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Asteroid Wrap plan to save Earth

news.com.au — A researcher has won an international prize for her plan to wrap a giant asteroid with reflective sheeting to stop it colliding with the earth and destroying all life. Sounds like a baked spud ?

Who dugg this? Made popular Aug 23, 2008

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  • benologist, on 08/23/2008, -2/+66Wrapping the earth in bubble wrap was a close runner up.
  • umbrellainabin, on 08/22/2008, -2/+42......so they are gonna cover asteroids in tin foil?
  • blaze03, on 08/23/2008, -2/+35Um...couldn't we just send a group of cocky yet experienced oil drillers to dig a hole in the asteroid and plant a nuke? Seems obvious to me
  • ngageguy, on 08/22/2008, -3/+27Somebody call Ben Affleck and Bruce Willis. We might have REAL work for them. On another note, if this plan doesn't work, will we be able to take the award back?
  • IWDA4, on 08/23/2008, -0/+21http://www.flickr.com/photos/avi_abrams/339291829/ ...

    Good thing it's only 110,000 Hiroshimas.
  • rebotfc, on 08/22/2008, -1/+21http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_sail

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pressure
  • PabloIV, on 08/23/2008, -0/+18Here, I fixed it for you
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _________
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ./ It’s a wrap!
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _,,,--~~~~~~~~--,_ . . . . ._________/
    . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,-‘ : : : :::: :::: :: : : : : :º ‘-, . . /. . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . . . . .,-‘ :: : : :::: :::: :::: :::: : : :o : ‘-, . . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . . . ,-‘ :: ::: :: : : :: :::: :::: :: : : : : :O ‘-, . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . . .,-‘ : :: :: :: :: :: : : : : : , : : :º :::: :::: ::’; . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . .,-‘ / / : :: :: :: :: : : :::: :::-, ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ; . . . . . . . .
    . . . . . . . . /,-‘,’ :: : : : : : : : : :: :: :: : ‘-, ;; ;; ;; ;; ;; ;;| . . . . . . .
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    . . . . . _/ :,’ :/ :: :: :: : : :: :: _,-‘/ : ,-‘;’-‘’’’’~-, ;; ;; ;;,’ . . . . . . . .
    . . . ,-‘ / : : : : : : ,-‘’’ : : :,--‘’ :|| /,-‘-‘--‘’’__,’’’ ;; ;,-‘ . . . . . . . .
    . . . :/,, : : : _,-‘ --,,_ : : : ||/ /,-‘-‘x### :: ;;/ . . . . . . . . . .
    . . . . / /---‘’’’ : # : : : : : | | : (O##º : :/ /-‘’ . . . . . . . . . . .
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    . . . . .,/ /|\| | :/ / : : : : : : : ,’-, :: :: :: :: ::,--‘’ :,-‘ . . . . . . . .
    . . . . .\’|\ |/ ‘/ / :: :_--,, : , | )’; :: :: :: :,-‘’ : ,-‘ : : : , . . . . . . .
    . . . ./¯ :| | : |/ :: ::----, :/ :|/ :: :: ,-‘’ : :,-‘ : : : : : : ‘’-,,_ . . . .
    . . ..| : : :/ ‘’-(, :: :: :: ‘’’’’~,,,,,’’ :: ,-‘’ : :,-‘ : : : : : : : : :,-‘’’\ . . . .
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    ./ : : : : :’-, :: | :: :: :: _,,-‘’’’¯ : ,--‘’ : : : : : : : : : : : / : : : : : : :’’-,
    / : : : : : -, :¯’’’’’’’’’’’¯ : : _,,-~’’ : : : : : : : : : : : : : :| : : : : : : : : :

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  • ansecos, on 08/23/2008, -0/+18A really big, expensive tinfoil hat.
  • gcnaddict, on 08/23/2008, -0/+17This is when we know Digg has become mainstream: scientific concepts like a solar sail which are widely discussed in general geekdom are lost upon the mainstream.

    This is, of course, a Very Bad Thing™
  • mascott106, on 08/23/2008, -0/+15How you bake a potato by wrapping it in Tin Foil.
  • mecharabbit, on 08/23/2008, -1/+14How you foil an asteroid by wrapping it in baked potatoes.
  • waynehoggett, on 08/23/2008, -0/+12If it does hit the planet it will put an end to global warming.
  • KMartSheriff, on 08/23/2008, -0/+10Holy *****. I had no idea Hiroshima was so tiny compared to (modern day?) bombs.
  • inactive, on 08/23/2008, -1/+9How you wrap tin foil by baking it in an asteroid.
  • frsrblch, on 08/23/2008, -0/+7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_bomba
  • stillasleep00, on 08/23/2008, -0/+6"So it's kind of like it wraps as it rotates."

    That's reassuring.
  • CLYF, on 08/23/2008, -2/+8It's a wrap!
  • krakkinem, on 08/23/2008, -1/+6AND it would kill Carlos Mencia. I'm torn.
  • Someguy101, on 02/19/2009, -0/+4do you do work on creationism as well?
  • WrknClassHero, on 08/23/2008, -1/+5Be sure to double bag it. There's no telling where that asteroid's been.
  • Mootabolife, on 08/23/2008, -0/+4Scientician.. ?
  • glutamate, on 08/23/2008, -2/+6***** all this "science" *****.

