Science Quickly An Asteroid May Hit Earth in 2032. What Can We Do about It?
Feb 12, 2025
Lee Billings, Senior space and physics editor at Scientific American, discusses the alarming news about asteroid 2024 YR4, which has a 2% chance of hitting Earth in 2032. He outlines how astronomers monitor such celestial bodies and the technological strategies needed for risk mitigation, including kinetic impactors and nuclear methods. Billings emphasizes the importance of international collaboration in addressing this cosmic threat and describes both best and worst-case scenarios in the event of an impact.
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
1 2 3 4 5
Intro
00:00 • 2min
Monitoring Asteroids: Detection and Risk Assessment
02:20 • 2min
Assessing the Threat of Asteroid 2024 YR4 and the Need for Preemptive Action
04:12 • 4min
Assessing the Potential Impact of a Future Asteroid
07:50 • 2min
Understanding Asteroid Impact Risks and Future Observations
09:28 • 3min