McIntosh MT5: The Silent Magnetic Turntable

Vinyl has been making a comeback over recent years and for serious music lovers, there’s just nothing that compares to the sound of vinyl. It’s not about how many songs you can fit on a memory card in your smart phone or iPod, it’s about hearing every single stroke of every single instrument in one song. The daddy of stereo designers has released their latest precision turntable, the McIntosh MT5 and it has sent vinyl lovers into a spin.

McIntosh’s aim was to bring out the sound of any vinyl record while at the same time trying to eliminate any mechanical noises and imperfections from the turntable itself. To do so, the designers have used magnets to keep the platter and the arm stable on a silent floating bed.

The motor for the turntable is Swiss manufactured and replaces the standard ball bearings with two neodymium magnets that oppose each other. By adopting this technique, low end rumble which usually interferes with the audio quality of a turntable is abolished. Magnets are used again to stabilize the tone arm, stopping the arm from skipping across the beloved vinyl record without making any sound at all.

Award Winning

Although the release of the McIntosh MT5 turntable was only recent, the mechanically silent stereo system has been eagerly anticipated by true music lovers for months ever since it picked up an award at the Consumer Electronics Show back in January, 2013.

The debut of the MT5 matched the hype around the turntable perfectly. Questlove himself was genuinely amazed at the quality of the sound that the MT5 created when it played a selection of records at Electric Lady Studios.

Serious About Prices

The McIntosh MT5 is not for the general hipster who decides they’d like to have a cool turntable to go with their quirky vinyl collection. At $6,500 the glowing, floating magnetic turntable will only appeal to people who have a serious love and appreciation for that very unique vinyl sound.

Generating electricity from a sheet of paper

E-paper displays like Kindles use an extraordinarily low amount of power; so low, it turns out, that brushing your hand across their surface could be enough to power them in the future.

A team at Disney Research has developed flat, flexible power generators that can be incorporated into sheets of paper, plastic or other common materials, allowing people to generate electricity in novel ways. The team sandwiched materials like Teflon between sheets of another conductive material. When rubbed, the materials generate an electric current that can power an electronic device.

“Though the fundamental principles of operation remain the same, it’s possible to build paper generators that respond to a number of different gestures, such as tapping, touching, rubbing or sliding,” Interaction Group director Ivan Poupyrev said in a release. “We can imagine any number of ways to use this to add sights, sounds and other interactivity to books and other printed materials inexpensively and without having to worry about power sources.”

The devices can be built in less than five minutes. A regular printer can be loaded with conductive ink, allowing it to print out the sheets of conductive material. They generate a very low amount of power, which means they are only suited to low-power devices.

“It’s very simple, it’s flexible and it’s printable using conventional printers,” team member Mustafa Karagozler said in the release. “It’s a technology with potential applications we’ve only begun to explore.”

Bluetooth Speaker P.A.C.O Makes Use Of Gesture Controls

Created by the Italy-based design studio Digital Habit(s), P.A.C.O is a minimalist Bluetooth speaker that boasts for gestural controls. The components of the loudspeaker is fabricated in concrete and a special type of wooden material called the Fir Harmonic Board. These materials directly influence the excellence of the sound conveyed through the speaker; the concrete provides a deeper bass sound while the wood provides a warm tone to the treble noise. The combination of the two creates clarity without compromise.

Other than its Bluetooth controls, P.A.C.O. can be manipulated through the speaker’s gesture interface. Some of the movements include placing and holding one’s hand over one side of the sensor—this can be used for increasing or decreasing the volume. Another gesture involves placing the user’s hand above the sensor to stop or play the music. With the wave of one’s hand, this speaker can be enjoyed with various movements for fun and leisure.

This innovative product comes with a 3.5” speaker and a 2” surface transducer. P.A.C.O. has a 2×6 power amplifier, increasing its sound quality for better user experience.

As revealed by Design You Trust, the P.A.C.O. speaker is an open source material, just like the other products from Digital Habit(s). This means that these items are open to changes and developments that any user can apply to it. But the designs are all covered by a non-commercial Creative License. This means that while P.A.C.O. is encouraged to be improved, redistributed, optimized and used as a foundation for a new design, these items cannot be sold commercially.

Digital Habit(s) states that this project highlights the distinction between an electronic product meant for display and typical use, and an innovative item that offers something more. With its minimalist design, P.A.C.O. becomes a companion for music enthusiasts craving for new products that are out of the ordinary. Any user can make use of this product with iOS and Android OS; it is compatible with different digital devices connected wirelessly using Bluetooth.

