Armageddon

Power outages lasting months are expected following an upcoming large-scale solar storm.The sun is entering its most active stage of its natural 11-12 year cycle which could lead to a massive solar storm, knocking out satellites and all other forms of electronic communication. The whole world could be affected in what scientistshave referred to as a "Global Katrina".

The world is overdue a ferocious "space storm" that could knock out communications satellites, ground aircraft and trigger blackouts - causing hundreds of billions of pounds of damage, scientists say. Astronomers today warned that mankind is now more vulnerable to a major solar storm than at any time in history - and that the planet should prepare for a global Katrina-style disaster. A massive eruption of the sun would save waves of radiation and charged particlesto Earth, damaging the satellite systems used for synchronising computers, airline navigation and phone networks.  

View: Full article |  Source: Daily Mail  

The answer is most likely "no" however its exact path may be more complicated than previously thought.NASA had previously investigated the likelihood that the asteroid Apophis would collide with us in 2029 and reached the conclusion that the chances of that happening were practically zero. Now however Russian scientists believe the asteroid could hit a "gravitational keyhole" which means theasteroid could swing back and hit us in 2036.

NASA have commented on this to confirm that while it is possible the chances are still tiny - about 1 in 250,000. In 2004, NASA scientists announced that there was a chance that Apophis, an asteroid larger than two football fields, could smash into Earth in 2029. A few additional observations and some number-crunching later, astronomers noted that thechance of the planet-killer hitting Earth in 2029 was nearly zilch.  

View: Full article |  Source: MSNBC  

Plans for an extended shutdown for the LHC have been postponed until the end of 2012.The machine had been due to be shut down at the end of 2011 so that it could be prepared to produce seven teraelectronvolts beams. US particle collider "the Tevatron" has not been renwed at all due to budget issues and if it shuts down the LHCwill be the only machine in the world capable of finding the elusive Higgs boson particle.

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is to continue operating in 2012 after officials dropped plans for an extended shut down at the end of this year. The decision by managers at Cern - the organisation that runs the LHC - was announced in anadvisory report.  

View: Full article |  Source: BBC News  

NASA will play a leading role in Earth"s response to possible asteroid threats.Details of NASA role in dealing with an asteroid threat were sent in letters from director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy John Holdren to the Congressional committeeleaders this month.

NASA will be mandated to notify other organizations, including the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), if a dangerous asteroid is found, and to drive research and development on the capability needed to deflect the rock.  

View: Full article |  Source: Nature.com