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750 Comments
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -10/+1082Amazing! A 30,000 mph meteorite hit would vaporize most kids his age.
- buddamus, on 06/12/2009, -4/+607You know things are bad when even space tries to kill you
- DeviantDragon, on 06/12/2009, -11/+612Congratulations, kid. You now know what it's like to high-five a meteorite.
- ShiningSquirrel, on 06/12/2009, -5/+543Something does not sound right. Anything the size of a pea going that fast, that makes a foot sized crater, would have ripped his hand off not bounced off it.
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -5/+488And no photos of the meteorite, the crater, or the boy's hand?
Journalism fail. - CasinoJack, on 06/12/2009, -3/+414HE'S A WITCH!
- meerling, on 06/12/2009, -5/+318After the scientist finish 'studying' it, the kid should get it.
International salvage laws or something.
Technically he laid hands on it before it even struck the earth.
Besides, he deserves that rock more than any collector, it got his dna on it before it even landed... - andyb747, on 06/12/2009, -7/+298Interesting how he sustains only a grazed hand as a result of a "direct hit" by a meteorite traveling 30,000 mph and yet the street ends up with a foot sized crater....hmmm....
- itlnstln, on 06/12/2009, -8/+289He goes up to a girl, "Hey, i got hit with a meteor going 30,000 MPH, here's the scar to prove it"
*girl drops panties* - AveryDeDog, on 06/12/2009, -7/+247*****!
- BorsKaegel, on 06/12/2009, -3/+166He turned me into a newt!
- dijkstra22, on 06/12/2009, -1/+154Schwaavay you're wrong. Terminal velocity requires a velocity dependent force countering gravity, in most cases drag from air resistance. Also, classically, 9.8 m/s^2 acceleration will take you to infinite speeds after infinite time (disregarding relativity)
Simply put, the meteorite was probably going FASTER than the terminal velocity (that it would experience if it was dropped from rest) when it entered the atmosphere, so we actually should be talking about it slowing to terminal velocity, rather than speeding up to terminal velocity. - meerling, on 06/12/2009, -4/+156Must have been a glancing blow.
"It's just a flesh wound!" - dougmc, on 06/12/2009, -11/+161There's no way something the size of a pea could be going through our lower atmosphere and keep going that fast or remain hot. It would slow down to under 100 mph and cool in just a few seconds.
And a pea sized meteor wouldn't create a big crater or a crash of thunder.
I wonder if he got hit by a fragment ablating off of a larger meteor? Or perhaps a larger meteor hit the ground, and he got hit by a bit of shrapnel from that? Or perhaps there's even more about the story that's inaccurate? - MaxxusFlamus, on 06/12/2009, -26/+162this gives me a headache. unfortunately for you- digg has gotten stupid to the point that they don't know what terminal velocity is.
You're entirely right though. This rock likely topped out going 100mph once it entered the lower atmosphere. I was only going 30,000mph when in the vacuum of outer space.
For the rest of digg that doesn't know what terminal velocity is- it's the maximum speed a falling object can reach due to the counteracting force of air resistance.
Now I can't wait for the hurp a durp comments comparing the fall rate of a feather vs rock. - jer21, on 06/12/2009, -3/+138BURN HIM!!!
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -11/+136If there is ever going to appear a mutant on earth, it has to be this kid!!
- uptwolait, on 06/12/2009, -3/+122What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen meteorite?
- inactive, on 06/12/2009, -0/+114Just look at that hair, they were down already.
- JammoBlammo, on 06/12/2009, -3/+109I got better!
- dumbrit, on 06/12/2009, -7/+107buried as *****
- presidentraygun, on 06/12/2009, -7/+102Father Jor-El said to be relieved.
- cassedy, on 06/12/2009, -0/+92not dying when hit by a 30000mph meteorite?
- meerling, on 06/12/2009, -2/+82How about the wound on his hand that is going to leave a 3" scar?
Or maybe his flesh and blood on the rock itself... - bob_the_alien, on 06/12/2009, -3/+80BURN HIM
- masterkenobi, on 06/12/2009, -2/+79The Todd approves.
- lorddazzer, on 06/12/2009, -6/+82So... if he weighs the same... as a duck...
then he's made of wood...
and THEREFORE...
A WITCH!!!! - inactive, on 06/12/2009, -0/+72I... Er... Uh... Thanks Shwaavay, now I'm going to have go out back and shoot myself.
