Dan_Moore comments on [LINK] Neil deGrasse Tyson on killer asteroids - Less Wrong

2 Post author: David_Gerard 03 April 2012 06:32PM

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Comment author: Dan_Moore 04 April 2012 07:29:29PM -2 points [-]

The chances that your tombstone will read “Killed by Asteroid” are about the same as they’d be for “Killed in Airplane Crash.”

Don't think so, Neil, given that thousands have been killed in airplane crashes, vs. 0 known persons killed by asteroid strikes, despite the exposure being greater in the case of asteroids.

Comment author: gwern 04 April 2012 07:32:33PM 1 point [-]

That so?

Comment author: Dan_Moore 05 April 2012 02:00:40PM -1 points [-]

Yes, that's so. First, note that meteorite <> asteroid. Got any reports of a person killed by an asteroid strike?

Comment author: gwern 05 April 2012 02:17:58PM 0 points [-]

I can't believe you're seriously arguing terminology in response to my cite.

But OK, if you want to play that game... what is an asteroid that survives to reach the ground and kill someone?

Comment author: Dan_Moore 23 April 2012 09:01:26PM *  0 points [-]

There was a meteor showerover the wekend. Fortunately, there wasn't an asteroid shower.

Comment author: gwern 23 April 2012 09:11:54PM 0 points [-]

The Geminids are noted for their intensity, as many as 130 meters an hour, making them more intense than even the Perseids. The Geminids are also the offspring of an asteroid rather than a comet.

Comment author: Dan_Moore 05 April 2012 02:41:40PM *  0 points [-]

But OK, if you want to play that game... what is an asteroid that survives to reach the ground and kill someone?

A historically unprecedented event?

This article describes the properties of asteroids vs. meteorites.

Collisions between asteroids in space create smaller asteroidal fragments and these fragments are the sources of most meteorites that have struck the Earth's surface.

Comment author: gwern 05 April 2012 03:24:49PM 0 points [-]

So you wish to explain away all those reports of deaths as due solely 100% to meteorites rather than asteroids? I see...

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