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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaur-fossil-from-day-extinction-asteroid-hit-earth-scientists-claim-2022-4">asteroid that killed</a> most dinosaurs 66 million years ago left behind traces of its own origin.</li><li>Researchers think they know where the Chicxulub impactor came from based on levels of ruthenium.</li></ul>A team of researchers think they know the origin of a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-triggered-underwater-volcanic-eruptions-2018-2">massive space rock</a> that hit Earth and killed off almost all the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.Their findings could help NASA in its search for potentially hazardous asteroids that pose a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">significant threat</a> to life on Earth.Asteroids have different chemical makeups depending on where they formed in our solar system.To determine the dino-killing asteroid's origin, researchers examined the various elements in samples taken from several locations dating to the time of the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mass-extinction-earth-take-10-million-years-recover-2019-4">mass extinction</a>.In particular, they looked at the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/oppenheimer-science-to-understand-physics-atomic-bombs-2023-7">element ruthenium</a>. It's a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/element/44/ruthenium">rare</a> metal on Earth but is more abundant in asteroids.Ruthenium levels can be a good indicator of whether an asteroid "originally formed in the outer solar system or in the inner solar system," Mario Fischer-Gödde, one of the researchers, told Business Insider.Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues found that, unlike many other impactors over the last 541 million years, the Chicxulub impactor that <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-strike-cretaceous-paleogene-extinction-2017-11">killed the dinosaurs</a> and up to 75% of all life on Earth formed in the outer — not the inner — solar system.However, the impactor likely made its way to the inner solar system in the asteroid belt long before it hurtled toward Earth. That's because in the early days of the solar system, Jupiter migrated and its gravitational influence scattered more distant asteroids closer to the sun in the process, Fischer-Gödde said.<h2 id="42437828-e838-4325-833b-b21d3ef96f61">NASA doesn't know where all the dangerous asteroids are</h2><div type="image" title="A stegosaurus skeleton in front of a sign that reads &quot;Apex the Segosaurs&quot;" height="683" width="1024" msid="112576306" hostid="261" sizebytes="48450"></div>Despite the rarity of huge asteroid strikes, NASA and other space agencies are racing to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/scientists-built-largest-digital-camera-lsst-for-asteroids-dark-matter-2024-4">learn all they can</a> about potentially harmful rocks that could trigger another mass extinction event. Because it only takes one.There are still many unknowns about these rocks, including <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">where some of them are</a> and which types may pose the most threat.Understanding more about the origin of major asteroid strikes in Earth's past could help NASA know where to look for future risks.With the ruthenium findings, "we are a step further in zooming in on the exact object" that created the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-more-sulfur-rapid-climate-cooling-2017-11">Chicxulub crater</a>, Jan Smit, a professor emeritus at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who was not involved in the research, told Business Insider via email.<h2 id="bbfbaaec-0fb8-4e72-a632-37f1006840ab">An asteroid type that rarely hits Earth did unbelievable damage</h2><div type="image" title="An artist's illustration of a massive asteroid colliding with Earth" height="1414" width="2121" msid="112576307" hostid="261" sizebytes="186530"></div>Fischer-Gödde and his colleagues examined samples from five <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-impact-simulation-experts-fear-congress-would-delay-action-2024-6">other impacts</a> that happened in the last 541 million years.Their levels of ruthenium showed that most of the objects were S-type asteroids, which are found in the inner solar system.Meanwhile, the samples taken from the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) boundary, where the Chicxulub impactor hit, suggested that the object was a C-type asteroid, which typically live in the outer solar system.Earlier studies <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=d979a6041b8f5d7121d348980127dd645a72bea6c355d8e6bd6ce429583ce309&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2F24322">suggested</a> the Chicxulub impactor was a C-type asteroid but this latest ruthenium data adds to the supporting evidence, Smit told BI.About 80% of the meteorites that have hit Earth are fragments of S-type asteroids, Fischer-Gödde said.It's not clear why S-type impactors are more common, but Fischer-Gödde thinks it might be that C-types tend to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-simulated-asteroid-couldnt-stop-impact-europe-2021-5">break apart more</a> and don't make it through the Earth's atmosphere."So far we cannot really say whether one or the other asteroid type would be more likely to cause a mass extinction event," Fischer-Gödde said in a follow-up email. He said asteroids may have contributed to older mass extinction events, like the <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=31f1c3e012df1524f07e36095b624c954adf7b450ab4f9552ae32e03b640b8fe&amp;postID=66be5b0fb9a365362651ba40&amp;postSlug=origins-asteroid-killed-dinosaurs-help-prevent-future-mass-extinction-2024-8&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalgeographic.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fmass-extinction">one</a> during the Late Devonian period. Future research could explain the origins of these asteroid strikes as well.However, the devastation from the Chicxulub impactor shows that a C-type can be disastrous for Earth. It was a combination of factors, from its size to where it hit, that led to its widespread destruction."It's a big kind of cosmic coincidence, and we all should be thankful for this because otherwise maybe the planet would look very different nowadays," Fischer-Gödde said.The researchers published their findings in the journal <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adk4868">Science</a>.

