- News. Devil fish found in Canary Islands waters dies
- Science. A new type of dinosaur discovered: a giant lizard with shark teeth that was one of the largest land carnivores in Earth's history
The constant danger to our planet is the impact of meteorites on its surface. Every day these space rocks through our atmosphere where the vast majority disintegrate in the sky or the impact is minimal. However, the city-killing asteroid, which is on a trajectory towards our orbit, would be an exception with recent updates on the subject.
The asteroid is called 2024 YR4 and it has been mentioned that it is really heading towards us. Discovered late last year, this rocky giant is between 40 and 90 meters in diameter, so it is probably larger than the Statue of Liberty.
Last week, the chances of impact were set at 1%, but scientists increased the risk to 1 in 43, or 2.3%, with a tentative date of December 22, 2032. Recently, a scientist said that "we may not be able to avoid it even with a Hollywood-style deflection mission".
Who makes reference to these warnings?
Dr. Robin George Andrews, a London-based volcanologist and author, points out that we have less than eight years to potentially address it. He has indicated that it takes 10 years or more to build, plan and execute an asteroid deflection mission. "We don't have much time," he said
It is worth ing that, in 2022, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission demonstrated how an asteroid could potentially be deflected from its collision course with Earth by crashing a spacecraft into it. The DART spacecraft completed its 10-month journey when it collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, which is about 170 meters in diameter, with a successful trajectory deflection.
According to current size estimates, which could vary as it approaches the planet, experts have calculated that the impact of YR4 would be 15 megatons of TNT, or 100 times more devastating than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
Although the DART space mission was a test and against asteroids that do not pose a danger to Earth, the fact is that new dangers are constantly being discovered in space and both NASA and scientists around the world are working to develop plans to defend our planet.