Meteor Over Midwest 614
bigpat writes "According to this story in the Chicago Tribune or this article, a meteor estimated to be the size of a 'Volkswagen bug' exploded over the Midwest around midnight yesterday morning. The resulting small meteorites hit homes causing some damage. The largest meteorite collected was 7.5 pounds. So why do astronomers always compare the size of meteors to Volkswagen bugs?"
Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps you would prefer an Isetta [cqql.net].
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people can relate better to an image of "A meteor the size of a volkswagon bug impacted with the moon" rather than "A x ton meteor impacted with the moon". The relationship to a physical object that most people have encountered in their lifetime rather than an abstract measurement of weight, elicits the desired emotional response from people. Awe. If you say "A x-ton meteor", it won't be quite as impressive as saying "A meteor the size of the empire state building", no matter how many tons "x" is.
For abstract numbers, people need a sense of scale. "The new budget for executive toenail clippers is equivalent to the salaries of 1200 secretaries." It's more likely to bring about anger at the stupidity of the budget than a number is.
-Sara
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Hmmm, and I thought they compared them to VW Bugs because that's all scientists can afford to drive.
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Should we have a new metric measurement? The Bug?
Re:Why Not (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Hence, when an alien vessel parks in earth orbit, it's size is referred to in cublic VWB's.
Hence, smaller objects are referred to in terms of they're size as a percentage of 1 VWB. Since a VWB was about 900 pounds (I think) then I'm 1/4.5ths of a VWB in terms of mass...
Re:Why Not (Score:2)
Aren't I going to get a wedgie for knowing this?
Re:Why Not (Score:4, Interesting)
This isn't even a joke.
I understand that corporations are obligated to defend their trademarks, but I disagree that they are forced into the brutally hostile position, like in VW's case, attacking the people who have made the whole aircooled vw hobby possible, making aftermarket parts, doing rallys, publishing magazines, that sort of thing.
I've been a VW enthusiast for a very long time. My first car was a beetle, in 1979. I've owned 7 vw's of various types. But VW's trademark escapades were the main influence against me buying a Passat. I won't touch VW ever again, after what they've done to the hobbyists in the name of "trademark protection".
I really do not believe there's any law that obligates you to be an asshole. That's just how it is interpreted by people who need an excuse to play bully.
Re:Why Not (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Why Not (Score:3, Informative)
Also it's a universal thing. Everyone knows how big a WV bug is. If you said it's the size of a Honda Accord few would know how big that is. Also VW bugs are nice and round, much like what the Meteor will look like. Saying it's the size of a common object is much more useful to people then saying it was 32 m^3 meteor or 4500 gallon ro
Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:4, Interesting)
The issue is that the scientific community has chosen to withhold any information [slashdot.org] regarding the potential threat of meteors for this very reason. With more public acknowledgement of the problem, we could develop something like the Patriot missile defense system for extraterrestrial bodies so things like this would not happen. The trillions of dollars spent on SDI and later the Patriot system would have been better spent on such protection.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Funny)
Ohh me me me - pick me please please pleeeeease me me memememememe!!!
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Insightful)
And given the "success" of those projects, would you feel any safer?
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:2)
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Informative)
Yes, it's nice to have a decade to fix your problems. If we were talking a large metor striking the Earth, we wouldn't have the opportunity to fix our first screw up.
Plus, considering the rather, uh, "optimistic" results that are reported during conflicts (e.g. reports of the last Partriot success during the conflict), I'd be rather suspect of _any_ such information until after everything is said and d
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:2)
CNN and MSNBC to name a few.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Insightful)
Trillions of dollars? You realize that the US economy is about $10 trillion a year. Do you really think that we spent that much on the patriot system and SDI research?
Secondly: Maybe I am really uninformed. I can't remember anyone that I know every being hurt my a meteor. I can't even remember any friend of a friend type stories. Is it really that serious? Worth spending a significant portion of the GDP (trillions) on?
Maybe I am just nieve and my grandma was really hit by a meteor and didn't have a stroke. Maybe the stroke was caused by a meteor?
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Informative)
Injuries were light.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Interesting)
Joking aside... the chance of being in the right place at the right time to get hit by an object falling from a random trajectory is nearly impossibly unlikely, but the bigger that object the more damage it can do. I'm sure few slashdot readers are well read enough to have heard about the downfall of the dinosaurs.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Interesting)
Speaking of SDI. niven was on Screen Savers the other night, and mentioned that he was one of the people involved in proposing SDI (if I heard right) to Reagans government. That initiati
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Funny)
So you missed the recent Slashdot discussion on IBM Mainframes?