GLASS TECHNOLOGY 2020

GLASS

Glass is the essential material enabling this new world. The displays and touch surfaces of the future will require materials that are tough, yet thin and lightweight; that can enable complex electronic circuits and nano functionality; that can scale for very large applications, and that also have a cool, touch-friendly aesthetic.

GLASS PHONE

You know how annoying it is when you stick your bread in the toaster and accidentally set the dial too high, and when your toast finally pops up, it's darker than you want, or burned?

GLASS KEYBOARD

TRANSPARENT TOASTER

Ford Car Takes Control Of Steering To Avoid Accidents

Ford has being showing off the new Obstacle Avoidance system at a facility in Lommel, Belgium. The equipment, once fitted to a car, can take control of the steering wheel when it detects the risk of a collision.

The car manufacturer explained that the system would warn the driver of danger first and then if the driver did not react it would take over the controls.

It is able to scan up to 200m ahead using three radars, a number of ultrasonic sensors and a camera, which are all installed into the car. A built-in display shows a warning sign and sounds a chime if it detects the possibilty of an accident. If necessary it then applies the brakes and scans for a gap in the road so that it can steer the car away from danger.

“You’re driving down the road and a pedestrian or something comes out from either side of your vehicle from your peripheral vision where you don’t have a good look at it,” said Barb Samardzich, vice-president of product development at Ford’s European division.

“Obstacle Avoidance can sense that the pedestrian or that object is coming across the front of your vehicle. If it doesn’t sense you responding accordingly in your vehicle by braking or manoeuvring, it will take over.”

Ford is not the only manufacturer working on this project, BMW, Fiat, Daimler, Volvo and Volkswagen are also aiming to reduce the number of severe collisions. The companies will share data resulting from tests so that they can develop their own systems.

Ford explains that fewer than on-third of all drivers involved in rear-end collisions had attempted to steer in a way to avoid the accident. As the result it shouldn’t be too difficult to convince motorists that this is a necessary and life-saving innovation.

“The logic behind the technology is impeccable – anything that can avoid a potentially dangerous situation that can cause injury or death sounds like a good piece of equipment,” said Tim Urquhart, senior analyst at consultants IHS Automotive.

“Obviously it will come at a price. But there will be less resistance to a piece of technology like this than there will be to the concept of totally driverless cars.

“But autonomous vehicles are already being tested by Google, Daimler and others, and taking steering control in an emergency situation is obviously a pretty significant step along the road.”

[via Techbeat]

LG Curved Display Smart Phone To Be Announced In November

After the recent release of Samsung’s ‘Round’ smartphone, the first smart phone with a curved screen to be released, it seems that LG are almost ready to unveil their very own version of the curved display smart phone next month (November, 2013) some time.  There has been a lot of speculation about the curved display smart phone by LG, known as the G-Flex. Earlier in the year, LG showed off some flexible display technology at the SID and since then it seems they have been busy incorporating this technology for their new smart phone

The technology that was shown previously for the flexible display seemed to have much more scope than what the finished product will be this time round. Although the curve is present on the phone, it won’t be flexible, but a rigid structure although the display will be lighter than traditional displays which could be one advantage to the user. This means that although there is flexible display technology, the phone itself will not be bendable which could make it difficult to carry in the pocket. A problem that is already being seen with the larger smart phones and tablets.

Recently, renders of the G-Flex have been leaked, confirming the 6 inch display which will curve from the top to bottom of the phone as rumors indicated. The fact that the curve runs from the top of the phone to the bottom rather than from left to right as the Samsung Round does means that the G-Flex follows the contours of the users face.

Curved screens are already being used for large screen televisions and with the outbreak of the first curved display smart phone, surely more will follow. Both Samsung and LG have openly shown that they are working on technology for fully flexible screens and it seems that as soon as the technology giants have found a way to produce parts that are cheap enough to market commercially, the world of flexible, bendable mobile technology will really take off.

[via Techbeat]

University Of Buffalo Test Underwater Wi-Fi

A research team from the University of Buffalo, New York have been testing an underwater wi-fi network in a lake near Buffalo. The aim is to make a deep-sea internet; an agreed standard for underwater communications so that interaction and data-sharing is easier.

Sound Waves

The team are not using the conventional wi-fi, which makes use of radio waves. Although radio waves can penetrate water, they have extremely limited range and stability. So the researches are experimenting with the use of sound waves, which are already naturally used by many aquatic species such as dolphins and whales.

