asteroids

posts about #asteroids more →
Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
New Videos From Gamer, G.I. Joe And Time Traveler's Wife, Plus The Plot Of Asteroids: The Movie!
Already, A Toy-Based Movie Even Weirder Than Asteroids
Movie Based On Asteroids Game Will Boggle Your Mind
Asteroid Splashdown Won't Kill Us... Immediately
How Best To Avoid Asteroid Apocalypse
Asteroids May Wipe Us Out, But Might Also Let Us Expand Beyond Earth
The White Dwarf that Shattered Asteroids and Earths
Europeans Play Asteroids — For Real!

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

twophrasebark
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
The problem with the BSG storyline was that they said homosapien was already here and they were coincidentally genetically identical. This was kind of silly from a genetic standpoint. Afterall, there is only 1.2 percent difference between us and chimpanzee.

A better storyline might have been that the hominds they encountered were Neanderthal and that homosapien came from the colonies. That actually could be almost believable from our fossil records. Homosapien does appear to have direct ancestors from about 600,000 years ago, but the show could have said "Wow, we are pretty similar, we might have had common ancestors a million years ago."
Reply

Edited by twophrasebark at 11/07/09 12:20 PM twophrasebark was starred twophrasebark was unstarred

Pope John Peeps II
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
Comets and meteors contain stuff. Life contains stuff. THEREFORE comets caused life.

Syllogism.......... FAILURE. #asteroids
Reply

Pope John Peeps II was starred

Anekanta - former space marine
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
I just knew it! I KNEW I saw aliens at the shopping mall the other day!

This also explains my suspicion that I myself am from another planet. #asteroids
Reply

matthewabel
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
I suspect what actually happened was someone from the future travelled back to see what the creation of life was like. Then they sneezed resulting in germs being introduced to the primordial environment.

All it takes is one relatively strong bacterium. And time travel. #asteroids
Reply

Dresan promoted this comment matthewabel was starred matthewabel was unstarred

gorehound
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
The theory is an interesting one and could very well be the truth. #asteroids
Reply

gorehound was starred gorehound was unstarred

Necrotoxin
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
It is called Panspermia #asteroids
Reply

Necrotoxin was starred Necrotoxin was unstarred

doubledeckard
11/07/09

@Necrotoxin: Yeah - the business is old hat. Crick and Orgel went all busy on it in '73. #asteroids
Reply

ThisDudeRufus promoted this comment doubledeckard was starred doubledeckard was unstarred

Roklimber
11/07/09

In reply to Did Meteors Cause Life On Earth?
So meteors are the new gods... they create life and they take it away. :) #asteroids
Reply

Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred

Anekanta - former space marine
11/07/09

@Roklimber: No way, man! Television will always be the one true god! #asteroids
Reply

Bigdamnhero
11/07/09

@Anekanta - Go Play!: That, and Playstation. #asteroids
Reply

Bigdamnhero was starred Bigdamnhero was unstarred

Anekanta - former space marine
11/07/09

@Bigdamnhero: All must kneel before the mighty Playstation!

And General Zod. We can't forget him. #asteroids
Reply

Klebert L. Hall
08/13/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
People never take the long view.
-Kle.
Reply

Klebert L. Hall was starred Klebert L. Hall was unstarred

Daveinva
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
Gee, I'm really glad all the scientists in the world spend so much time arguing-- with resources-- whether the Earth in 2100 will be one degree warmer than today instead of focusing on a tangible, indisputable problem that has a 1-in-10 chance of happening in the next century.
Really smart risk assessment there, guys.
[www.theatlantic.com]
Reply

Lassus promoted this comment Daveinva was starred Daveinva was unstarred

Lassus
08/12/09

@Daveinva: Your math is not sound.
Reply

Lassus was starred Lassus was unstarred

Pope John Peeps II
08/13/09

@Daveinva: Why would they devote time and effort to a problem that has a tiny change of affecting a small number of people, when there's a problem that has a 100% chance of affecting ALL people.
And the earth will not JUST be one degree warmer, according to most of the latest predictions. But even one degree on average would be quite disastrous.
Also, we're not even getting into the question of who "they" are and why they seem to only be allowing you to solve one problem at a time. Maybe you're just using this chance to get a pointless and baseless dig against climate change? hmm?
Reply

Pope John Peeps II was starred

Roklimber
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
Several of the comments point out that nothing will be seriously done until a small one hits us and wipes out a city or two.

But, you know, not too long ago we had the rare chance to watch the impact of a meteor onto Jupiter's atmosphere. We watched it, we measured the effects of the impacts (there were several), the results were presented to the public and to the people in charge. And, yet, no one cared.

Never mind that it was on Jupiter, only the largest planet, and the impact caused a long-term effect. Never mind that Jupiter's mostly gas, meaning a much softer impact than it would have been otherwise. Never mind that the fact that it happened right next door means it can and WILL happen to us sooner or later.

