Armageddon asteroids 'best kept secret'

The Independent (U.K.) ^ | 02/15/03

[Pokey78]

A scientific adviser to the United States government has suggested that secrecy might be the best option if scientists were ever to discover that a giant asteroid was on course to collide with Earth.

In certain circumstances, nothing could be done to avoid such a collision and ensuing destruction, and it would be best not to tell the public anything, said Geoffrey Sommer, of the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California.

"When a problem arises with high uncertainty, there is an opportunity to spin the problem to avoid global panic. If you can't do anything about a warning, then there is no point in issuing a warning at all," Dr Sommer told the association yesterday.

"If an extinction-type impact is inevitable, then ignorance for the populace is bliss. As a matter of common sense, if you can't intercept it and you can't move people out of the way in time, there's nothing you can do in terms of reducing the costs of the potential impact," he said.

"Overreaction not just by the public but by policy-makers scurrying around before the thing actually hits because we can't do anything about it anyway ... to a large extent you are better off not adding to your social costs," said Dr Sommer, who is also an adviser on terrorism.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) is conducting a 25-year survey of the sky to find asteroids wider than a kilometre which could have a devastating impact if they collided with Earth.

So far they have determined the orbits of about 60 per cent of these objects and none so far have a trajectory that threatens the world within the next couple of centuries, said David Morrison of Nasa's Ames laboratory in Moffat Field, California.

"There are, however, many things out there that we know nothing about," he said.

[dware]

Hey, they could at least have the courtesy of telliing us to stock up on duct tape.

[bvw]

That's a BS attitude. The man makes too much of a fatlaistic slacker's presumption that nothing might be done. In all honesty, he can not know. In the world there may be resources -- there are! -- he knows nothing about.

Hey maybe he works for the NASA Shuttle program?

[Amerigomag]

Hope they tell me.

I have a solid list of things to do before the end.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

Economic consumption would probably go up. OTOH, production would probably go down as would saving and investment.

[MonroeDNA]

What an arrogant control freak.

[Sloth]

In certain circumstances, nothing could be done to avoid such a collision and ensuing destruction, and it would be best not to tell the public anything, said Geoffrey Sommer, of the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California.

BS. How do you worsen a 100% loss?

[musicman]

How dumb.....gee...all they gotta do is call Bruce Willis...
...how hard is that????.....



...ok...sarcasm off thingee should go here....

[KingPin]

Typical liberal garbage. Daddy shouldn't tell the children what's about to happen.

[Fedupwithit]

Steve Buscemi in 'Arageddon'

"Hey man...we've got front row seats to the end of the world!"

Isn't it nice to see life imitating art?... : )

[mabelkitty]

However, if it was going to land in France, Germany, or a certain ex-politician's home in suburban New York, then I would need to be kept abreast of the situation.

[Fedupwithit]

Aramgeddon...TGIF!!

[hang 'em]

I have a solid list of things to do before the end.

Roger that. A long, loooonnnnnnnnng list.

[DannyTN]

You might as well say that if a scientific adviser to the United States government isn't going to do something, then we are better off not hiring him.

[Publius6961]

He he he he he

[Robert A Cook PE]

Gee, and here we were ready to criticize NASA for not telling the shuttle crew if they HAD determined that the wing WAS damaged, and they (the crew) were condemned to ride it back to a fiery death....

Gosh.

I'm sorry I wouldn't be notified that I might have a few minutes (or a few days) to go see my family or parents....

[Argus]

LOL at the duct tape.

[Centurion2000]

In certain circumstances, nothing could be done to avoid such a collision and ensuing destruction, and it would be best not to tell the public anything, said Geoffrey Sommer, of the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California.

Who is THIS IDIOT to judge what should and should not be made public.

Anyone care to bet that this 'advisor' is taking taxpayer monies at some point??

[The Iguana]

Certainly would be nice if we gave a higher priority to cataloging these objects and developing the means to do something about them.

Which would certainly be a far better use of tax dollars than most things Leviathan is engaged in these days.

[CyberAnt]

And ... water!! I hear asteroids could be HOT!!