Wireless communication underwater is already possible but there are some problems. For example getting seperate systems used by different organisations to communicate with one another is an issue.

Although the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has been able to use acoustic waves to send data from tsunami sensors on the sea floor to surface buoys, the data collected cannot be shared quickly with other information collected by the US Navy.

“Help Save Lives”

The Buffalo team are working to create a shared standard. They carried out a test at Lake Erie near Buffalo, where they dropped two 18kg sensors into the water and then using a laptop they transmitted the information back.

“A submerged wireless network will give us an unprecedented ability to collect and analyse data from our oceans in real time,” said Tommaso Melodia, lead researcher.

“Making this information available to anyone with a smartphone or computer, especially when a tsunami or other type of disaster occurs, could help save lives.”

It is hoped that the sensors will help detect and solve environmental issues and then with the shared standard, different research groups will be able to combine the data easier and in real-time.

The team will present their findings at a conference for underwater networking next month in Taiwan.

US Military Tests Ground Robot That Fires Machine Gun

Although drones have been used to attack targets from the sky, the US military are now exploring the possibilty of employing ground robots capable of firing machine guns.

Last weekend, four companies tested robots armed with guns that can shoot at targets up to 500 feet away. Also present at the test, which took place at Fort Benning, Ga.,  were senior army officers.

Curently land robots are used by the military mainly as bomb disposers. The robot used in these latest tests is named Protector and has been used before to carry out tasks such as clearing paths, digging defensive positions and carrying equipment for the infantry, travelling at a maximum speed of 5mph.

However, Protector had a whole new role when loaded with a machine gun. The robot can be remotely operated from a distance of up to 3,300 feet and is able to fire ammunition 5,900 feet away according to Popular Science.

The military are increasingly using robots, with an expert commenting to Computerworld that he thinks robots will soon outnumber humans by ten to one.

At the moment the most advanced robot soldiers are only semi-autonomous but experts feel that it won’t be too long before we see robots going into battle rather than humans.

World Record 100Gbps Wireless Data Transmission Set

Do you think your 802.11ac router is pretty fast? Well, I’m afraid it isn’t. In fact, it has got nothing on a new system created by the Fraunhofer Institute and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, which has recently completed a 100Gbps data transmission.

That’s approximately fourteen times faster than the most robust 802.11ac equipment can muster up. But, there is a catch. The research team’s success was conducted, as you may guess, in a laboratory environment and took place over a distance of just 20 meters.   Did I mention that there were no obstructions?  That doesn’t change the fact that the team sent and received the data equivalent of a full Blu-ray disc in just two seconds.  That is impressive in anyone’s book.

It’s great to see that the teams at Fraunhofer and KIT have accomplished such speed. They have the potential to vastly improve rural Internet access.  It could, theoretically, dramatically increase the speed in our home Wi-Fi networks in the not so distant future.

Unfortunately, the reality will be much different.  For starters, the implementation of the design is better suited as a replacement for commercial WANs, specifically remote office links that use microwave transmitters. The 237.5GHz signal wouldn’t be good at penetrating walls, but it is well suited to line-of-sight networking.

Furthermore, proof of concept setups, like this one, never make it to the consumer market in their pure forms. Trade-offs have to be made in order to get the tech out into the field and present ISPs are seldom eager to spend revenue on new technologies without making absolutely sure they have squeezed every last penny out of the old ones first. Take, for instance, how long it took for DSL to go from being a concept in the lab to being marketed globally for the average consumer.

So maybe in the future, your router will be capable of sending and receiving data at incredible speeds!  We will have to see.

Chinese Scientists Create LiFi (Light Powered Internet)

Move over WiFi; successful experiments by a group of Xinhua, Shanghai based scientists have implied the possibilities of improving China’s online means by using the signals sent by light bulbs. This technology is called LiFi, a wireless communication using light as a carrier in place of the usual radio frequencies. This has the advantage of being able to use internet even near electromagnetic sensitive locations such as nuclear power plants and aircrafts, without causing any interference.

In an experiment, four computers in a one-wattage LED light can be connected to the internet. Chi Nan, a professor in Fudan University, Shanghai, has disclosed that a light bulb with inserted microchips is able to generate data rates with the speed of 150 mbps, which is faster than the typical broadband in China. Chi under the information technology department and is leading the research team for LiFi. This team includes researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics.

