Currently, NASA has been able to detect roughly 83 percent of the estimated 940 Near-Earth asteroids that are at least one kilometer in diameter. If such an asteroid were to enter our atmosphere, it could bring with it sun-blocking dust and radical climate change even before it makes an impact. But astronomers are growing more concerned with the more numerous smaller asteroids, whose impact could flatten trees — as happened in Siberia where many astronomers believe a comet or asteroid exploded in 1908 — shatter cities, and cause unpredictable waves of coastal flooding. Because of their size, these asteroids are difficult to detect, and astronomers fear one could strike the Earth with little or no warning.

In 2005, the United States Congress charged NASA to detect at least 90 percent of these smaller asteroids by 2020, but a report from the US National Research Council reveals that achieving that goal will require far more equipment than is currently allotted to asteroid detection. The report indicates that new facilities need to be built, with equipment capable of detecting fainter asteroids and covering a wider range of the cosmos. A better system will need to be developed for detecting asteroids that are particularly close to Earth, rather than simply creating a catalog of near-Earth asteroids, and a telescope would need to be placed at another vantage point in space to detect asteroids coming from the sun.

The NRC is unsure what the cost of these systems would be, but panel leader Irwin Shapiro of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics believes it is essential to our continued safety:

"There is no free lunch," Shapiro agrees. But he adds, "We're talking about investing in an insurance policy."

Earth could be blindsided by asteroids, panel warns [New Scientist]

Researchers reported this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they found have found shock-synthesized diamonds — known to result from impact events — in the Arlington Canyon on Santa Rosa Island in California, and have previously found similar diamonds in the Greenland Ice Sheet. The placement of the Arlington Canyon diamonds coincide with North America's oldest known human remains — from the Clovis people, who went extinct nearly 13,000 years ago — and the disappearance of the pygmy mammoth from Santa Rosa. This fits with the team's earlier speculation that a comet strike led to a mass mammalian extinction across North America:

In 2007 researchers theorized that a comet set off continental fires that led to the mysterious disappearance of the Clovis people and the extermination of 35 mammal genera, including mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths and camels. The team documented a "black mat" of charcoal throughout North America that contains high levels of iridium, magnetic spheres, and nano-diamonds, which are consistent with such an airburst.

However, the hypothesis remains controversial, and other geologists and archeologists are reluctant to buy the diamonds as evidence of a comet-induced die-off, especially given the absence of an impact crater.

Did a Comet Cause a North American Die-Off around 13,000 Years Ago? [Scientific American]

Anthony Wesley reports that he noticed the spot (seen at the top of the photo above) while observing Jupiter yesterday from his home observatory near Murrumbateman in New South Wales, Australia. Wesley, who had observed the planet two days earlier but had not seen the black spot, speculates that the spot might be an impact spot, possible the result of a comet or asteroid strike.

And, while Phil Plait, Bad Astronomy blogger and author of Death from the Skies!, initially cautioned excited armchair astronomers that the spot might be a mere weather event, he agrees that the emerging data seems to point to an actual impact.

Impact Mark on Jupiter

Scott Pilgrim:

Director Edgar Wright posted another video diary during the filming, involving a rock concert. [Scott Pilgrim The Movie]

And Wright also posted a couple cryptic set pics. [Edgar Wright Here]

Cowboy Bebop:

A slight update on this live-action adaptation, starring Keanu Reeves as Spike. Writer Peter Craig is a huge fan of the original animated series, and he spent some quality time with the original studio, Sunrise, talking about their take on the show and how it might convert to live-action. He mentions that he's a fan of many of the minor characters from the original episodes, namechecks a lot of story elements he loves:

I've probably watched every episode at least three or four times now - and I really adore what a complete world Watanabe and Nobumoto created. I was also extremely drawn to all of the characters' backstories: Faye's amnesia after being taken out of cryogenic freeze, and the con played on her; Spike's history in the Syndicate and with Julia; Jet's days as a cop on Ganymede, and his run-in with Udai Taxim.

[AnimeVice News via Sci Fi Squad]

Lensman:

Remember this in-development movie adaptation? Writer J. Michael Straczynski says he's finished his second draft, and producer Ron Howard and Universal are happy with it. He says it'll be very character-based, typical of Howard's work, and yet the special effects will be cutting edge. And it'll keep the massive scale of the original novels, as much as possible:

I think it really does create that world and what's cool about it is all the character stuff that's in there now. It's just the sheer scope and scale of it, which is what the Doc Smith books were always about to me to a large extent; the scale was insane. We found ways to really dramatize that.

And he describes one crucial sequence:

Case in point, this is a very small example from the script, take this as being emblematic of the scale of the whole thing: you've got these two fleets battling it out, you've seen it a hundred times before. But now, within that massive fleet battle you have two ships locked on with gravity (lances?) firing at each other, they're linked together like scorpions in a bottle tied with a string, by the gravity beams. Inside that, you have the crew of one ship in EVA suits with armor coming out to try and board the other ship. They send their people out to stop them, so we have hand-to-hand combat.