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Funny)
Why do I feel like there's a Captain Kirk Joke in there? Something to do with missles and alien bodies perhaps?
Under-appreciated movie (Score:4, Interesting)
Back when Armageddon, Deep Impact, and other Americans-save-the-world propeganda was flying around, there was a great little Canadian film called "Last night"
The situation is... a little while ago scientists figured out the world was going to end. They tried to do something about it, but realized it was utterly futile. People panicked a bit after that... but that didn't change anything. Yep, the world is going to end and there is absolutely nothing anyone can do about it. It's great :-)
http://users.aol.com/aleong1631/lastnight.html
What makes it extra beautiful for the geeky crowd is that it doesn't even touch the sci-fi aspects. It just ignores that stuff... they don't even really get into why or how the world is going to end. It's just some un-discussed astronomical disaster.
Oh, and the review is a little off... it's not that the world ends at the end of the millenium, it is that they adjust the clocks and calendars so that the world ends at that point. No trite, sucky 'fate' or religious apocolypse overtones...
Re:Under-appreciated movie (Score:3, Interesting)
Doesn't that make it a less desirable movie for the geeky crowd? I like science. I enjoy movies that have science in them. I think many geeks feel the same way. Why would a touchy-feely movie be "extra beautiful" for the geeky crowd?
Re:Under-appreciated movie (Score:3, Interesting)
Beautiful in the irony that the complete absense of any sci-fi will make it better sci-fi for the geek crowd. Think about it, one of two things will happen if they explained the disaster to a geek audience:
Better just to write around it. Besides, part of the movie is that hope is long gone. Just deal with the fact that it's hopeless.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Insightful)
Meteor strikes like these are not as uncommon as one may think, it's just that the information is rarely released in such a public fashion. Who wants to release news that may create mass hysteria?
Meteor falls are quite rare, actually. There are typically about 50 recorded per year [demon.co.uk] for the entire planet.
Do you really think that stories on meteor falls are being suppressed by the media? Really? I just can't believe that anyone would think that the media would not pounce on such a story. And to give as justification that they are worried about causing mass hysteria is just laughable. (A) the news media lives and breathes by ratings, and disaster stories create high ratings; (B) where is the "mass hysteria" that this event (which the Chicago Tribune so foolishly refused to suppress) caused? There isn't any, because people understand that these are rare events. So when they occur, they are regarded as an interesting novelty, not as a portend of coming doom.
With more public acknowledgement of the problem, we could develop something like the Patriot missile defense system for extraterrestrial bodies so things like this would not happen.
God, what a phenomenal waste of effort and money that would be. Who gives a damn about this class of meteor fall? Are you truly suggesting the government invest trillions so that some dude's bedroom mirror doesn't get broken by a falling rock? Get some perspective, man, there are far more dangerous things to worry about than falling VW-sized rocks.
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:3, Informative)
The issue is that the scientific community has chosen to withhold any information [slashdot.org] regarding the potential threat of meteors for this very reason.
I hope everyone is wearing their bullshit proof glasses when they read this one. Where do I begin...
The idea that the "scientific community" is one
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:2)
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Meteor strikes not that uncommon (Score:5, Funny)
Assume that:
1. A meteor (of catastrophic size) will strike the Earth every 60 million years or so; and
2. Said meteor would wipe out most of the population if not diverted or destroyed;
3. Assuming a human perceives his life as being worth $5,000,000 in constant dollars (about what Kip Viscusi came up with in a study a number of years ago); and
4. Assuming a population of 10,000,000,000 earthlings, then:
1. The value of human life is approximately 50,000,000,000,000,000, or 50 quadrillion dollars.
2. The chance of being hit by a catastrophic meteor in a given year is 1/60,000,000
3. The average annual cost of a meteorite premium for "Earth insurance" should be about 50,000,000,000,000,000/60,000,000, or $833,333,333.33 in today's dollars.
Conclusion:
A small price to pay on a yearly basis.
Action plan:
Contact FEMA and ask if humanity can purchase a meteor rider for its flood insurance policy, which was issued by God (tm) to some Jews a few thousand years back.
