To celebrate the new format for this blog, we have a special threat to worry about today: Asteroids!
It's bad enough that an asteroid wider than a football field is passing within 17,000 miles of earth today, but at least we saw this one coming. What's worse is that a smaller hunk of rock committed a sneak attack on Russia this morning. It broke windows, damaged buildings, and caused hundreds of injuries. Apparently it was too small and moving too fast for us to know it was in the neighborhood. Seriously? This thing weighed tons, and it was too small to see? The sum total of human technology was just out-smarted by a hunk of rock. It's your move, paper and scissors.
And don't let your guard down yet, because earth is on a collision course with larger asteroids in the not-too-distant future. And these are big enough to see from space. For instance, an asteroid called Apophis that's over 1000 feet across was originally scheduled to possibly hit earth in 2036. A rock that big and moving at 30,000 miles per hour could totally ruin your plans for a relaxing retirement. But now scientists tell us it won't get very close after all. Killer Asteroid Article Of course, what I'm wondering is if they were wrong before about the collision, who's to say they're not wrong now? In other words, I'm not selling my helmet.
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