[Babylon Podcast via Cinemablend]

Doctor Who:

David Tennant talks his final three "specials" as the Doctor, "The Waters Of Mars" and the final two-parter:

I think inevitably, because we all know the Tenth Doctor's days are numbered, the storm clouds hang over the last stories. "Planet of the Dead" [the special that airs July 26] is in some ways, the Doctor's last hurrah. He's clearly in a death-defying situation, but he's enjoying himself and having a blast.

By the time we come to "Waters of Mars," things start to happen that mean things can never be quite be the same again. Stuff occurs in "Waters of Mars" which leads directly into the final story, where the Doctor really is on the run from the inevitable, I think it's fair to say.

Mostly stuff Tennant has said before... except for the "on the run from the inevitable" part, which is intriguing.[Chicago Tribune]

Fringe:

Judging from a new casting call, season two episode two, "Night Of Desirable Objects," will be about a series of disappearances in Vermont, which our heroes arrive to investigate. There's a local sheriff, the fifty-something Sheriff Golightly, who meets a male and female FBI agent (Olivia and someone else?). And Golightly warms to the male agent — especially after they bond over fishing lures, but stays stand-offish towards the female agent. The chief suspect in the series of disappearances is the fiftyish Anton Hughes, a former doctor — who shoots himself in the head as soon as the agents come knocking on his door to interview him. [SpoilerTV]

Virtuality:

You're staying in and watching this TV movie tonight on Fox, right? In any case, Wired's review includes some details. It's six months into the ten-year mission, and the crew has already started bickering, much to the delight of the ship's reality TV producer. And after reality-TV host Billie has an especially nasty encounter in the virtual reality, it colors her real-world interactions with the crew, during a mission-critical crisis. The movie/pilot throws a lot of balls in the air, and most of them are still hovering at the end of the two hours — leaving you wishing for a continuation. [Wired]

Impact:

Are you stoked to see the final part of this two-part miniseries on Sunday? Of course you are. Here are some pics to help get you even more stoked.[Daemon's TV]

True Blood:

Here are some season two promo photos you may not have seen before. Not sure how many of these are new. [True Blood.net]

I have to say Impact's greatest achievement was making me appreciate The Core anew. Not that I need much help to do that, since The Core, starring Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank, deserves a high place of honor among right-thinking global-disaster movie fans everywhere. But Impact was basically like The Core, only much cheaper and much slower. People have been comparing it to Armageddon and Deep Impact, but The Core is really the greatest point of comparison, in my book. Weird global disasters, birds flying upside down, communities in ruins, people freaking out, and worse disasters on the way. So a group of flawed, messed up scientists has to make it right. The difference is, The Core is zippy and totally loony in its logic-avoidance, and it features Swank and Eckhart tunneling into the center of the Earth (seeing massive diamonds along the way) pretty early on. Impact, meanwhile, sort of drags along and weaves in tons of soap-operatic plots.

Okay, I'll stop rhapsodizing about The Core and actually talk about last night's steaming pile of brown matter... sorry, brown dwarf.

So Impact, famously, was supposed to be a Syfy Channel miniseries, but ABC outbid Syfy for the rights to air it. Based on part one, I'd say they should have had a bidding war to decide who was forced to run this thing. That said, the parts where CG asteroids hurtle through the sky and crash into the Earth and the Moon are pretty great, and I liked all the stuff where scientists stand around and talk seriously about how unprecedented this all is, and how the Moon is now in an elliptical orbit.

The parts that were tooth-pulling unbearable, though, were all of the long stretches where the miniseries tried to make us care about its characters, who just got more and more hateful the better we got to know them.

So in a nutshell, there's a huge meteor shower, and everybody around the world is watching in excitement. But unbeknownst to the watching masses, a brown dwarf is hiding in the meteor shower, and it has a huge mass and magnetic attraction. (But somehow it manages to avoid disturbing any of the other planets in the solar system, or otherwise announcing its presence.) The impact causes huge flaming asteroids to come rocketing down to Earth, smashing people. But then it gets worse — somehow the Moon gets into an elliptical orbit away from Earth and then towards it, and whenever it comes closer to Earth, there are freak gravity effects and electrical storms — see the totally awesome clip above — and everything goes hellzapoppin.

And at the end of all this horror, we discover that actually, the Moon's elliptical orbit is going to bring it closer and closer to Earth, faster and faster, until it finally crashes into us and obliterates the planet.

But as I said, by the time the spectre of global annihilation has reared its brown dwarfy head, we've already had two hours of wishing all of these people would die. Especially since this elite squad of science geeks is supposedly our only hope of avoiding total decimation, and all they ever do is sit around drinking wine, and whiskey and various other spirits, and talking about how science has been proved wrong lately. There are a hundred discussions that go roughly like this: "I used to believe in science, but in the past few days, science has totally been called into question." "But it's only by questioning science that we get science." "But what if science is wrong?" I found myself wanting to operate the remote control with my cranium, since ether fast-forwarding through this drek or giving myself brain damage would be an acceptable response to what I was seeing.

I brown-dwarf you not, there are two separate scenes where a very serious military person looks very seriously at the camera and says the same line: "You can't hide from gravity!!"

