Science
‘No need to worry’: Odds drop newly-found asteroid will hit Earth
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The chances have plummeted that a newly-discovered asteroid with the potential to wipe out a city will hit Earth on Valentine’s Day 2046, the European Space Agency said on Tuesday.
The asteroid, which is named 2023 DW and is estimated to be around the size of a 50-meter Olympic swimming pool, was first spotted by a small Chilean observatory on February 26.
It swiftly shot to the top of NASA and ESA lists of asteroids that pose a danger to Earth, leading to a raft of alarming news headlines, some warning lovers to cancel their Valentine’s plans on February 14, 2046.
Late last month the asteroid was given a one in 847 chance of hitting Earth—but the odds rose to one in 432 on Sunday, according to the ESA’s risk list. NASA has had similar but not identical estimations.
However Richard Moissl, the head of the ESA’s planetary defense office, told AFP on Tuesday that overnight the probability fell to one in 1,584.
“It will go down now with every observation until it reaches zero in a couple of days at the latest,” he said.
“No one needs to be worried about this guy.”
NASA’s planetary defense officer Lindley Johnson agreed, telling AFP that “at this point, no one should be concerned at all”.
He said it was normal for the impact odds of newly discovered asteroids to briefly rise before rapidly falling.
This is because new observations shrink the “uncertainty region” where the asteroid will travel to on its closest point to Earth, he said.
While the Earth is still inside that uncertainty region, the odds temporarily increase—until further observations exclude Earth and the probability drops down to zero, as is expected to happen with 2023 DW.
What if it does hit Earth?
But what would happen in the increasingly unlikely event that the asteroid does strike Earth?
Davide Farnocchia, a scientist at NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies, said a good comparison was the Tunguska event, in which a similarly-sized asteroid is believed to have exploded in the atmosphere above a sparsely populated area in Siberia in 1908.
“The resulting explosion flattened trees over an area of about 2,000 square kilometers,” Farnocchia said. London covers an area of around 1,600 square kilometers.
Moissl said that an asteroid the size of 2023 DW would create “regionalised destruction” and not have a major effect on the rest of the world.
The asteroid, which is orbiting the Sun, came around nine million kilometers from Earth during its most recent closest approach on February 18—a week before it was discovered.
If it was to strike Earth in 2046, it would be speeding along at around 15 kilometers (nine miles) a second, according to estimations.
There would be a roughly 70 percent chance it lands in the Pacific Ocean, but the potential strike zone would also include the United States, Australia or Southeast Asia, Moissl said.
Deflection plan
Even if the asteroid is heading our way, the experts emphasized that the world is no longer defenseless against such a threat.
Last year, NASA’s DART spacecraft deliberately slammed into the pyramid-sized asteroid Dimorphos, significantly knocking it off course in the first such test of our planetary defenses.
Farnocchia said the “DART mission gives us confidence that such a mission would be successful” against 2023 DW, if required.
With 23 years to prepare, there is “ample time” for such a mission to be planned, Moissl said.
The ESA’s Hera mission, scheduled to launch next year to inspect the damage DART had on Dimorphos, could even be repurposed for reconnaissance if necessary, he added.
Such plans would not be considered until the probability of an impact passes one in 100, when it would get the attention of UN-endorsed bodies like the International Asteroid Warning Network and the Space Mission Planning Advisory Group (SMPAG), Moissl said.
The aim of SMPAG is to “have everyone on the same page and avoid what happened in the movie ‘Don’t Look Up’,” in which “stupid stuff” happened because nations did not coordinate with each other, Moissl added.
However such defense mechanisms look unlikely to be required for 2023 DW.
“Everyone should relax, ignore the sensationalist headlines and stories, and watch how this situation plays out,” NASA’s Johnson said, adding that any threat was likely to “evaporate” soon.
“Nevertheless, the planetary defense community will keep looking up!”
© 2023 AFP
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‘No need to worry’: Odds drop newly-found asteroid will hit Earth (2023, March 14)
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Science
Media Advisory – Minister Champagne to announce the Canadian Space Agency astronaut who will fly around the Moon – Canada NewsWire
LONGUEUIL, QC, March 29, 2023 /CNW/ –— On Monday, April 3, at 10:00 a.m. CT (11:00 a.m. ET), the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, will join NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) leadership in Houston to announce the names of the astronauts assigned to the Artemis II Moon mission.
The event will be broadcast on NASA TV and streamed on the CSA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page (with simultaneous interpretation).
Media are also invited to join CSA President Lisa Campbell and the Honourable Marc Garneau, first Canadian to fly to space, at CSA headquarters for this historic event. CSA experts will be on site and available for interviews.
All interview requests for the CSA astronaut assigned to Artemis II and/or CSA leadership and experts, in Canada or in Houston, must be coordinated with the CSA Media Relations Office (information below). Interview requests for Minister Champagne must be coordinated directly with his office.
Canada will make history when a CSA astronaut flies around the Moon as part of Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon since the Apollo missions.
