Tunguska-scale asteroid airburst frequency

Tunguska-scale asteroid airbursts are rare

Asteroid airbursts occur regularly, but an event on the scale of Tunguska is estimated to happen only about once every thousand years. Tunguska-scale events are roughly 5–15 megatons; air bursts of about five kilotons are estimated to happen about once a year.

A sense of quantity may be older than language

Humans share a basic ability to perceive quantities with other species. Because this ability exists across species, it may have developed before human language.

Removing an atom's electrons can make it decay far faster

32.9 years

Rhenium-187 normally has a half-life of 41.6 billion years. Remove all of its electrons, however, and its half-life falls to just 32.9 years. The change happens because the electron released during decay can then enter an empty inner part of the atom.

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Tunguska-scale asteroid airburst frequency

Tunguska-scale asteroid airbursts are rare

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