But meanwhile, every one of our hard-drinking, Newton-questioning science types has an incredibly annoying personal life. There's Natasha Henstridge's character, who for some reason was married to this totally douchey reporter with a soul patch, who keeps chasing her around wanting to get the inside scoop on the brown dwarf thing. David James Elliott plays Alex Kinter, an astrophysicist who's helping his two kids get through the death of their mom by calling them "Buddy" a lot, and by keeping them around their brain-damaged, agoraphobic grandpa (James Cromwell, utterly wasted in both senses of the word.) And then Roland the Euro-git (Benjamin Sadler) has a pregnant fiancee, who cares about flowers and wedding catering the exact same way he cares about science and saving the planet. Yee Jee Tso (from the Doctor Who TV movie) plays Jared, who has issues too, but we don't really find out what they are. I think they have something to do with Jesus.

Their Hallmark-channel storylines are utterly cloying and dull, and they drag the space-rocks action to a grinding halt, forcing us to pay attention to these whiny, narcissistic characters. Why won't grandpa go outside? Will little Sadie keep believing in the man in the moon? What about little Jake, will he keep hitting home runs in the face of armageddon? And will Martina understand that Roland the Euro-git has to put saving the planet from a lunar impact before planning their wedding? Blah blah blah, and who the fuck cares?

That said, I'll probably watch the second half this coming Sunday, just hoping against hope that all of these people get blasted out of space by the brown dwarf, leaving what's left of the planet totally pristine and lovely for some sympathetic aliens to come along and reclaim in a million years or so.

Anyway, it's a good thing this tripe got pummeled in the ratings, losing out to golf and 60 Minutes, so ABC will never try to beat the Syfy Channel at its own game again.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen:

New concept art shows Skids (one of the comedy robots) and the unnamed "purple motorcyle Autobot," one of three female motorcycles, I guess. The other two are Arcee and Chromia. (I thought the three motorcycles joined together to form Arcee, but apparently not.) [TFG2 and TFG2 via Transformers Movie Chronicles and Seibertron]

At one point, Sam's mother utters the line, "Hi, professor — I'd do anything for an A." The comedy stylings of the "twin Transformers" are also hilarious. The movie goes way downhill about halfway through and just turns into one long, nonsensical action sequence. [Culch]

And here's yet another Entertainment Tonight segment on the movie, which hopefully won't start autoplaying in an annoying fashion. [TLAMB]

Ghostbusters 3:

The new team of five newbie Ghostbusters, including two women, was in the outline that the movie's scriptwriters pitched, confirms Ivan Reitman. But there's no telling what the final script, due in about a month, will contain. [MTV]

New Moon:

Some new photos prove this movie really is made of cheese. [IGN]

Torchwood:

An Australian trailer and a BBC America featurette for the upcoming "Children Of Earth" miniseries. [Life, Doctor Who & Combom]

The first episode of "Children Of Earth" includes a big, huge revelation about Captain Jack which fits in with the story's theme of "sins from the past." (I'm guessing it's his daughter.) The first episode hits the ground running, and only gets more intense as it goes along — but star John Barrowman says that's only a five out of ten, compared to the intensity of the other four episodes. And there's still time for flirty banter. Barrowman doesn't rule out one more meeting between David Tennant's Doctor and Captain Jack. [Chicago Tribune]

Lost:

Shannon (Maggie Grace) may be making a return visit to the island next season, despite being dead. At least, Grace said she's going back to Hawaii soon. [E! Online]

FlashForward:

Wherever you think this show is going after the first episode, you'll be wrong. There are three "acts" to the first season, and the first "act" consists of the first seven episodes, in which the pieces are all moved out onto the board. And each of those first seven episodes contains at least one "holy shit, I didn't see that coming" moment, where you'll realize things are way different than you thought. Also, the first "flashforward" that everyone sees takes them to April 29, 2010 — which isn't when the season finale airs. So we'll actually catch up to the flashforwards before the season ending. Also, Seth MacFarlane's character, Agent Kirby, will be recurring. And the kangaroo you see on the street in the pilot will also be back. [Futon Critic]

Also, you'll see early on that characters lie about what they saw in their "flashes," or withhold some information. [Time]

Fringe:

The season opener will be called "New Day." [Fringe Television]

V:

After watching the pilot, you get the impression that someone we thought was a series regular is actually only guest-starring in the first episode. [EW]

Heroes:

Rick Worthy (aka Simon, the most underused Cylon on Battlestar Galactica) is in talks to join this show's cast as Matt Parkman's new partner, an experienced and capable L.A. cop whom Matt can lean on for advice. [Hollywood Reporter]

The show is going to explore the characters living "everyday, normal lives," and yet coping with the fact that they've been through this crazy series of events, James Kyson Lee tells TV Guide. And Ando is going to get better at controlling the laser-beam blasts from his hands, and he and Hiro are going to start a new business together, involving glitter and spandex. Yes, really. (Isn't Hiro still a mega-zillionaire? I miss him being a lowly office worker.) [TV Guide]

Warehouse 13:

This show's first batch of episodes will have the titles "Pilot," "Resonance," "Magnetism," "Claudia," "Elements," "Burnout," "Implosion," "Duped," "Regrets" and "Breakdown." [SpoilerTV]

True Blood:

Here are the titles and synopses for this show's July episodes:

July 12: "Shake and Fingerpop"
With Jessica in tow, Bill and Sookie head to Dallas to carry out Eric's vampire-reconnaissance mission — but a surprise awaits them at the airport. At the Light of Day Institute, Jason falls victim to a practical joke, but has the last laugh when the Newlins anoint him for a higher calling. Maryann throws Tara a birthday party at Sookie's, attracting much of Bon Temps to its Bacchanalian revelry. Sam postpones his departure from town to attend the bash, connecting with Daphne in the process. Having barely escaped Fangtasia, Lafayette (finds himself reluctantly pulled back into Eric's orbit.

