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November 21, 2008 11:05:22 PM CST

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Odds of Cataclysmic Space-Rock Crash: 1 in 10

Posted May 25, 08 6:19 CDT in World,  Science & Health 

(Newser) – Chicken Little may have been smarter than we thought. A growing body of evidence reveals that the sky is falling, or at least gigantic space rocks are—and the Earth is at far greater risk of a catastrophic strike than previously thought, reports Atlantic. Despite the danger—an impact could make a nuclear bomb look like a firecracker—NASA is expending little effort to protect the planet.

“What is in the best interest of the country is never even mentioned in current NASA planning,” said a former Apollo astronaut. “Are we going to let a space strike kill millions of people before we get serious about this?” A generation ago, conventional wisdom put the chances of a major strike at 1 in a million—today, a leading asteroid specialist says it's closer to 1 in 10 each century.

Source Atlantic Monthly

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