[Rod_Cloutier]

Forget 2012, global warming and peak oil. A half kilometer (1/4 mile) asteroid may hit the Earth in 2182 as announced today:

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2010 ... ctory.html

They've been tracking this asteroid for 10 years and only today have they come to the conclusion that it might hit the Earth in 2182.

[EnergyUnlimited]

I hardly care about what might or might not hit Earth in 2182...

There is a good chance that 2182 there won't be many (if at all) intelligent observers to appreciate the show.

[Ayame]

This sounds about right as by this time humanity should have gone right through the levelling event and ended up back in feudal society or maybe worse as climate change kicks in overdrive. This of course would be very boring to god or the creator who would have anyways run out of divine popcorn by that time especially since feudalism was so 12th century and tribalism was so 20000 years ago. So it would be time for the creator to create another devastation to change the species in play for his/her sadistic amusement. It's what happened to the dinosaurs.

[dolanbaker]

I think I'll put this one near the bottom of the worry list.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dolanbaker', 'I') think I'll put this one near the bottom of the worry list.

[pup55]

I have a few "what ifs".....

What if it was 100% certain to happen in 172 years? What would we or should we do about it?

First of all, there is a certain segment of the population, maybe 20%, that will dismiss it as a hoax, or a conspiracy, or some other thing.... and resist any action of any kind. That would be enough to plant the seed of doubt in roughly another 20% or so I suppose.... maybe a higher fraction than that, so any sort of large scale action to try to either stop the asteroid or take some other action to survive would be out the window.....

What if, instead of happening in 172 years, the same asteroid was projected to hit the earth in 50 years, within the life span of our children. Could we convince the reluctant 20% and their doubtful allies to do something? I am thinking that there would be resistance right up to the point of having it appear on CNN, if such a thing still exists in 2060.

What if, instead of happening in 50 years, it was projected to happen in 10 years, and was 99% certain to cause a planet killing catastrophe. What would we do? Would we still be able to convince the flat-earthers that they were doomed? Would we be able to prepare, with the state of technology what it is right now? Would you live your life any differently? Quit your job? Well, we could take this all sorts of different directions.

Makes you wonder.

[2cher]

You can't control life son.

All you can do is live your life now, if you constantly worry about the next boogeyman on the horizon, then you aren't living a life worth worrying about.

Who knows if we have 100 years, 50 years, 10 years, or even if we will have tomorrow. There is no point planning for events that we have no control over, all you will do is make yourself sick.

[Sixstrings]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'W')hat if, instead of happening in 172 years, the same asteroid was projected to hit the earth in 50 years, within the life span of our children. Could we convince the reluctant 20% and their doubtful allies to do something? I am thinking that there would be resistance right up to the point of having it appear on CNN, if such a thing still exists in 2060.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'M')akes you wonder.

[efarmer]

Will this be a liberal or conservative asteroid?

[Rod_Cloutier]

Two year update to this thread:

Picture of our doom:

http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/6527 ... A15776.jpg

The effect of solar wind has altered the asteroid's oribit:

http://dailycosmicnews.blogspot.ca/2012 ... eroid.html

NASA to study and sample the asteroid with an unmanned probe:

http://osiris-rex.lpl.arizona.edu/?q=gallery

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'A')steroid sample-return

The $800 million Osiris-Rex mission — its name is short for Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer — should arrive at 1999 RQ36 in 2020 and return some samples of the asteroid to Earth by 2023.

[eXpat]

From your link Repent
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')n 2135, the 500-meter (1,640-foot) diameter asteroid will swing by Earth at around 350,000 kilometers (220,000 miles), its closest approach over the 481-year time span. That's closer than the Moon, which orbits about 390,000 kilometers (240,000 miles) from Earth. At such close distances, the asteroid's subsequent trajectory becomes impossible to accurately predict so close approaches can only be studied statistically, Chesley said.

[dissident]

We'll have more to worry about before the late 22nd century. Like massive failure of agriculture from around 2050 onward thanks to global warming, aquifer exhaustion and overpopulation/development. This will shake the human civilization on this planet to its foundation and like every time in history (Sumerians, Maya, etc) there will be some artifacts left behind and the people will die out or be scattered to the winds.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f the powers that be are investing $800 million dollars to study this thing, you want to bet this is seen as a real threat to the Earth!!

[Rod_Cloutier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')e'll have more to worry about before the late 22nd century. Like massive failure of agriculture from around 2050 onward thanks to global warming, aquifer exhaustion and overpopulation/development. This will shake the human civilization on this planet to its foundation and like every time in history (Sumerians, Maya, etc) there will be some artifacts left behind and the people will die out or be scattered to the winds.

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pup55', 'I') have a few "what ifs".....

What if it was 100% certain to happen in 172 years? What would we or should we do about it?

...

What if, instead of happening in 50 years, it was projected to happen in 10 years, and was 99% certain to cause a planet killing catastrophe. What would we do? Would we still be able to convince the flat-earthers that they were doomed? Would we be able to prepare, with the state of technology what it is right now? Would you live your life any differently? Quit your job? Well, we could take this all sorts of different directions.

Makes you wonder.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', ' ')the above quote is true, then we will lack the space technologies to mitigate the collision risk in the mid-22nd century, whereas we have these technologies now. We need to act now so we don't have to deal with a major asteroid collision when our civilzation has collapsed and we no longer have the option of mitigation available.

[Rod_Cloutier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho cares what will be in late 22 nd century?

[vision-master]

Now we know! New wujo. June 16, 2012 3:46am posted. Important for humans who live in coastal areas of earth.

Podcast available free ->Broken link; Required the user to download and install a file.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Repent', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ho cares what will be in late 22 nd century?

[dinopello]

I went to my nephew's High School graduation yesterday and the speaker they had was Charles Bolden, the director of NASA. He didn't mention the doom scenario at all, but did mention that this graduating class would have the challenge of landing on asteroids. Apart from mining them, blowing them up or diverting their course is maybe what he was referring to.