Suppose that a huge space rock is detected, and it’s heading for collision with Earth! Humankind is given a warning 19 hours in advance.
After that, bang. Massive destruction. Everyone dies. End of the world, Game Over.
The question is: what would you do? Is there anything to do?
Would you panic? Would you just kick back and watch the fireworks? Something completely different?
To answer, reply with a comment.
Behold the , as presented by my friend and old colleague Mr. Elpuri.
Continued from part 1…
(Note: Asteroids which move about close enough to Earth to potentially impact it are also known as NEOs, or “Near-Earth Objects”)
If an asteroid larger than a certain threshold hits the Earth, not much will be normal anymore. It will take tens to hundreds of years to recover from such an impact.
What can we do? How could we protect ourselves?
(more…)
Iltalehti raportoi: “Korkea-arvoiset ven�l�iset viranomaiset my�nsiv�t t�n��n, ett� Arctic Sea saattoi kuljettaa ep�ilytt�v�� lastia.”
- Haluamme varmistaa, ettei aluksella ollut lastina muuta kuin puuta. Kaappauksen syy ei ole viel� selvill�, Ven�j�n asevoimien komentaja Nikolai Makarov sanoi.
Eik� siin� viel� kaikki. Bolshoi-teatteri nimitt�in jatkuu:
- Emme sulje pois mahdollisuutta, ett� Arctic Sea kuljetti muutakin kuin puuta, syytt�j�viraston tutkija Alexander Bastrykin sanoi uutistoimisto AFP:n mukaan.
Suuressa maailmassa toki suuren maailman malliin, mutta tuskinpa siell�k��n edes puolentoista miljoonan euron puulastin takia l�hetet��n viitt� sota-alusta, mukaanlukien ydinsukellusveneit�, ep�m��r�isen “merirosvojoukon” per��n.
Muita uutisia Ven�j�lt�: Medvedev julistettiin t�n��n jumalaksi. Dmitrin urakehitys on jokseenkin ihailtava: lakimies, Gazpromin hallituksen j�sen, varap��ministeri, presidentti, jumala.
Swine flu, nuclear war, changing climate, VEI-8 level eruption of a supervolcano and LHC-generated mini black holes are not the only things which threaten the existence of humanity.
An interesting paper by Mr. Jason G. Matheny, called “Reducing the Risk of Human Extinction” (last draft) notes that there is so far no analysis done of the cost-effectiveness of reducing human extinction risks. He provides a method of analyzing the cost-effectiveness of protecting against a mass-scale catastrophic event, using as an example case the threat of an asteroid impact.
(more…)
My friend came to me about a great new idea he had. I shall paraphrase our discussion:
-”Yo. Why is reality so hard?”, he asked.
-”I’ve no idea. Why is reality so hard?”, I replied.
-”It’s because there’s too many things to keep track of. I have a solution: micro-feng shui.”
-”Micro-feng shui? But isn’t micro less?”
-”Everything micro is good. For example: microchips. Very good.”
-”OK, so how does it work?”
-”Step 1: reduce spatial complexity. From now on, view the world as a planar space and ignore all height differences. That’s 30% less complexity. Then, step 2: happiness.”
Considering what’s published nowadays in various self-help books, packaging this idea into a 400-page book would probably reach New York Times bestseller list very fast. Not to mention the creation of some sort of a pseudo-religious movement, enabling my friend to be showered in non-Zimbabwean paper currency.
The server was updated, hopefully everything works now. This is also a kind of test post, so please ignore it…