Scientists think they've found the origin of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. It could help prevent a future mass extinction on Earth.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A giant "city killer" asteroid will safely shoot past Earth today traveling at 41,000 mph.</li><li>Its closest approach to Earth will be 1.77 million miles, over seven times the distance to the moon.</li></ul>NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has spotted a giant <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-predicts-exact-date-asteroid-hit-earth-atomic-bomb-bennu-2023-9">"city killer" asteroid</a> flying toward Earth. And this afternoon, it will reach its closest approach to our planet, about 1.77 million miles away.For reference, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/mind-boggling-nasa-photo-shows-moon-distance-from-earth-2022-10">the moon</a> is about 239,000 miles from Earth, so this asteroid will be 7.4 times as far from Earth as the moon is. The speedy space rock is expected to be zipping along at about 41,000 mph and measures roughly 890 feet across, or roughly the size of a US football stadium, according to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroid-watch/next-five-approaches">NASA</a>.<div type="image" title="View of a football stadium from above." height="2051" width="1461" msid="107369399" hostid="261" sizebytes="513156"></div>Experts sometimes call asteroids this size "city killers" because they're capable of <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">destroying an entire city</a> if they collide with an inhabited part of Earth.Still, this asteroid will be too small and far away to see without a telescope. It will be about 10,000 times fainter than the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/type-be-vampire-stars-secret-helper-2023-11">faintest stars</a> visible to the naked eye, Gianluca Masi, an astrophysicist and the scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project, told Business Insider over email.But if you want to catch a glimpse of the asteroid as it whizzes by, you're in luck!Masi and his colleagues will be recording the event live starting at 1 p.m. ET today. You can watch the livestream on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CtdiyL86JE&amp;ab_channel=TheVirtualTelescopeProject">YouTube</a> or in the video below.The livestream will track Asteroid 2008 OS7 as it flies by Earth. Viewers will be able to distinguish it as a tiny dot moving past other fixed tiny dots, aka stars, in the background. The livestream will last about 45 minutes, Masi said.VTP has recorded other flybys like this, and it's "something always very fascinating to see," Masi told BI.<h2>About Asteroid 2008 OS7</h2>Asteroid 2008 OS7 orbits the sun every 962 days. After passing by Earth, it will continue along its oval-shaped path through our solar system.Its oblong-shaped orbit means that each time the asteroid approaches Earth, its distance from our planet varies significantly.For example, the website <a target="_blank" href="https://www.spacereference.org/asteroid/2008-os7">Space Reference</a> estimates that upon its next close approach, in July 2037, it will be about 9.7 million miles from Earth.<h2>Potentially hazardous asteroids</h2>Asteroid 2008 OS7 is what <a target="_blank" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/about/neo_groups.html">NASA calls</a> a "potentially hazardous" asteroid because of its size and how close it flies past Earth.An asteroid is considered potentially hazardous if it is at least 460 feet in diameter and orbits Earth within a distance of about 4.65 million miles.Scientists have identified more than <a target="_blank" href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">34,000 near-Earth objects</a>. Just over 2,300 have been designated <a target="_blank" href="https://www.space.com/ai-finds-first-potentially-dangerous-asteroid">potentially hazardous</a>.But NASA suspects there are many more out there that haven't been discovered. If a giant asteroid were on course to hit Earth, we'd need <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5#:~:text=NASA%20is%20developing%20a%20space%20telescope%20to%20track%20asteroids&amp;text=NASA%20is%20planning%20a%20mission,into%20Earth's%20orbit%20in%202026.">five to 10 years of warning</a> to destroy or deflect it.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is working on the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/near-earth-object-surveyor">Near-Earth Object Surveyor mission</a>, set to launch in September 2027. It would send an infrared space telescope into Earth's orbit to expand NASA's search for near-Earth objects that could threaten our planet.