The LiFi offers a practical and resourceful solution for the local Chinese broadband. Chi reveals that the present wireless signal transmission is costly and inefficient. A big percentage of energy is also wasted on cell phone base stations, which consumes a lot of electricity on their cooling systems. Compared to these stations, there can be limitless number of light bulbs which can produce better broadband signals without consuming a lot of energy.

However, the team of scientists knew that this innovation still has a long way to go to be successful commercially.

Square Cash Allows You To Send Money Via Email

Sending and receiving money online is not always as easy as we would like it to be. Purchasing items online is easy enough, with merchants offering a variety of payment methods, but when it comes to transferring cash, it’s a different matter. Not only can it be a slow process, but you might also end up having to go the old-fashioned way at the end of the day.

That’s where Square Cash comes into the picture.

Square Cash comes from the already well known group Square Inc., which made its name in the smartphone-swiping device niche. Many a small merchant has had their business much improved by solutions from Square Inc., and this time, the private individual can take advantage of this new way to send money online.

The solution may not be elegant, but it’s so simple. All you need to do is to use your email to send money.

How exactly does Square Cash work?

There are three steps:

1. Send an email to the intended recipient, with cash@square.com in copy.
2. Link your debit card. You will do this upon receiving an email from Square Cash.
3. Done!

As you may have reasoned out by now, Square Cash needs a debit card, which Square uses to deposit the money into the bank account that you specify.

Any US debit card with a Visa or Mastercard logo will work, but it is important to note that this works in the US only – only for now, hopefully. There is also a limit of $2,500 per week; whether you send this all at once or you spread it out over several transactions does not matter.

Working of Biogas Plants

Biogas is a clean and efficient fuel. It is a mixture of methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide (CO₂), hydrogen (H₂) and hydrogen sulphide (H₂S). The chief constituent of biogas is methane (65%)

Production of Biogas - The biogas plants

There are two types of biogas plants in usage for the production of biogas. These are:

1. The fixed- dome type of biogas plant
2. The floating gas holder type of biogas plant

1.Fixed dome type of biogas plant

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Raw materials required

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Forms of biomass listed below may be used along with water.

• Animal dung

• Poultry wastes

• Plant wastes ( Husk, grass, weeds etc.)

• Human excreta

• Industrial wastes(Saw dust, wastes from food processing industries)

• Domestic wastes (Vegetable peels, waste food materials)

Principle

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Biogas is produced as a result of anaerobic fermentation of biomass in the presence of water.

Construction

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The biogas plant is a brick and cement structure having the following five sections:

• Mixing tank present above the ground level.

• Inlet chamber: The mixing tank opens underground into a sloping inlet chamber.

• Digester: The inlet chamber opens from below into the digester which is a huge tank with a dome like ceiling. The ceiling of the digester has an outlet with a valve for the supply of biogas.

• Outlet chamber: The digester opens from below into an outlet chamber.

• Overflow tank: The outlet chamber opens from the top into a small over flow tank.

Fixed Dome type Biogas Plant

Working

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• The various forms of biomass are mixed with an equal quantity of water in the mixing tank. This forms the slurry.

• The slurry is fed into the digester through the inlet chamber.

• When the digester is partially filled with the slurry, the introduction of slurry is stopped and the plant is left unused for about two months.

• During these two months, anaerobic bacteria present in the slurry decomposes or ferments the biomass in the presence of water.

• As a result of anaerobic fermentation, biogas is formed, which starts collecting in the dome of the digester.

• As more and more biogas starts collecting, the pressure exerted by the biogas forces the spent slurry into the outlet chamber.

• From the outlet chamber, the spent slurry overflows into the overflow tank.

• The spent slurry is manually removed from the overflow tank and used as manure for plants.

• The gas valve connected to a system of pipelines is opened when a supply of biogas is required.

• To obtain a continuous supply of biogas, a functioning plant can be fed continuously with the prepared slurry.

Advantages of fixed dome type of biogas plant

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• Requires only locally and easily available materials for construction.

• Inexpensive.

• Easy to construct.

2.Floating gas holder type of biogas plant

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Construction of the floating gas holder type plant

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The floating gas holder type of biogas plant has the following chambers/ sections:

• Mixing Tank - present above the ground level.

• Digester tank - Deep underground well-like structure. It is divided into two chambers by a partition wall in between.

It has two long cement pipes:

i) Inlet pipe opening into the inlet chamber for introduction of slurry.

ii) Outlet pipe opening into the overflow tank for removal of spent slurry.

