IT COULD BE JUST... POOF!
Pause, think, act...
A previously unknown 100–200-metre asteroid — roughly the size of Rome’s Colosseum. ‡
Humans tend to be frequently at each other’s throats: Democrats vs. Republicans; Democrats divided; Republicans divided; Americans divided; NATO vs. Russia and Totalitarianism; Ukraine vs. Russia; Israel vs. Palestinians; Haitian gangs vs. Haitians; and on, and on, and on.
Recently I ran across an article on a couple of “killer asteroids” that flying past our only home— tiny planet Earth. You can read about it here.
One of them, 7600 feet long (about a mile and a half long) is big enough to end civilization.
There is no need to panic because if you are reading this the fly-by is history— the whopper went by at 4:14pm Eastern time yesterday at a distance from us 17 times farther than the Moon. It would have made for a memorable July 4th event (had we survived impact). The smaller one, 400 to 850 feet long would only take out a city. It will fly by tomorrow at 9:46am Eastern time at a distance ¾ of the way to the Moon. In each case there was no prediction of a catastrophic collision with the Earth.
With these rocks zipping by at thousands of miles per hour I got to pondering about the fragility of human existence. We waste immeasurable time and resources fighting each other and polluting our beautiful, delicate, petite planet. Our reality could vanish in a nanosecond given the right asteroidal collision. It would release energy comparable to thousands of nuclear warheads simultaneously exploding— just ask the dinosaurs…
Time is so precious. There is so much good we could be doing. We are but a speck within a speck within the vastness of the Universe. Only our egos surpass the infinity of the Universe.
Could we just stop for a moment to consider our actions? Why can’t we focus on sharing with one another and protecting this “Pearl of great price”, the Pale Blue Dot?
Solid article as always. Made me think of the movie "Argemendon" on a lighter note and the fact time doesn't stop on a serious note. When I talk to people I remind them we can control how we use time but time doesn't stop until you die. Thus, use your time wisely.for your own benefit and the benefit of others.
During times the ones we're living in (our political challenges, ignorance and such), I often think of Greenland and her mighty active volcano. I do wonder if and when the earth may finally vote - and here you write about the Universe giving us another chance to "shape up." : )