A football stadium-sized asteroid will blaze by Earth today. Here's how to watch the potentially hazardous 'city killer' live.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Asteroid Bennu has a slim chance of hitting our planet on September 24, 2182, NASA said.</li><li>It would release as much energy as about 24 nuclear bombs, so NASA is keeping a close eye on it. </li></ul>What are you doing on September 24, 2182? You may want to clear your calendar because scientists think an asteroid may hit Earth. NASA scientists are keeping a close eye on asteroid Bennu, a 1,610-foot-wide <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">cosmic object</a> that could smash into our planet.If Bennu were to hit the Earth, it would slam into the surface at about seven miles per second. It is so big that it could release 1,400 megatons of energy, <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/sentry/details.html#?des=101955" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per a NASA calculation</a> — which is at least 24 times as powerful as the nuclear weapon, the Tsar Bomba. Thankfully, the chances of this happening are very slim — about 1 in 2,700, <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-spacecraft-provides-insight-into-asteroid-bennus-future-orbit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per a 2021 study</a>.Still, NASA is interested enough in Bennu to launch a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-probe-returning-from-asteroid-with-2-oz-of-asteroid-space-rock-2021-5">seven-year-long mission</a> to study it, which is due to bring back a precious sample from the asteroid in a dramatic landing on Sunday.This mission could help us better forecast the future of our cosmic neighbor, but it could also provide unprecedented insight into the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-earth-tectonic-plates-billion-years-2021-2">formation of the Earth</a>. <h2>Bennu is bigger than the Empire State Building</h2>Bennu belongs to a category of asteroids called "city-killers." That means that if it were to hit the Earth — the probability of which is zero until 2,100 and very small after that, per NASA — it would be powerful enough to flatten a large city. <div type="image" title="A animated gif shows a model of Bennu next to a picture of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel tower, both of which are about as tall as the asteroid is big." height="359" width="720" msid="103866263" hostid="261"></div>The diamond-shaped asteroid is no stranger to Earth's neighborhood. Its long orbit around the sun means it approaches the Earth about every six years. But it usually keeps a polite distance from us — it's never come closer than about <a href="https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_lookup.html#/?sstr=Bennu&amp;view=OPC" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3 million miles</a> from Earth.As it makes its way around the solar system, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacecraft-asteroid-landing-osiris-rex-2020-10">Bennu's orbit</a> can change, and that's where it gets a little riskier. To make its 2182 appointment with the Earth, Bennu will need to pass within a very small window in space — a "<a href="https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4921" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gravitational keyhole</a>" — in 2135. That would shift its orbit perfectly to line up with our planet.But there's still a 99.96% chance it will miss us on that date. <h2>We need to know more about large Earth-bound asteroids</h2>Even though the risk is low, large asteroids near Earth need to be taken seriously. Of the ones we know, most pose <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">little to no</a> risk to our planet.But the concern is that these kinds of objects could be hiding from view, meaning NASA can only spot them moments before they hit.<div type="image" title="A animated gif shows Bennu from all sides as it is being rotated around. The diamond-shaped grey asteroid is covered in boulders." height="900" width="900" msid="103866265" hostid="261"></div>NASA estimates that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">60% of the city-killer-sized</a> asteroids that could come in proximity to Earth are unknown at this time, and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planet-killer-asteroid-could-threaten-earth-in-a-few-millennia-2022-10">even bigger rocks</a> could be hidden in the light of the sun, a known blindspot for observation from Earth. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chelyabinsk-meteor-mystery-3-years-later-2016-2?jwsource=cl">Chelyabinsk incident</a> provided a stark reminder of this fact in 2013 when a house-sized asteroid unexpectedly appeared over the city before exploding, breaking windows, damaging buildings, and injuring more than 1,400 people.