How to destroy the Earth

[Ron2K]

http://qntm.org/destroy

Very interesting reading.

[pienkie]

Interesting indeed... I enjoyed

[jee]

great stuff.. will keep me out of mischief.

funnily, i watched a programme on tv where they were talking about asteroids, and how something with a 30 mile radius can cause a cataclismic destructive force that can kill off most of earth, similar to the dinosaur time line,

Made me wonder... perhaps i will find my answer

[doo_much]

I'm thinking that Sam Hughes has way too much time.

But that's only me.

[CesarePlay]

great stuff.. will keep me out of mischief.

funnily, i watched a programme on tv where they were talking about asteroids, and how something with a 30 mile radius can cause a cataclismic destructive force that can kill off most of earth, similar to the dinosaur time line,

Made me wonder... perhaps i will find my answer

Were you watching The history channel because I also saw that program? Interesting article and interesting program.

[rustypup]

<necro! but with a purpose >

Impact: Earth!

because galactic conkers is FUN

also interesting/educational/whatever... would be more entertaining if they'd provided for targeting specific locations...

[Tribble]

That is a fun toy - thank you. The worst I have been able to affect the length of day is by 58.7 hours.

[StarBound]

Just put SA government in chargeof the world and a meteor impact would be like saving it

[CapNemo]

[rustypup]

• The Earth is completely disrupted by the impact and its debris forms a new asteroid belt orbiting the sun between Venus and Mars.
  100 percent of the Earth is melted
  The impact does not make a noticeable change in the tilt of Earth's axis (< 5 hundredths of a degree).
  Depending on the direction and location of impact, the collision may cause a change in the length of the day of up to 16 seconds.
  The impact does not shift the Earth's orbit noticeably.

i see they left at least some of this to the pot-smoking grad students...

[Tribble]

Yeah well it's orbit isn't changed - it is obliterated

[StarBound]

That is the maxxed settings. Biggest size, highest density and highest mass.

[Ron2K]

Coincidentally, on this week's "What If?" on xkcd, we have: "If a meteor made out of diamond and 100 feet in diameter was travelling at the speed of light and hit the earth, what would happen to it?"

http://what-if.xkcd.com/20/

[StarPhoenix]

Aren't there certain...... inconvenient technicalities involved in accelerating things with non-zero rest mass to the speed of light in a vacuum?

[StarBound]

So if your thinking of referencing it to the bibles end time those going to heaven will leave on a plasma cloud while everyone else will fry on earth in its molten form?
Science - the scary way to explain historical and future happenings