, don't know if it's been posted already, but the New Madrid fault also had a small trembler today. This is the fault that gave the largest earthquake in the recorded history of the USA. And for all those that think such a quake could never hit their area. The most devastating earthquake in the US prior to the Great San Francisco earthquake was in Boston.

Don't worry about asteroids and comets. Worry about man's inhumanity to man.

[backtothestreets]

They know all the dates, locations, distances in their Near Earth Object Program clear out to the year 2100. 

Ummm, not quite all.  Think of the earth as being in the center of a large dinner plate.  The Jet Propulsion Lab is watching everything toward the outer edge of the plate, and about an inch above and below the surface of the plain.  They do not have the resources or capabilities to watch what is directly above or below the plate.  This is where the "close encounters" are reported after the asteroid or meteor passes.  Until there are satellites with the capability of watching above and below, the Jet Propulsion Lab is working on a two dimensional view in three dimensional space.  That's were the vast majority of asteroids and meteors are present, but it's one from the small fraction that'll probably get us.

Best advice... don't worry about it.

[SLB]

New Madrid fault also had a small trembler today.

I live about 100 miles Northeast of Reelfoot lake.

[txhurl]

Well, if India were struck, we'd get quite a few jobs back here on our shores <\outsourcewhine>.

[rmlew]

Did you just reffer toa multi-megaton H-Bomb as a "physics package"?

[wolfman]

I wonder if the government would tell us, if they knew some asteroid or whatever a mile across was PROBABLY going to hit earth and they knew the day and time. Opinions?

[eastforker]

IMHO,no, never happen. For one , even the best scientist don't know till the last minute if it will bounce off or not and two, it would cause mass violence just on speculation.