<div type="image" title="asteroid russia Chelyabinsk" height="3744" width="4992" msid="103866266" hostid="261"></div>That's why NASA has been working to improve its forecasting of so-called Near Earth Objects.Studying an object like Bennu, which is easy to observe and comes close enough to Earth that we can send a mission there, is important for understanding more about these objects. NASA's mission to Bennu, a probe called Osiris-Rex that was launched in 2016, could provide more clues about how asteroids sail in the cosmos. For instance, one of the mission's objectives is to understand how the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/did-you-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">light from the sun,</a> as it is absorbed and re-radiated, could affect Bennu's orbit.<h2>Bennu could shed light on our planet's birth</h2>There's more to Bennu than its destructive potential, and that's what NASA is most interested in for Osiris-Rex.Bennu was likely created at about the same time as our planet, about 4.5 billion years ago, <a href="https://beta.science.nasa.gov/mission/osiris-rex/osiris-rex-faq/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA said</a>.Traces of what happened at that time have long been erased from our planet, under millions of years of erosion. But Bennu could still be carrying elements from then, frozen in time as it sails through the cosmos, per NASA.That's why NASA is eagerly awaiting the return of its Osiris-Rex spacecraft, which is carrying a few ounces of precious dust collected from Bennu in 2020.<div type="image" title="OSIRIS REx collection" height="1312" width="1749" msid="103866269" hostid="261"></div>This little probe, which has been sailing back from Bennu since May 10, 2021, should deliver its payload, a capsule containing the precious sample, as it passes about 63,000 miles from the Earth in the early hours of Sunday morning. The capsule is planned to fall back to Earth later Sunday morning, landing in Utah around 10:55 a.m. ET.

NASA scientists calculated the exact date an asteroid could hit Earth with the force of at least 24 nuclear bombs. Thankfully, it's a long way off.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A geomagnetic storm is due to hit Earth late Thursday evening, Eastern Time.</li><li>It should be relatively mild but could spark beautiful auroras visible from around the world.</li></ul>A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2">solar storm</a> is heading towards Earth, and it could spark beautiful auroras that may be visible from around the world. The storm, which should hit our planet late Thursday evening, Eastern Time, and early Friday morning for Europe, is expected to trigger <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storm-earth-northern-southern-lights-auroras-how-to-see-2023-4">auroras</a> in the northern latitudes. It is "worth stepping outside around midnight local time during the night from Thursday into Friday if you live at northern latitudes and if the sky is clear," Daniel Verscharen, an associate professor of space and climate physics at University College London, told Insider.Here's how to get the best change of seeing the Northern Lights this evening. <h2>Check the forecast</h2><div type="image" title="A snapshot of NOAA's aurora forecast shows where the aurora are predicted to be visible on Thursday July 6." height="600" width="800" msid="101545391" hostid="261" sizebytes="55092"></div>Head to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's <a href="https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental" target="_blank" rel="noopener">space weather website</a> for the latest forecast to see if auroras are likely to be visible where you are.The storm is currently predicted to be relatively mild — a G1 strength on a scale that goes up to G5. That would mean the auroras would be visible at the latitude of northern Michigan and Maine.But geomagnetic storms are notoriously hard to forecast. There is a chance the storm could hit as a stronger G2 or G3 storm, in which case the aurora could be visible as far south as New York and Idaho or Illinois and Oregon, respectively.A recent example is a G4 storm that hit Earth in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-aurora-northern-lights-rare-appearance-south-solar-storm-2023-3">March</a>. It had originally been expected to be a G3 storm, but a later eruption of the sun made it more powerful, causing auroras to be seen as far as Phoenix, Arizona.Space weather can interfere with infrastructure on Earth, but G1 to G2 storms are not expected to cause major disruptions, according to the <a target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.</a>A G3 storm could cause some disruption to satellite and radio signals around the world, but the effect of these should be minimal. <h2>Go to a quiet place in the dead of night</h2><div type="image" title="Pink and yellow aurora at night." height="1500" width="1999" msid="101545394" hostid="261" sizebytes="208906"></div>For the best shot at seeing auroras, you want the backdrop to be as dark as possible."The big problem at this time of the year is that the night is very short, especially at high latitudes. This means that there is only a very short window of opportunity when it's really dark enough to see the aurora," said Verscharen.Plan to head away from city lights in the dead of night. Prepare for cold weather with blankets and hot beverages.Before heading out, check the skies are clear as you will need maximum visibility to see the pink and green streaks in the sky. We recently had