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Earth was Born] [Out of Eden]
[In perspective]]
[Out of chaos - [Introduction]
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of knowledge] [Religious conflict]
[Search goes on]]
[Survival - [Introduction]
[Exodus] [New
Technology] [Moving on]]
[The Globe - [Introduction] [Star
Dust] [Water of life]]
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The Globe
A football-pitch-sized asteroid missed the Earth by just 75,000 miles in June 2002, a distance that astronomers consider a close shave.
Travelling within the moon’s orbit at 23,000mph, it was big enough to destroy a city and do as much damage as a large nuclear explosion.
These sorts of near apocalyptic events are not as rare as one may imagine. Space debris is bombarding the Earth constantly, and each year experts identify around 400 asteroids and other material that may hit the Earth with devastating results. Paradoxically, even as these objects may threaten our planet’s existence, they provide us with evidence for theories about its birth.