What Would Happen If a Needle Struck Earth at Light Speed?

  • Publish date: Tuesday، 19 May 2026 Reading time: 1 min read

What Would Happen If a Needle Struck Earth at Light Speed?

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It seems it ought to be harmless – a tiny sewing needle hitting our planet – but when it hits at the speed of light, there's a dark side to physics. Since a mass is not actually capable of achieving the speed of light, it is an assumed scenario that the needle's speed is $99.999999\%$ the speed of light. At this speed, the plain old object becomes a planet devouring gun.