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https://nerdist.com/article/asteroid-simulator-launch-asteroids-at-earth/
Ever watch James Bond films and feel like being a villain would be more fun? The perks of having your own henchmen, lair, and kitty are pretty tempting. Now you can at least make believe by launching imaginary asteroids at Earth. An interactive website with an asteroid simulator lets you do just that. Just choose the size, speed, and impact angle and decide if the projectile is made up of gold, iron, stone, or carbon. You can even launch a comet, which is mostly ice and dust. So if those scary size comparison videos and doomsday asteroid simulations aren’t hands-on enough, or you just have a god complex, now you can get even more involved. Learning is fun, but most of these scenarios are pretty bleak. You’ll get a list of how many people would die from the various fireballs, earthquakes, and shock waves.
We learned about this simulator thanks to Boing Boing using the example of the author’s hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Even though asteroids are more likely to hit water than land, it is somehow more fun (or horrifying, depending on your definition of fun) to hurl them at population centers and rack up your kill count.
When you create a fireball, it tells you how far away people would have to be for their clothes not to burst into flames. But there’s no mention of tsunamis caused by the impact. That would definitely be a huge problem if an asteroid hit the ocean. The simulator also doesn’t factor in elevation. For example, when chucking a small comet at Mount Everest, it says the projectile would disintegrate 1,861 feet above the Earth. But the peak is over 29,000 feet tall, so it would definitely wreak some havoc.
This also assumes that NASA doesn’t launch a DART spacecraft to bonk your asteroid off-course and save the day. It’s comforting to know they are able to even if none of the killer asteroids on NASA’s radar are coming for Earth anytime soon.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
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The post Launch Asteroids at Earth with This Fun Simulator appeared first on Nerdist.
Ever watch James Bond films and feel like being a villain would be more fun? The perks of having your own henchmen, lair, and kitty are pretty tempting. Now you can at least make believe by launching imaginary asteroids at Earth. An interactive website with an asteroid simulator lets you do just that. Just choose the size, speed, and impact angle and decide if the projectile is made up of gold, iron, stone, or carbon. You can even launch a comet, which is mostly ice and dust. So if those scary size comparison videos and doomsday asteroid simulations aren’t hands-on enough, or you just have a god complex, now you can get even more involved. Learning is fun, but most of these scenarios are pretty bleak. You’ll get a list of how many people would die from the various fireballs, earthquakes, and shock waves.
We learned about this simulator thanks to Boing Boing using the example of the author’s hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Even though asteroids are more likely to hit water than land, it is somehow more fun (or horrifying, depending on your definition of fun) to hurl them at population centers and rack up your kill count.
When you create a fireball, it tells you how far away people would have to be for their clothes not to burst into flames. But there’s no mention of tsunamis caused by the impact. That would definitely be a huge problem if an asteroid hit the ocean. The simulator also doesn’t factor in elevation. For example, when chucking a small comet at Mount Everest, it says the projectile would disintegrate 1,861 feet above the Earth. But the peak is over 29,000 feet tall, so it would definitely wreak some havoc.
This also assumes that NASA doesn’t launch a DART spacecraft to bonk your asteroid off-course and save the day. It’s comforting to know they are able to even if none of the killer asteroids on NASA’s radar are coming for Earth anytime soon.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
This post has affiliate links, which means we may earn advertising money if you buy something. This doesn’t cost you anything extra, we just have to give you the heads up for legal reasons. Click away!
The post Launch Asteroids at Earth with This Fun Simulator appeared first on Nerdist.
We may never get an Elf 2, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the original movie and all the joy it brings. When you watch Buddy make a breakfast of spaghetti, chocolate syrup, candy, and Pop-Tarts, do you think “what a champion”? Now is the time to try it for yourself with $15 meals kits from Hello Fresh. Start your day off right with an Elf-themed sugar high! It includes candy, chocolate cereal, marshmallows, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, and spaghetti. Unsurprisingly, the recipe has 312% of your daily recommended sugars and that’s before pairing it with the suggested cola.
Hello Fresh describes the recipe as “chocolate-forward.” The directions include the note that “mixing and eating with your hands is highly recommended” if you want that true Buddy the elf experience. The company is releasing a limited number for sale every day between December 5-9, 2022 at 12:25pm Eastern time. The daily allotment sells out quickly.
If you’re not one of the lucky few to get one, you can always recreate the experience yourself. Nerdist’s resident weird-food-eater Michael Walsh did just that a few years back. Why not invite friends and family over and make them suffer through it as well? All you need is spaghetti, Sno-Caps, mini marshmallows, M&Ms, and chocolate syrup. If you make substitutes, just remember the four main food groups are candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup. While Elf became an instant Christmas classic when it came out in 2003, we’re not so sure this meal will ever be anything more than a terrible idea.
In 2020, General Mills made an Elf-themed maple syrup cereal, so this isn’t the first time a company has gotten in on Buddy’s sweet breakfast game. But now that Hello Fresh’s offering, which we learned about from /Film, is true to the source material, all others seem downright restrained in comparison.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
The post ELF-Themed Meal Kit Includes Spaghetti, Syrup, and So Much Candy appeared first on Nerdist.