Potential Life Ending Impact...

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth



Will the earth, and life as we know it end? If not by our own hands perhaps by matter from outer space.

THE INDEPENDENT - Scientists have moved closer to being able to stop a huge asteroid colliding with the Earth and potentially wiping out human life.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee have discovered that blowing the space rock up could make the collision worse by causing several devastating impacts.

Instead, small changes could be made to its surface to disrupt the forces keeping it together and cause it to break up in outer space.

They were studying asteroid 1950 DA, which has a one in 300 chance of hitting the planet on 16 March, 2880.

Although the odds seem small, it is the most likely asteroid to collide with Earth and the odds are higher than being shot dead in the US.

The asteroid has a diameter of one kilometre and is travelling at nine miles a second relative to the Earth, which it would hit at 38,000 miles per hour.

The impact would have a force of around 44,800 megatonnes of TNT and cause a huge explosion, tsunamis and change the climate of the globe, devastating human life.

The good news is we have 35 generations of scientists to figure out out to avert the potential disater.

More BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum


Comments

  1. Wasn't it Kevin Spacy in the movie 'K-PAX' that said, "Integration of the orbit of asteroid (29075) 1950 DA, which is based on radar and optical measurements spanning 51 years, reveals a 20-minute interval in March 2880 when there could be a nonnegligible probability of the 1-kilometer object colliding with Earth. Trajectory knowledge remains accurate until then because of extensive astrometric data, an inclined orbit geometry that reduces in-plane perturbations, and an orbit uncertainty space modulated by gravitational resonance. The approach distance uncertainty in 2880 is determined primarily by uncertainty in the accelerations arising from thermal re-radiation of solar energy absorbed by the asteroid. Those accelerations depend on the spin axis, composition, and surface properties of the asteroid, so that refining the collision probability may require direct inspection by a spacecraft."

    ReplyDelete
  2. Que sera sera -- whatever will be will be.

    I ain't gonna spend the few years I may have left fretting about some devastating event that may -- or may not -- occur 75 years hence.

    IF human life is destroyed, it will be because, for all our laudable-but-rarely-appreciated achievements, we have proved ourselves a failed species that no longer deserves to exist.

    Like it or not "Man proposes, but God disposes."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. FreeThinke... neither am I going to worry about what occurs in 2880 AD. As a businessman and personal fitness trainer there is little to be done to add to research that could eventually lead to averting this potentiality. However, scientists who work to gain knowledge in can. I posted this because it is of layman';s interest to me.

      Sad it is you are so negative you believe the human race no longer deserves to exist. A question for you, do you place yourself in the category of not deserving to exist?

      As for "God" disposing of his "creation, that is an interesting thought. As the supposed creator of intelligent life and considering his alleged benevolent and loving ways why would he, as the "father" of humankind destroy his "children" because they have been naughty? Very few of his "children" would do that to their offspring.

      Perhaps the benevolent "God" is not so benevolent? Or is it simply that he is growing bored with his children and finds them no longer useful? Perhaps he will create a new improved race of intelligent people to play with like puppets on a string.

      It begs the question, is "God" really perfect?

      And, what (O)CT(O)PUS said...

      Delete
  3. Last night, a voice came to me in a dream and spoke these words:

    "I have positive proof: There is other intelligent life in the Universe," said the voice.

    "Then why haven't they contacted us, I asked?

    "Because they're intelligent, said the voice.

    ReplyDelete
  4. That nebula in the photo looks like a cross between Shrek and Samuel L. Jackson... and it is flipping the finger.

    The cosmos is not a friendly place.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. indeed it is a very volitle and violent place...

      Delete
  5. If humans become extinct, it'll be because of an asteroid, a solar flare, a series of volcanic eruptions, an ice-age, or any number of other natural phenomena and not because of folks driving too many SUVs, and not because of some recalcitrant childlike deity. The way that I see the thing, the religious right and the environmental nut-cases on the planet both need to grow a pair.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Will, I am not prepared to deny the impact modern technology and humans have had on our environment. While it may be overstated by many there is a correlation to human activity and the environment. It may not be very convenient to consider and acknowledge this but there is truth to some of it and further intense scientific study should continue.

      Delete
  6. If humans became extinct, it could also be because groups like Hamas and ISIS ultimately became very successful, while those who should have known better ...ranging from Norm Finkelstein to Francis Boyle to WD ... cheered them on as they acted like a sort of political/military Ebola.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I suppose this is support for FreeThinke's statememt that ... "we no longer deserve to exist"?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an incorrect supposition. Warning against very real and deadly forces of human nihilism doesn't mean I endorse any eschatology. I think our demise is far more likely due to the intentional actions of ill-intentioned human actors than it is by apocalypse orchestrated by a deity or faith-based construct.

      Delete
  8. //Scientists have moved closer to being able to stop a huge asteroid colliding with the Earth and potentially wiping out human life.//

    Dem dere Scientifs best work on stopping the huge assholeroids in Congress ....before they wipe out human life.

    ReplyDelete

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