• Gas holder - an inverted steel drum resting above the digester. The drum can move up and down i.e., float over the digester. The gas holder has an outlet at the top which could be connected to gas stoves.

• Over flow tank - Present above the ground level.

Floating Dome type Biogas Plant

Working

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• Slurry (mixture of equal quantities of biomass and water) is prepared in the mixing tank.

• The prepared slurry is fed into the inlet chamber of the digester through the inlet pipe.

• The plant is left unused for about two months and introduction of more slurry is stopped.

• During this period, anaerobic fermentation of biomass takes place in the presence of water and produces biogas in the digester.

• Biogas being lighter rises up and starts collecting in the gas holder. The gas holder now starts moving up.

• The gas holder cannot rise up beyond a certain level. As more and more gas starts collecting, more pressure begins to be exerted on the slurry.

• The spent slurry is now forced into the outlet chamber from the top of the inlet chamber.

• When the outlet chamber gets filled with the spent slurry, the excess is forced out through the outlet pipe into the overflow tank. This is later used as manure for plants.

• The gas valve of the gas outlet is opened to get a supply of biogas.

• Once the production of biogas begins, a continuous supply of gas can be ensured by regular removal of spent slurry and introduction of fresh slurry.

Disadvantages of floating gas holder type biogas plant

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• Expensive

• Steel drum may rust

• Requires regular maintenance

Advantages of biogas as a fuel

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• High calorific value

• Clean fuel

• No residue produced

• No smoke produced

• Non polluting

• Economical

• Can be supplied through pipe lines

• Burns readily - has a convenient ignition temperature

Uses of biogas

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• Domestic fuel

• For street lighting

• Generation of electricity

Advantages of biogas plants

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• Reduces burden on forests and fossil fuels

• Produces a clean fuel - helps in controlling air pollution

• Provides nutrient rich (N & P) manure for plants

• Controls water pollution by decomposing sewage, animal dung and human excreta.

Limitations of biogas plants

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• Initial cost of installation of the plant is high.

• Number of cattle owned by an average family of farmers is inadequate to feed a biogas plant.

Nokia Unveils The New Lumia 2520 Tablet

Nokia has released its first Windows tablet.  Nokia’s Lumia 2520 is the Finnish smartphone maker’s take on a Lumia-style tablet. It looks like a much bigger version of a Lumia Windows Phone.  Microsoft may be buying Nokia’s device business, but for the next few months they are going to be battling for a Windows-based tablet market share.

At Nokia World in Abu Dhabi there was the opportunity to compare Nokia’s Lumia 2520 directly with Microsoft’s Surface 2 tablet and find out whether a Nokia-built tablet can take on Apple’s iPad range.

The Nokia Lumia 2520 has a 10.1-inch display and the body is styled just like a Lumia Windows Phone. It is going to be available in red, white, cyan, and black. The device has a 1920 x 1080 sharp display. Colour reproduction is incredibly accurate.  It looks as though Nokia has set its sights high with the display on its first tablet.

While Microsoft’s initial attempt with Surface RT was plagued with app performance issues, theSurface 2 improved somewhat and Nokia’s tablet is said to be equally as powerful as the Surface 2. Inside there’s a 2.2GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, and Windows RT 8.1. The device is apparently quite responsive and multitasking with apps appears as good as the Surface 2. As this is a Windows RT device you can access the desktop Office apps and that’s where Nokia’s keyboard is comes into play.  While the Surface 2 has its own Touch and Type Covers, Nokia has opted for a Power Keyboard. It adds a Surface like keyboard and track pad and has two USB ports.  The keyboard gives a boost of five hours to the battery life of the device. Nokia says the Lumia 2520 should get 11 hours of life from a charge, so it’s possible this device could reach 16 hours of battery life in total with the cover attached.  Now that’s impressive!

Ene-Farm Fuel Cell Moves Into Apartments

The Ene-Farm fuel cell is the first ever commercial fuel cell system in the world. So far, the cell units have only available to people who dwell in a detached property. However, it seems that the creators of the fuel cell unit, Panasonic and Tokyo Gas, have been working hard to get the Ene Farm in to apartment blocks.

The action of the cell unit remains the same as its predecessors. Hydrogen is taken from the city gas supply and used to react with the oxygen in the surrounding atmosphere. This reaction gives off heat which in turn generates electricity while heating water. The one cell unit has the triple benefit of providing an energy source, backup power source and hot water unit all in the same place. However, the latest version of the Ene-Farm fuel cell unit has been tweaked so that the cell units can be placed in the pipe shaft of an apartment block.