- uptwolait, on 06/12/2009, -0/+67Meteorite Five!
- theOster, on 06/12/2009, -1/+63...and the hat.
- sharkd, on 06/12/2009, -2/+63Well, we did do the nose...
- sharkd, on 06/12/2009, -2/+63A scratch!? His arm's off!
- megamod, on 06/12/2009, -0/+57or give him a super power
- HyperionHK, on 06/12/2009, -1/+58At Shwaavay, you have it all wrong. 9.8m/s^2 is the ACCELERATION due to gravity. Assuming no resistance from air, a falling object will increase in velocity by 9.8m/s every second. Terminal velocity occurs when the force of gravity is equally by the force of air resistance so that the acceleration becomes zero, that speed differs for everything and can very easily be greater than 9.8m/s (about 22mph).
A meteor in particular has a large amount of velocity when it comes into the Earth's atmosphere and if it's big enough and fast enough, it may be going faster than terminal velocity, though it often isn't. Terminal velocity is still usually a few hundred mph. - Grandpohbah, on 06/12/2009, -3/+56I wonder what Superpowers he gets now?
- TonyLocNE, on 06/12/2009, -0/+52"I was only going 30,000mph when in the vacuum of outer space."
Enough about the ***** meteorite... I want to hear more about this... - pathouston22, on 06/12/2009, -10/+62Looks like a girl.
- passedoutghost, on 06/12/2009, -2/+52Strap him to a chair and throw him in a lake! If he sinks and drowns, he's innocent but if he manages to float he's definitely guilty!
- neillawson, on 06/12/2009, -0/+49I don't know why but I struggled to read that to the end...
- davebond007of9, on 06/12/2009, -16/+60Yes, there is a LOT wrong with this story..... - and not just the idea of a 'pea-sized' meteorite making a 1-foot crater, either..
Yes it is definitely 'magnetic'... Oh, really ? Such Meteorites are IRON, what a surprise !! And 30K mph my ***...
I suspect the kid [Gerrit Blank] fell off his bike, grazed his hand... and made up the story...
Other witnesses ? Date of incident ?... etc etc - or the whole thing is simply a spoof, of course !! - theodenking, on 06/12/2009, -3/+47What a dumbass, if I saw a meteor heading for me at 30000 mph I'd move.
- Wuss, on 06/12/2009, -25/+68If it fell from space (which meteorites tend to do), terminal velocity would only have been a factor after it entered the earths atmosphere ( i think). In a vacuum, speed is only limited by your propulsion (i think). Could have been quite possible for this thing to be going quite fast and carry that momentum into earth.
- Spikito, on 06/12/2009, -2/+45they shouldnt have said bounced. more like grazed.
it didnt damage him because it kept traveling it didnt deliver any of its energy into him. but it did into the ground.
think of getting grazed by a bullet, and getting a direct hit
or clipping the mirror of your car, or hitting abrick wall head on - arsheroica, on 06/12/2009, -1/+44I'm no scientist, but I think that's why it's funny.
- Roget, on 06/12/2009, -1/+43So a 14-year-old kid went to a party, then to a bar and ended up having sex with the Joker?
- chthonical, on 06/12/2009, -0/+42Which would have made for a better story. Which I would have dugg.
- newman8r, on 06/12/2009, -1/+42Jesus... there are so many diggers who think they know physics it's a joke.
Anyone who thinks this object was traveling at it's terminal velocity should stop trying to brag about their physics knowledge. If someone had dropped the pea sized object from an airplane, then yeah it would have been traveling at its terminal velocity.
But this thing entered the atmosphere at an incredibly high speed - while air resistance would definitely slow the object down, it wasn't nearly enough to bring it down to it's terminal velocity.
I hate you all. - Dinner, on 06/12/2009, -0/+41"terminal velocity is faster than 100 mph"
Not that I know my physics, but isn't the terminal velocity of any object totally dependent on how much air resistance that particular object experiences? Is there a 'terminal velocity' full stop? - inactive, on 06/12/2009, -3/+44and the follow up story will be "14 year old boy attacked in his sleep by his own hand - police find answers to life's mysteries scribbled on wall - boy denies any involvement"
- therealdoug, on 10/08/2009, -0/+39He probably just did a barrel roll.
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