FOUR MONTHS AGO, astronomers issued a chilling warning. A rogue lump of rock the size of an office block appeared to be on a collision course with Earth. Expected time of arrival: Saturday 21 September 2030. The chances of it hitting were a slender 1 in 500. But if it did, this object could explode in the atmosphere with an energy of several atomic bombs. Goodbye New York perhaps. Or Paris. Or Beijing.
That time, at least, it was a false alarm. After a little more homework to pin down the object's course, astronomers found it would pass by with several million kilometres to spare. It was relegated to a long list of cosmic might-have-beens, and everyone breathed easy again.
Sooner or later, though, one of these warnings will stick. There are plenty of killer comets and asteroids out there, and it's only a matter of time before one of ...
18:53 05 September 2008Subscribe today at only USD $5.95 for your first 4 issues and get New Scientist, the world's leading science & technology news magazine delivered direct to your door every week
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