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CCNet 117/2001 - 9 November 2001
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"Suppose we find with certainty an object heading toward us, can we, with the current technology, do anything to avoid the impact? Unfortunately, the most likely answer to this question, in many cases, is: No. Certainly we cannot hope to be able to move a 1-km object if the future collision is discovered too late, nor can we hope to solve the problem trying to destroy the impactor with nuclear explosives: celestial mechanics works differently from ground military operations, and the most probable consequence of a desperate, last minute attack would be to have many impacts instead of one, with the additional problem of having induced some radioactivity on the fragments."
-- Andrea Carusi, Tumbling Stone, November 2001

"By the way, all these [deflection] methods were never tested or applied for mitigation actions. They were only theoretically handled. Besides, as already mentioned, the actual accomplishment of some of these mitigation methods seems out of reach even in the distant future, due to their insurmountable technical problems. Obviously, the hope is that we would never need such remedies, but, as the old saying goes, hope the best, get ready for the worse!"
-- Germano D'Abramo, Tumbling Stone, November 2001

"These star-crossed lovers find themselves strangely handicapped by the very intelligence that makes them such remarkable scientists. Dr. Swift's star student, Denise, spent her youth absorbed in the sky, an escape from the terrors of adolescence, but "her heart had little room for anyone. It was too crammed with stars."
-- Book review of Andrew Greer's debut novel "The Path of Small Planets"



- ><><><>< - ><><>< - ><>< - ><><>< - ><><><>< -

1. ASTEROID DEFLECTION: WE ONLY NEED A LITTLE, GENTLE KICK . . .
Tumbing Stone, November 2001

• EARTH-IMPACTOR MITIGATION METHODS . . .
Tumbing Stone, November 2001

• ALL IN THE FAMILITY: SCIENTISTS FIND MOTHER AND DAUGHTER ASTEROIDS . . .
Andrew Yee

• SLOAN IMPACT RISK SURVEY FALLOUT . . .
Various Sources

• DISCOVERY OF BURIED IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS WIDENS POSSIBILITY OF ANCIENT MARTIAN OCEAN . . .
Andrew Yee

• GEOLOGICAL MYTH BUSTING: EXTRATERRESTRIALS REALLY DON'T IMPACT VOLVANOES . . . ?
Andrew Yee

• ANOTHER SCIENCE MEDIA CENTRE LAUNCHES, BUT WILL IT DELIVER . . . ?
Nature Science Update, 8 November 2001

• THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE:
A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RISK ASSESSMENT . . .
CATO Institute, November 2001

• THANKS TO THE SLOAN TEAM AND REMEMBER TAMBORA . . .
Andy Smith

...And Finally:

• TERRESTRIAL BODIES LOOK TO THE SKY (BOOK REVIEW) . . .
The Christian Science Monitor, 8 November 2001

All currently available at CCNet.

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Dan

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