A week ago I posted on  Death by a Gamma Ray Burst?   This week, I focus on another space invader, a large asteroid.  PBS has had several documentaries on this topic:   The Asteroid and the Dinosaur  and   Dinosaur Apocalypse . The scientific term for the above is  Impact Event .  The biggest Earth event might have been the  Big Splash , or the Theia Impact: This when our Moon was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. Theia, the mythical Greek Titan, was the colliding body, mother of Selene, the goddess of the Moon. The isotope ratios of lunar and terrestrial rock are identical. There are many theories, but one is that the Moon was formed by the tangential impact upon Earth of a body the size of Mars. Much of this giant-impact consensus emerged from a 1969 conference held at Kona, Hawaii.  Those who don't believe are called the agnostics. But our solar system is today quite different, and planet-sized impact neighbors are no longer present. 2 billion years ago an asteroid cal

  That is my view from where I sit writing my blog this morning.  I will shortly be at the Ala Wai Golf Course, and a perfect day is predicted.  The weather, that is.  Hawaii has this year been spared of serious hurricanes.  There are two ocean disturbances in the East Pacific, but neither one should threaten us. Today, people in Florida, specifically just north of Fort Meyers, will suffer the worst day of their lives, for Hurricane Ian, at 155 MPH, will any moment now as I write this make landfall over those islands facing Port Charlotte.  Much of them won't be the same in a short while because of the storm surge, of perhaps up to 20 feet.  Ian became a hurricane only Monday, and could well still attain Category 5 strength, which begins at 157 MPH.  Gusts are up to 190 MPH.  Here is something I learned from my time involved with wind power.  The energy of wind increases by the cube of the velocity.  Thus, image standing in winds of 45 MPH.  You can be blown over.  Now, compare the