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What, Me Worry?

Posted by michael on from the hakuna-matata dept.

Space.com dissects (or see the same story on MSNBC, with handy Torino scale graphic) the asteroid scare that's been in the news for the past week, asking some good questions about the roles of the news media and the scientific community. I suppose my take on it is something like this: given that truly insignificant threats to individuals get hyped all out of proportion routinely, at least in this case it was an insignificant threat to the entire planet.

4 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Daily Show by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like Jon Steweart's comment:
    "The torino scale ranges from 0, no likely practical consequences, to 10, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

  2. 3.9 in a million????? by Lobsang · · Score: 5, Funny

    And people worry?

    That's the same probability of me waking up tomorrow with Cindy Crawford serving me breakfast in bed wearing Victoria Secret underwear...

    or...

    none...

    (I could easily bear an asteroid hitting the planet if that breakfast thingy happened though...) :)

  3. Economic reasons to scare John Q. Public by mikewas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Declare war on asteroids. Like most wars, this'll increase government spending and provide stimulus to the global economy.

    Unlike other wars, in this one no one gets killed, only asteroids.

    This has nothing whatsoever to do with science, it's an attempt by politicians to justify deficit spending (rightly so in my view) by scaring the public at large.

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    "Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever." --Napoleon Bonaparte
  4. Does it worry anyone else, by ByteHog · · Score: 5, Funny

    That the (not so) possible end of the world is named NT7 ?

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