Are we going to be the dinosaurs 2.0?

Studies revealed that dinosaurs were killed by an asteroid hitting Earth 65 million years ago. This is how scientists suppose it happened:

“The kinetic energy of the ejected matter would have dissipated as heat in the upper atmosphere during re-entry, enough heat to make the normally blue sky turn red-hot for hours,” said Robertson. Scientists have speculated for more than a decade that the entire surface of the Earth below would have been baked by the equivalent of a global oven set on broil.

You can imagine that, with this kind of heritage, our scientists gaze into the deep blue/black sky, with state-of-the-art technology, looking for asteroids which may head towards Earth.

Year after year, they spotted and announced such menaces, the furthest away in time being predicted for year 2880 (how many of us will be alive by that time? . Until then, let’s see what may be expecting us in the near future, ordered by the announcement date:

2002: space.com: An asteroid first spotted in 1950 has a maximum 1-in-300 chance of striking the Earth in the year 2880 scientists will report Friday in the journal Science. The odds, which might turn out to be zero, are for now greater than for any other asteroid ever determined to be a threat.
This is an interesting read, as it reveals some possible ways to avoid collision.

2002: BBC: An asteroid discovered just weeks ago has become the most threatening object yet detected in space.
A preliminary orbit suggests that 2002 NT7 is on an impact course with Earth and could strike the planet on 1 February, 2019 – although the uncertainties are large.

2003: CNN: A giant asteroid is heading for Earth and could hit in 2014, U.S. astronomers have warned British space monitors.

2004: space.com: Scientists said Thursday that a recently discovered asteroid has a chance of hitting Earth in the year 2029, but that further observations would likely rule out the impact scenario.

2005: India Daily: Computer model predicts 150 sq. mile asteroid to hit earth in 65 years – wipe out human civilization like that of Dinosaurs

2005: NASA: Asteroid 2004 MN4 will come scarily close to Earth on April 13, 2029, but it will not hit.

2005: The Guardian: It’s called Apophis. It’s 390m wide. And it could hit Earth in 31 years time

2006: New Scientist: Big new asteroid has slim chance of hitting Earth

2006: ABC: VD17 was spotted in late November 2004 and was swiftly identified as a rock that potentially crosses Earth’s orbit. At the time watchers gave it one in 3000 risk of collision on 4 May 2102.

2007: CNN:
• U.N. asked to organize an asteroid deflection mission
• Asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036
• Mission proposal: A spacecraft would use gravity to alter the asteroid’s course

After reading all the above stories, I confess that I’m seriously thinking whether or not I want to have children anymore. What about you? Do you believe in asteroids hitting Earth? Are you afraid, or you just have lots of other daily troubles to sort out?

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