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NASA Downgrades Asteroid-Earth Collision Risk

Posted by timothy on from the elephant-detector-working-fine dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA scientists have recalculated the path of a large asteroid known as Apophis and now say it has only a very slim chance of banging into Earth.. The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields, and updated computational techniques and newly available data indicate the probability of an Earth encounter on April 13, 2036 for Apophis has dropped from one-in-45,000 to about four-in-a million, NASA stated."

4 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. four in a million? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Isn't four in a million the same as one in 250,000 ?

    1. Re:four in a million? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I am a programmer. I am paid to produce syntax not grammar. Deal with it.

      Sorry for the off-topic troll, but I really can't resist your signature. I'll answer your self-satisfied, pedantic quibble with one of my own.

      Programmers, unless they are creating new languages, do not produce syntax, they obey syntax. Setting this point aside, maybe you meant, "I am paid to produce things which are syntactically correct, not things which are grammatically correct." Of course, you actually are paid to produce things that are grammatically correct.

      Perhaps you meant, "I am paid to write in the highly precise, fascinating languages of computers and not the boring, ambiguous English language that my incompetent high school teachers made me hate." That might be true, but it probably isn't. Most programming jobs require quite a bit of written English, and the more grammatically correct it is, the better. Admittedly, this is usually less important than producing working code.

      Another possible reading: "I never quite understood English grammar, even though I felt like I should. I compensate by basing my fragile self image on excessive pride in my other skills and wearing a chip on my shoulder so people will be afraid to call me on it."

    2. Re:four in a million? by zblack_eagle · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, I RTA, saw the image of an asteroid that was apparently about 60km long, with the text "The Apophis asteroid is approximately the size of two-and-a-half football fields" and I suddenly had a whole lot more respect for US football.

      (I saw the title of the article after)

    3. Re:four in a million? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Your totally wrong.

      His totally wrong what?