@ 1. Boris “Nomæd” Says:

As an Israeli, the amazing thing about the video (del.) wasn’t the piece of burning whatever it was, but the reactions of the people. You need to be a native speaker to understand the subtleties of what’s going on there, but let me just say that it looks exactly like a bunch of chimps in the zoo that got their first glimpse of an iPhone device. These lifeguards (I never felt safer going to the beach… *sigh*) spew out phrases (most with bad grammar or pronunciation) like “OMG OMG! It fells from the skies!” [mistakes on purpose], “Look at that, it burns the shelllz at 180 degrees!”, and the most hilarious was “It came from the volcano in Iceland!” And it goes on and on… It displays a huge “Fail” for the Israeli education system.

But I thought Tel Aviv was supposed to be the smartest, most sophisticated and intellectal city of Israel!

In fairness, I don’t think the Israelis are alone in having such people coming out with such crazy comments or having an education system that has badly let them down science-wise.

@ 11. mike burkhart Says:

Also Palestineans are always firing this stuff at Israel.

Not just them but Hizbollah from the Lebanon side too. Given Tel Aviv is in the north closer to Lebanon than Gaza more likely them than Palestineans this time.

@ 8 [me] : what are the odds of something natural (or space junk) hitting Israel – which is a pretty small country after all?

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember seeing on a map in Time magazine or something a feature in southern Israel that looks suspiciously like an impact crater? Does anyone know if there is a (legitimate) meteorite crater or perhaps volcanic caldera in Israel? Think it was towards the southern boarder or Negev desert area ..

Yes, but the situation was a tad different. First off, some of the chunks that hit the ground still had nasty hypergolic propellants like hydrazine in them, which means that if they sprung a leak, it’s gonna ignite. Second, many parts of the Columbia were kept at somewhere near room temperature so that the mechanical parts would still work – they hadn’t spent the last 3 billion years freezing their ninnies trying to come to thermal equilibrium with the 4.2K of the universe. Third, the Columbia is designed to come in a tad slower – screaming in at 17,000mph and then dropping to terminal velocity in the last 2 miles is hard on the passengers. That’s why a shooting star lasts all of a few seconds, but a Shuttle landing takes 15 minutes to cross the US.

So on the one hand, you got a really cold rock that never has a chance to warm up before it hits the ground, and the other you got hot metal with fuel that burns really well, and takes long enough to actually heat up. Which you think is going to catch fire?

Wait that’s Yiddish NOT hebrew for “troubles” – see : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuris :

tsuris: troubles (from Yiddish צרות tsores, from Hebrew צרות tsarot ‘troubles’)

Should that have be :

“Israeli meteorite turned out to be tsarot” instead?

- Ex-Plutonium being from Pluto.

One lifeguard was quoted in a paper http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3880113,00.html as saying, “There is no doubt there is some holiness on the Bat Yam beach.” NO doubt? Really??

Loved Pi-needles comment. LOL.

Not sure why that explanation doesn’t come under the general umbrella term ‘friction’, though.

Unless my memory is playing tricks on me, (which, of course, it could be – & sorry to use such a morbid example too.) didn’t pieces of the shattered Columbia shuttle* cause fires on the ground when they landed? Pretty sure I recall hearing / reading that in the news coverage somewhere.

So if this object was space junk might that explain this “hot & smoking” point?

BTW. Why would space junk be hot immediately after landing & yet not meteorites – different material? Different trajectories? Anyone know?

Also what are the odds of something natural (or space junk) hitting Israel – which is a pretty small country after all?

———-

* Incidentally, there’s a very tangential and bittersweet connection to Israel as well here in that one of the Columbia astronauts was Ilan Ramon, the first (& so far only?) Israeli national ever to fly in space. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilan_Ramon )

If you come across something hot & smoking in Israel, it’s best to quickly run away.

Unless she’s smiling at you and is someone you know you want to get together with!

The air in front of it gets compressed. What happens when you compress air? It gets hot. The now-hot air flows over the meteor, heating its surface. When it slows to terminal velocity, the compression heating becomes insignificant, and the air flow actually cools the meteor.

I’m a meteor-air-friction denier.

And while we’re on the subject, try explaining that its NOT friction causing the burn.

Physics never lies, but it will fool you.

These lifeguards (I never felt safer going to the beach… *sigh*) spew out phrases (most with bad grammar or pronunciation) like “OMG OMG! It fells from the skies!” [mistakes on purpose], “Look at that, it burns the shelllz at 180 degrees!”, and the most hilarious was “It came from the volcano in Iceland!”
And it goes on and on…

It displays a huge “Fail” for the Israeli education system.