GF.
Bugs (Score:5, Funny)
Because with the current state of research funding, that's all that most of them can afford to drive.
Library of Congress (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Bugs (Score:5, Funny)
It's part of the english solid volumn measuring system:
Bread Box = 346 Tennis Balls
Bowling Ball = 2.2 bread boxes
Volkswagen bug = 2560 bowling balls
Football field (yes it's volumn, it's the english system) = 1340 Volkswage bugs
Texas = 1,253,342 Foot ball fields
China = 19,430 Texases
"Your Mom" = 36,231 Chinas
And a Your Mom is defined as the exact distance traveled by light in a "little bit".
Re:Bugs (Score:3, Funny)
Meteor Hunters (Score:2, Interesting)
-R
Re:Meteor Hunters (Score:5, Interesting)
If they were going to take it from me, I'd at least get a written notice that they're going to fix my house, etc. Because if it is theirs, then they should damn well be liable for whatever dammage and mental distress ($$) it caused me.
"Somebody SA-A-A-A-A-A-A-VE ME-E-E-E-E-E-E-E....! (Score:2)
I was having an Allison Mack Moment there...
I'm better now.
hrrrmmmmrmmmm......
VW measurement (Score:2)
Bugs vs. Meteors.. (Score:2, Funny)
There's also those 'round' commercials, it's such a logical shape. Whoops. Time for me to jump into my giant hamster ball and roll around the house.
They are always that size... (Score:2)
Because they are always that size, just like hail is always the size of golfballs. It makes it easier to visualize for the audience even if its not totally accurate.
here's a thought (Score:5, Funny)
Because both ought to explode in the upper atmosphere rather than making it down to Earth's surface.
New beetle or old beetle? (Score:3, Funny)
why astronomers compare meteors to Volkswagens (Score:5, Interesting)
Because they weigh more than bikes but less than real cars. This happens to be a very popular weight for meteors...kind of how a lot of women claim to be 120 lbs regardless of their actual weight. Meteors have self image problems.
Re:why astronomers compare meteors to Volkswagens (Score:3)
I'd wager that shape has a bit to do with it too. Rounder car = arguably more like an asteroid = better object for comparison with.
Re:why astronomers compare meteors to Volkswagens (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, they don't. Astronomers use the metric system. They think and talk in cubic meters. But if they say 10 cubic meters, then the paper will say 353.1 cubic feet, so they use a unit people understand.
Some googlisms:
the size of a pea [google.com] about 10,300.
the size of a grape [google.com] about 1,120.
the size of a golf ball [google.com] about 6,980.
the size of a baseball [google.com] about 5,930.
the size of a softball [google.com] about 3,400.
the size of a grapefruit [google.com] about 5,500.
the size of a basketball [google.com] about 6,310.
the size of a small car [google.com] about 3,460.
the size of a Volkswagen [google.com] about 1,300.
the size of a car [google.com] about 4,190.
the size of a bus [google.com] about 1,130.
the size of a house [google.com] about 5,000.
You think that's big? (Score:3, Funny)
the size of my dick [google.com] about 548,000.
I always knew my dick was 100x the size of a house ;)
Ford Pintos (Score:5, Funny)
They explode when they crash....
Re:Ford Pintos (Score:2)
Corvair (was Re:Ford Pintos) (Score:4, Funny)
Volkswagen bugs? Use real units! (Score:5, Funny)
1728 (Score:5, Informative)
1728 [loc.gov]
VWs are popular (Score:5, Informative)
Re:VWs are popular (Score:2)
Not only that, they are one of the few cars that can evoke this kind of emotional reminiscence. [aol.com]
Metal vs. Metior (Score:2)
Yeah, stuff that flies through my atmosphere, roof, and blinds usually doesn't have the power to go through the window sill, and thus rocochets.
Re:Metal vs. Metior (Score:2)
What's amazing is that it didn't shatter when it hit the metal window sill and send lots of tiny shards all over the place.
Re:Metal vs. Metior (Score:2)
Comparison? (Score:2)
F-bacher
Relax... (Score:5, Funny)
"You see, Bruce, I like to pick up girls on the rebound from a disappointing relationship. They're much more in need of solace and they're fairly open to suggestion. And, I use that to fuck them some place very uncomfortable."
"What, like the back of a Volkswagen?"
