Commander PK Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Originally posted by Dan T. I'm hoping it lands on Terrell Owens' house. :rotflmao: :rotflmao: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander PK Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Is there anyway we can re-direct it the mountains of Afghanistan????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom [Giants fan] Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 What is the point of knowing if a "global killer" is coming if we can't do a damn thing about it. I'd rather only have 72 hours to know that I won't be alive anymore after that time than live with the thought for two years. If they really wanted to be able to stop one of these things, they could find a way now instead of waiting for one to be heading for earth. They either have a way to stop one or they don't. Does it matter if one is on the way or not? Give me 72 hours notice of my impending demise. That is plenty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soliloquy Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Originally posted by Tom [Giants fan] if we can't do a damn thing about it. Aye, you see, there's the rub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Originally posted by Om If memory serves, Ancalagon, the Chilean observatory Cerro Tololo set up an automated "tracking telescope" a few years ago to map the southern skies, including, the assumption was, near-earth asteroids. I haven't followed up, but my belief is that program continues. Thanks for the 411. I know that a few programs got canceled/relocated because of the whole earthquake thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Om Posted March 20, 2004 Share Posted March 20, 2004 Originally posted by Tom [Giants fan] What is the point of knowing if a "global killer" is coming if we can't do a damn thing about it. I'd rather only have 72 hours to know that I won't be alive anymore after that time than live with the thought for two years. If they really wanted to be able to stop one of these things, they could find a way now instead of waiting for one to be heading for earth. They either have a way to stop one or they don't. Does it matter if one is on the way or not? Give me 72 hours notice of my impending demise. That is plenty. To me, Tom, the point is that the only excuse humanity has at this point for NOT being prepared is that the required R&D simply costs too much. To really and truly set up a viable detection and deflection network would easily be the single most expensive and difficult endeavor the human race has ever attempted. But it's not the technology at issue any more; it's the WILL that is. There's not a politician in this country -- or anywhere in the developed world, for that matter -- that will expend more than a penny of political capital on this. Since the threat is still only taken seriously by a laughably small percentage of the species, he'd get laughed right out of office. Maybe in a hundred years (assuming "something bad" doesn't happen first) we'll have seen another Shoemaker/Levy kind of demonstration or two ... or developed systems far more reliable and affordable ... and the world community will no longer treat this as science fiction ... and we'll put something workable in place. For the short term though, I'm afraid the only things that might really get us off our asses is 1) a Tunguska-type blast over a major metropolitan area that takes out a few million in a quarter of a second, or 2) detection of a massive incoming body two or three years out that FORCES us to send everything we've got -- crude as it may be -- out there and hope it's enough. It's not me I'm worried about any more, honestly. I've had a pretty sweet run in 43 short years. It's my young kids, and their still unborn ones, that have me wishing this whole thing was taken a bit more seriously by the people who could be doing something about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. S Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Ive heard rumors that NASA does have backup plans and whatnot for potential NEA destroyers. However, I dont know how true that is. You'd think movies like Deep Impact and Armageddon, and even games like Final Fantasy VII got enough support for more Earth defense programs, and not just national defense programs. Where is the UN??? I agree with you Art, the only way something more will be done is if something happens, or we detect it years from now and have to assemble something together. I know though that they usually have found large Earth destroying asteroids before and are monitoring them. Seems like the plan that would be followed is trying to blow it off trajectory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDawg Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 If someone announced the world was ending in 72 hours... Chaos would ensue... And if that asteroid missed... We'd have quite the mess on our hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavyDave Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 True I wouldnt tell the mases we have 72 hours of life left. I'd be praying that I was in a sub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 I just discovered this thead and it was a pretty interesting read. I really don't think this is as big a deal as people are saying. The odds of an extinction-level asteroid hitting earth are ridiculously low. The strict percentages are probably far less than a virus, nuclear war, or even global warming annihilating the human species. Our research dollars can be better spent than building an asteroid shield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 that's right TJ... String Theory is a much better place to spend our research dollars. Everyone, quick, call your congressman and tell them that we need more grants for the study of quantum strings. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Originally posted by DrunkenBoxer that's right TJ... String Theory is a much better place to spend our research dollars. Everyone, quick, call your congressman and tell them that we need more grants for the study of quantum strings. -DB If we don't fund the string theorists, the entire fabric of the universe may come apart and we won't be able to do anything about it ... What if the terrorists figure out the structure of space-time before we do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 thank you DjTj. brilliant as always. -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skinamatic Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Originally posted by Ghost of Tarius Hopkins "I sure wish we had kept an A-bomb or two." Thankfully, there won't be any fantasy scenarios in which we don't have a few mega-weapons. I imagine there'd be a great deal of furor over nukes in space, but that's the only way I could see deflecting one of the mile-wide asteroids from its course. Maybe a joint Russian-American station with nukes. I think if we kicked around in the closet for a bit we could dig up an a-bomb or 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ancalagon the Black Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 I hear that string theory is passé and M-theory is where it's at these days. This means I have to get an entirely new wardrobe to keep up. Opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignatius J. Posted March 21, 2004 Share Posted March 21, 2004 Well, the fads do come and go, so you have to stay on top. to catch the latest risquee fashions visit: http://xxx.lanl.gov/list/hep-th/new that should keep your wardrobe up to date. But strings, M's, same diff. Once you get the idea of strings you just have strings, but more-so..... -DB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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