wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (10/08/85)
I hope some others were as annoyed as I was by the way "Amazing Stories" treated meteors in its latest airing. Two large meteors hit within a few blocks of each other, first -- OK, even though highly improbable, it was possible, and could be used as a story device, so no real gripe there. My real bitch is the way they showed a meteor, depicted as nearly a meter across, coming through a second-story bedroom window and causing only moderate damage to the *room*, coming to rest embedded in the floor. Hmmph. I would expect a crater, about half a kilometer or so across, where the *neighborhood* used to be. Plus assorted other effects (earthquakes triggered by the impact, since this was set in So. Cal., etc.) should have happened. Considering the depiction of the characters prior to the meteor striking, I would have viewed this as a happy ending to the story -- sort of divine retribution, always a good plot device. So far, the syndicated "Tales from the Darkside", though itself no real great shakes, has been quite a bit better than these expensive and highly promoted network shows... Will
perelgut@utai.UUCP (Stephen Perelgut) (10/09/85)
I am amazed that "wmartin" is only amazed about the minor perversion of facts pertaining to meteorites embedding themselves in 2nd story flooring. Can we talk about the incredibly selective force of magnetism :-) Don't get me wrong. It was *fun* watching it. My wife is definately scientiphobic and she thought it was great. Such is life. -- Stephen Perelgut Computer Systems Research Institute, University of Toronto
tom@utcsri.UUCP (Tom Nadas) (10/09/85)
Speaking of meteors in Amazing Stories, the science teacher asks the students to watch the biggest meteor shower of the year. The big meteor shower each year is the Perseids, which happens in mid-August -- when no one is in school. Even at its peak, Perseids average around one per minute, not one per second as shown through the dung-head's window. Further, meteor showers are all but lost in the lights of a city. I don't even want to talk about the magnetic man attracting aluminum objects ...
bl@hplabsb.UUCP (Bruce T. Lowerre) (10/09/85)
> I hope some others were as annoyed as I was by the way "Amazing Stories" > treated meteors in its latest airing. Two large meteors hit within a few > blocks of each other, first -- OK, even though highly improbable, it was > possible, and could be used as a story device, so no real gripe there. > > My real bitch is the way they showed a meteor, depicted as nearly a > meter across, coming through a second-story bedroom window and causing > only moderate damage to the *room*, coming to rest embedded in the > floor. Hmmph. I would expect a crater, about half a kilometer or so > across, where the *neighborhood* used to be. Plus assorted other effects > (earthquakes triggered by the impact, since this was set in So. Cal., > etc.) should have happened. Considering the depiction of the characters > prior to the meteor striking, I would have viewed this as a happy > ending to the story -- sort of divine retribution, always a good plot > device. A meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere will expend its energy by burning away the outer layers. Whether or not it reaches the ground and at what velocity depends on how much energy it has initially (1/2 M(V**2)), i.e., it's a function of its mass and initial velocity. Small meteors (most) will usually burn up before reaching the ground. Very large ones (a mile or more in diameter) will hit the ground with considerable force (your scenario). Occationally a meteor will expend its high velocity while still in the air and hit the ground like a falling rock (which is what it is). There are documented cases of meteors falling through houses causing a hole in the roof and a coronary to the owner.
jeff@rtech.UUCP (Jeff Lichtman) (10/10/85)
> I hope some others were as annoyed as I was by the way "Amazing Stories" > treated meteors in its latest airing. Two large meteors hit within a few > blocks of each other, first -- OK, even though highly improbable, it was > possible, and could be used as a story device, so no real gripe there. > > Will Gimme a break! This show was intended as humorous fiction, not a lesson in astronomy. -- Jeff Lichtman at rtech (Relational Technology, Inc.) "Saints should always be judged guilty until they are proved innocent..." {amdahl, sun}!rtech!jeff {ucbvax, decvax}!mtxinu!rtech!jeff
timpson@comet.DEC (ACE TECH) (10/10/85)
Picky Picky Picky. Whether the meteor was a meter in diameter or a piece
of dust is not important here, nor is what the resultant bang would be.
The stry was a comedy of divine retribution sort of. I found it very funny
and I ignored the errors because they weren't important.
steve:^)john@frog.UUCP (John Woods) (10/14/85)
> > I hope some others were as annoyed as I was by the way "Amazing Stories" > > > > My real bitch is the way they showed a meteor, depicted as nearly a > > meter across, coming through a second-story bedroom window and causing > > only moderate damage to the *room*, coming to rest embedded in the > > floor. Hmmph. I would expect a crater, about half a kilometer or so > > across, where the *neighborhood* used to be. > > it's a function of its mass and initial velocity. Small meteors (most) > will usually burn up before reaching the ground. Very large ones (a mile > or more in diameter) will hit the ground with considerable force (your Rober Heinlein states in _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_ that a 100 tonne rock falling at terminal velocity (~11 km/s) will release enough energy to act like a small atomic bomb, and I recall doing the calculations at the time and agreeing [I don't remember enough at the moment to duplicate the feat, and I am starting to learn better than to forge ahead at such moments *]. A meteor about a meter across would likely not pack enough wallop to vaporize on impact (I'm guessing about it's approximate mass), but I'd expect it to bury itself far below the basement. A rock a mile across I would expect to take out a continent...:-) ---------------------------------------------------------------- * Just think; before I went to work as a Computer Scientist, I knew enough Physics to collect an undergraduate degree from MIT... It must be X-rays from the Ethernet cables. :-) -- John Woods, Charles River Data Systems, Framingham MA, (617) 626-1101 ...!decvax!frog!john, ...!mit-eddie!jfw, jfw%mit-ccc@MIT-XX.ARPA "Out of my way, I'm a scientist!" - War of the Worlds