THE Sun may be sending asteroids careering towards Earth. Normally these
cosmic boulders sit comfortably within the asteroid belt. But no one is quite
sure why so many sometimes sneak off into orbits bound for Earth. Now William
Bottke’s team at the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, points
out that as the spinning asteroids warm up on their sunward side, they lose the
heat again on their dark side. Computer simulations show that over hundreds of
millions of years, the radiated energy could be enough to nudge the rocks off
course (Science, vol 294, p 1693).
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from 91av
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Life
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
News
Physics
The 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be over
Features
Technology
Backlash builds over NHS plan to hide source code from AI hacking risk
News
Health
Hantavirus: Where has the deadly cruise ship outbreak come from?
News
Popular articles
Trending 91av articles
1
Woman in cancer remission without treatment in highly unusual case
2
Man destined to get Alzheimer’s saved by accidental heat therapy
3
A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began
4
Hantavirus: Where has the deadly cruise ship outbreak come from?
5
Prebiotic chewing gum could be helpful for gum disease
6
We have figured out a new way to send messages into the past
7
Extinct relative of koalas discovered in Western Australia
8
Honey has been used as medicine for centuries – does it really work?
9
Ann Leckie continues to shine with new sci-fi novel Radiant Star
10
The 50-year quest to create a quantum spin liquid may finally be over