No one f*ing cared. I, for one, can't wait for our civilization to be wiped off this rock. That oughta teach us.
Reply

Edited by Roklimber at 08/12/09 4:26 PM Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred

omgwtflolbbqbye
08/12/09

@Roklimber: Yea, but many people have no inclination to care about what's happening outside of their own country, much less the planet (and to be fair they usually wouldn't need to)
Reply

Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 08/12/09 4:39 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred

Jeriba
08/12/09

@Roklimber: I blame that TV movie where they had the MOON crash into earth. How can the average citizen be expected to take the issue seriously after THAT?
Reply

Roklimber promoted this comment Jeriba was starred Jeriba was unstarred

sicboi
08/12/09

@Roklimber: its like the thingee 'if a tree falls in the woods, would it still make a sound if no one were there to observe it fall?'
In which case you're right, no one cared then because Jupiter was the forest. in the debate on climate change, would we really be worried about a few islands being put underwater if they weren't populated? not really no, but since most islands now have ppl on them that need to be placed somewhere and be compensated, yeah it matters then.
I do agree that we have it coming though. just too bad we likely won't be able to youtube the damn thing if its the big one...
Reply

Roklimber promoted this comment sicboi was starred sicboi was unstarred

Pope John Peeps II
08/13/09

@Roklimber: Wow. You've really got a case of the nerd-geek-syndrome. You know the one. The one where if the world doesn't bow to your extravagant, outrageous conclusions, it deserves to be wiped off the planet.
Reply

Edited by Pope John Peeps II at 08/13/09 12:16 AM Pope John Peeps II was starred

Roklimber
08/13/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Care to point out which of my conclusions are extravagant or outrageous?
Reply

Roklimber was starred Roklimber was unstarred

Don't Make Me Ang Lee. You wouldn't like me when I'm Ang Lee.
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
the much-ignored legacy of the Bush administration are the piles on unfunded mandates thrown out indiscriminately.
Reply

Bill-Lee
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
If an asteroid is going to wipe us all out, I'd rather not know about it. I'd rather just go out living my life than panicky about something I can't prevent.
Reply

Bill-Lee was starred Bill-Lee was unstarred

RandomFrequentFlierDent
08/12/09

@Bill-Lee: I'd want to know - there's a lot of stuff I'd like to say to to a lot of people, if I knew I'd never have to see them again.
Reply

tetracycloide
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
"any one of which could strike our planet and cause devastating damaged."
the asteroid is literally going to hit us so hard we'll start feeling it last tuesday?
Reply

tetracycloide was starred tetracycloide was unstarred

omgwtflolbbqbye
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected

On a semi related tangent, this article reminds me of something cute I read/saw a few hrs ago.

(click on the img. to see the whole thing).
Reply

Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 08/12/09 3:30 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred

phoenix
08/12/09

@omgwtflolbbqbye: That makes me ridiculously happy. Thank you.
Reply

phoenix was starred phoenix was unstarred

omgwtflolbbqbye
08/12/09

In reply to Potentially Deadly Asteroids Still Go Undetected
I think the only way people will be willing to pony up significant dough for this project is to wait for an asteroid to smack a city first, wreck some buildings, and kill some people.

As it is, the idea of such a thing happening is too intangible, outside the realm of sci-fi entertainment, for most people to actually be afraid of something like that.
Reply

Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 08/12/09 3:24 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred

RandomFrequentFlierDent
08/12/09

@omgwtflolbbqbye: Well, whatever city I'm in is called as "not it" for being the sacrificial city. As a Canadian, I'd like to volunteer Hamilton, Ontario. Stupid Hamilton . . .
I'd also like to mention 99942 Apophis. April 13, 2036 people, take care of any unfinished business.
Reply

Edited by RandomFrequentFlierDent at 08/12/09 3:37 PM

Blue_Thark
08/12/09

@omgwtflolbbqbye: Yeah, it'll probably take some kind of "cosmic 9/11" to get folks to take this sort of thing seriously.
On the other hand, if we can get Glenn Beck and company to start talking about it then some people would get so riled up and panicked the government will be forced to drop everything else entirely.
Reply

RandomFrequentFlierDent promoted this comment Blue_Thark was starred Blue_Thark was unstarred

RandomFrequentFlierDent
08/12/09

@Blue_Thark: I suspect Glen Beck and his ilk would view the asteroid as God’s final judgment delivered in fiery incineration from above form. To do otherwise would require a little bit (actually a lot) more science than he’s used to.
Reply

Edited by RandomFrequentFlierDent at 08/12/09 4:04 PM

omgwtflolbbqbye
08/12/09

@Blue_Thark: "This just in! Heathen scientists detect Planet-Killer asteroid on collision course with Earth! "

"But does our Gay-Liberal-Muslim-Communist President plans to interfere with God's Plan by launching aborted fetuses and bags of tax dollars at it!?"
Reply

Edited by omgwtflolbbqbye at 08/12/09 4:37 PM omgwtflolbbqbye was starred omgwtflolbbqbye was unstarred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

SUBSCRIBE TO io9

Login

Reset Password

Register

Submit Your Comment