Raindrop Falling On Sand Looks Just Like A Tiny Asteroid

If you've ever wondered what an asteroid impact on the Earth would look like in slow motion, have a look at this incredible new video (above) from researchers at the University of Minnesota.

In the video, a raindrop stands in for the asteroid, and a layer of sand stands in for the surface of the Earth. As the drop falls onto the sand, the granular surface deforms into a crater. The researchers say it's very similar, on a tiny scale, to what happens when a space rock smashes into our planet.

"Surprisingly, we found that liquid-drop impact cratering follows the same energy scaling and reproduces the same crater morphology as that of catastrophic asteroid impact cratering," the researchers wrote in the video's description.