Nice knowing you......

It appears that Asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking dear ole Mother Earth on April 13th, 2036.

Now some folks have the bright idea of placing the U.N. in charge of planetary prophylaxis, and finding a way of diverting said stone...

Great, The U.N.........We're all gonna die..

you serious? where're those news from? (haven;t read astronomy news for days)

Well, there is a small chance that it will pass through a 'gravitational keyhole' near Earth in 2029. If it passes through that, then there is a small chance of it hitting us in 2036 and an even smaller chance of it hitting us instead in 2037. The only way it would collide with us and wipe out all planetary life is if we are either very, very unprepared or very, very unlucky.

I almost posted on this this morning - I did some math and the results are senselessly huge numbers, in terms of the amount of energy released. Even if it's a near miss, the tidal effects are pretty scary - not to mention what would happen as far as earthquakes, changes in the earth's rotational speed and axial tilt, etc.

I think the statistical analysis (1:45000) is meaningless, at this point - the data set is kind of limited. It doesn't have to strike the earth to be catastrophic, anyway.

My predictions:

Whatever is done, the US will fund it.

The French will insist on running it. Incompetently.

The new Green group (Asteroid Liberation Front) will protest the "tampering with nature".

The New York Times will take them seriously. So will CNN, AFP, and the AP.

The UN will piss away billions "studying" it, then blame the Israelis and the US.

In the end, the US will solve it, while being roundly condemned for not using the money for social programs.

The Japanese, in their practical way, will be watching from a safe distance in their new space habitats.

Orbital projection for Apophis.

I am sure they will take the credit for it regardless

The UN...good grief!

I'm pretty much in the camp of "we're fucked", regardless of how it happens (global warming, nuclear warfare, comet).

My prediction?

My generation will solve it.
I'm confident about it.
I believe in it.

cheers,

better look out some extra bandages Simon!

Ah, the optimism of the young.

I'm confident enough in science that I'm fairy sure that we will have colonized another planet by the next century, or at least will be able to control the damage to our planet a little better. Whether that damage be asteroids, comets, etc.; or man-made problems.

If we find that this asteroid has a good chance of colliding with us in 2036, then I'm sure we'll figure out a way to handle it. The human race works best in the face of imminent destruction, I think.

Whoever named this thing is either an Ancient Egypt buff with a sick sense of humour or a Stargate SG-1 fan.

FOX News will label the asteroid 'traitorous' until someone points out that it is not technically a U.S. citizen. They will change their term to 'asterofascist.'

The U.S. will ignore it until protesting students are fired upon by New York law enforcement. Then the U.S. will bomb the shit out of the asteroid.

France will suggest that perhaps the U.S. should not have sent political prisoners to the asteroid before bombing it. Everyone will agree that this proves once again that France is full of pussies.