July 19: "Never Let Me Go"
In Dallas, Sookie connects with one of her own, then joins Bill and Eric for a strategic summit at the lair of the missing vampire, Godric, attended by his lieutenants, Stan and Isabel. Meanwhile, Jason shows his mettle at a Light of Day boot camp, and is rewarded for his hard work with a gift from Sarah. Rebuffed by Tara in her relocation efforts, Maryann decides to cast her spell on the staff of Merlotte's, softening Tara up towards her new "family." Eric shares a little-known secret about his past with Bill, and Sookie makes a decision that might solve the Godric mystery — or get her killed.

July 26: "Hard-Hearted Hannah"
Accompanied by Isabel's human boyfriend Hugo, Sookie embarks on a dangerous mission to locate Godric. Meanwhile, Bill is shocked when a vampire from his distant, more violent past resurfaces in Dallas. In Bon Temps, Daphne presses Sam to get comfortable in his own skin(s); Hoyt continues his unlikely courtship of Jessica; Andy interrogates Lafayette about his disappearance; and Tara and Eggs take a detour while on a road trip. At the Light of Day camp, Jason faces difficult emotional and physical choices.

Impact:

Salon.com has the funniest review ever of this Syfy Channel miniseries which is unaccountably appearing on ABC instead. A giant meteor goes flying towards Earth and smacks into the Moon, causing effects that are felt for many long, boring days afterwards. People resolve their differences and/or fall in love in the face of impending armageddon. Every few minutes someone says something like "But that makes no sense!" And then they have another boring conversation about "brown dwarfs or mass or gravity."

Actual dialogue from Impact:

"We have no other choice, sir. You can't hide from gravity!"

"Look, I can't even answer the questions on 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader,' but even I know the moon is not capable of manipulating gravity at this level."

"We are a part of something here that's going to be written about in the same context as Newton and Einstein. I know you don't want to miss out on that!"

"Science has very much come under question these last few days. But, it's all I have."

There's a scene where an old guy is driving in his car, and it suddenly floats into the air in a very Mary Poppins way. The whole Salon review is well worth reading, it's a masterpiece. Unlike Impact itself, by the sound of things.[Salon.com]

Apparently, that brown dwarf? It actually gets embedded in the Moon. Oops. That's not good. Also, the President is a straight shooter who doesn't understand all this sciencey talk, and there's a gruff stupid general, who wants to keep secrets from the Chinese and the Russians even though the world is ending in a few weeks. And we see how the scientists' families are affected by the fact that the scientists have to go off and try to figure out how to save the world. [Cinemablend]

Additional reporting by Alexis Brown.

Monday:

The Universe –
What's "Beyond The Big Bang" after all? Physicists and historians gather round to talk creation and utilize some nifty animations showing how the universe was made, on The History Channel at 9 PM.

Movies:
Could anyone replace Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice? Seriously I'd love to see someone try to remake the ghost with the most, and fail miserably. Even the cartoon was funny, but sadly not the same without MK. Watch the original on ABC Family at 9:30 PM, and marvel at how young and innocent Alec Baldwin looked.

Tuesday:

There's a Doctor Who marathon from 8 AM to 4 PM over at the SciFi Channel — nothing wrong with that.

Life After People –
What will happen to the city of cars when we all disappear? Will Detroit's vast car lots become dangerous land mines? Also looks like the future aliens will have a long-horn cattle problem if they ever try to settle on Earth after we're gone. Seriously hasn't this show run out of topics yet? "It will get old, deteriorate and be covered with plants" seems to be the answer for everything. But maybe cars will be different. Check it out on the History Channel at 10 PM.

Wednesday:

MonsterQuest –
Think crocodiles only eat pirate hands? WRONG, these creatures are large and in charge — just ask the cast of Lake Placid. In fact, since I can't find a clip from this week's episode on the The History Channel at 9 PM, I'm going to include my favorite Placid moment, to get you revved up for super ginormous crocodiles.

Mythbusters –
The boys pin cars against the rain and proceed to bust up all the weather related car myths on The Discovery Channel at 9 PM.

Ryan Reynolds is on Letterman — shilling for The Proposal, no doubt — but maybe he'll talk a little Deadpool, which is infinitely more interesting than yet another rom com. We'll have to wait and see on CBS at 11:30

Conan plays host to William Shatner, and McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). So there's really no reason not to tune into The Tonight Show on NBC at 11:30.

