Asteroid to Give Earth Record-Setting Close Shave on Feb. 15

[Steve Williams]

By SPACE.com Staff

An asteroid half the size of a football field will give Earth the ultimate close shave this month, passing closer than many satellites when it whizzes by, but it won't hit the planet, NASA scientists say.......

http://news.yahoo.com/asteroid-earth-record-setting-close-shave-feb-15-233041677.html

 

[Orb]

Wonder if it will affect any of the largest space debris orbiting us (either pulled back to Earth or affecting space mission routes).
Good news safe from the asteroid, bad news raining space junk doh
Cheers
Orb

 

[GaryProtein]

If scientists predicted it would hit, I think it would be a wake up call to us just how insignificant we are in the scheme of things, even though as a species I am proud of how much we have accomplished...

I agree that we are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things, but you have no frame of reference to be proud of our species because of its accomplishments.

The reason we haven't been visited by creatures from other worlds is, when you consider the time, effort and energy it takes to travel from one star system to another, it is extremely doubtful we have anything to offer a species who has that ability other than to take the planet from us or simply to laugh.

 

[treitz3]

If this meteor comes this close to Earth this time around, taking into account the gravitational pull from the moon and Earth, have they predicted where it will fly by next time around? They did mention that the path was predictable and fairly stable. They were so confident in this, that they are not worried about a collision this time. How confident will they be the next time around? Being the size it is, the gravitational field has got to change it's course somehow.

Tom

 

[mep]

I agree that we are pretty insignificant in the scheme of things, but you have no frame of reference to be proud of our species because of its accomplishments.

The reason we haven't been visited by creatures from other worlds is, when you consider the time, effort and energy it takes to travel from one star system to another, it is extremely doubtful we have anything to offer a species who has that ability other than to take the planet from us or simply to laugh.

Are you serious about the above statements or are you just joking?

 

[GaryProtein]

Are you serious about the above statements or are you just joking?

Actually, I'm quite serious. We really aren't so amazing a group.

Do you think other societies that have high enough technology to travel to us haven't passed through all the developmental stages our species has gone through?

I won't say we haven't accumulated a lot of information and developed a lot of technology, but anything out there that has the ability to come here surely has highly developed civilizations and has passed through evolutionary stages we have yet to achieve, knows at least what we know and would have little to learn from us that would advance their societies. I would expect them to have an appreciation for the accomplishments of Homo sapiens, but it would be like our appreciation of the pyramids in Egypt, not life changing knowledge bringing a quantum leap to their lives. They would probably see us as we see chimpanzees.

We would be fortunate to have a benevolent visitor from another world, and I underlined benevolent because Columbus coming to the New World didn't pan out so well for the people already living there.

 

[cjfrbw]

If the aliens are so advanced, what's with the anal probe. Everybody who gets abducted seems to get the anal probe. Why can't they just do a tricorder scan of some kind, like in Star Trek.

"Oops, I've been abducted, just a matter of time before they start waving that anal probe around."

Maybe the aliens are just kinky.

 

[mep]

Maybe the aliens are just kinky.

That's what Larry the Cable Guy said. He said the aliens seem to have a thing for anal probing rednecks that live in trailers.

 

[GaryProtein]

See what I mean. Neither of the last two posts delivers any proof we have been visited by aliens, only statements that aliens have been kinky with earthlings.

I rest my case. As I finished my first post in the thread, when they arrive it will be to take the planet from us or to laugh at us. One could infer from the statements of the rednecks in trailers having anal probes, they came here to laugh at us.

 

[GaryProtein]

MEP: I just found this.

On the insignificance of humanity and our genuine LACK of intelligence as a species.

I would tell you what was said, but Neil DeGrasse, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson) astrophysicist and head of the Hayden Planetarium and Rose Center for Earth and Space says it better than I could.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=rDRXn96HrtY

If you want to save time, start at 7:45 for the most important part.

The entire post, about 12 minutes, is worth watching.