I first read of the Tunguska Event about a year ago (how the fuck is this not taught in every school???!!!) Then a few months ago I read Gregg Easterbrook's joint in the Atlantic, and this week's edition of MMQ reminded me of the event. Well, I guess by "the event" I mean "his article."
Anyway, I saw a clip of a re-enactment of the event HERE. The Russian scientists who re-created the event in the 60's were amazed that the blast caused destruction in a butterfly-shaped pattern, AND they came to the conclusion that the blast had not hit the Earth, but had in fact exploded 5 miles in the air. But there still seems to be a mystery as to how of all trees, the ones directly under the epicenter would be the ones undamaged. Thousands of miles of destruction, yet the group of trees directly under the blast were undamaged.
I just wandered around my loft, naked, and wondered to myself, what kind of energy could do that - hit something so dead on that that which is hit remains, but it's surroundings are destroyed?
My first thought was that in football when you really lay into someone, when you lay the perfect hit on some dude, neither you nor him feels any pain. If you make 10 tackles in a game, 9 of them hurt...but there's that one where you just POP! and it feels incredible.
Then I realized I was off subject, so I kept thinking...and I arrived at my old National Guard days, when I gave physicals to people. One of my jobs was to give eye exams to people. And one of those exams was what was colloquially known as the "puff of air" test; ie non-contact tonometry. The subject leans in and opens his eyes, and a puff of air is shot into his eye.
I'm not saying the energy between this and the Tunguska Event are the same, but in both instances the very point on which energy is applied, there is no damage. IE the cornea gets flattened, but rebounds immediately. I have a feeling that the trees directly underneath the Tunguska Event survived for the same reason - the energy released was immediately reflected and then spread out from there on. Could it be that simple?
So. I fucking LOVE Soul Asylum.
2 comments:
Perhaps the sudden and intense explosion was so bright, that it created a shadow of the solid it was, thus shielding the surface of the earth from immediate heat damage. I think something similiar happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki when the Atom bomb completely evaporated humans but left the shadow of where they were standing, that area temporarily shielded from the initial blast. I also suspect that in some cases, clothing can be a hinderance to critical thinking.
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