Remember Apophis?
It's a Near Earth Object -- an asteroid that will pass very close to the Earth in 2029 and has a small chance of actually hitting the Earth in 2036. As I also noted in that old post, Apophis is far from the only hunk of rock floating whizzing around in the space near us.
Here's an update on the situation, via Phil Plait: Gregg Easterbrook has an article and a video for you, if you find yourself needing something new to worry about:
In 1980, only 86 near-Earth asteroids and comets were known to exist. By 1990, the figure had risen to 170; by 2000, it was 921; as of this writing, it is 5,388. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, part of NASA, keeps a running tally at neo.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/.* Ten years ago, 244 near-Earth space rocks one kilometer across or more—the size that would cause global calamity—were known to exist; now 741 are.
Clearly, we must stop funding NASA right away. Just another example of LIEbrul academics trying to scare real Americans.
Not that we get scared, or anything.
* Link fixed -- URL in original quote was wrong.
1 comment:
If nothing else, the article does suggest an obvious explanation for why most religions have a great flood story as part of their mythology.
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