# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 200
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3983 "2025-02-10T23:34:06Z")
There was a meteorite fall captured on video last year. On Prince Edward Island; hit someone’s walkway: > **[Video captures meteorite hitting the ground](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diDj1aOWe7I%2F)** ---
**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:** [February 11, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3984 "2025-02-11T00:00:43Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Probably apocryphal, but supposedly in one of the few instances where a meteorite hit a house, an insurance claim was filed with the cause of damage as “falling rock”. Hmmm. The most famous meteorite to hit a house is Sylacauga and almost certainly is what an American layperson means when they mention one. I can’t find any reference to that insurance claim related to Sylacauga, so I suspect it is apocryphal. BTW, meteorites that strike human artifacts are called hammerstones or hammer stones, and are highly coveted in the collector’s market, as are pieces of whatever they hit, like [these specimens](https://galactic-stone.com/hammer-fall-meteorites-lot-of-7-space-stone-projectiles-and-artifacts/). I have only one hammerstone represented my collection: [Kobe](https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Photograph-of-the-roof-of-the-house-showing-that-the-meteorite-penetrated-the-roof-and_fig3_237295455), which is a small, rare carbonaceous chondrite that penetrated a roof in Japan. It shattered into several pieces that were taken by Japanese scientists. But a meteorite collector/researcher/dealer who lives in Tokyo bought the vacuum cleaner bag where the homeowner had cleaned up the celing debris and sorted through it under a dissecting microscope to recover a couple of grams of crumbs, which are all that became available for collectors. ([This](https://i.imgur.com/u6DC0q7.jpeg) is my portion.) ---
**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:** [February 11, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3985 "2025-02-11T00:03:15Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > There was a meteorite fall captured on video last year. On Prince Edward Island; hit someone’s walkway: Here is a thread about that one. > [@Shallow Impact (the real movie of an asteroid strike)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/shallow-impact-the-real-movie-of-an-asteroid-strike/1012982): > > (This was originally going to be a reply in [the moon crater thread in FQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/moon-crater-question/1012073/), but it started to look like a new thread…) A small meteorite fell in Canada in July of last year. The writeup for it was released yesterday and it is making the news because the impact was caught on video on a Ring camera. The actual impact point is blocked from view, but you see dust, and hear it. [[Charlottetown Meteorite - First time the sound of a meteorite hitting the earth recorded] ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzNSHhlW4F8) You can see the fall… ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3986 "2025-02-11T00:18:42Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The most famous meteorite to hit a house is Sylacauga and almost certainly is what an American layperson means when they mention one. One hit a house in BC a few years back. Almost hit a woman laying in bed. A superficial google didn’t find anything about an insurance claim. However, numerous hits say that insurance covers meteorite damage, so there wouldn’t really be a need to disguise the cause of damage. > **[A meteorite crashes through a home in Canada, barely missing a woman's head](https://www.npr.org/2021/10/14/1045990641/meteorite-canada-british-columbia-bed)** > > British Columbia resident Ruth Hamilton had a rude awakening earlier this month when a large meteorite plunged from space, through her roof and landed in her bed. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3987 "2025-02-11T00:54:46Z")
Being in Arizona, the natural history museum where I volunteer has some specimens from Barringer Crater along with this photo on the wall. I would joke that if it had struck a millisecond earlier it would have wiped out the visitor center but too many people were buying it so I stopped. [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Meteor_Crater_-_Arizona.jpg/1280px-Meteor_Crater_-_Arizona.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Meteor_Crater_-_Arizona.jpg/1280px-Meteor_Crater_-_Arizona.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:** [February 11, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3988 "2025-02-11T02:02:17Z")
rom the looks of that pic you should switch to telling them the meteor was obviously square. See how many will bite off on that one. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3989 "2025-02-11T15:47:35Z")
New what-if: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Z_xJ40QXu7Q/maxresdefault.jpg "What if you built a billion-story building?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_xJ40QXu7Q) Brian ---
**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:** [February 11, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3990 "2025-02-11T16:32:39Z")
Videos? Somebody forgot to tell me about the steekin’ videos! ETA: Holy Moses, there’s 21 of 'em. Some of which are about topics I’ve never seen online in the regular site format. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3991 "2025-02-11T18:44:50Z")
I didn’t pick up exactly how much height per story he was allowing for. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3992 "2025-02-12T00:06:42Z")
Long before you get to orbital height, wouldn’t the ground underneath it start causing problems. To start, crushing under the weight and then later, well giving way until the skyscraper starts to sink into the mantle. “Next stop, 17,503rd floor. Men’s socks and hot lava. Mind the gap.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3993 "2025-02-12T00:12:18Z")
The mega-mega-mega-skyscraper (100 million stories) just about tops out at the moon, which is 1.26 billion feet away. So 12.6 feet per story. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3994 "2025-02-12T01:21:06Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > To start, crushing under the weight and then later, well giving way until the skyscraper starts to sink into the mantle. “But the fourth one stayed up!” ---
**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3995 "2025-02-12T01:41:55Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > giving way until the skyscraper starts to sink into the mantle. > > “Next stop, 17,503rd floor. Men’s socks and hot lava. Mind the gap.” Hot magma ---
**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:** [February 12, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3996 "2025-02-12T05:14:00Z")
Which ones aren’t covered by [the site](https://what-if.xkcd.com/archive/)? ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3997 "2025-02-12T16:35:12Z")
> **[Atom](https://xkcd.com/3050/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/atom.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/atom.png) “What’s weirder is that muons turned out to be INCREDIBLY cute.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3998 "2025-02-14T03:37:28Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > “What’s weirder is that muons turned out to be INCREDIBLY cute.” Plus when you cuddle them, they say “mew, mew”. Who can resist that? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3999 "2025-02-14T16:16:54Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > “What’s weirder is that muons turned out to be INCREDIBLY cute.” Sure, but only for 2.2 μs. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4000 "2025-02-15T01:38:11Z")
Those are the muons. The muuuuuoooons last longer. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4001 "2025-02-15T05:37:48Z")
> **[Hardwood](https://xkcd.com/3051/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hardwood.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/hardwood.png) “They may technically have been softwoods at some point, but they definitely aren’t now.” ---
**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:** [February 15, 2025, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/4002 "2025-02-15T06:32:48Z")
Strictly speaking, the vast majority of the [Carboniferous coal forests](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coal_forest#Plant_life) were _neither_ hardwood _nor_ softwood. Just wood-wood. They were [tree ferns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecopteris), [seed ferns](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pteridospermatophyta), [club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigillaria) [mosses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepidodendron) and [horsetails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamites). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=199) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=201)