If a needle for whatever reason was in space heading on a crash course for Earth, you’d imagine it wouldn’t do much damage.

It’s a needle, right? But if that needle was traveling at 670,616,629mph then, of course, it’s a different story – which one YouTuber has explained through a terrifying simulation.

What would happen if a needle hit Earth? A sewing needle, not a medical one (Getty stock)

But first, to put that speed into comparison, the road with the highest speed limit in the US can be found on the Texas State Highway 130, and it is a toll road aimed for long-distance commuters bypassing Austin, with the limit posted at 85mph.

The speed of light is 7,889,607 times faster than the highest legal limit motorists in America can drive… so, that needle’s coming in fast.

Now, explaining what would happen if Earth was hit by a needle traveling that fast, Australian YouTuber AstroKobi said: “You may have seen this viral video showing exactly what would happen if a needle hit the Earth at the speed of light, and I want to see just how realistic this is, so I did the math.”

The content creator was referencing fellow YouTuber Ridddle’s 10-minute long video titled ‘What If a Needle Hits the Earth at the Speed of Light?’ where he demonstrates what might happen.

“That is the equivalent of three Tsar bombs, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated.

“It would definitely create an impact crater, significantly smaller than if it were an asteroid, because the needle is just much smaller, but definitely big enough to cause some damage, it would form a huge fireball, probably a bit smaller than this, but still much bigger than even the biggest nukes.”

Before adding: “Now, of course, this is highly theoretical, and nothing could travel at the speed of light, so you don’t have to worry.”

But what actually could happen?

According to Ridddle, the most likely option is a pretty devastating one.

I don’t think we ever need to worry about a needle hitting Earth, but we know what would happen if it did (Getty stock)

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 our planet would die before the planet itself gets torn apart and eviscerated.

While 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.

A YouTuber who has been driving a Tesla for the last six years has gone into detail about the hidden costs that most new electric vehicle owners do not realize.

There is no denying that electric cars are good for the environment and that they will save you thousands in the long-term through filling up at the gas station.

A Tesla supercharger station (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

But you’ll have to fork out a pretty penny if you want those privileges, with the cheapest brand new Tesla being the Model 3 Long Range RWD (rear wheel drive) priced at $29,990 – and that’s without including the additional costs.

Now, YouTuber Kevin The Tech Ninja has given us a bit of insight into the seven hidden costs of owning the vehicle, which the company ‘isn’t telling’ people about.

At home charging

He explained that the recommendation Tesla make is to buy its home connector which is worth $475, but Kevin told his fans what he did.

“I added a NEMA plug, which requires you to buy the mobile connector for $200 and the plug in your wall is around $30 in addition to whatever home connect you go with, you need an electrician, and those can run anywhere from a few $100 to $1000s,” he said.

“So you’re already buying the new vehicle, but you’re also paying anywhere from $1,000 to $2500.”

If you’re charging your Tesla at home, expect to fork out more on your electric bill (Getty stock)

Cost for not paying setup fees

“Let’s say you don’t want to pay that setup fee for a home charger. Sorry, there’s a hidden cost for that too. You know, you’ll be paying supercharger rates, which can be very costly,” the Michigan man shared.

Supercharge is an electric vehicle fast charging network created by Tesla. He explained that superchargers vary in price, from $24 for a full charge at a station 30 miles away from him to $28 at one near his house.

He also detailed how he noticed his electric bill has gone up from $75 to $100 a month.

Weather dependent

How well your battery takes to charging can depend on where you live, as Kevin mentioned that cold weather actually makes your Tesla cost more.

But there are ways around this as Kevin told his 253,000 subscribers: “Thankfully, there are ways to combat that with overnight charging and reconditioning your battery before you drive for the day and you set that up in the app or on your car battery stat screen, just to tell it what time you’re leaving.

“And if your car is plugged in, it’ll condition the battery to be the most efficient when you leave, and then you don’t have that battery drain.”

He went on to add that if your Tesla is cold you will lose some battery, and if you leave your car at the airport and come back after a long weekend away, you’ll likely find that your battery is flat – if you were on a low percentage to begin with.

Insurance

If you want to own a Tesla, you better be prepared to fork out premium rates on insurance, the main reason being the cost of replacing one.

“So insurance companies bakes that into the pricing to combat that, bundling your home and car insurance can help lower that price where I’m paying around 165 a month to insure mine through progressive,” Kevin added.

Tires

According to the YouTuber, Tesla owners ‘rip through’ tires ‘so much faster than a traditional car’ and labeled it another ‘major expense’.

Kevin explained that it is because of the technology in the tires, as well as the how heavy Teslas are due to their batteries, and gave an example of how he had to buy new tires after just 13,000 miles that cost him almost $2,300 to replace.

A Tesla Model 3 at the company’s store in Palo Alto, California (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Premium connectivity

I’ll let Kevin explain this.

“For the first year the car comes with all the connected services on the car, which includes real time, traffic, satellite map, view, radio, streaming, video streaming. And then after the first year, it’s gone, and you got to pay $10 a month or $100 a year to keep it up,” the tech expert said.

Tax

Finally, the last hidden cost is tax. The YouTuber explained that when you pay for gas, the government tax you on the price of it and since electric vehicles don’t use gas, authorities instead tax you on registration.

“Don’t you worry, in Michigan, it’s an additional $250 on top of your registration. That amount of tax is assuming you’re driving 20,000 to 30,000 miles per year, and I drive less than 10,000 miles a year, so I’ve been taxed nearly 3x more than I should,” Kevin added.

While this is all good to know, I’ll stick with gas for the time being as I simply can’t afford all that – maybe in a few years!

Did you know there’s actually a little button on a seatbelt that has a very specific function?

