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Wednesday, September 23, 2026 · UTC
Asteroids & Planetary Defense

US council says asteroid impact energy tops out at 150 megatons

The US National Research Council puts the energy of a 40 to 100 meter asteroid impact at no more than about 150 megatons.

Caleb Mbeki
Planetary Science Reporter
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The US National Research Council considers the energy released by a 40 to 100 meter asteroid impact to be no greater than approximately 150 megatons. [2] The estimate is an upper bound for that size range. It covers asteroids between 40 and 100 meters across.
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What this stands on
  1. According to the article, if T. rex and other large dinosaurs were warm-blooded, their extinction after the end-Cretaceous asteroid impact cannot be blamed on cold or darkness; instead, ecosystem collapse, food-web disruption, and the scale of the catastrophe likely played larger roles, while smaller endotherms like early mammals survived. · The Times Of IndiaIndia
  2. The article states that the US National Research Council considers the energy released by a 40 to 100 meter asteroid impact to be no greater than approximately 150 megatons. · Blic.rs
The one we could place publishes from India. 1 could not be placed by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.