Me neither, but apparently some people have, and one even went as far as creating a simulation to show what it might look like.
The video has been created by YouTuber Ridddle, who has racked up millions of subscribers by sharing videos which educate people about real-life situations, or, as in this case, offer answers to various bizarre and concerning hypothetical questions.
Ridddle’s videos include insights to what the world was likely like before dinosaurs roamed around and just how devastating humanity’s last-ever war could be.
However, the video we’re discussing today is one that questions, ‘What If a Needle Hits the Earth at the Speed of Light?’
It’s not necessarily a situation we need to worry about – we’d need someone to drop a needle from the edge of the atmosphere, and for that needle to start traveling VERY fast first – but I suppose we can’t rule anything out.
The video poses that a small sewing needle gets up to the speed of light and demonstrates what would happen if it then collided with the Earth.
Now, for full disclosure, it’s worth noting that because this probably won’t ever happen, there is no one sure outcome that will happen. Instead, there are a few possibilities of what could go down, with vastly different consequences.
According to Ridddle, the most likely option is a pretty devastating one.
Who knew a needle could do so much damage? (Getty Stock Photo)
Even a sewing needle measuring just 35mm could cause significant damage if moving at an absurdly high speed, resulting in damage similar to that caused by the so-called ‘Fat Man’ bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945.
The impact would cause total and utter destruction to wherever it lands and the surrounding area. However, that isn’t even the most disastrous possibility.
One other potential outcome is that the needle would not explode on impact, but would instead seep into the Earth’s crust and create a hole that allows plasma to engulf the Earth in insurmountable heat.
As a result, every living thing on Earth would die before the planet itself gets torn apart and eviscerated.
That’s a cheery thought for the festive season!
Thankfully, there is one other possibility – one which we could actually survive.
The third and final potential outcome of a needle hitting the Earth at the speed of light is that, due to its shape and speed, the needle could theoretically fly straight through one side of the Earth and out the other with minimal effects on the world at large.
I guess let’s just hope that if a needle ever does manage to make its way up to the speed of light, we land on the third outcome rather than any of the others.
