The End of the World as We Know It?

[catscradle]

The asteroid 2002 NT7, predicted to swing by the Earth on February 1, 2019, seems to be a major topic everywhere. They say that as we learn more about it, chances will get slimmer that it will get too close to us, but that hasn't really stopped the chattering about it. And I've got to say, some of the comments the higher ups are making, aren't all that comforting.

Dr Benny Peiser, of Liverpool John Moores University, told BBC News Online: "This asteroid has now become the most threatening object in the short history of asteroid detection."

But he added: "This unique event should not diminish the fact that additional observations in coming weeks will almost certainly - we hope - eliminate the current threat."

Thanks Benny. I feel better.

Now, I know chances of getting hit are slim. I mean, we're actually far more due for a reversal in magnetic polarity than for being hit by an asteroid. Magnetic switch would cause far more damage too - mass extinctions and all that. Plus it'd be more sudden. But the chances of that happening in my life time is very slim. Wonder if we have a defense program for that though.

Anyway, I'm thinking here. . . what if we knew we only had 17 years before most of the world got blown away? What would that do to the economy? Would people save up for retirement or save anything for the future? How would governments decide who lives or dies? What if we're all primed to die and the damn thing missed us? Or what if we got hit, would our world turn all Mad Max like? Would Kevin Costner be the postman?

Or if nothing much comes of this, do you think we'll see more cult activity like Heaven's Gate?

Just thinking. . .