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UN Mounts Asteroid Defense Plan Following Chelyabinsk Meteor
Philip Ross writes "Astronomers have warned that our planet is long overdue for a defense plan against catastrophic asteroid collisions. When it comes to deflecting Earth-obliterating celestial bodies, short of a superhero capable of punching the approaching rock back into outer space, there is no single force dedicated to stopping cosmic bullies from striking our little blue planet straight in the eye. That's why the United Nations said it will establish an International Asteroid Warning Group to intercept and divert dangerous asteroids."
Because nothing is as effective at deflecting tons of rock coming towards Earth at extremely high speeds as... a committee.
Hit Earth with a massive asteroid once; shame on me.
Hit Earth with a massive asteroid twice; shame on the few surviving cockroaches.
Cue American sovereignty tinfoilers in 3...2...
then we will be hit a hundred times before they stop bickering and vetoing each other's plans.
It may still work though, if the asteroid decides to stand back and watch us slowly implode on our own.
I also wonder what technology they hope to use to deflect dangerous asteroids. We can send some celebrities on one-way trips with nuclear warheads, but aside from the cathartic effect I doubt it will help.
What's the point of not being killed by an asteroid, when you get killed by hunger?
UN should focus on basic / REAL people problems, not playing star wars.
The main issue we've got is the lack of warning we have. Even a year is too late if you want to divert large lumps of rock.
Once you're going to divert something then you have to work out where its going to end up - no point diverting it from the earth this year, to have it end up crashing into something else which ends up sending 100 rocks at us.
I don't think a strongly worded protest/condemnation and/or sanctions will be noticed by an incoming asteroid. ;-)
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I I beg to differ.
At least we'll have some time to try and divert asteroids coming from where we can see them. It's the ones we don't see that keep me awake at night.
the UN can send a diplomat in to space to negotiate with the asteroid
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
Actually, this is the beginning of the end. If the UN will be in charge of the defense against the evil asteroids from space, I'd bet on the asteroids. Too bad I won't be able to claim my prize.
This was ordained long ago by the elite. They make very long-term plans which is why they often get what they want. First it was Communism, now it is Terrorism, then Asteroids, and after that, Extraterrestrials. Long as the masses are scared shitless of something. Doesn't matter what that is. Fear -> power. They're lying cocksuckers, the media is bought and paid for, don't believe them.
I was secretly referring to Carol Rosin's relaying of Werner von Braun's warning about the militarization of space. I felt I'll probably earn the Troll mod just for thinking about it... But both of these people are to be considered reliable non-cranks and respected scientists.
However, if we don't have any tactical ability in space it means we are relying on the presumed aliens for our safety. - That would be the same aliens which let 1000 people get hurt in Chelyabinsk. - If meteor-deflecting aliens did ever exist, perhaps this means they think we are ready to handle it ourselves?
All rites reversed 2010
UN Official #1: "Sir! An asteroid on a direct collision course has been spotted! Impact in 5 days!"
UN Official #2: "Plenty of time. We've fired the missiles, each loaded with a STERNLY-WORDED letter ..."
Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
We need some real numbers. If there is only a 50% chance of being hit by a city shattering meteorite in the next 10,000 I don't think it is worth bothering. I know it will suck if it landed in my backyard or even my front porch, but it is not worth it. There are other things we should spend money on like super volcanoes or massive earth splitting earthquakes or even rogue killer bees that spread zombie viruses.
Yes, asteroids are an invention of the elite. You're a real freethinker, you. Clearly you're onto something is sheeple cannot understand.
Thank you for your uninformed, knee-jerk anti-UN comment.
They did eradicate smallpox, you know.
That's what they want you to think.
sudo ergo sum
IMHO, real defense should not only consider avoiding the asteroid, but measures to warrant our survival in the worst case (underground cities or whatever), too.
Also, we must protect what we need to survive -- not only humans. We should go beyond avoiding doing environment damage -- we should be working to make it more resilient.
The way I see it, that's a matter of (inter) national security.
Just picture two countries at war and both are hit by a tsunami. That may be of advantage to one of them; OTOH, winning in such scenario may amount to a Pyrrhic victory (i.e., a defeat in truth).
We would need:
1. A system to track "anything larger than a certain size"(tm) moving within out solar system and within "a certain maximum amount of time"(tm)
2. A reliable way to deflect/destroy "anything larger than a certain size"
3. A system to implement that way within "a certain maximum amount of time"(tm) available 24x7
4. The same as above multiplied by 2 or maybe 3, just in case.
It would take not less than 100 or 200 years, just to reach the agreement about who is going to look into it.
Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
To me this looks like an agreement by the UN to help fund NASA's existing NEO program ( http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/ ).
