tech

What if an asteroid is about to hit Earth? Scientists ponder question

14 Comments
By Ivan Couronne

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2019 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


14 Comments
Login to comment

"Who would be the decision making authority?" she asked. "The consensus was to leave this aspect out."

The United Nations Security Council would likely be convened, but it's an open question as to whether rich countries would finance an operation if they themselves weren't in the sights of 2000SG344 or another celestial rock.

And there is the hint about needing a world government and global tax. Good morning, everyone.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Let's build a big beautiful wall to save us. And have the meteor pay for it!

I'm more worried that humanity will be destroyed by human stupidity, 

Like leaders who deny the science of climate change, or would rather fund a border wall than a search for asteroids.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

I have read estimates that an asteroid as described in the article hits the Earth very seldom, only once in many thousands of years. I think there is now evidence that that estimate is far too optimistic.

Besides the recent event in Russia that injured many, there was the Tunguska event in Russia in July, 1908. That one could have caused massive damage if it had hit a populated area, although it exploded in the atmosphere, and did not create a crater.

It is only relatively recently that we have had any idea about what happens in the ocean, which covers 71% of the planet. In the 15th century there was an impact with something, probably an asteroid, which created the Mahuika crater off of New Zealand. It may have changed the course of history, in that it destroyed a large Chinese fleet that was in the area, destroyed a Chinese colony on New Zealand, and indirectly led to the rise of a political faction in Imperial China which embraced extreme isolationism. Whereas the well known Meteor Crater in Arizona is only about 1 km in diameter, Mahuika crater is about 20 km in diameter, under several hundred feet of ocean water. How many other recent impacts happened over the ocean, or over sparsely inhabited regions, and thus are not known to history?

My point is that disastrous impacts may happen far more frequently than is currently predicted.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

An asteroid hitting the earth is pretty much guaranteed,. lets face it, it what killed off the dinosaurs, its been proven that a large asteroid ploughed into the earth just north of South America, so us poor humans don't have much of a chance of survival.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

"We have to make sure people understand this is not about Hollywood,"

of the 2 movies that i had seen, both involved detonating nuclear weapons to destroy the incoming big ones. diverting the trajectory from side bumps would be boring and would not have grabbed cinema eyeballs. lol.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Trying to nuke them to smithereens like in the movie Armageddon would be bad idea, because it could just create smaller but still dangerous pieces.

Not if it's nuked to smithereens at a certain distance.

The United Nations Security Council would likely be convened

That would likely be useless.

An even bigger problem will be when the sun decides to retire. We had better have developed warp speed by then so we can use the services of other stars.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

My favorite sci-fi takes on this subject are George Pal's 1951 classic "When Worlds Collide" and TOHO's imaginatively impractical 1962 epic 妖星ゴラス aka "Gorath".

I remember a speech before the United Nations in 1987 when US President Ronald Reagan spoke longingly for the world unity that would happen if the Earth were imperiled by a disaster from space.

“Perhaps we need some outside universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing a threat from outside this world.”

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/flashback-reagans-vision-unifying

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Redirecting asteroid can create new arms race as such technology could be apply

to redirect ICBM's.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I doubt the general public would be told to much as not to cause panic.

Nothing can be done about a big rock falling on us done in the past.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

An even bigger problem will be when the sun decides to retire. We had better have developed warp speed by then so we can use the services of other stars.

A few billion years off. Our species will be extinct by then.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

99942 Apophis will come within 19,000 miles of Earth on April 13, a decade from now,

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-05-03/nasa-prepares-god-chaos-asteroid-arrive

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Just call Bruce Willis.. job done....

I don't want to close my eyes... don't want to fall asleep...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

25Psot, sorry but the technology being discussed would have zero impact on an ICBM.

In reality nuking them has all sorts of problems, firstly their constitution, some are more like rubble piles so if you did blast it apart you would just turn a bullet in to a shotgun blast and if far enough away then gravity would just pull it together again. Much of the effect of a nuclear weapon is its blast, which in atmosphere is considerable but in space with no atmosphere very little. More effective but less Hollywood is to paint one side so the difference in reflectivity will gently nudge it off an impact course, but all the real world mitigation ideas would require time, if we don’t spot it in time then the only response is evacuation if it is small enough or party till you die if big enough.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

shoganaiMay 3 03:59 pm JST"We have to make sure people understand this is not about Hollywood,"

of the 2 movies that i had seen, both involved detonating nuclear weapons to destroy the incoming big ones. diverting the trajectory from side bumps would be boring and would not have grabbed cinema eyeballs. lol.

Ever see the movie 'Meteor' which had the same ideas and plot? It came out in 1979 and it was so unbelievably awful and unrealistic and stupid.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites