# If New York City is destroyed, what will the headlines say? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 21, 2021, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394 "2021-12-21T03:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/61 "2021-12-21T21:30:09Z")
_Chicago Sun-Times_ - “Superiority Of Local Pizza Now Undisputed” ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/62 "2021-12-21T22:30:56Z")
_The Weather Channel_ **Meteorology to be renamed "Freedomology"** ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/63 "2021-12-21T22:31:28Z")
“There’s a sale at Macy’s!” - _Airplane!_ ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/64 "2021-12-21T23:03:12Z")
“President Kardashian to address nation as NY Jets have second worse season ever.” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/65 "2021-12-21T23:54:45Z")
_Daily Bugle_ (byline: J. Jonah Jameson): “SPIDER-MAN RESPONSIBLE FOR NYC WIPE-OUT!!” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2021, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/66 "2021-12-21T23:56:45Z")
New New York Post: Obama, Hilary to Blame for NYC Fail ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/67 "2021-12-22T08:32:04Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > How many people firing AR 15s at an incoming meteor would it take to deflect it? And how bad would the devastation from so many guns firing at once be? This is a perfect sort of question for Randall Munroe. Black hat guy: _“What if we fired more guns?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/68 "2021-12-22T17:06:43Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > “What if we fired more guns?” Fire all of your guns at once And explode into space Steppenwolf may have the answer, right in front of us all along. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/69 "2021-12-22T17:22:01Z")
More YouTube: City Prepping - [6 easy meals to cook over a fire after a disaster - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFkmvEv3hXw&ab_channel=CityPrepping) Combined with [12 Ways to Safely Cook After a Disaster - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbEzf9DFMcg&ab_channel=CityPrepping) (Don’t alert the unprepared) ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/70 "2021-12-22T17:41:09Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > How many people firing AR 15s at an incoming meteor would it take to deflect it? > [@Senegoid](#): > > This is a perfect sort of question for Randall Munroe. Unfortunately, I can’t come up with any meaningful entertaining answer. Once the asteroid is close, deflection is no good. You have all this kinetic energy that must go somewhere. If the asteroid were indestructible and you could all aim perfectly to stop it in its tracks… the energy of the recoil from all the guns would be precisely the kinetic energy of the asteroid, so dissipating the recoil would make a similar crater. It’s essentially the Hollywood fallacy that you shoot someone and they fly backwards writ large. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/71 "2021-12-22T18:20:08Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Once the asteroid is close, deflection is no good. You have all this kinetic energy that must go somewhere. If the goal is to stop it in its tracks, then I see what you mean. But if you merely want to deflect it away from its path, it can keep the great majority of that kinetic energy, right? If you know how far away the asteroid is, and its mass and velocity, and you can agree on how much deflection you need to push it by, it should be a fairly simple calculation. I guess you’ll also have to presume the asteroid to be spherical and of uniform density. Did I miss anything? I wonder if an engineer who plays billiards might even be able to estimate it in his head. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/72 "2021-12-22T18:26:02Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If the asteroid were indestructible and you could all aim perfectly to stop it in its tracks… the energy of the recoil from all the guns would be precisely the kinetic energy of the asteroid, so dissipating the recoil would make a similar crater. Hence the second part of my question: > [@Babale](#): > > And how bad would the devastation from so many guns firing at once be? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/73 "2021-12-22T18:28:23Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > But if you merely want to deflect it away from its path, it can keep the great majority of that kinetic energy, right? If it’s within range of an AR-15, it’s ~500m away. With a lateral input of 10% of the kinetic energy, the impact point will only change by ~50m. I guess you could mount a very large and very dense artillery battery on Long Island, hit it a few kilometers up from the side with 25% of the KE, and end up with one large crater in New Jersey and a smaller one from the recoil on Long Island… Realistic plans obviously involve a deflection by a tiny angle when it’s millions of km away so it misses the Earth entirely. But anyway, I guess we should start a new thread if we’re going to do this… ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/74 "2021-12-22T20:40:22Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > If it’s within range of an AR-15, it’s ~500m away. Yeah, I forgot that part of the situation. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/75 "2021-12-22T23:32:08Z")
Fire enough guns at once, and it won’t even matter if you actually hit the asteroid. Instead, you’ll just shove the Earth out of the asteroid’s path. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/76 "2021-12-22T23:33:31Z")
Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone on that side of the world just jumped off a chair at the same time? ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/77 "2021-12-22T23:37:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Wouldn’t it be easier if everyone on that side of the world just jumped off a chair at the same time?   I don’t think that works. When you fall toward the earth after jumping off a chair, remember that the earth is being pulled toward you with the same force as you are being pulled toward the earth. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/78 "2021-12-22T23:42:14Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > When you fall toward the earth after jumping off a chair, remember that the earth is being pulled toward you with the same force as you are being pulled toward the earth. But that force is applied to a much larger mass, so the earth will move much less. However, to jump off a chair, you first have to climb ONTO a chair which us exactly equal and opposite to the force applied when you jump off. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/79 "2021-12-22T23:45:43Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > But that force is applied to a much larger mass, so the earth will move much less. Czarcasm suggests that if enough people jump off chairs on one side of the planet, we could shove the earth out of the asteroid’s path. My point is, having any number of people jumping off chairs won’t budge the earth at all, not even a little bit. But first, when those people climb onto the chairs, the same is true, just with the earth and the people pushing/pulling in the opposite directions vs. when they jump off. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2021, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394/80 "2021-12-23T00:09:43Z")
_Monday Morning Quarterback Quarterly_ - TOP TEN DUMB IDEAS TO AVOID REPEAT OF NEW YORK TRAGEDY - (Hint: All ten involve guns and chairs) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-new-york-city-is-destroyed-what-will-the-headlines-say/956394.md?page=5)