# How well would modern society handle the dinosaur killing meteor if it happened today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2021, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856 "2021-02-27T00:30:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2021, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/301 "2021-03-15T21:40:44Z")
Perhaps an applicable experiment for the post-meteor lifestyle: > **[Extreme Experiment Confines 15 People to Secluded Cave for 40 Days](https://www.odditycentral.com/news/extreme-experiment-confines-15-people-to-secluded-cave-for-40-days.html)** > > Deep Time is a groundbreaking experiment that confines 15 people in a secluded cave for 40 days, with no notion of the passing of time. > [@](#): > > Completely deprived of natural light, and the use of ubiquitous gadgets like phones or watches, the 15 volunteers will need to adapt to the constant 12-degree Celsius temperature and 95% humidity of the cave, generate their own electricity using a pedal boat system, and draw the water they need from 45 meters deep. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/302 "2021-03-19T15:49:55Z")
Here’s a fun fact to add to the discussion, an actual interstellar object passing by: > **[ʻOumuamua](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBOumuamua)** > > ʻOumuamua is the first interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Formally designated 1I/2017 U1, it was discovered by Robert Weryk using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakalā Observatory, Hawaii, on 19 October 2017, approximately 40 days after it passed its closest point to the Sun on 9 September. When it was first observed, it was about 33 million km (21 million mi; 0.22 AU) from Earth (about 85 times as far away as the Moon) and already heading away from the Sun. > ʻOumuam... Note that the object was discovered _after_ perihelion, despite being fairly close in astronomical terms. > **ʻOumuamua** is the first known interstellar object detected passing through the Solar System. Formally designated **2017 U1** discovered using the Pan-STARRS telescope at Haleakalā Observatory, 40 days after it passed its closest point to the Sun on 9 September 2017. When it was first observed, it was about 33 million from Earth (about 85 times as far away as the Moon), and already heading away from the Sun. > ʻOumuamua is a small object estimated to be between 100 and 1,000 metres (300 and 3,000 ft) long, with its width and thickness both estimated to range between 35 and 167 metres (115 and 548 ft). It has a red color, So there you have it - a sausage object possibly up to 1km long and 160m diameter (or they think, kind of flat). A hard to detect dark-ish object; the only bright spot (sorry) is that it was believed to be nitrogen ice, so probably easier to break apart than a bunch of rock. But here’s a decent sized object that could have done some very very serious damage, and we only noticed it on its way out. The other good news is that in the cosmic void, we are a very small target to hit. ---
**Author:** ![JohnnyWest](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnnywest/32/7223_2.png) [@JohnnyWest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnnyWest)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/303 "2021-03-19T16:08:13Z")
Smartest, cogent answer to this, right here. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/304 "2021-03-22T12:38:50Z")
It must be the time of year for this sort of news: We’ve known this one for 20 years and NASA says it’s safe. > **[Largest asteroid of 2021 to make closest approach to Earth](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/3/20/largest-asteroid-of-the-year-to-zip-past-earth)** > > Scientist advise people not to panic as the giant rock makes its closest approach on Sunday. More precise: [https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/231937-2001-fo32](https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/231937-2001-fo32) > Based on its brightness and the way it reflects light, 2001 FO32 is [probably](https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/ast_size_est.html) between 0.767 to 1.714 kilometers in diameter, ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/305 "2021-04-12T15:41:08Z")
As it happens Wired just covered this very topic: > ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/306 "2021-04-12T18:44:01Z")
Here’s the actual article for those of us who don’t filter our internet through TwitFace: > **[How to Survive a Killer Asteroid](https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-survive-a-killer-asteroid/)** > > The impact that wiped out the dinosaurs would probably have killed you too—unless you were in the exact right place and had made the exact right plans. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2021, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/307 "2021-04-12T19:06:23Z")
A couple of things that may be of interest … Excellent article on the the Chicxulub impactor: > **[The Day the Dinosaurs Died](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-day-the-dinosaurs-died)** > > A young paleontologist may have discovered a record of the most significant event in the history of life on Earth. Also, it was believed for a short while in 1921 that **[Comet Pons-Winnecke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7P/Pons%E2%80%93Winnecke)** would impact the earth. No small matter, though they didn’t realize it at the time, since the comet nucleus is estimated to be 5.2 km in diameter. But there was a widespread belief at the time that a comet nucleus was basically a loose cluster of small rocks and therefore no big deal. In any case, by April 1921 astronomers had determined that the comet would miss the earth. It came very close in 1927, but will not be a threat at least through the 21st century. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/308 "2021-04-13T13:48:32Z")
Tracks nicely with what I’ve been saying, although their “Might survive” circle is optimistic given all the effects that are specifically antipodal… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/309 "2021-04-13T14:22:32Z")