Though you hopefully never need it, a seatbelt is designed to secure a car driver or a passenger in their seat during a collision or a sudden stop.

Not only do they stop you from ploughing through the window screen during a crash, but they can actually reduce the risk of death in a serious accident by up to 50 percent, according to road safety charity, Brake.

Of course, the seatbelt system is made up of a variety of components, including the buckle, the tongue attached to the webbing, and pillar loops used in three-point systems.

But have you ever noticed a little plastic button, often located near where the belt tongue inserts?

Well, you may be interested to know it’s actually there to keep the buckle itself in the right part of the belt.

Learning about the seatbelt system will encourage you and others to wear one when driving (Getty Stock Image)

“So it will always be in the right spot when you go to buckle it up.”

So, the button is there to make sure that the buckle is always in a convenient part of the belt for you to strap in, often right where you would reach to grab it and pull across yourself.

While that might seem like a nice afterthought or a luxury, it’s actually a very important part of ensuring the seatbelt functions properly.

But why is that? Well, the thing about seatbelts is that they only work if you wear them.

Learning about the seatbelt button blew one TikTok users’ mind (Getty Stock Image)

If every time you go to put your seatbelt on, you have to wrestle to get the buckle down to the right place, it’s going to get annoying.

And if some people get annoyed every time they try to put it on, they might start not wearing it.

By making the belt as easy as possible to put on, manufacturers encourage people to wear them and get the safety benefits.

People shared their thoughts on the feature on social media.

One wrote: “Wow that seatbelt one blew my mind, I would have never thought of that”, while another said: “Wow! I never knew!!”

But others already knew, with one writing: “I thought we all knew about the seat belt”, while another commented, “Everyone knew the seatbelt one.”

And it’s finally about to come to an end in March after participants have been studied at the university’s Institute of Sport.

But while it’s still yet to conclude, the author has said he believes vaping is worse on people’s health than smoking cigarettes.

The NHS has previously described inhaling nicotine vapour from e-cigs as ‘substantially less harmful than smoking’

The study aims to look at the long term effects of vaping (Getty Stock)

However, as the Mirror had an early look at the study, the leader explained: “Smokers tend to go outside and smoke, and once a cigarette is finished they have to light up another to keep going. But with vapes, you just keep going and it’s much harder to know how many puffs you’ve had.

“It’s much easier to vape continuously because you can do it in places where smoking might be less acceptable.”

In response to what he has found in the study, he claimed: “What we have found is the dangers for someone who keeps vaping are no different from smokers.”

During the process, participants aged between 18 to 45 (with an average of 27) with similar fitness levels were given regular stress tests.

Consuming only water and not vaping, smoking or exercising for 12 hours before, these tests would measure the elasticity of their blood vessels, which is a good indication of a person’s vascular health, according to the university, and speed of blood flow to their brains.

It is said that smokers and vapers had a ‘flat reading’ which signalled damaged artery walls that can no longer violate, meaning they are at risk of severe cardiovascular problems in the future.

He believes it’s worse because people don’t know when to stop (Getty Stock)

Dr Boidin believes the various damage is caused by inflammation from nicotine plus other metals and chemicals found in vapes such as propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine.

He said: “When you put this mixture of metals and chemicals into your body you can’t expect nothing to happen.” Boidin added that he believes vaping can be more dangerous because it’s harder to know when to stop.

The study is still yet to conclude for now, with results set to be officially released after it ends in March.

The NHS’ current stance is: “Nicotine vaping is not risk-free, but it is less harmful than smoking. It refers to 2022 findings when UK experts found that in ‘the short and medium-term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking’.

The motorhead, 62, who has been in a relationship with Sarah Frater since 2000, said it would now be ‘weird’ to become a father.

Reflecting on his decision to not have kids, James told the Driven podcast that ‘it was just a result of life’, as reported by the Oxford Mail.

“Let’s put that down to being a late developer,” he explained.

“I’ve got nieces and nephews of many ages.”

The TV presenter said he is happy to be an uncle and that the idea of being an older father raising children is ‘unfair’ and ‘weird’.

“Maybe ‘unfair’ was a bit strong,” he told The Times last year. “But when I was at school there was a boy whose dad was the same age as my granddad and it felt weird.”

James May has been in a relationship with Sarah Frater since 2000 (David M. Benett/Getty Images for Audi)

James went on to reference 84-year-old Al Pacino’s previous relationship with Noor Alfallah, 30.

The pair broke up in 2024 after welcoming a son together.

“And that actor who recently had a child with a much younger woman?” he continued.

“He’s not going to be around very much is he? Then again, you can be young and still not be around much, so who knows?

“Maybe it’s just reaching the age where you don’t care so much what others think,” he added.

“My resolution for 2025 is: be a bloke. Don’t be ashamed of it. I think blokes are having a bit of a hard time at the moment.

“That’s not to say women are not too, but there is a small but vocal group who hold middle-aged men in contempt.

James May has revealed why he has never had any children (Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

“We are supposedly boomers who had it too easy but I don’t believe that. I think most men are OK and need to stand up for themselves a bit more.

“Our job is to be practical, dependable, philosophical and, yes, poets to some extent.”

Well, James, who started dating art critic Sarah 25 years ago, issued the most James May tribute to his ‘best girl’ on Valentine’s Day last week.

“It’s St Valentine’s day. So later on I, for one, will be cooking Sainsbury’s chicken pie with delicious BirdsEye frozen peas for my best girl, followed by a massive piece of cheeeese,” he penned on X.

“Men – make the effort.”

I dread to think what my girlfriend would do if I served up a pre-made chicken pie from ASDA on Valentine’s Day.

If it’s from M&S though, I’m all good.