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See the original image at sciencenow.sciencemag.org

Hydrogen beast is closing in on the Milky Way

sciencenow.sciencemag.org — It's large, it's fast, and it's heading toward the Milky Way. Less than 40 million years from now, a giant cloud of hydrogen gas, clocked at 250 kilometers per second, will smash into our home galaxy, likely setting off a huge burst of star formation.

Bury
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  • rpi22, on 01/12/2008, -2/+89Duck!
  • jonxblaze, on 01/12/2008, -60/+10I hope it wipes out lesbians ands midgets.
  • lekahe, on 01/12/2008, -19/+5Interesting!
  • mxpx720, on 01/12/2008, -12/+38There's actually a spaceship behind the giant cloud that's going to pick everyone up and take them to heaven....... or so some bearded man told me
  • noahhoward, on 01/12/2008, -6/+88Ha ha, suck it immortals!
  • jmpeagle, on 01/12/2008, -2/+22can't wait....
  • avonwodahs, on 01/12/2008, -7/+3Run for your lives!
  • scabbers, on 01/12/2008, -3/+4It's what the inhibitors are for.
  • RUFFyamahaRYDER, on 01/12/2008, -6/+12Ok... who farted?
  • SzaszMan, on 01/12/2008, -10/+2Oh nooooooooooes!!!!
  • NikoKun, on 01/12/2008, -3/+77lol, In less than 40 millions years, huh?
    Boy, I better start packing...
    • MacGyver2210, on 01/12/2008, -6/+3I'm curious just how they know this...can they SEE Hydrogen in space or something? Only when it goes more than 200km/h? Is it burning? If it's burning, where's the oxygen coming from and will it last for 40m years?
      • omaryak, on 01/12/2008, -0/+6Here's an idea - read the article: "Many clouds of hydrogen surround the Milky Way. But astronomers didn't start spotting them until a half-century ago--after the advent of radio telescopes, which are able to detect cold, neutral hydrogen gas."
    • calon9, on 01/13/2008, -1/+3In the year 40002007, a descendant of a former well-known vice-president will win an oscar for his film "An Inconvenient Cloud of Gas"
  • D3koy, on 01/12/2008, -1/+48If we're still around in 40 million years I'll be impressed...
    • WarrenG1983, on 01/12/2008, -0/+2yeah. surely some rock is gonna bump into our dinky little planet at some point between now and then. moot.
    • Scynet, on 01/12/2008, -0/+17If we only managed to expand to other planets, it might actually happen. Having just two planets to live on would already boost our chances of surviving nuclear wars, comets and whatnot quite a lot. For as long as we're stuck on this same house, we're very vulnerable.
    • MacGyver2210, on 01/12/2008, -2/+4"The data reveal that the cloud is just 8000 light-years away from the Milky Way's central plane"

      So, only 3,992,000 years to go then? I assume that the data they're getting is at least 8000 years old given quantum physics and all...
  • Walwyn, on 01/12/2008, -8/+4Holy *****!! It'll be here Anytime this minute... OK, 40 million years away, because think of our uninhabitable planet then...
    Its Doooooomeeeddd!!
  • phrozted, on 01/12/2008, -6/+2Didn't I read this on the front page of the New York Times? Wait, no...
  • sniperboy67, on 01/12/2008, -3/+14ITS A TRAP!
    • 1807, on 01/12/2008, -0/+7Nothing can repel gas of that magnitude!
  • KaiUno, on 01/12/2008, -0/+6So... on the one hand we have the Andromeda galaxy bearing down on us, heading for a massive collision on galactic scale, on the other hand we've got a gassy cloud.