In other news (Score:2)
Well... (Score:2)
Herbie the love bug (Score:2)
Cataclysm (Score:2)
I wonder if we will ever build a laser large enough to vaporize incoming asteroids because right now, all it would take is a big bertha, and we'd be gone, again.
The old VW bug is world renown (Score:2)
It's related to the fact that everybody in the world is aware of the size/shape of a old model VW bug.
Or would you prefer being referred to the size of a 1992 Honda Civic hatchback with 16" rims and low profile Goodyear tires?
New Midwest slogan for farms that got hit... (Score:5, Funny)
Explanation (Score:5, Funny)
In a statement released later, God denied any involvement in the meteor attack on Chicago, saying he was busy blessing and damning souls at the time. No other supernaturals have commented on the charges, although the leader of the Vulcans stated that attributing the attack to them would, of course, be highly illogical.
Paranormal scientists currently are investigating the Roman and Greek Dieties for involvment, as they could not be found anywhere, perhaps in hiding.
to the counrty folk.. (Score:2)
Why Volkswagen Bugs? (Score:2)
Because libraries of congress are too big?
*grumble* (Score:2)
Anyways, it's curious that they say the meteor was the size of a Volkswagen bug when it _exploded_. Do they not know how big it was before it entered the atmosphere? Or do they think not that much of it burned up before it exploded?
I would have thought that the explosion would have had to have occured relatively low in the atmosphere, after a fair portion of the burn
/. question (Score:2, Funny)
So why is it
VW's.. (Score:2)
(They didnt specify old, new, or super, however)
Maeryk
Volkswagen Bug as International Std for Impact (Score:2)
Certainly does seem that way, doesn't it... (Score:3, Informative)
I was skeptical, but:e or.html [discovery.com] f eb/m14-013.shtml [virtuallystrange.net]
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20010528/met
http://www.virtuallystrange.net/ufo/updates/1999/
http://www.theblob.info/xtras/kecksburg.pdf [theblob.info]
VW Bugs (Score:2)
So why do astronomers always compare the size of meteors to Volkswagen bugs?
Consider the two standards of measurement: American Standard and Metric and you'll agree not everyone is familiar with both and may find it hard to visualize the size of the object in question.
So, while everyone on the planet may/may not be able to visualize a 7m, 3cubit, 14ft or what have you object, I'd think quite a few know the size of a VW Bug.
Heh, I suppose it could
And the question not addressed... (Score:2)
because i'd sure like to see my boss's face if i told him i couldn't come to work because i'd almost been hit with a...
me: i almost got hit with a...
work: Almost? So not really? Get in here!!!!
now, if i worked on a space station.... look, folks, if we can't even predict a little bitty rock, we're going out fast.
and I STILL want to know why atheists can't be exempt from 'acts of god' insurance exclusions...
Just once... (Score:5, Funny)
Today a Volkswagen Bug, approximately the size of a meteorite,
Re:Just once... (Score:2)
Other common vehicular comparisons (Score:2)
Pointy Haired Boss (Score:5, Funny)
Garza said he was in bed when heard his dog barking and what sounded like thunder. He got out of bed and was downstairs when the meteor hit.
This morning, he called his boss and told him he wasn't coming into work today. "I told him what happened, and he said, 'Okay, but don't use that excuse again.'"
Now, *that* is a true-blue, dyed-in-the-wool, head-up-the-ass boss!
Why compare to a VW? Easy... (Score:2, Funny)
It's a Star Wars thing... (Score:2)
In Return of the Jedi, a Rebel A-Wing crashed into the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer. To film the effect, they actually smashed a VW-Bug through the set. Since astronomers watch Star Wars too much, it's obvious that this is their rationale for comparing destructive meteors to Bugs.
Great Reminder. (Score:5, Interesting)
I need to see something like this, from time to time. It reminds me that, on an evolutionary time scale, we just stepped out of the caves a few moments ago.
I'm not saying the human race is doomed. But we do still have one hell of a long road ahead of us. I'm going to read some Sci-Fi now.
-Peter
Re:Great Reminder. (Score:4, Interesting)
Railroads just a bigger chickens? (Score:2, Funny)
Apparently anything that makes noise tastes like chicken - eh - sounds like a train I mean.
Otherwise next time we see a chicken - sorry - I mean a train we won't know how it sounds - the chicken I mean - or was it the bug?
