tech2 News StaffSep 03, 2019 16:30:31 IST
We have all read the stories on asteroids that are close enough to hit us, have performed fly-bys or those that will hit us in the future. The feeling of an impending apocalypse is the only take away from these stories.
In a recent interview with Mashable India, Dr Lewis Darnell, professor of science communications at the University of Westminster, London spoke about asteroids and their impact on the Earth.
He was asked if he thought that an asteroid is capable of completely destroying the Earth and all life on it, he categorically said no. “There’s no asteroid big enough that is on collision with the Earth could do that.” Phew, that’s a relief!
An asteroid travelling in space.
NASA also tracks all near-earth objects that can be harmful to the Earth to ensure that we are not taken by surprise. The scientists at NASA have mock drills where they practice for what would happen if/when an asteroid would hit the Earth.
While an asteroid could not HULK SMAASH Earth, it can hit a city and maybe destroy it. But again, Darnell said, the likelihood of that happening is “unlikely”.
Darnell does mention asteroid Apophis, which is one of the only asteroids capable of destroying a city. However, rest assured that this is, also, not going to happen in the future.
As asteroid might cause destruction in a city but will not destroy Earth.
He said, “Asteroid Apophis is one of the asteroids that we are tracking and we know that it is not going to impact for the next few decades and will continue on (the) trail.”
The professor humours us with talks about a future after an earth-shattering event.
When asked how long he thinks it would take to rebuild our civilization, he said, “Well, it took us, let’s say 10,000 years the first time around, to go from the very beginning of settling down and developing agriculture, to the civilization, industrial revolution, and building the modern world. So now I hope that by having saved the most important knowledge that humanity has gained in that time period, will accelerate the recovery back to history, the second time around. So rather than taking 10,000 years, you perhaps take a few centuries or maybe a few generations to recover your society as quickly as possible. “
Find our entire collection of stories, in-depth analysis, live updates, videos & more on Chandrayaan 2 Moon Mission on our dedicated #Chandrayaan2TheMoon domain.