ASTEROID-MEASUREMENT-UNIT UPDATE

Huge asteroid the size of London's Big Ben will get closer to Earth than the MOON on Saturday

(Thanks to Emily, Leslie and w)

Comments

[cfjk]

If we have a pair of binoculars will we be able to see what time it is on the clock?

[man tom]

How many Gentle Ben's in a London Big Ben? 17,426 mph is not even top speed on a flying car, so what?

[Mike]

How big is that?
Does anybody know where I can find a giraffe to Big Ben conversion table?

[the ghost of Carl Sagan]

Just another reason not to adopt the metric system.

[Michael]

140.7 to 166.3 corgis, assuming they all stand very still.

[Hugh Janus]

Was the huge asteroid thrown out from the Asteroid Belt, the Oort Cloud or the Brigalow Belt?

[Clankie]

We'll hear it coming... " Bong.... Bong.... "

[Rod]

That would be 0.84 Saturn V rockets, which would be a more appropriate unit for a lunar fly-by, I would think.

[Pullet Surprise]

Wait wait wait - there is still sooooo much controversy on standardized units of measure for outrageous things. I propose that the DBBlog organization hold world conference of experts to resolve all this to finally come to some sort of consensus. I for one would like to add another dimension (no pun intended) to this issue - there was one major news story that talked about a sinkhole in the ocean that was described as looking like a 'bundt cake'. How many 'bundt cakes' in a corgi? The world is eager to know.

[wanderer2575]

Is that vertically or horizontally?

[Math Yoda]

As all us tiresome pedants are fond of pointing out, Big Ben is not a tower or a clock, it’s merely the largest bell in the clock tower. The tower itself is called Elizabeth Tower. You won’t be able to hear it ringing as it goes by because the vacuum of space cannot carry sound. If the whole clock were to come along for the show, you couldn’t read the time either, because “time of day” is a meaningless concept for an object that is not on the surface of the Earth.

A pedant’s work is never done.

[Meanie the Blue]

I'm sure glad you folks were not around when I came up with horsepower.

-- James Watt

[Pullet Surprise]

To Math Yoda - Elizabeth Tower? You mean Elizabeth Regina? Regina that rhymes with vagina? So all these stories tie together right nicely.

Bob

[pogo]

@PulletS - Are you suggesting we measure asteroids in vaginas? How many cubic meters in a vagina?

[Confused]

Wait, do they mean that it will get closer to the Earth than the Moon will, or do they mean it will be closer to the Earth than it will to the Moon? Assuming they are two different things.

[Pullet Surprise]

Oh, pogo, you have thrown me a real curve ball there. I can't answer that question cause I don't own one - but I do know someone who does. I will ask her. Is that the thing that has the controversial clitoris that everyone posting has discussed already?. I will see if I can program my Rooba to come up with an answer, sort of like the computer on the old Star Trek Enterprise, "Working".

[Michael]

Dave,

I wish to formally complain (black tie, white tie?) about the recent explosion, if you will, in the use of various animals but particularly the corgi as a unit of measure. This is problematic in several ways, and potentially inhumane. As a dog lover (not sure of your view of the corgi, though), you must take leadership in thwarting this. We have several perfectly useful systems of measure with a long history of safety, even if the US cannot figure out what Celsius means. Were the corgi (or many corgis, as they’re kinda small) to supplant (I threw that word in because I know you also love words and sometimes use them) the meter (spelled “metre” by many snobs) how would we conveniently and quickly measure everyday objects like washing machines and Kardasians? Must one keep a kennel of corgis on hand, trained to line up, encircle, or transect the dimension in question? And what about smaller objects—how does one humanely decimate a corgi to measure cup holders or rulers? Corgis are somewhat variable in length, which also introduces quite a bit of error; 0.56 to 0.66 meters may be fine for asteroid approximation, but if designing quantum computers I am confident saying that just won’t do, despite knowing not the slightest thing about how a quantum computer is created, used, or how is works. I just know that a 15 to 20% margin of error is big-ish, though certainly within Government specs. There is a platinum metre stick somewhere that was THE standard for a long time after the metric system was announced. Would someone have to create a platinum corgi, or do we go with the current rubric of 1 corgi equals the speed of light times 0.56 to 0.66 over 299,792,458 seconds? Again, a lot of variation with that. Just yesterday, I had to use a drywall square, a tape measure, and a small angle-thingy whilst repairing some wall partitions at my office; honestly, a corgi could not have done it.

As a side note, humanity has put humans on the Moon, we’ve landed complex vehicles on Mars, but we still measure gas station holding tanks with a wooden stick. Why? And, obviously, corgis should not be doing that.

I have a lot more to say about this, am out of time. Please, Dave, take the lead on this and let BIPM know how strongly you (well, I) feel about this, before the Daily Mail gives this thing another push towards their goal of replacing every single unit of measure with a dog. Or a walrus.

Michael

(An email sent to the Blog Feb 24th. Yet this Blog has taken no official action, apart from acknowledging receipt. He. Does. Not. Care.)

[guy]

I'm so tired of all these obscure measuring methods. I think we need to go back to the old standards. Therefor everybody should use Furlongs per fortnight.

[Elaine Benes]

I don't know about you guys, 'cuz when it comes to measuring such things, it's best to use ben-wa balls, as one size fits all.