Surf these sites: Adding up the risks of cosmic impact (MSNBC) -- In recent years, most of the concern about cosmic threats has focused on the hundreds of space rocks and iceballs bigger than 0.6 miles (1 km) in diameter that have a chance of someday colliding with Earth. However, new research indicates that in the short term, the threat is more from smaller objects. Asteroid Comet Impact Hazards [Official NASA site] -- Reports, Torino impact hazard scale, latest news, and image gallery. Asteroid impact scale endorsed -- A new scale that will quantify the risk of an asteroid or comet hitting the Earth has been adopted by the International Astronomical Union. Asteroids -- The very real possibility that the Earth will - as it has been millions of times in the past - be hit by an asteroid or comet large enough to destroy a major city, or to create a kind of ''nuclear winter''... this is not science fiction. The only question is not "whether" but "When?" Close shave with asteroid -- A large asteroid could miss the Earth by only 38,000 kilometres (very close in cosmic terms) in 2027, according to new astronomical observations. What''s more it will remain dangerously close for about 600 years, and chaos theory means that it is impossible to predict its trajectory with enough accuracy for more than a few decades in advance. Is the Sky Falling? (from the CSICOP Skeptical Enquirer) -- A scientific consensus agrees that cosmic impacts have played a major role in Earth history and that they continue to pose a significant threat today. But there is a tremendous difference in the estimated dangers, stretching up to, or even over, the line that separates legitimate science from pseudoscience. Ten recent trade books are reviewed that span a broad range in interpretations. NearEarth -- A free service where you can read about and discuss news and issues concerning Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs), comets, Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), Earth-Crossing Objects (ECOs), as well as the potential Earth/Moon impact concerns and challenges they present. The Threat of Asteroidal and Cometary Impacts -- Report by J.R. Tate of Spaceguard UK. Includes Executive Summary. "Japanese research indicates that there is a 1% chance that every major city on the Pacific Rim will receive catastrophic damage from an impact-induced tsunami at some stage during the next hundred years."
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