That’s DePalma’s Tanis site I linked to before. That’s a truly gorgeous photo of that tektite crater section… [![](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5c9d2658dec8304049bc4de1/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/190408_r34054.jpg) ](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/5c9d2658dec8304049bc4de1/master/w_1600%2Cc_limit/190408_r34054.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/310 "2021-04-13T15:28:42Z")
You don’t want to be standing anywhere nearby\* when whatever deformed that rock deformed that rock. * * * \* For on-the-same-planet values of “nearby”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/311 "2021-04-13T16:26:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > You don’t want to be standing anywhere nearby\* when whatever deformed that rock deformed that rock. At the time that was deformed, it was [varved](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varve) mud. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/312 "2021-04-13T17:38:03Z")
Yep. Basically just high-velocity [dropstones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dropstone#Meteorites). I mean, you _still_ wouldn’t want to be anywhere nearby, as it means it’s raining high-velocity red-hot glass droplets… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/313 "2021-04-13T20:25:24Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > it’s raining high-velocity red-hot glass droplets… Hallelujah. ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/314 "2021-04-13T20:28:45Z")
Those go through flesh pretty niftily, no? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/315 "2021-04-13T20:54:25Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Hallelujah. Usually that word goes with a different precipitation: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l5aZJBLAu1E/maxresdefault.jpg "YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5aZJBLAu1E) > [@Toxylon](#): > > Those go through flesh pretty niftily, no? Yup. Drop anything from a high enough height and whatever’s down below is gonna get hammered. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/316 "2021-04-13T21:03:23Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yup. Drop anything from a high enough height and whatever’s down below is gonna get hammered. And that’s why they started having to lock the cockpit windows at LSLGuy’s job. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2021, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/317 "2021-04-13T21:34:45Z")
Yup. As that great philosopher of human relations, Harry Callahan almost said: > Nuthin’ wrong with stuff splattin’ … as long as the right stuff gets splatted. GQ prohibits further details on “stuff”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/318 "2021-04-14T06:28:16Z")
Not really, terminal velocity being what it is. Tektites have a _Vt_ of 200 mph, so yeah, they’re bad news, but I don’t know how lethal they’d be. Not very, I assume, they’re not usually large. But the proverbial Empire State penny only has a _Vt_ of ~50 mph (I find numbers from [25](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/could-a-penny-dropped-off/) to [90](https://sites.psu.edu/siowfa16/2016/10/12/an-empire-state-penny-of-mind/)) and apparently wouldn’t even hurt. With tektites, it’s the red-hot part that matters more, I’d think. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/319 "2021-04-14T09:05:10Z")
A bit of info on tektites: > **[TEKTITES INFO - Quick Guide](https://www.tektites.info/quick-guide)** > > A Quick Guide to Tektites. You've come to the right page if you're looking for accurate and scientific information on tektites! A 1600 dpi scan of one of mine: [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/NxohDjt.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/bgLE6wV) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2021, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856/320 "2021-04-14T10:08:38Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > (And what is it about Siberia that makes it the favourite target of ET’s throwing rocks?) Size. Siberia is something like 10% of the land area on Earth. Think of trying to catch a fish with a net vs. a bare hand - the net is bigger, so it catches more. > [@DSeid](#): > > GIVEN an asteroid of a certain size say just large enough top likely be a civilization ending event if it hits the earth, blowing it up would create a wider spread of smaller objects, some fraction of which would have different trajectories that would miss the earth. Total mass hitting the earth would be less but I think the question even assumes that ALL the fragments would still hit, same total mass … then the question is if a hailstorm of smaller objects totalling mass X causes same, more, or less harm than a single object of mass X. > > One aspect is that given each object loses some of its mass as it travels through the atmosphere to some degree correlated with surface area, the greater surface area of the hailstorm means less mass making land/ocean fall. For those with ocean fall more energy would be expended before hitting bottom. The damage would be at more surface layers but more broadly … would that increase of decrease the amount of climate changing water, dust, soot, and gasses released in aggregate? Breaking up a large object might reduce the size of a humongous impact crater to many smaller craters, which reduce a single point of impact to enough smaller impacts scattered over a larger area that you don’t get mega-tsunamis or sub-orbital ejecta… but all those scattered bits of rock/ice/whatever are still going to transform their kinetic energy into heat energy as they pass through the atmosphere, which could heat up said atmosphere sufficiently to get to oven-roasting temperatures which would screw with all life on Earth, and they’re still going to generate dust both by burning up/coming apart on descent and from their impacts on the ground. There might be a sweet spot where at a certain size breaking up a space rock will improve our survival chances over leaving it intact, but I don’t have the math skills to tell what that is, if it even exists. Above a certain size it doesn’t make much difference whether you leave the rock intact or turn it into a pile of cosmic gravel - life on Earth is still going to suffer and die in massive amounts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-well-would-modern-society-handle-the-dinosaur-killing-meteor-if-it-happened-today/933856.md?page=17)