RE: Giant [CGI] bolide hits [CGI] Earth

["Thomas R. Holtz, Jr." <tholtz@geol.umd.edu>]

> From: owner-VRTPALEO@usc.edu [mailto:owner-VRTPALEO@usc.edu]On Behalf Of
> Jura
>
> Japanese scientists (or film makers high on science)
> ran a full on CGI model of an asteroid smacking into
> Earth. The bolide is approximately the breadth of
> Japan, and is traveling at some 70,000 km/hr (shown
> slower for effect...apparently). Needless to say the
> results don't bode well for life.
>
> The video is on You Tube and in Japanese. Thankfully
> the video speaks for itself.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JHdYBet_4Q&eurl=http://www.sosyalmekan.com/blog/index.php
>
> The entire film is explained in the sidebar on the
> right. Though, be warned, it is in engrish.

Really cool stuff. Although the impactor in question is of kind of an odd size: 
at c. 100 km diameter it is VASTLY larger than the
Chicxulub impactor (or indeed anything else that's clobbered the Earth since 
the Hadean...), but it is far smaller than "Theia" (the
hypothetical Mars-sized body that whalloped proto-Earth to form the Earth and 
Moon system). So this might approximate a class of
impacts that were present in the Hadean, but not much like anything since.

Although it IS a good model for the type of damage that would have happened in 
the movie Argmeggedon, when a "Texas-sized" asteroid
was going to hit the Earth. (Okay, if by "the size of Texas" they actually 
meant ~600 km across, then it would be even worse than
the Japanese impact!).

> Oh, and one more thing. Since this is a Japanese film,
> bonus points go to anyone who can guess which country
> bites it first?

Saraba, Chikyuu...

                Thomas R. Holtz, Jr.
        Senior Lecturer, Vertebrate Paleontology
Department of Geology           Director, Earth, Life & Time Program
University of Maryland          College Park Scholars
        Mailing Address:
                Building 237, Room 1117
                College Park, MD  20742

http://www.geol.umd.edu/~tholtz/
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