Name: How to defend Earth from asteroids
Uploaded: 2011-11-21T15:57:42Z
Duration: 13 min 59 s
Description: What's six miles wide and can end civilization in an instant? An asteroid -- and there are lots of them out there. With humor and great visuals, Phil Plait shows us all the ways asteroids can kill us (yipes), and what we must do to avoid them.

What's six miles wide and can end civilization in an instant? An asteroid -- and there are lots of them out there. With humor and great visuals, Phil Plait shows us all the ways asteroids can kill us (yipes), and what we must do to avoid them.

Phil Plait: How to defend Earth from asteroids

How to defend Earth from asteroids

A 6-mile wide asteroid impact contributed to the dinosaurs' extinction, releasing energy equivalent to billions of bombs.

Asteroids as small as 30 yards across can create craters a mile wide, highlighting their potential for regional devastation.

Advanced ion drives enable gentle, controlled asteroid deflection, offering a feasible method to avert potential impacts.