EonBlue

Thanks Pharyngula

And it will be really cool to see if it does. As reported by The Bad Astronomer, there is a 1 in 75 chance this 100 meter asteroid named 2007 WD5 will hit Mars in January causing a several megaton explosion. If it does, perhaps one of the satellites we have in orbit around Mars will be able to snap a few pics of it. No robots will be harmed in the filming of this event.

More info at MSNBC.

2007 Dec 29 Update: Mars Impact Probability Increases to 4 Percent

However, the most likely scenario is that additional observations of the asteroid will allow the uncertainty region to shrink so that a Mars impact is ruled out. In the unlikely event of an impact, the time would be 2008 January 30 at 10:56 UT (2:56 a.m. PST) with an uncertainty of a few minutes.

Sandia National Laboratories released new findings on the Tunguska blast of 1908. Using supercomputers, they show that a small asteroid could have caused this event.

“The asteroid that caused the extensive damage was much smaller than we had thought,” says Sandia principal investigator Mark Boslough of the impact that occurred June 30, 1908. “That such a small object can do this kind of destruction suggests that smaller asteroids are something to consider. Their smaller size indicates such collisions are not as improbable as we had believed.”

Because smaller asteroids approach Earth statistically more frequently than larger ones, he says, “We should be making more efforts at detecting the smaller ones than we have till now.”

As an extra bonus, they released some really cool videos of the simulation, which all look like uterus and bull skulls to me. What does that say about me?

There has always been some debate as to what caused this blast. Besides an interdimensional cross-rip, some have argued for the asteroid, but lacked a crater for evidence. Others argued for a comet that vaporized in the atmosphere. Most have said that the power of the explosion was in the range of 20-30 megatons. This new study lowers that to around 3 because of the smaller size.

Now, will our government (as well as others) start looking for smaller asteriods now? Hah! They really haven’t done anything about the ones that can wipe life off the planet, much less plan for these little bombs. Maybe another one of these, which has a statistically higher probability of happening before the Big One, hitting a city will spur our people and inept government into action. Meanwhile, where’s that remote?