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Thank you for your uninformed, knee-jerk anti-UN comment.
They did eradicate smallpox, you know.
The UN did not eradicate smallpox. It was the WHO. No, not Pete Townshend. The World Health Organization. The WHO is not the UN.
Moron.
"They" didn't. They didn't even provide the money for it. The eradication of smallpox was a huge effort which spanned more than a century. The part that WHO played in it happened in the last two decades, and that was more than 50 years ago.
Hey ! As a taxpayer he *is* footing the bill for it so let him say what he wants.
As soon as the asteroid is spotted and confirmed to be on it's way, the UN will get together to discuss the economic, political, social and Military impact for aobout 2 years and a month before Impact, they'll come begging to the US, Russia and China to do something!
...an agency of the UNITED NATIONS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization
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Then we shouldn't do it. While your at it, please turn over all technology in your possession that didn't exist 200 years ago and, at the time, would have been considered impractical or impossible. Cell phones, automobiles, computers, implanted medical devices, plastics and synthetic fibers, electric lighting and refrigeration... to name a few items.
Now I'm more worried that a huge UN committee will slam into the earth causing devastation!
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
"Astronomers have warned that our planet is long overdue for a defense plan against catastrophic asteroid collisions"
Meanwhile, we do nothing about all those earthquakes, which actually kill people.
Man against Nature! On to Victory!
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America (specifically NASA) is no longer capable of dealing with incoming rocks. What chance does the UN have? Zero, absolutely zero.
Circle the wagons and fire inward. Entropy increases without bounds.
UN-SPIDER?
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short of a superhero capable of punching the approaching rock back into outer space
I know just the guy for the job: http://www.batoto.net/read/_/162162/onepunch-man_ch21.4_by_boon-scanlation/26
How about a non-knee-jerk anti-UN comment?
I've believed the UN to be as worthless as teats on a boar hog for almost as long as I've appreciated a nice pair of teats on a female homo sapien. That's almost fifty years of careful consideration for you, rather than a knee-jerk.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
http://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/timelines/smallpox
Actually, the effort spanned three centuries.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
There are thousands of unknown asteroids waiting to cold cock Earth. We won't see the big one coming until it's recorded on dash cams. Too late. Planning is good as it makes us feel safe.
My parents and grandparents remember the time before the existence of the UN, and the two world wars that prompted its creation. Having an outlet to vent disagreements publicly helped prevent their being vented privately and exploding into the conflict that would have left Earth uninhabitable by life forms higher than moles. It that's worthless to you, so be it. I'm glad it was there so Khrushchev (?) could bang his shoe on the table and Reagan could play to his base and no one started shooting.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
That wasn't a meteor that hit chelyabinsk. It was the finnish testing their AMOS mortar. So think twice russians before attacking Finland again.
/sarcasm/ Oh yes, I forgot - the UN has prevented the US from invading literally DOZENS of countries, for fun and profit. In 2002, the UN put it's foot down, and firmly denied permission to invade Iraq. Yep, I remember now.
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
So you are thinking that if either the U.N. or some similar body existed before either WWI or WWII that possibly either/both wars would not have happened....well, I am pretty confident in stating that the League of Nations sure didn't due the trick preventing a world war. Yes, the League of Nations is not exactly like the U.N., but they sure try to operate in the same capacity.
Crazy people typically can't be talked off the ledge or taught that world domination is a bad thing.
Just my $0.02.
Could I say, "Ea is my copilot"? Ea, the clever prince, Ea, the one who said that to rescue the dead, an immortal would have to give up his immortality? Ea -- ummm, EaShua, 'salvation of Ea' --- who did exactly that, 2000 years ago?
We've already been hit with a massive asteroid, and it made the Chevrons of Madagascar; it caused the few survivors around the world to focus on building pyramids; and it is recorded in the stores of Noah.
Excerpt from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet XI:
Ea, the Clever Prince(?), was under oath with them ... the men ... ...into it, ... and I set my hand to the oiling(!).
so he repeated their talk to the reed house:
'Reed house, reed house! Wall, wall!
O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu:
Tear down the house and build a boat!
Abandon wealth and seek living beings!
Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!
Make all living beings go up into the boat.
The boat which you are to build,
its dimensions must measure equal to each other:
its length must correspond to its width.
Roof it over like the Apsu.
I understood and spoke to my lord, Ea:
'My lord, thus is the command which you have uttered
I will heed and will do it.
But what shall I answer the city, the populace, and the
Elders!'
Ea spoke, commanding me, his servant:
'You, well then, this is what you must say to them:
"It appears that Enlil is rejecting me
so I cannot reside in your city (?),
nor set foot on Enlil's earth.