Thursday:

Mini Joan Of Arcadia marathon on from 8 AM until 3 PM on the SciFi Channel. It's all about a modern day Joan of Arc (kind of.) Oh, and God is a hottie.

Movies:
There's a bit o' Bond to get you through the night, from the SciFi Channel. At 6:30 PM Roger Moore stars in the movie with maybe the best theme song, Live and Let Die. After that, Pierce Bronsan takes the reins to ensure Tomorrow Never Dies.

Friday:
Batman The Brave And The Bold -
Batman gets zapped to the future, where animals are humanoid, and now we're the pets, or urm... slaves? But whatever — there are CAT PEOPLE, on the Cartoon Network at 8:30 PM.

Clip:

Clip:

Clip:

Saturday:

Kings –
It's Silas' birthday and uh-oh, there's a city-wide blackout. And you guys know what blackout is code for in TV land, secret sex, and lots of it. In the darkness, David tries to explain himself to the Princess, Jack makes off for his secret man lover and I sit alone in the corner and weep for what NBC did to this beautiful series. Kings is on NBC at 8 PM.

Primeval -
The ARC is being taken over by the military, and the group has to flee to the hills. As our heroes abandon their technology, it's humans versus prehistoric Terror Birds, on BBC America at 9 PM.

Sunday:
There's a Mythbusters marathon from 10 a.m. to past midnight, which promises a lot of smashing and crashing.

BBC Earth -
The lovely series BBC Earth will be airing on BBC America. This special is dedicated "Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life," delightful. It airs at 5 PM.

First 10 Minutes

Impact –
The two-parter miniseries Impact has managed to do the unthinkable, make both Natasha Henstridge and David James Elliot unattractive. But you know you're going to watch it, because there's nothing else on TV, and you're a sucker for an apocalypse movie. The moon is crashing to Earth, and it's up to these mega cable TV show stars to save us all, at 9 PM on ABC.

Impact Promo

True Blood -
Mother of God, what have you done to my Lafayette? There had better be some explaining this episode. But it looks like this week, we're in for some Jessica and Sookie one-on-one time, so no that shouldn't be shrillingly annoying at all. Ah, I kid. I love you ladies and every melodramatic moment you give me, bad accents and all. "Keep This Party Going" is on HBO at 10 PM.

Additional writing and reporting by Caitlin Petrakovitz.

Cosmic Collisions, a new show at the Hayden Planetarium at New York's American Museum of Natural History, displays what happens when celestial bodies bump into each other, which, despite the vast emptiness of space, happens surprisingly often. Narrated by Robert Redford, the show recreates some celebrated crashes, from the wandering planetoid whose collision with the earth resulted in the formation of the moon, to the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs, to the solar particles that hurtle towards the earth at a million miles an hour whenever solar winds flare, to the intergalactic pileup that will result when our Milky Way galaxy bumps up against Andromeda in a few billion years. (Fortunately, stars are so far apart that the galaxies should pass right through each other.) Even if you can't make it to New York for the show, the Musuem offers plenty of stellar material online, including a lot more photos where these came from.

To some, Henstridge will always be the half-alien/half-human/all-hottie Sil, but her debut in Species was 14 years ago. Now 34, she's done a lot since then, much of it in the genre arena.

Like her forthcoming Impact, a four-hour ABC miniseries that debuts June 21. In Impact, a spectacular meteor shower hits the moon and throws it out of orbit; it's up to a team of scientists led by astrophysicist Maddie Rhodes (Henstridge) to save the earth from a lunar collision. (Watch the trailer here.) Henstridge called us this morning from Los Angeles to talk about the project.

What appeals to you about science fiction that keeps you coming back to the genre again and again?

Well, I think the science fiction community just supports me, so why the heck not? No, there is an attraction to some of the stories. In this particular case, I just thought it was a really cool story: interesting, educational — and not even fiction at the end of the day, as I found out. I think that kind of curiosity – there are stories that keep you turning the page, stories that make you think "What if?" And that kind of natural curiosity we all have as humans. Whatever it is — in my case, an alien-human hybrid thing, or many other things that I've done — they're just action-packed, they're exciting, they keep you on the edge of your seat, and they're page-turners. So I always find it interesting to see how they'll turn out. And there are great fanbases as well.

What did you find out was accurate about the science behind Impact?

Up in Canada, I was working at an observatory, and I met an astrophysicist, and we went through the script, just so that I could really sink my teeth in, understand more, and know what the hell I was talking about when I was giving these big speeches. Basically, we're just not quite as protected as we like to think we are, and technology is advanced, but it's not quite as advanced as we think it is. We don't have an eye in the sky everywhere, we don't know what's coming, and things like meteors can be very erratic. So we're not as safe as we think we are, and that was very eye-opening. [Laughs nervously]. And that's what makes this movie even slightly possible.

And how plausible was the solution the scientists reach about how to save the earth?

That might be a little more far-fetched. That one I'm not 100 percent sure on.

Are you trying to extend your range now beyond the sexy roles that have largely defined your career? In Impact, you're a scientist in a heavy sweater.

