STUNNING PICS & VIDEO: REPORTS OF MANY INJURIES FROM METEORITE STRIKE IN RUSSIA’S URAL MOUNTAINS

◼ A meteor streaked across the sky above Russia’s Ural Mountains on Friday morning, causing sharp explosions and reportedly injuring around 100 people, including many hurt by broken glass. - The Blaze

Amateur video broadcast on Russian television showed an object speeding across the sky about 9:20 a.m. local time (0320 GMT), leaving a thick white contrail and an intense flash.

◼ We’re on notice to plan for the next meteor - Rush Holt and Donna F. Edwards/Washington Post

A meteor broke apart over rural Russia on Friday morning, injuring at least 1,200 people. Hours later, an asteroid known as 2012 DA14 passed about 17,000 miles above Earth’s surface — a close shave in astronomical terms, passing nearer than many of our communications satellites. One was predicted; the other was not.

These events were unrelated, but they underscore how crucial it is that nations know, quickly, what is falling from the sky and what, if any, dangers are posed.

◼ Why Almost Everyone in Russia Has a Dash Cam - Damon Lavrinc/Wired via Instapundit

How is it possible that a dozen different motorists around the Russian city of Chelyabinsk were able to capture video of a massive meteor flying through the sky? Because almost everyone in Russia has a dash-mounted video camera in their car.

The sheer size of the country, combined with lax — and often corrupt — law enforcement, and a legal system that rarely favors first-hand accounts of traffic collisions has made dash cams all but a requirement for motorists.

◼ Bad news: The asteroid that just missed Earth is coming back. And... - Andrew Malcolm/Investors.com

...Friday's uneventful visit was not without effects. The pull of Earth's gravity altered 2012 AD 14's orbit around the Sun, shortening its annual solar rotation from 366 Earth days to 317.

Based on current information, NASA scientists calculate the orbits of each known near-earth object out for the rest of this century.

For instance, 2012 AD 14's orbit will not bring it back to our neighborhood again until 2046, when Americans will still be paying for Barack Obama's recent borrowing.

Now, about that other bad news. According to the same computer calculations, in 2080 the orbit of 2012 AD 14, if unaltered in these next 67 years by some super-natural force like Bruce Willis, will slam into Earth at almost 18,000 miles an hour.