Tonight’s question, greetings, and banter here. (More)
Today more than 1000 people were injured when a meteoroid exploded over Chelyabinsk in central Russia. About 40,000 tons of space rock fall to earth each year, but rocks of this size land on average only once a decade. And Asteroid 2012 DA14 passed within 17,100 miles of earth this afternoon, the closest miss on record. With Newark Mayor Cory Booker preparing to run for the U.S. Senate, who will protect us from falling space rocks?
February 15, 2013 at 6:01 pm
Today on Campus
Morning Feature – Dangerous Convictions, Part II: Two Principles, Four Cases
Midday Matinee – triciawyse with Frieday Critters
February 15, 2013 at 6:05 pm
The damage wasn’t, according to Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy, from the meteor “exploding,” it was from the sonic boom it created as it passed.
February 15, 2013 at 6:11 pm
The New York Times offers a taxonomy of falling rocks. Most simply, a meteoroid is in space, a meteor is what you see as it enters the atmosphere, a meteorite is what hits the ground, and a meteoprat is someone who insists you know the other three. Okay, I made up that last one.
Still, I think we need Mayor Booker on the scene, just in case.
February 15, 2013 at 6:22 pm
Obviously the answer is Frank Lautenberg. He’s not running for reelection but he’s not retiring. That leaves him perfectly free to protect us from falling space rocks. Perhaps Cory Booker and Lautenberg could do a job-share until the 2014 election.
February 15, 2013 at 6:32 pm