NASA is reporting today that an asteroid 1.4 miles in diameter may be on a course to impact Earth in 2019. One this size would wipe out a continent, and cause a years long "nuclear winter."

According to the report, it'll take a few more days of observation to narrow the course down enough to tell whether it's going to hit or miss.

Me, I''m hoping for a hit. Seventeen years is a good long time to do something about it, and it for sure would be the clue-by-four our so-called leaders (how you can be a leader when you follow the sheepul is a bit beyond me) need to set up a space-based warning and interdiction system worthy of the name. Then we'd be ready for the one that gives us only about twelve hours notice.

Of course, the spin-off benefits would be immense, but that alone doesn't seem to be enough motivation.

They say that there are only two things that ultimately motivate people - fear and greed. I think fear is the more reliable.

(Addendum: both the BBC and ABC have picked up the story, so I'm sure the wires will be flooded with coverage. Somehow the BBC guy managed to get several simple facts wrong in the article, to include the date of discovery. (sigh) I leave you alone to consider whether this is symptomatic of journalism in general, or just science reporting.)

[Addendum, July 29: Further observations have determined that the 2019 date will prove to be a miss - there's still a small but measurable chance for an impact in 2060]