Asteroids Flyby — 2010 RF12 & 2010 RX30 118
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the duck-and-cover dept.
from the duck-and-cover dept.
Ernesto Guido writes "Two small asteroids (2010 RF12 & 2010 RX30) will pass within the Moon's distance of Earth today, September 08, 2010." One is 6-14 meters and the other is 10-20, so even if they change course, don't expect Bruce Willis to be called in.
Not so small ... (Score:5, Insightful)
A 20 meter asteroid is not all that small ... if it actually hit the earth, it could potentially make a few million people have a really bad day.
Re:that's right (Score:3, Insightful)
Er, if they change course, we'd be calling in Will Smith and order a couple MacBooks.
Re:Bruce Willis (Score:5, Insightful)
The Fifth Element is infinitely better than Armageddon. I've seen Armageddon once, and I'll never get that hours back. If Jerry Bruckheimer or Michael Bay are anywhere near a given movie I don't bother.
Number one rule for any science fiction or fantasy story: Stick to the rules you define in your universe. Tell a story in that framework.
It's essentially like following a DnD rulebook. We don't need to know how magic works in THAT universe by trying to explain it with the rules from OUR universe. Attempting to do so either removes the magic (bad) or doesn't make sense (handwaving).
Star Wars worked when you didn't try to explain light sabers, the force, or much of their technology. The prequels and other mistakes fell into the trap of trying to explain it to us in terms of our own universe's rules:
Miticlorians
Kessel Run
etc.
Write a story, stick a dragon in it. Call it magic.
Don't try to explain that the dragon eats a certain type of rock, and instead of burping stores the hydrogen gas inside of airbladders that make it buoyant in air. The problem isn't that you are wrong (it's your universe) but when you define yourself by OUR physical rules, it means that the characters in YOUR universe now have to conform to that set of rules.
So why would that be a problem?
We are VERY good at understanding our own universe's rules instinctively. Once defined as following our rules, we will wonder why your characters didn't just.... or why they haven't invented... and why did he try that when...