Most people who work at observatories wear warm clothes because it's very, very cold, so that was just based in reality. But I get what you're saying. I feel very, very fortunate to have been able to step away from the sex symbols, the young it-girl kind of place, and to realize — and for people to realize — that I can do other things. That has been a real gift for me, because you get pigeonholed, and then where do you go when you're not 19 and hot, and you're aging? It's inevitable. So to be able to do other roles that challenge me more – I got to play a lawyer on Eli Stone, which was fantastic, and getting to play an astrophysicist, which I admit is a bit of a stretch. But what an amazing thing to be able to play. To get to play these really smart female characters is fantastic, and I just feel really fortunate. I do, of course, try to stretch, because it would be silly for me to compete with 20-year-olds for roles. It's not going to happen. I'm in a different place in my life. It's just great that the business has supported me enough to be able to do that as well.

Are there any sorts of science fiction stories you'd like to tell?

I wouldn't say so specifically in science fiction, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that [I'm fascinated with] cloning. People always ask me if I'm a science fiction fan, and I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but there is something kind of interesting about cloning and what it will do to society. I've read about it, and whenever there's a film or an article in the paper about the latest thing that's been cloned, it makes me think about God vs. science and all of those kind of questions. It's interesting because the planet gets more and more full, and yet we try to find more and more ways to keep people alive. It's all so fascinating. And yet, if it was my child or my mother, I'd want to do the same thing. So there are all sorts of interesting questions that cloning brings up. Can you imagine, "Oh, I'm going to get myself a new heart from my cloned counterpart"?

Can you think of recent films or books that have handled the subject well?

Not really. I'd like to see some things that are really well done.

What else do you have in the pipeline?

I am doing a really interesting series of really small, five-minute episodes of a Stan Lee cartoon, in which Stan Lee and myself will be voicing the two characters. My character is called Charity Vyle. And it's a super cool character. It's a show called Time Jumper. We're going to do about 10 episodes. I'm not exactly sure of the format; I think it's coming out through the phone. I'm with an absolute legend, and I'm really excited about that. My character is actually brilliant as well, as these cartoon characters – I mean, as these comic book characters often are. She knows how to jump through time, and she does that for some very selfish reasons.

Would you say the message of Impact is that international cooperation is necessary to solve global crises?

I think that is the exact message of the film, all the countries in the world working together for one common goal. That's the political, moral message of the film, and I think that's a really interesting part of the film.

To be fair, Earth 2100 has at least some possibilty of credibility; it's an ABC News special looking at what the next century has to offer the planet, and how some of the worst trouble could be avoided by taking steps today. Airing June 2nd, it's hosted by Bob Woodruff, so you know who to email to ask why it's not called Earth 2109.

However, there's no factual genesis to the promisingly-bad sounding Impact, which airs June 21st and 28th. We've already told you about this mini-series before, so let's let the Hollywood Reporter explain it this time:

David James Elliott stars in the mini about a small band of international astronauts, scientists, and soldiers banding together to save Earth from the approaching Moon.

That's right, people; the fucking moon is coming to crush us, and only the star of the shortlived 2006 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series and JAG can save us. The best part about this show may be the fact that, while it may be premiering on ABC, it'll find its natural home of SciFi soon afterwards, as they bought the re-run rights to it last month.

Fall - and new ABC drama Flash Forward - really can't come soon enough.

ABC sets summer schedule: Rowling, 'Diamonds,' 'Impact' [THR Live Feed]

Apparently as the Moon gets closer to our surface, the greater influence it has over our Earthling gravity, or something like that. So, zero-gravity beach party at my house on the final days of our existence. Check out the latest trailer for Impact, the miniseries ABC out-bid the Syfy Channel for, and ask: was it worth it, ABC?

The series will appear this fall.

ABC has grabbed the American rights for Impact, a four-hour mini from Germany's Tandem Communications, proud makers of such Sci-Fi Channel Original Mini-Series as Lost City Raiders and Ring of the Nibelung, with an eye to making it a summer event, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Don't feel too bad for the Sci Fi Channel, however; they managed to snag second-run rights to the series, something that makes Sci Fi Executive VP Thomas Vitale very happy indeed:

'Impact' is an ideal acquisition for Sci Fi's weekend-movie franchise... A high-caliber disaster-genre film with such a stellar cast is a recipe for success for Sci Fi.

Sadly, as soon as he said that, everyone else realized that this is probably just another Mansquito and lost interest.

ABC nabs rights to German mini 'Impact' [Hollywood Reporter]

NASA Chief Historian Steven Dick and Roger Launius of the National Air and Space Museum preface the report “Societal Impact of Spaceflight” by acknowledging that, for the program to continue, the citizens of the US must see its value:

It is time to take up the challenge once again. Multidecade programs to explore the planets, build and operate large space telescopes and space stations, or take humans to the moon and mars, require that the public have a vested interest. The same is true of the space activities now spread around the world. But whether or not the ambitious space visions of the United States and other countries are fulfilled, the question of societal impact over the past 50 years remains urgent and may in fact help fulfill current visions or at least raise the
level of debate.

