Q&A 44: Am I Ruining Sci-Fi? And More
In this week's questions show, I talk about being wrong, why I'm such a buzz kill to sci-fi, and what I'd launch on a Falcon Heavy.
Comments (8)
Can you explain the difference in asteroids, meteors, and meteorites? Is it just size?
Asteroid: a large rocky body in space, in orbit around the Sun. Meteoroid: much smaller rocks or particles in orbit around the Sun. Meteor: If a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and vaporizes, it becomes a meteor, which is often called a shooting star. Meteorite: If a small asteroid or large meteoroid survives its fiery passage through the Earth's atmosphere and lands on Earth's surface, it is then called a meteorite.........i know this reply is a month old, but just thought id post anyway just in case because i had this same question a while back and had trouble remembering the difference for some time. This is just a copy and paste from an article i found when i googled " asteroid vs meteor vs meteorite". Hope it helped.
I have a question, in this hypothetical question we have the ability to already know all the variables :). if we saw Alpha Cintauri be swallowed or partially consumed by a black hole that was heading at the speed of light ( i know its not possible) , wouldnt that mean it happened 4 years before we knew? So if the black hole is heading in the direction of our sun assuming nothings gravity effects its tragectory, wouldnt we be witnessing our sun being destroyed at the same time we see alpha centauri being destroyed? I apologize for the extreme details...
If the black hole was moving say, 99.999999999% the speed of light, we'd see it destroy Alpha Centauri and roughly the same time that it arrived in our Solar System.
Yikes....i NEVER once thought you came off as smug. I also understand the laws you discus today may change one day and I know you know that too, I mean, its common sense.....that first one was a bit harsh in my personal opinion.
It's possible that I take some of those questions because I know the fans will be entertained by the answer. :-)
Thanks for answering my Q this week. I really liked how you talked about conspiracy theorists not (always) being unintelligent people and how it relates to how humans perceive the world.
I think it's really unproductive when people just insult them. That doesn't get us anywhere. Generally the conspiracy people are jerks, so I don't get to upset, I just ban them. But the pleasant ones are worth engaging with, until they inevitably turn ugly. :-)