The Lure of Rocks From Outer Space

When you hear about near-misses from asteroids like 2009 DD45, so-called near-Earth objects, your first thoughts might be of the apocalyptic. Hollywood has ensured that we are all fully aware of the risks posed to planet Earth from such space rocks, perhaps not to extinguish all life on our planet (it would take a truly Earth-cracking collision to wipe out the hardy bacteria living miles deep in the hot crust of our planet), but certainly collapse civilization as we know it.

But it is important to not sensationalize such risks, and thankfully the news reporting of 2009 DD45 generally seems to have resisted such cheap hooks.

Read full story on The New York Times website