China plans to crash a spacecraft into a distant asteroid
It will be only the second country to conduct such a planetary defence experiment
SPACE ROCKS collide with Earth’s atmosphere all the time. The vast majority are too small to do any damage, but the risk of a larger asteroid (or comet) wiping out an underprepared city is one that space agencies around the world are taking seriously. The first goal of such would-be planetary defenders is detection: finding all objects capable of wreaking such damage and confirming that they are not on a collision course with Earth. The other goal is testing technologies that could either destroy any sizeable asteroids speeding towards the planet or else, more plausibly, deflect them away from it.
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This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “Crash course”
From the November 9th 2024 edition
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Deforestation is costing Brazilian farmers millions
Without trees to circulate moisture, the land is getting hotter and drier
Robots can learn new actions faster thanks to AI techniques
They could soon show their moves in settings from car factories to care homes
Scientists are learning why ultra-processed foods are bad for you
A mystery is finally being solved
Scientific publishers are producing more papers than ever
Concerns about some of their business models are building
The two types of human laugh
One is caused by tickling; the other by everything else
Scientists are building a catalogue of every type of cell in our bodies
It has thus far shed light on everything from organ formation to the causes of inflammation
