What is Digg?37 Comments
- sgtpinky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"...and hitting the ground at an astonishing 2,295 times the force of Earth's gravity."
As a physicist, I can tell you that the above sentence doesn't even make sense. - suspectONE, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3yes this happend a while back, but did any of you know about the worms? NO
do you guys ever stop bitching? - go_vt_hokies, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Original Submission
http://digg.com/technology/Experimental_Worms_Survived_Reentry_Crash_of_Shuttle_Columbia - pingviini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2well, if force is mass*acceleration, then the if you compared the acceleration of going from really frickin' fast to stopped, that multiplied by their mass would give you their force. That force/acceleration is "2,295" times greater than the acceleration due to gravity. Because their mass is constant, I figure the acceleration they encountered would be about 22,491 m/s^2. They probly ment to say 2,295 times greater than the force exerted by the force of gravity at rest.
Other solution:
The writer knows nothing about physics and (likely) my physics teacher was brainless.
I made a 98 in physics and am looking forward to AP physics next semester. Correct me anywhere I am wrong please. - AttroPheed, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Tiny Worm Jesus saved 'em for they were righteous tiny worms.
- rerun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd heard about the worms a few months after the crash, along with the announcement that up to 60% of the experiments performed during Colombia's final flight produced usable scientific data from down links and from material recovered on the ground. It's almost more impressive that the works survived for a few weeks with no climate control after the landing, and a few more weeks in a hangar before someone was able to find a clean room to open them up - the worms they found were actually the 5th generation descended from the originals that were launched.
But the claim of 2295 G's on impact is completely ridiculous. That kind of acceleration would liquefy the worms AND the aluminum. These worms were in an agar medium in petri dishes, which were stacked several high inside aluminum cylinders. I saw them unpacking the cylinders on NASA TV when it was announced, and they were pretty much undamaged.
I suspect that the author (of the article) may have confused the orbital velocity (18,500 mph) with the terminal velocity of a low-density object after surviving reentry (maybe 100 or 200 mph - the Genesis sample return capsule that crashed in the desert last year was only traveling 193 mph and it was much more dense). Hitting the ground at 300 mph is going to suck, but this was said on NASA TV to have been found impacted along a steep wooded ravine, which likely absorbed a lot of energy slowly as compared to, say, landing in a parking lot. The flight instrumentation tape recorder that was found intact and gave so much information about the early heating in the left wing, was found in similar terrain.
But at the end of the day, I'm just happy there's some science that could be taken from Colombia and the work done by her last crew. And at least they got to experience spaceflight for 16 days. - Zonkzor, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Doesn't really suprise me since they were probably incased in dirt inside a sturdy container. Plus they are really simple, flexible creatures
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How To Be A http://CollegeCheapskate.com - ConEEE, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The last paragraph is pretty incredulous. It fails to take into account the fact that to get to another planet, the worms would have to survive the initial meteorite blast to kick them into space and staying in a vacuum for years, decades or even centuries.
- lektroo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe we could crash some containers of worms on Mars and see if they live and grow. If so we could use them for early sustenance upon our arrival. Yeah, that's the ticket.
- dbcoder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Insects, most notably ants, can withstand very long falls. You can drop an ant an infinite distance and when that ant hits (of course to hit the distance would have to be finite, just bare with me) it will not die simply because their exoskeleton is very strong, relatively, when compared to their mass. In short, ants can withstand falls from terminal velocity, so can other insects too, it's not that big of a discovery.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I hope it kills my tiny krabs. I cant get rid of those things. :(
- MrC539, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"As a physicist, I can tell you that the above sentence doesn't even make sense."
You're right--as someone who's acing physics, I agree it doesn't make sense. I just put it in because that's what the article said.
And yes, the article is a dupe but the original had a bad title and only got 20 diggs....I figured I'd resubmit it so more people could be aware of it. - UnlivedPhalanx, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Now this is kind of cool.
- rc_collins, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That is a tasty thought. The idea of worms sailing through the air at mach 5 and embedding themselves in everything.
--dan - tw0bit, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I heard about this a LONG time ago... no digg
- trogdoor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"The last paragraph is pretty incredulous. It fails to take into account the fact that to get to another planet, the worms would have to survive the initial meteorite blast to kick them into space and staying in a vacuum for years, decades or even centuries." I don't know about the initial meteorite blast but there is an insect that can withstand the vacuum of space in a dormant state (sorry I don't remember the name).
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0WOW. Awesome. Digg. Sad crash, man. That was so terrible.
- Ratteler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0and they all got jobs working for the RIAA.
- pingviini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I was typing while Tyrel commented. I think I just said the same thing he did
- nugget, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is the first I have heard about it.
- rerun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0dammit, spellcheck, I meant Columbia, not Colombia...
- TheFlyingMonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0...and that children is how life came to be on the planet Earth. 'Cept it was comet. Right?
- sergio, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If you find this is an old story, use the "problem?" drop-down to report it as such. Likewise, if it's a dupe, mark it as a duplicate story. There's no point in saying it in the comments, nobody cares but you and anyone else who has the same problem.
- Tyrel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0 "'...and hitting the ground at an astonishing 2,295 times the force of Earth's gravity.'
As a physicist, I can tell you that the above sentence doesn't even make sense."
Unfortunately for physicists, that sentence wasn't written for you, I guess.
"... and impacting the ground at such a rate that caused them to experience a jerk acceleration of 22,494.33 m/s/s" or something... - VoraciousPanda, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0""...and hitting the ground at an astonishing 2,295 times the force of Earth's gravity."
As a physicist, I can tell you that the above sentence doesn't even make sense."
i was just about to say that. thank you - underburn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Looks like something good came out of the crash
- multifaceted, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0""This is a very exciting result," said Catharine Conley,"
Clearly someone doesn't have a heart or thinks tiny worms are more important then the lives lost. Yes, I'm I'm emotional about it. - Uthman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0>>"...and hitting the ground at an astonishing 2,295 times the force of Earth's gravity."
>>As a physicist, I can tell you that the above sentence doesn't even make sense.
As a physicists, that is also the first thing I noticed and regarded the article immediately as bull. - Trepan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Yeah this is old as hell.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Old, but i hadn't heard about it. Thats why its up here.
- nnonix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0""This is a very exciting result," said Catharine Conley,"
"Clearly someone doesn't have a heart or thinks tiny worms are more important then the lives lost. Yes, I'm I'm emotional about it.""
They were speaking from a scientific perspective. If your not stupid, you know that. Secondly, saying something is "exciting" doesn't necessarily mean its a good thing, nor does it imply one way or another what their feelings are about the crash.
Stop being a dumb-ass. - ReinMasamuri, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Good question. VERY old.
- jus1haz2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0due STFU if its old just dont put in a comment i like alot of other people have not heard of this and am glad i did so stfu if its old and just report it.
- jd230, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1This is really old news. How the Hell did it get on the front page?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0Jeez, this is freaking OLD NEWS!
Anything else you missed in 2003 that you would like to share with us?
NO DIGG for you! - deadapostle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+0I never stop bitching, and I remember hearing about these worms about the same time the shuttle assploded. Stupid old story.
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