Good LORD the world suddenly seems a threatening unsettling mess, doesn’t it? Wars and plane crashes and disease and environmental catastrophe looming, all at once! It reminds me of Frank […]
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You searched for: Asteroid
It’s all relative, but what you might have seen probably isn’t accurate. “There is no such thing as perpetual tranquillity of mind while we live here; because life itself is […]
Perhaps the most spectacular example of rebirth in our galaxy, this cavernous nebula is giving rise to the next generation of stars! Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0925a/. “For in the […]
Tim Harford presents two surprising examples when explaining how recessions work. A contributor to the Financial Times and author of five books, including his latest, The Undercover Economist Strikes Back, […]
The incredible story of a single simple atom, that just happens to be in your body right now! Image credit: Richard Crisp, via http://www.narrowbandimaging.com/incoming/horse_ap155edf_pl39k_lrgb_15hrs.jpg. “The atoms come into my brain, […]
Blockbuster was once the Starbucks of movie rentals. When one wanted to watch a new release, one would drive to the local Blockbuster and peruse the shelves. Now the movie […]
Peter Ward: We will get hit again. It is only a matter of time until we get hit by an asteroid the same size of what killed off the dinosaurs, should humanity last long enough, that is.
While a History course, for and of the ages, this “class” is ultimately the Cosmology of modern day Science. It encompasses the entirety of academia in one sweeping story of physics, astronomy, geology, biology, ecology, sociology, technology and beyond.
The plan would allow the world’s space agencies to share information about potentially dangerous asteroids, create a special task group to detect smaller asteroids, and collaborate on ideas for diverting them from Earth.
Five insights that give us the scientific understanding to move into the twenty-first century in a knowledgeable way and to begin to choose the future that we want.
A large asteroid hit us in the Yucatan Peninsula causing the mass extinction. Was the impact just the coup de grace coming on an already affected world?
Contrary to some media reports, the chance of 2013 TV135 colliding with Earth is only 1 in 63,000 according to NASA.
On March 16, 2880, 1950 DA will come very close to Earth – so close, in fact, that a collision cannot be ruled out.
Originally given a 1-in-300 chance of hitting Earth — 50 percent higher than the average for all other near-Earth objects located to date — 1950 DA has had its odds reassessed. Fortunately it’s not expected to arrive for another 866 years.
How the second most common element in the Universe is being lost from Earth, most of it for good. “I have this one little saying, when things get too heavy just […]
If you’ve ever seen a beautiful picture of the Universe, thank this pioneer you’ve probably never heard of. “What you do is, you have your drawing board and a pencil in […]
This video animation gives us a tantalizing glimpse into one proposed method for asteroid retrieval, which would serve as a stepping stone for future missions to asteroids.
Capturing a smaller space object that temporarily enters Earth’s orbit could be a lot easier and cheaper while still providing valuable data, say proponents.
There’s no wrong way to be a galaxy, but this one sure does challenge our expectations. “Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life […]
An extraordinarily simple explanation of the most mind-boggling concept of modern science. “In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.” -Walt […]
University of Strathclyde scientists have identified 12 asteroids that could be retrieved using current technology within the next three to eight years…assuming they work very, very carefully.
The only way out is to modify the laws of gravity, and new constraints rule those modifications out. “The discrepancy between what was expected and what has been observed has […]
Now that a prototype of a crew capsule has been built and is ready for testing, it’s still not clear how the US’ next manned spacecraft will be used.
How a “New Star” appearing in 1572 paved the way for us to truly begin understanding our Universe. “I conclude, therefore, that this star is not some kind of comet […]
This graphic shows the orbits of all the known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs). Over 1,400 asteroids that we no about are considered hazardous because they follow orbits that pass close to the Earth’s orbit.
First launched in 2009, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) spacecraft has been asleep in polar orbit for two years. Next month, it’ll be turned back on to help locate potentially dangerous near-Earth objects.
The Chinese just launched another mission to the moon, this time a lunar probe known as Chang’e-3 (named for the mythical Chinese goddess who flew to the moon) containing the Yutu […]
How one of the most interesting molecules on Earth behaves in the zero-gravity, zero-pressure environment of outer space. “Day after day, day after day,We stuck, nor breath nor motion;As idle as […]
Suppose you knew that Earth and all its inhabitants would be destroyed 30 days after your death in a collision with a giant asteroid. How would this knowledge affect you?
A new study warns that the rock that landed near Chelyabinsk in February may be part of a larger group of asteroid remnants, all with orbits that could potentially lead them to Earth.