Hi, we're here from curiosity.com to help you get smarter in just a few minutes.

I'm Cody Gough.

And I'm Ashley Hamer.

Today you learn about why meteorites probably aren't hot when they land,

why babies hardly ever blink,

and why couples have such a hard time breaking up.

Let's break down some curiosity. Here's a fun fact.

Despite the fireball, meteorites are probably not hot when they hit the ground.

A smoldering rock in a crater might be nice and dramatic for TV shows and movies,

but at the end of the day it's just not scientifically accurate.

Here's the story behind what they're getting wrong.

You know how space is really cold? As in barely 3 degrees above absolute zero cold? That

means that the chunks of rock we know is meteoroids are in a deep freeze.

When a meteoroid starts hurtling through our atmosphere and becomes a meteor, you see a super bright glow.

But it's not the meteor itself that glows, it's the air around it, through something called

ram pressure. That's the compression in the air caused by the meteor's forward motion.

Compression makes air heat up, and that's why a falling meteor

looks red-hot. Of course hot air does heat up the meteor, but for most meteors

that's only on the outside. The outer layers can get so hot that they melt, but they get blown off pretty quickly

thanks to a phenomenon known as oblation. That likely leaves behind

unmelted rock that's just warm at best. By the way, spacecraft actually

use ablation to protect their delicate equipment from getting too hot. Modern heat

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