    I'm rooting for the cloud.
  • Tanktunker, on 01/12/2008, -1/+55OH ***** TOMORROW IS LESS THAN 40 MILLION YEARS FROM NOW.
    • wondertwins, on 01/12/2008, -7/+1yes.. its gonna be 39,999,999 days now
      • Veni_Vidi_Vici, on 01/13/2008, -0/+2That would be 40 million days. FYI: there are 365.25 days in one year. I believe that 146 0999999 is the number you are looking for.
  • neverender, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1Chaos cloud?
  • diggingaround, on 01/12/2008, -2/+4"No Smoking" sign in the size of the Moon will be posted in Earths orbit...
  • someone173406, on 01/12/2008, -0/+6That'll be one hell of a firework show.
    • Negyxo, on 01/13/2008, -0/+2could you imagine being able to observe the coming doom?
  • nurvus, on 01/12/2008, -0/+9Must be the russians.
  • Drgn547, on 01/12/2008, -5/+2So yeah... since humans have been around about 200,000 years... I'm sure nothing will change in 40 million, and we'll enjoy the light show!
  • pimpofpixels, on 01/12/2008, -0/+21The problem with astronomy posts:
    "Wow that's cool. I'll be sure to check that out in 40 million years"
    • rif42, on 01/12/2008, -1/+0Better put a mark in the calendar, not to forget the date.
  • Koppie, on 01/12/2008, -11/+4I'M IN UR GALAXIE CREATIN UR STARZ
  • JasonCox, on 01/12/2008, -0/+9That's not a cloud, it's a space sta- oh, no, wait, that's definently a cloud.
  • Shevanel, on 01/12/2008, -0/+3Hopefully in 40 million years we'll find a way to harvest the hydrogen and then use that supply of hydrogen to power the world...ok so i doubt it...
  • SebHughes, on 01/12/2008, -1/+4We're Doomed!!!! I have 5 places in my spaceship if anybody wants to run away and life forever.
    • nurvus, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1No thanks. Not with you.
    • mattjewell, on 01/12/2008, -0/+2If you have a space ship, shouldn't that be "You're dooomed!!!"?
  • MalTheObscure, on 01/12/2008, -0/+2Yesterday, NPR interviewed the lady who first discovered it and she said it would hit in more like 25 million years. The lady also said that it would hit a different arm of the Milky Way than ours, so our progeny is safe from gas.... I guess. Not that it's likely that humans will still exist then.
    • Tanath, on 01/12/2008, -3/+1Only 'cause we'll have changed so much between know and then. We're capable of spreading to other planets. You really think we're going to die out?
    • bubbadigg, on 01/13/2008, -1/+1nobody's progeny is safe from gas..... too many carbs in the diet....
  • audiowizard, on 01/12/2008, -4/+1God does fart
  • WallnutBoy, on 01/12/2008, -2/+740 million light years? Plenty of t-....wait.. LESS THAN 40 million light years?!?! OH ***** RUN.
  • sunshinemonster, on 01/12/2008, -4/+2In 40 millions years my world overthrow begins! What to do until then... BAH! THIS IS TAKING TOO LONG!
  • ketchupcorsair, on 01/12/2008, -3/+1This is just part of the expected dissolution of the universe, foretold in many ancient eastern religions.
  • dissurmom, on 01/12/2008, -0/+13I can't even begin to imagine how advanced as a race we will be if we're still around in 40 million years... I doubt this will be a problem for my future relatives, Gleepglop and Nixx B'tang 3000. They'll handle it.
    • esotericguy, on 01/12/2008, -0/+5Did you say Gleepglop? OUR KIDS ARE GETTING MARRIED?!?!
    • diggmaddy, on 01/13/2008, -0/+1"I don't know what WW3 would be fought be, but do know that WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones"
      Apparently, human race has a tendency to destroy itself back to square 1 repeatedly, on a regular basis. So, I wouldn't be surprised if 40 million years later, "humans" (or whatever we evolve into) are still in the same stage of technological advancement.
    • fixedcoma, on 01/13/2008, -0/+1they better leave the galaxy altogether to escape this fire hazard heading this way! We'll probably just pass it in time hopefully, but next time around in the galaxy would be a nerve wrecking experience!
  • Phyrex, on 01/12/2008, -1/+4Think of the bright side. We will have cheap hydrogen source to support our future hydrogen economy, in just 40 million years.
    • fixedcoma, on 01/13/2008, -0/+1Maybe we can warp to it and use it all before it hits our galaxy!
  • banido, on 01/12/2008, -1/+3"RUN FOREST, RUN !"
  • johnhummel, on 01/12/2008, -0/+5Sweet - so you know how people say we don't have a good supply of hydrogen to run the "cars of the future"?

    Well, I guess they were wrong! We just have to wait 40,000,000 years, and we'll be *bathing* in hydrogen. Fuel cells for everyone!
  • warlokaz2004, on 01/12/2008, -3/+5how long before Al Gore tells us we need to cut back our Hydrogen Emissions?
  • Ratteler, on 01/12/2008, -0/+8If we switch to a hydrogen fuel based economy... that cloud is DONE FOR!!!!
  • mp3dog, on 01/12/2008, -10/+1WHOOOOOO CARES!!!
  • STKD, on 01/12/2008, -1/+19Ah, another beautiful sunny day in the year 40, 000, 000. Glorious climate controller weather and not a cloud in the sk... hey wait a minute WHAT THE ***** IS THAT...
  • Jamihabs, on 01/12/2008, -1/+6Oh the humanity!
    • foreignwarren, on 01/12/2008, -0/+3apropos Hindenburg reference....right on.
      • Jamihabs, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1I wasn't sure if anyone would get it. Thank you.
  • SoleRider, on 01/12/2008, -0/+10Where's Bruce Willis when we need him?
    • MacGyver2210, on 01/12/2008, -0/+12Where's the Uber-Maid with a huge vacuum cleaner from Spaceballs when you need one?
      • Amadeus2490, on 01/12/2008, -0/+2SUCK! SUCK! SUCK!

        ... She's gone from suck to blow!!
  • harryterry, on 01/12/2008, -7/+2why does any care if it's 40 million years away? i really don't. we won't be alive so who gives a *****...?
    • Ratteler, on 01/12/2008, -0/+8Speak for yourself. I'm still going to be here digging down your descendants comments!!!!
      The Singularity is Near!!!
  • manicallday, on 01/12/2008, -1/+7I read beast as breast. I have issues.
  • spiffywilco, on 01/12/2008, -0/+2Hmmm, that's oddly fascinating for reasons I can't pin down.
    Is anyone else amazed that we can detect that type of event? I know I am, makes me think of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the giant computer... waiting all that time... event. Yeah.
    I still think it's amazing, point for science.
  • loveddevol, on 01/12/2008, -5/+1IS THIS AWESOME?
    [Y/N]
  • wil2200, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1so i got some time, right?
  • mattjewell, on 01/12/2008, -0/+4"Yesterday....tomorrow seemed so far awaaayyyyy"
    • NorrisTwithman, on 01/12/2008, -0/+1Try again.
      • mattjewell, on 01/12/2008, -0/+3The wrong words I know, but for a long while I though they were the real ones...although frankly the real lyrics fit quite wel here as well, so I shall try again.

        "Yesterday.... all my troubles seemed so far awaaaayyyy"

        better? ;)
  • Member148, on 01/12/2008, -0/+3Since we are on the edge of the milky way galaxy I hope we are on the opposite side when it hits. Those who believe in reincarnation may be around when it hits.:-)
  • Attol, on 01/12/2008, -2/+1Sooo.. When do we start the raping?
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