this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2024
606 points (96.3% liked)

Science Memes

11287 readers
2664 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Man. I haven't seen an ifunny logo in so long. Are people still on it?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 hour ago
[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 hours ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago

Definitely easier to read thx

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago)

ifunny.c😀

[–] captain_aggravated 22 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

The calculation of its speed was made by high speed camera, as you've probably seen the Mythbusters do. In this case the manhole cover was seen in flight in precisely one frame of high speed camera footage, and for it to go "installed, in flight, gone" in three frames means it would have had to be moving at mach jesus.

It likely didn't make it to space intact; it would have had ultrasonic compression heating on one side and a nuclear explosion on the other. It's probably still here in the form of iron oxide dust scattered about the Northwestern hemisphere.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

In my head I know you're right but my heart wants this.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

If we kill him he never will have said it and the manhole cover will be in space.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago

As much energy to put a manhole in space?

[–] captain_aggravated 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

You'll have to kill Kyle Hill too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 hours ago

That I'd do for free.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 hours ago (2 children)

I'd like to think that it's possible that it was launched fast enough that it escaped the blast and Earth's atmosphere and made its way to a neighboring galaxy where it's now living lodged in some far off asteroid or some comet or planet.

Manhole cover first man made object in Andromeda.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

It's not going fast enough to escape the Milky Way Galaxy.

[–] captain_aggravated 2 points 5 hours ago

This was in what? the 50's? So it would have had to travel ~2 million light years in 70 years, so it would have had to hit several hundred thousand times the speed of light?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

The Parker Solar Probe moves 120 miles per second as it passes around the Sun. That's nearly half a million miles per hour!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Solar_Probe

[–] [email protected] 3 points 5 hours ago

Parker Solar Probe: 191 km per second.

Nuclear Manhole Cover: 55 km per second

Voyager 1: 17 km per second

Voyager 2: 15 km per second

[–] [email protected] 22 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 20 hours ago) (1 children)

Nope, it would just have bursted due to thermal schock and pressure. Escape velocity, what are you dreaming, is the lid made of tungsten?

[–] logos 7 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

This is the origin apparently.

RRB: "My calculations are irrelevant on this point. They are only valid in speaking of the shock reflection." Ogle: "How fast did it go?" RRB: "Those numbers are meaningless. I have only a vacuum above the cap. No air, no gravity, no real material strengths in the iron cap. Effectively the cap is just loose, traveling through meaningless space." Ogle: And how fast is it going?" This last question was more of a shout. Bill liked to have a direct answer to each one of his questions. RRB: "Six times the escape velocity from the earth."

[–] [email protected] 14 points 20 hours ago

Surprised no one has posted this but Kyle hill made a video on it

[–] [email protected] 7 points 18 hours ago

How to solve the Three Body Problem.

[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Ummm, not sure where they got these numbers from but Earth's escape velocity is not 7000mph and escaping the sun's gravitational pull (leaving the solar system from Earth) is not 30,000mph. Respectively the numbers are approximately 25,000mph and 94,000mph. You're welcome.

[–] merc 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

That's 11.2 km/s and 42.1 km/s.

Also, even if the manhole cover was going at above 12 km/s the trajectory has to be right for that to result in orbit. Most paths it would take would result in it going up and then coming back down again. Similarly, if somehow it did manage more than 50 km/s and wasn't destroyed in the atmosphere, it might have the velocity to escape the sun's gravity, but probably wouldn't be on the right path to do it. Most likely it would fall into the sun.

So, assuming the 125,000 mph (55 km/s) velocity is correct, the most likely outcome is that it was a reverse-meteor, something that burned up going up through the atmosphere, not down. And even if it did have enough speed to get out of the atmosphere, and there was enough of it left, it most likely fell right back down through the atmosphere somewhere else, either burning up on re-entry or hitting the ground (or the water) somewhere else.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Ignoring that it burned up and ignoring losses due to drag if it somehow didn't. Isn't the point of escape velocity that it explicitly won't come back down.iar least not on earth. Your trajectory won't matter as you have enough velocity to escape the gravity of earth and will orbit the sun. Further if you managed the solar system escape velocity you will end up orbiting the galactic core. Trajectory doesn't matter if you have escape velocity. Correct trajectory just minimizes the delta v needed to reach that escape velocity.

At least that's all my recollection.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 43 minutes ago

Escape velocity means you could stay in orbit. It doesn't guarantee anything if you launch at the wrong angle.

load more comments (7 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›