Event at NASA Johnson Space Center – Ellington Field
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Monday, April 3, 2023 |
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Time |
What |
Who |
Where |
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10:00 a.m. CT 11:00 a.m. ET |
Artemis II crew announcement event in Houston |
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
CSA astronaut assigned to Artemis II |
Ellington Field – Johnson Space Center Hwy. 3 and Brantly; 12400 South Brantly Houston, TX 00000 The event will be broadcasted on NASA TV and streamed on the CSA’s YouTube channel and Facebook page |
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2:10 p.m. CT 3:10 p.m. ET |
Media callback |
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
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Members of the media are asked to contact ISED Media Relations at [email protected] to receive the dial-in information. |
Event at CSA headquarters
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Monday, April 3, 2023 |
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Time |
What |
Who |
Where |
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9:50 a.m. CT 10:50 a.m. ET |
Artemis II crew announcement event, including NASA live broadcast, at the CSA |
Lisa Campbell, CSA President
The Honorable Marc Garneau, retired CSA astronaut
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John H. Chapman Space Centre 6767 Route de l’Aéroport Borough of St-Hubert Longueuil, Quebec J3Y 8Y9 |
More information
Canada’s role in Moon exploration
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SOURCE Canadian Space Agency
For further information: Canadian Space Agency, Media Relations Office, Telephone: 450-926-4370, Website: https://asc-csa.gc.ca/, Email: [email protected]; Laurie Bouchard, Communications Director, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, [email protected], +1 343 574 8014; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, [email protected]
The remains of an Ice Age squirrel that was mummified to death during hibernation some 30,000 years ago have been found in Canada.
The 30,000-year-old animal found in the Klondike goldfields in 2018 will soon be on display in Whitehorse, Northern Canada.
Yukon paleontologists this week unveiled another unusual find from the gold fields near Dawson City: an Arctic squirrel that curled up and mummified as if it died during hibernation during the Ice Age.
A Squirrel Mummy Found by Yukon Paleontologists at the Gold Field near Dawson City
The Ice Age squirrel was actually found a few years ago, but its announcement is now being made as the government is preparing the dead rodent for display at the Yukon in Whitehorse.
At first glance, this mummified animal looks like nothing more than a dried up pile of brown fur and skin.
Intact Bone Structure Detected Inside the Remains
Yukon government paleontologist Grant Zazula says, “It’s hardly recognizable until you see the tiny hands and claws, a little tail, and then the ears.” says.
“I’m always examining bones and these are very exciting. But when you see a perfectly preserved animal, especially if it’s 30,000 years old and you can see its face, its skin, its fur, it’s really special.”
Science
Apr 1: Tyrannosaur lips, bald eagles dine on beef, saving the orbital environment and more… – CBC.ca
Quirks and Quarks54:02Tyrannosaur lips, bald eagles dine on beef, saving the orbital environment, how your fingerprints are built and how humans run on electricity
On this week’s episode of Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald:
Tyrannosaurus rex had lips covering its terrifying teeth
Quirks and Quarks8:33Tyrannosaurus rex had lips covering its terrifying teeth
Many depictions of the iconic Tyrannosaurus rex show the dinosaur’s huge teeth as constantly exposed in a crocodilian smile. But a new study published in the journal Science concludes that theropod dinosaurs like the T. rex likely had scaly, lizard-like lips that covered their teeth completely when the dinosaur’s mouth was closed. Canadian paleontologist Dr. Thomas Cullen, a professor at Auburn University, and his co-authors analyzed wear patterns on tooth enamel of the dinosaurs, as well as jaw sizes, and compared them to modern-day animals. He said the T. rex mouth would have likely been most similar to that of a Komodo dragon.
Eagles are eating cows instead of salmon – and farmers are happy
Quirks and Quarks7:59Eagles are eating cows instead of salmon – and farmers are happy
In the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., bald eagles, which have historically fed on the carcasses of spawning chum salmon, have run short of their traditional food due to climate change and other factors. But a new study in the journal Ecosphere by Ethan Duvall, a PhD student in ecology at Cornell University, indicates the eagles have moved inland and are now scavenging cattle who have died on dairy farms. Farmers, it turns out, are happy with this, as it solves a troubling disposal problem, and because the eagles also displace rodents and other birds that do harm to the farms.
Inspired by the High Seas treaty, scientists are calling for the protection of space
Quirks and Quarks7:47Inspired by the High Seas treaty, scientists are calling for the protection of space
In early March, nearly 200 United Nations member countries agreed to the first-ever treaty to protect the world’s oceans. Imogen Napper, a marine biologist at the University of Plymouth in England, and a group of colleagues are calling for a similar legally binding treaty to protect the Earth’s orbit from exploitation by the ever-growing global space industry. Their concerns were put forward in a letter in the journal Science.
Arches, loops and whorls — how your unique fingerprints are made
Quirks and Quarks7:40Arches, loops and whorls — how your unique fingerprints are made
There are eight billion people in the world, each with a unique pattern of ridges on our fingertips. Now, scientists have discovered that the process by which these intricate and complex patterns arise is similar to how animals get their spots or stripes. Duelling genetic and chemical signals during fetal development give rise to changes in the ridges and spaces between them that cover our fingertips. Denis Headon, a geneticist from the University of Edinburgh, traced how this interplay results in the complex whorls, loops and arches that make up our fingerprints. His research was published in the journal Cell.
Humans are fueled by food — but we run on electricity
Quirks and Quarks19:31Humans are fueled by food — but we run on electricity
Every living cell works as a battery, with the ability to respond to and send out electrical signals. Science and technology journalist, Sally Adee, became fascinated with this realization after participating in an experiment in which a gentle electrical current, delivered to her brain, gave her the abilities of an expert sharpshooter. Bob McDonald speaks with her about her new book, We Are Electric: Inside the 200-Year Hunt for Our Body’s Bioelectric Code, and What the Future Holds. In it, she explores how much our biology — from our bodies’ ability to heal to the higher order processes of human thought — works through electricity.
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