NASA has announced that near-Earth asteroid 2011 MD will pass within 12000 km of the planet on Monday at about 9:30 EDT. They're sure it won't hit the Earth. The asteroid, somewhere between 5 and 20 metres in diameter (isn't THAT precise?), was only seen recently (hence the "2011" in the name ( Read more... )

I think that Harold Camping deserves a special award for perseverance. Maybe a nice coat? One with really long sleeves, that buckles up in the back? Made out of something sturdy, like canvas?

By now, most of you are probably aware of his prediction that the Rapture would happen on May 21st (accompanied by billboards and buses proclaiming this ( Read more... )

May is Zombie Awareness Month (wear a grey ribbon!), and it might be a good time to talk to your kids about the zombie threat. To that end, Matt Mogk (founder of the Zombie Research Society) is releasing a new book, "That's not your Mommy anymore". Go to the link for an interview with the author, including his favourite anti-zombie weapon.

Later today, asteroid 2010 TD54 will pass within 45 000 km of the Earth. For those keeping track at home, this is about 1/9 of the distance from the earth to the moon. Notice the name of the asteroid - 2010 TD 54? That "2010" means it was spotted this year. On October 9th, in fact ( Read more... )

I've never seen the movie "2012". Not only am I a firm non-believer in the mystical qualities of the Mayan calendar "looping", but I find most of the movies of that genre to be horribly over-done. Well, this strip, over at Real Life Comics, makes me believe that this was the correct choice. Alcohol poisoning for the sake of a movie is no way to

A while back, I posted a link to an article about a supposed methane bubble building up in the Gulf of Mexico that would destroy us all or something... At the time, I expressed doubts. Turns out I was right. Yay, me? :-)

It seems that Earth experiences a major extinction event about every 27 million years (plus or minus), according to scientists. The next one is due in 16 million years, plus or minus about 10 million. They also discount the possibility that this is trend, which goes back for about half a billion years, could be caused by some "Nemesis" star.

The other day, I talked about the low level of sunspot activity and the apparent La Nina forming in the Pacific, both of which could cause some interesting developments in the weather this year. At the time, I said that all it would take was for the Katla volcano in Iceland to awaken, and we could be completely screwed, weather-wise. Well, guess ( Read more... )

Everyone is in a tizzy about 2012, the end of the Mayan calendar, etc., etc. Turns out that 2013 might be a bigger threat, with the potential for strong solar storms that could fry technology here on planet Earth.

"We know it is coming but we don’t know how bad it is going to be," Fisher told the Daily Telegraph. "It will disrupt communication ( Read more... )