To that end, they have collected 33 essays evaluating the Space Program’s impact on American and world culture. Several essays look at the political and cultural significance of spaceflight in the Soviet Union and China, including taikonaut Yang Liwei’s transformation into a Chinese cultural icon. One essay illuminates how food safety standards for astronauts in space radically changed food safety standards on the ground. Another examines critically the dual-use technologies that developed from the Space Program and their effect on government policy. Historical essays explore racial and gender diversity within NASA and the effect the Space Agency has had on regional development in Texas and California. And a few essays look at the way space has captured the human imagination, and one even explores the notion of space activism as a potentially “epiphanic belief system.”

The report is meant to be more a framework for exploring NASA’s value rather than a laundry list extolling the program’s cultural virtues, but the result is a fascinating history of the Space Agency and space exploration, and is sure to provide plenty of fodder for debates over the future of spaceflight in the US.

Societal Impact of Spaceflight part one and part two [via SpaceRef]

The theory that life can be carried between planets on rocks ejected by impacts is called lithopanspermia. Some bacteria are able to survive the cold, the dryness and the radiation present in space, especially if they're buried deep inside large asteroids (like Eros, pictured). The shock pressures produced by the impacts that would eject them into space in the first place have always been a stumbling block for lithopanspermists (they love it when you call them that).

A research team made up of German, Russian and U.S. scientists put bacteria thought to have the potential for successful space travel through some rough treatment, using explosives and air guns to slam them around in metal containers. The shock pressures used were similar to the pressures experienced by Martian rocks that were ejected by impacts and eventually reached Earth - we've found about 40 of them so far.

The results: those bacteria are pretty tough. Bacterial endospores and lichens could handle very robust shock pressures, while cyanobacteria were more fragile, but still capable of withstanding impacts strong enough for interplanetary travel. Going from Mars to Earth is a definite possibility. So if the Phoenix Lander finds evidence of past life on Mars, it could mean that all life on Earth is alien. Image by: NASA.

Microbial Rock Inhabitants Survive Hypervelocity Impacts on Mars-Like Host Planets: First Phase of Lithopanspermia Experimentally Tested. [Astrobiology]

USA Today, New Scientist, the awesome astronomy blog Bad Astronomy and the BBC and Nature and just about every sciency news outlet all have items devoted to the centennial. But they disagree on what the Tunguska Event was. USA Today calls it an "impact,' but Bad Astronomy says "air blast" and says there's no evidence anything hit the ground. New Scientist has posted a video in which their reporter circles Lake Cheko nearby the blast site in a helicopter and speculates whether it's the smoking gun of an impact.

What's going on here? Tunguska is probably the most heavily studied impact/air blast/space rock encounter on Earth and we know almost nothing about how it happened. It's also hard to say how likely it is that it will happen again, though one scientist's guess isn't comforting:

In terms of risk to Earth, astronomer David Morrison of NASA's Ames Research Center says a Tunguska-magnitude strike could happen once every two centuries and a bigger impact, a "civilization-threatening" million-megaton strike, could happen once every 2 million years. Even though astronomers have spotted more of these nearby asteroids in the last two decades, the estimated odds of an impact have actually declined, as Morrison notes in a May issue of NEO News, his asteroid newsletter.

If Morrison's right, we've got at best another century to learn as much as we can from Tunguska before another similar event hits home — maybe less. And in the mean time, we'll have plenty of close calls reminding us that we are basically sitting ducks unless we start doing something about one of the greatest threats to our survival as a civilization.

Scientists have known for years about the Borealis Basin — a region of lowlands that take up the northern half of Mars. Some thought a volcanic cataclysm caused the crater, while other speculated it could have been an impact. With the help of detailed geological readings from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Global Surveyor, they've been able to solve the mystery, concluding that something struck Mars with the force of 1 million billion Nagasaki-sized atomic bombs on a bad day four billion years ago.

Nature has devoted a special issue called "Cosmic Impacts" centered on the new findings, with a cool story on the 100th Anniversary of the Tunguska Event and a sweet photo gallery of the solar system's prettiest craters that are worth a look.

Source: Nature via BBC

While Griff and his Bush Administration cronies dust off their tie-dye shirts, smoke a bowl and try to relive NASA's Apollo golden years with their mission back to the Moon, it's good to know someone's paying attention to the Asteroid threat.

Of the many different methods proposed for altering space rocks' course — or blowing them up — gravity tractoring seems to be the most attractive. By launching a satellite towards a Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) and hanging out close by, the vehicle's gravitational influence will slowly, and ever so slightly alter the asteroid's course. The process requires a lot of advaned notice, but should work without the use of lasers, nuclear weapons, or Bruce Willis.

From B612's mission statement:

The reality of concern to us, among others, is that the discovery of a NEA headed toward an impact with Earth could be announced at any time by the Spaceguard program. If this were to happen the public would be extremely concerned and demand to know what is being done about it.

Unfortunately the answer is "nothing". This, it seems to us, is intolerable and could cause widespread alarm. For this reason the B612 Foundation, recognizing that national governments feel (to the extent that they have considered the matter) that they are not in a position to spend public money on mitigation, are taking the initiative now to begin this process with the use of private funds. We believe that there are adequate numbers of intelligent and concerned people to support the critical initial planning work that needs to be done to eventually reach an operational system to deflect incoming NEAs.