I will go down to the Apsu to live with my lord, Ea,
and upon you he will rain down abundance,
a profusion of fowl, myriad(!) fishes.
He will bring to you a harvest of wealth,
in the morning he will let loaves of bread shower down,
and in the evening a rain of wheat!"'
Just as dawn began to glow
the land assembled around me-
the carpenter carried his hatchet,
the reed worker carried his (flattening) stone,
The child carried the pitch,
the weak brought whatever else was needed.
On the fifth day I laid out her exterior.
It was a field in area,
its walls were each 10 times 12 cubits in height,
the sides of its top were of equal length, 10 times It cubits each.
I laid out its (interior) structure and drew a picture of it (?).
I provided it with six decks,
thus dividing it into seven (levels).
The inside of it I divided into nine (compartments).
I drove plugs (to keep out) water in its middle part.
I saw to the punting poles and laid in what was necessary.
Three times 3,600 (units) of raw bitumen I poured into the bitumen kiln,
three times 3,600 (units of) pitch
there were three times 3,600 porters of casks who carried (vegetable) oil,
apart from the 3,600 (units of) oil which they consumed (!)
and two times 3,600 (units of) oil which the boatman stored away.
I butchered oxen for the meat(!),
and day upon day I slaughtered sheep.
I gave the workmen(?) ale, beer, oil, and wine, as if it were river water,
so they could make a party like the New Year's Festival.
The boat was finished by sunset.
The launching was very difficult.
They had to keep carrying a runway of poles front to back,
until two-thirds of it had gone into the water(?).
Whatever I had I loaded on it:
whatever silver I had I loaded on it,
whatever gold I had
Correct Horse Battery Staple: 72 bits of entropy. Enter "Correct H" into google. When it generates the phrase, that's
Thank you for your stupid, uninformed anti-UN comment.
As usual - when you've run out of arguments, resort to insults. Thanks for playing!!
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
If meteor-deflecting aliens did ever exist, perhaps this means they think we are ready to handle it ourselves?
Why is everyone so sure aliens exist?
Free Martian Whores!
I don't know about that, we somehow managed to keep Ronnie Raygun from starting the nuclear war in Europe that he seemed to think was "winnable". That was even with Wolfowitz whispering "Nuke them now" in his ear.
"Think about how stupid the average person is. Now, realise that half of them are dumber than that." - George Carlin
Because it seems like at least some form of life in the universe besides us is a near statistical certainty.
We used to think stars with planets would be pretty rare. Now we find planets all over the place, and find them at an ever increasing pace.
Are you telling me that across billions and billions of galaxies, each with billions and billions of stars, leading to billions and billions and billions (and billions) of planets, that life in the universe evolved on only one single planet sounds plausible? Because it sure doesn't to me. In fact, it sounds outrageous.
Besides, to quote Monty Python ... And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
From what I understand involving the UN limits the liability of any nation that tries to divert an asteroid and it hits the Earth anyway. Whoever it then hits (if anyone is left) could sue claiming that they wouldn't have been hit if the asteroid's trajectory hadn't been altered.
As if anything will happen anyway. First thing will be to set up a commission and staff it with representatives mostly from the Earth-destroying asteroids (Human Rights Commission) or they will endlessly discuss whether the asteroid really represents a danger or not (Security Council).
Ace Combat 4, anyone?
Sounds like a good argument for creation.
I think it's unlikely that this is the only (or first) planet to have life, bot otoh so much has to be just perfect for it to begin that I do think it's rare.
But no way am I certain one way or the other.
Free Martian Whores!
What are they going to do? Pass a resolution saying it may not hit the Earth and has 90 days to change course or so help us we'll pass another resolution?
they don't use any Microsoft products for anything important..Otherwise this plan is doomed! But then again, it's a committee..
But for the first two centuries of that, no one anywhere had a coherent idea of what the progress of pathogen-borne diseases was, and it took about another 3/4 (maybe 2/3) of a century after the development of germ theory (and it's later extension to recognising very small infections agents called viri) for someone to seriously propose the eradication of an entire natural virus in the wild. Now we're teetering on the edge of success against a second virus (polio ; you probably have relatives who were injured by it), but a combination of religion and warfare are trying to bring it back from the brink of eradication.
Talk about cooperation against a common enemy : War lending a helping hand to save Plague, under the helpful oversight of Religion. Those anthropomorphised incarnations of psychological terrors must be feeling really threatened by the progress of humans and their sciences.
Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
If meteor-deflecting aliens did ever exist, perhaps this means they think we are ready to handle it ourselves?
Why is everyone so sure aliens exist?
So there'd be a being that initiated our Creation.