Firstly, the Ene-Farm cell unit exterior panels are thicker on the latest model. In addition to this, the exhaust structure has been altered to make the unit sturdier in strong winds and stronger legs mean that the unit can withstand earthquakes a little easier. The result is an airtight unit that can be stored in an open pipe shaft on any floor of an apartment building that will still work in strong winds.

The new Ene-Farm should be introduced to the public April 1, 2014. Tokyo Gas is hoping that the reduction (approximately 37%) of primary energy consumption and (approximately 49%) reduction of CO2 emissions will encourage condo owners to help them achieve their goal of selling 500 units in one year. The total annual savings that could benefit people using the units is somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 Yen (305 – 420 USD). So far, certain real estate developers have already shown interest in the Ene-Farm fuel cell unit saying that they would be happy to use the cell units in their future development which will contain 456 units over two properties.

Charge Cell Phones by Hand Crank in Power Outages.

Rural India is abuzz with telecom penetration and while telecom operators are targeting the BoP market, the relevant ecosystem for mobile is just not there. 

And the most relevant piece to get rural india to talk, i.e. electricity.

IdeaForge, Mumbai based startup has launched Roto Charger, a ‘hand powered’ mobile charger that works by simply rotating a handle on the charger.

Roto Charger Features

• 1 min of rotating the handle gives about 3 min of talk time and about 30 min of stand-by time.

• Multi-brand charger with small adaptor tips in convenient plug-in pad for storage.

• Charge even while talking by the single hand Roll-on mode.

Users can charge the mobile phone either by rotating the handle or by rolling the device on any surface.

What’s the cost? Rs. 350.

Asteroids That Came Into Earth's Atmosphere

More than 100 tons of space debris enters the Earth’s atmosphere every day, mostly in the form of dust and tiny rocks that burn up during entry. Occasionally a larger object may strike the atmosphere and produce a fireball as it burns up, but these events rarely cause any significant damage. Very rarely, however, one of these astronomical events can have lasting, and even catastrophic, effects.

TERMINOLOGY

In astronomical terms, a single piece of rock floating through the solar system can bear many names. A large piece of rock moving through space is called an asteroid, and if that asteroid breaks up, the smaller pieces may be called meteoroids. If an asteroid or meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere, it becomes a meteor, and if any fragment of the meteor survives entry and reaches the ground, it is a meteorite.

K-PG EXTINCTION EVENT

At the end of the Cretaceous Period, approximately 65 million years ago, an enormous extinction event wiped out 70 percent of the species on Earth, including the dinosaurs. Geologists discovered large amounts of the rare mineral iridium in strata from this period, suggesting that the cause of the extinction was a massive asteroid impact in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. While the facts of the event are still in question, the amount and distribution of iridium found suggests that the source was an asteroid approximately 10 kilometers across. The Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event -- formerly known as the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction Event -- is one of the factors that made mammals the dominant land-based form of life on the planet.

TUNGUSKA

On June 30, 1908, an explosion occurred above Tunguska in central Russia with a force equivalent to 185 times that of the nuclear bomb that devastated Hiroshima. The site of the location would not be explored for another 19 years, due to the harsh conditions and poor survival equipment of the time, but resultant study of the blast site since then indicates that the culprit was an asteroid that entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded. According to NASA’s estimates, the object was 120 feet (36 meters) across, traveling at 33,500 miles per hour (53,900 kph) when it broke up.

CHELYABINSK

On February 15, 2013, a massive explosion in the sky rocked Chelyabinsk in southwestern Russia. The blast was powerful enough to shatter windows throughout the area, injuring more than 1,000 residents, and several cameras recorded the event in detail. NASA estimates that the meteor that caused the 500-kiloton blast was 55 feet (17 meters) across, and had a mass of approximately 10,000 tons. Coincidentally, another asteroid passed close to Earth the same day, 2012 DA14, although studies of the objects’ trajectories suggest no link between the two events.

SYLACAUGA

An asteroid event does not always need to be large to be notable. On November 30, 1954, a meteor the size of a softball fell near Sylacauga, Alabama. This particular rock struck the home of Ann Hodges, passing through her roof, bouncing off a radio, and striking her where she lay napping on a sofa. The impact left a sizable bruise on her hip, and marked her as the first known human victim of a meteorite strike. Hodges retained ownership of the meteorite, later donating it to the Alabama Museum of Natural History.