14 DAY TRIAL // Hoping to get a better idea of what happens in the underground when meteors hit our planet, scientists at Duke University in the US went through the trouble of recreating such powerful impacts in the lab.
Essentially, they engineered special metal projectiles with a rounded tip and then dropped them at different speeds into distinct piles of plastic beads of different densities.
As shown in the video below, the strikes all created so-called branching force chains whose silhouette was similar to that of lightning bolts. Different impact speeds produced different force chains.
In a report in the journal Physical Review Letters, the Duke University team explains that the force chains grew more extensive and complex the more they increased the speed of the controlled impacts.
At one point, the force chains pushed the beads together and, in doing so, made the pile they comprised stronger and more resistant to impacts, the researchers further detail.
This rearranging of the beads following a strong impact might explain why materials such as soil and sand harden when struck with an impressive force and why fast missiles have oddly limited success.
Thus, the researchers believe that, just like the plastic piles of plastic beads that they toyed with, the ground hit by meteors and fast missiles is less likely to cave if hit at a high speed.
“Imagine you’re trying to push your way through a crowded room. If you try to run and push your way through the room faster than the people can rearrange to get out of the way, you’re going to end up applying a lot of pressure and ramming into a lot of angry people,” explains scientist Abram Clark.
