The Odds of an Asteroid Impact
An asteroid 2.9 miles long and 1.5 miles wide zoomed past Earth Sept. 29 and came within 962,951 miles of the planet. While this might not seem like a near miss, technically it is relatively close – merely four times the distance between Earth and the moon.
But, it’s not likely that a large space rock like this one would actually hit Earth in our lifetime, says physics professor Perry Gerakines, Ph.D. “The odds that an asteroid of this magnitude would impact the Earth are in the millions to one.
Some NASA scientists say a particular person’s odds of being affected by an asteroid collision is comparable to those of being in a major airline accident.”
Media Contact
More Information:
http://www.uab.eduAll latest news from the category: Physics and Astronomy
This area deals with the fundamental laws and building blocks of nature and how they interact, the properties and the behavior of matter, and research into space and time and their structures.
innovations-report provides in-depth reports and articles on subjects such as astrophysics, laser technologies, nuclear, quantum, particle and solid-state physics, nanotechnologies, planetary research and findings (Mars, Venus) and developments related to the Hubble Telescope.
Newest articles
Sea slugs inspire highly stretchable biomedical sensor
USC Viterbi School of Engineering researcher Hangbo Zhao presents findings on highly stretchable and customizable microneedles for application in fields including neuroscience, tissue engineering, and wearable bioelectronics. The revolution in…
Twisting and binding matter waves with photons in a cavity
Precisely measuring the energy states of individual atoms has been a historical challenge for physicists due to atomic recoil. When an atom interacts with a photon, the atom “recoils” in…
Nanotubes, nanoparticles, and antibodies detect tiny amounts of fentanyl
New sensor is six orders of magnitude more sensitive than the next best thing. A research team at Pitt led by Alexander Star, a chemistry professor in the Kenneth P. Dietrich…