    GOD will save us!
  • Cruelapollo, on 08/23/2008, -0/+3I think it was actually 25 minutes to escape, but they actually had 52 seconds. Could be the other way around though.
  • J0c0se, on 08/23/2008, -0/+3It kinda sucks they didn't mention how long the plan takes because that is a tremendous issue. If we don't see the damn thing in time its not gonna matter.
  • ltchimpo, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Kinda like Twista.... the rapper? I'll be here all week.
  • mecharabbit, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Well, at the very least, it will stop the aliens from broadcasting a destructive subliminal message to the asteroid.
  • Sharik, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Asteroid wrap takes the prize, followed closely in second by Bruce Willis.
  • DeathfireD, on 08/23/2008, -1/+3How you bake a potato by wrapping it with asteroids.
  • inactive, on 08/23/2008, -1/+3scientician?...

    ...
  • tcpip4lyfe, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2youtube of it
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfoQsZa8F1c
  • sirmasterboy, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2This can't be a new idea. I remember reading about this idea in a popular science magazine in the late 90s.
  • fxu1989, on 08/23/2008, -1/+3I doubt that would work, everyone would be popping the bubbles... thus becoming just a plain wrap.
  • Nintendesert, on 08/23/2008, -2/+4What the ***** are you talking about? The reflection? Like the one we get from the Moon? Go kill yourself.
  • fxu1989, on 08/23/2008, -0/+2Scientician... ?

    I couldn't take your comment seriously after reading that.
  • yellowswan, on 08/23/2008, -1/+3How you safely make sweet love to an asteroid by wrapping it like a baked potato.
  • ltchimpo, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1So... we have a space craft that can intercept an asteroid... flying though space? In orbit around the sun? This 330 M wide thing... it has enough mass to warrant an ability for satallites to orbit around it as it travels? I'm not a scientist. But damn, just sounds like a bunch of *****.

    We have to wait until 2011(?) to get another accurate reading of its orbit? Mmmm, so, really we have no idea where it's going but we're sure that by wrapping it in reflective foil it will go away from Earth? Don't we run the risk of, in trying to save Earth, redirecting the asteroids safe orbit right into Earth's? Is our science that exact? "We'll have to wait until 2011...", sounds like it is.
  • carterartist, on 08/26/2008, -0/+1I'm sure some diggers can donate tin foil, just unwrap it off your head...
  • whisperedlie, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1hey fellas... big gulps, eh? well... see ya later!
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1I think I predicted that tinfoil hats would save us all one day.
    Look at all the jerks who have been putting them down.
  • Virgule, on 08/24/2008, -0/+1Why blow it away? Tow it into orbit! That would made a fine space station.
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1This is a very practical solution. I'm just wondering how they can predict the asteroid headed our way will be diverted by the "pressure" of solar energy on the foil. The other issue is getting it deployed on a big rock.

    I'm guessing this won't work on an asteroid that has a lot of energy headed our way. You might be able to couple it with a laser to project more force on the foil.
  • calebh, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1Nova science now did a piece on this:
    http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3313/01.ht ...
  • kronaslor, on 08/24/2008, -0/+1*pop* *pop* *pop*

    Sorry, what where you saying?
  • sirmasterboy, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1I remember an article about how the last line of defense is to detonate a Nuke next to it to blow it off course.

    The other long-term methods were this, and also landing a small rocket on it that would deliver a small thrust for many years to push it off course.
  • fxu1989, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1"Two bombs were built, a mock bomb and the real bomb, with the real bomb being tested on October 30, 1961" -Wikipedia

    Not modern at all.... probably one of today's nuclear bomb could top that.
  • ghank, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1Scientician....it's from The Simpsons.
    Obviously the sarcasm was lost on everyone.

    Lisa the Vegetarian:
    Troy: Gettin hungry Jimmy?
    Jimmy: Uhh, Mr. McClure? I have a crazy friend who says its wrong
    to eat meat. Is he crazy?
    Troy: Nooo, just ignorant. You see your crazy friend never heard
    of "The Food Chain". [Flash to a picture of "Food Chain",
    with all animals and arrows pointing to a silhouette of a
    human.] Just ask this scientician.
    Scientician: [Looking up from a microscope.] Uhhh...
    Troy: He'll tell you that, in nature, one creature invariably
    eats another creature to survive.
    [Images of various wild carnivores attacking and eating
    others appear.]
    Don't kid yourself Jimmy. If a cow ever got the chance,
    he'd eat you and everyone you care about! [Image of a cow
    quietly chewing cud.]
    Jimmy: Wow, Mr. McClure. I was a grade A moron to ever question
    eating meat.
    Troy: [Laughs.] Yes you were Jimmy, yes you were. [Briskly rubs
    his hand on Jimmy's head.]
    Jimmy: [Timid] Uhh...you're hurting me.
  • kronaslor, on 08/24/2008, -0/+1Good luck with that
  • latinjones, on 08/24/2008, -0/+1Can we somehow involve Billy Bob Thornton on the project?
  • ghank, on 08/25/2008, -0/+1Yes I have heard of Solar sails, but wrapping an asteroid like a baked potato, is alot different from attaching a sail to it.
  • jimminy, on 08/23/2008, -0/+1If the tanker is, lets say 10000 kilometres/miles away, and you have to divert it just one cm/inch that doesn't sound so bad any more. The trick is to wrap the asteroid well in advance. And it doesn't have to be diverted much - just enough not to hit earth.
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