I’m sitting here at the AAAS meeting and I just heard that there
are reports of a meteorite strike in Russia. Early reports are
saying that there are anywhere from 500 to 950 people injured in
the area. I’ll be updating this post for the next few hours as
details continue to come in. What we know so far: There were
bright streaks filmed and photographed passing through the air
in Russia. The New York Times is reporting no deaths yet, but
that nearly 750 people have sought medical treatment so far in
hospitals in the city of Chelyabinsk, many for treatment from
broken glass. There was some sort of explosion that occurred
while the meteorite was in transit. The NYT is also reporting
that Russian authorities currently believe that the strike was a
bolide, a meteorite that broke up in the earth’s atmosphere. The
USGS definition for bolide is slightly different, however. They
say “There is no consensus on its definition, but we use it to
mean an extraterrestrial body in the 1-10-km size range, which
impacts the ea