Our conviction is that there is nothing more powerful to convince the public that this audacious challenge can be met than to actually do it. Our goal is to physically deflect a representative asteroid as a demonstration that a longer term, more challenging operational system can become a reality.

Now of course it's a possibility that B612 could take a rock that's not an imminent threat to Earth and make it one by altering its course, but that's pretty unlikely. More important is that someone is serious about saving humanity from a space rock strike, but they're seriously underfunded — $50,000 is a drop in the bucket, and we're going to need an X-Prize style contest, or some mega-rich asteroid geek to pony up some bucks if we're ever going to dodge the big one.

Source: LiveScience

Image: B612 Foundation

NASA's list of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs) currently numbers 959. That's 1,000 asteroids that astronomers pretty much know are going to get closer than 7.5 million kilomters to Earth, about 20 times the distance from here to the Moon. Five of those are expected to come between Earth and the Moon over the next century.

So we'll have a few close shaves but nothing to worry about, right? Not so fast. The total number of PHAs and comets astronomers think are out there is probably more like 20,000. That means we've mapped about 5% of the objects that stand a good chance of hitting us. So take the future part of this chart as a best-case scenario. The past five close encounters, however, show just how vulnerable we are:

1) The Comet of 1491. This one must've scared the hell out of some folks. At a little less than four times the distance to the moon, this was the closest pass ever recorded at the time, and no one knows for sure how big it was. Little did our ancestors know how much more interesting things would get.

2) Tunguska, 1908. One of the most famous Earth lcose calls of all time, it was also a pipsqueak. For a long time scientists believed a comet perhaps 60 meters in diameter exploded over Siberia with a force of as much at 30 megatons, or about 2,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, though nothing solid ever hit the planet. All those pictures of flattened forest certianly look impressive, but last year, scientists re-crunched the numbers and found that the comet oculd've been as small as 30 meters, and the blast just 5 megatons. In other words, much smaller objects can do way more damage than we ever thought before. Gulp.

3) The Great Daylight Fireball of 1972. The name says it all — it doesn't get much closer than this. Size estimates range from 3 to 14 meters in diameter, depending on whether it was ice or rock. Whatever it was, the object called US19720810 burned through the atmosphere from Utah to Canda for about a minute and a half. Luckily, the space rock struck a glancing blow — had it hit Earth directly, it could've blasted us with 1/2 a Hiroshima worth of energy.

4) 2004 FH and 2004 FU162. At 30 meters in diameter and made of solid rock, 2004 FH would be a thumper of Tunguska proportions if it ever hit home. In the right (or wrong) place, it could detroy a city. As it was, it passed 43,000 kilometers above Earth on on March 18, 2004.

Three weeks later, FU 162 came whizzing along. Astronomers basically discovered it at bascially the same time as the 6-meter in diameter rock soared just 6,400 kilometers above Earth's surface.

5) Comet Hyakutake. Now we're getting into civilization-threatening territory. At 2 kilometers in diameters, this comet only got within about 40 lunar distances to Earth in 1996. Compared ot our other close calls, that's pretty comfortable, but considr this: it was discovered less than two months before its closest pass. Had it been on a collision course with Earth there's almost nothing we could've done other than brace for the millions dead, massive climate disruption, crop failure, 500-foot high tsunami...you get the idea.

FUTURE:

6) 1999 AN10. In a little less than 20 years, our usually quiet Earth-Moon system is going to have a lot of visitors. In August 2027, AN 10 is going to get about one lunar distance from Earth, and we'll get a chance to see just how big this bad boy is. Estimates range from 1/2 to 2 kilometers in diameter, plenty large to leave a dent in humanity if it ever gets closer.

7) 2001 WN5. Just six months after AN10 comes a callin' WN5 will get even closer, just about splitting the difference between Earth and the Moon. At 700 meters in diamters, this asteroid has a got potential for major dmaage, but current odds of impact are rated a negligible.

8) 99942 Apophis. By far the most famous of the end-bringing objects we know about in our solar system, astronomers thought for a while that this 270 meter-wide rock had an almost 3% chance of hitting us. Since then, odds have been lowered to 1 in 43,000 that it could slam into Earth in 2029. But if it passes through a gravitaitonal keyhole — a tiny region in space that could tweak its orbit ever so slightly — an impact could still happen on April 13, 2036.

9) 2005 WY55. Just 200 meters wide, astronomers think this asteroid could still pack a wallop. Right now it's scheduled to get within about 75,000 km of Earth, but impact odds are big enough to kep in mind — currently they're rated at around 1 in 70,000. If our number comes up on that faeful dayin May 2065, look out — blast yield estimates from this rock range to 1100 megatons.

10) 2000 WO107. Depending on how well humanity holds up under climate change, bird flu, and all the other things that could potentially kill us off, we might be able to look up and see WO107 zoom by in December 2140. The 400 meter-wide rock isn't scheduled to hit us — it should get about half way between Earth and the Moon — but if calculations are off by even a little bit (and all of the future examples here have some uncertainty) we could care a lot.

Sources: NASA's Near Earth Object Program, Harvard List of PHAs

Additional research by Nivair H. Gabriel. Image by Stephanie Fox.