Kinda Scary (Score:3, Interesting)
What's scay is when you think of what meteors are. They are chunks thrown off of much larger comets as they pass through the solar system. There are often meteor showers before and after a comet's passing, and the meteors can hang around for a long time after, such as the Perseids. (I mean long in an astronomical sense, not a human sense.)
So every time there's an unexpected meteor shower or a strike like this, I have to wonder, is this just a precursor of something bigger that's on its way, or is this just the left over detritus of something that came and went a while ago?
Pictures of it (Score:5, Informative)
I was one of the people that felt and heard the sonic boom it created, my sister witnessed it in the sky.
Deep Impact Thoughts by Jack Handy (Score:3, Interesting)
Why are these people bringing in their rocks? Are they turning them in? They've got to be worth some money, though less than before this 'windfall'. Will NASA be suing these rocks?
He said three homes in Park Forest were damaged, along with the fire department and possibly one car. Two homes in the nearby town of Matteson also were struck by meteorite pieces.
Since there are all these new damaged objects, I think that the Ford Pinto? that was smashed will likely no longer be worth as much - scarcity breeds value. IIRC, the value placed on that car was somewhere in the 6 digits.
Sipiera said it's very rare for meteorites to fall on populated areas.
I know that with the rampant humping that's going on, this will only become more common. Hopefully, we can have natural selection return with meteors. If we could fit the meteors with stupidity finders, the world would be a better...OW! Ding dang moon rock jist hit me! I'll whup it's ass!!
Nasa Cave Dude (Score:3, Interesting)
I think it's time we follow the advice of this guy: NasaCaveDude [mt.net]
Re:Nasa Cave Dude (Score:3, Insightful)
Yes, all the 'psychics' with '98% accuracy' look like incredibly fucking morons when dozens of things they were 'absolutely sure' were going to happen... didn't.
It works for just about everybody... Anyone that says they were abducted almost inevitably says they know the date when aliens are going to come to take over the planet, or something else equivalent.
Yes, if anyone has some recorded predictions (that aren't incredibly vague)
Scientists can be Wierd (Score:4, Funny)
To which his wife certainly sighed and replied, "Damn."
Do other scientists feel this way? Does a marine biologist hope to be devoured by sharks? Does a physicist hope an aberration in quantum mechanics obliterates his or her body? Does an anthropologist secretly yearn to be a headhunter's next prize?
Re:Scientists can be Wierd (Score:3, Interesting)
Bug = 1 ton (Score:3, Informative)
Because a Bug is an easily-identifiable object which weighs very close to one ton.
These days, since the New Beetle weighs over 1.5 tons, one might use a Mini for comparison. But the Old Bug has become traditional.
Keeping my rocks (Score:4, Informative)
"Park Forest Police Department said about 60 pieces of space rock ranging from gravel-sized to softball-sized were brought in to the police station."
Have you seen what these are going for on EBAY [ebay.com]. Sell, Sell, Sell
VW Bug Size Ratio (Score:5, Funny)
Because, interestingly enough, the VW Beetle is the only current automobile which has a size which "The Size of Texas" is evenly divisible by. It just sounds better than saying 1/22349938th the size of Texas.
As for Bug comparisons... (Score:5, Funny)
Have you ever seen an astronomer's paycheck? There's a reason they never compare anything to a Crown Victoria or an SUV, though you might see comparisons made to 'big as two Bugs' in such cases.
Somone set us up the Bug! (Score:3, Funny)
All your Park Forest are belong to us.
Launch every redunant comment, for great justice!
In other news... (Score:4, Funny)
I saw it too, and have to admit I freaked (Score:3, Interesting)
I have to admit it made me think we'd been nuked. But then the light went away a few seconds later. I only heard a bit of a rumble over the roar of my 4 banger running at 3500 RPM at 80 mph. If I had not been going so fast, I would have stopped to take a look around, and soak up some good radiation if was a nuke.
All I can say is I'm glad that some local news made it past all the Iraq coverage.
Because HITLER (Score:3, Funny)
Excuse me, I have to go take my meds now.
Re:why a VW? (Score:2)
So why do astronomers always compare the size of meteors to Volkswagen bugs?
Because it is the official LOC falling object unit of measure, also used for 16" Naval gunfire, i.e., "projectile weighs the same as a VW bug".