a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wildfire-smoke-could-turn-full-buck-moon-blood-red-2021-7">full Buck moon</a> in the northern hemisphere, which is when the full moon appears bigger than usual, so look away from our satellite to avoid its glare.You may have used your phone or looked at screens to get you where you need to go, so be patient. Put your phone away, and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. <h2>If you have a nice camera, bring it along</h2><div type="image" title="A man in heavy clothing takes pictures of the southern lights." height="1333" width="1777" msid="101545395" hostid="261" sizebytes="147612"></div>You can try to snap pictures of the auroras with a camera, but make sure not to transfer it too quickly from a hot to a cold environment to avoid condensation, <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/space-weather/taking-photos-of-the-auroras" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Royal Photographic Society</a>.Preset your camera before leaving a warmer space so your fingers don't get too cold. A higher aperture may be better, but you may have to adjust your settings if the aurora is moving quickly.<h2>You can expect more dazzling displays as the year goes on</h2><div type="image" title="Side by side annotated pictures show the sun in 2019 and 2023. The sun looks a lot quieter 4 years ago, now it is bursting with eruptions and turmoil." height="1500" width="2000" msid="101545397" hostid="261" sizebytes="88078"></div>You can expect even more spectacular displays towards the end of 2023. That's because the sun is currently revving up for a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-maximum-could-sooner-than-expected-2023-6">peak of activity</a> that happens every 11 years or so.Auroras happen when charged particles from the sun crash into the Earth's magnetic field, exciting molecules in our atmosphere, and causing beautiful green and pink streaks in the sky. These excited molecules are usually too dim to be seen with the naked eye, but become much more obvious during solar storms because a huge amount of the sun's charged particles crash into the Earth at once. As the sun becomes more active, it is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-video-footage-shows-sun-solar-activity-increasing-2023-5">more likely</a> to send solar storms our way. It's also likely to have more sunspots and big dark splotches called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronal-hole-on-sun-blasts-solar-wind-toward-earth-2023-3">coronal 'holes'</a> on its surface, both of which can make these storms worse. This is good news for aurora enthusiasts. The bad news, however, is that geomagnetic storms and space weather can disrupt crucial infrastructure like radio and satellite networks crucial for a whole host of industries, including aviation.Flights are more likely to be rerouted or grounded in bad space weather, for instance, experts <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sun-more-active-solar-storms-auroras-power-outages-grounded-flights-2023-2">previously told Insider</a>. The solar maximum also increases the risk of a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/solar-storms-flares-dangerous-effects-earth-sun">once-in-a-century</a> geomagnetic storm so strong it could knock out power grids. The last recorded instance of this was in the 19th century when auroras were visible even in the tropics. The storm also knocked out all the telegraph lines in the world. Scientists are keeping a close eye on the sun as it's already getting more active than it has been in two decades. Since then, "our society has advanced a lot. In the meantime, our dependence on satellite infrastructure has increased, and our vulnerability to space weather has therefore increased," said Verscharen.

A solar storm is due to hit Earth today, sparking stunning auroras. Here's how to see them.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>NASA works with a worldwide coalition of astronomers to find and track dangerous asteroids.</li><li>In the event of an impending hazardous asteroid strike, NASA already has its plan in place to alert the public.</li></ul>When the Chicxulub impactor, a six-mile-wide asteroid, struck Earth 66 million years ago, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaurs-going-extinct-before-asteroid-hit-earth-study-2021-6">dinosaurs had no warning</a>. If an asteroid that size hit Earth today, a shock wave two million times more powerful than a hydrogen bomb would flatten forests and trigger tsunamis. A seismic pulse equal to a magnitude 10 earthquake would crumble cities. And long after the impact, a cloud of hot dust, ash, and steam would blot out the sun, plunging the Earth into freezing cold. <div type="image" title="An artists depiction of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs" height="1449" width="2070" msid="107779797" hostid="261" sizebytes="373936"></div>But at least we'd probably know it was coming ahead of time. And if NASA has anything to say about it, we may even be able to prevent the apocalypse. NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office is tasked with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/americans-nasa-shouldnt-waste-time-moon-polls-say-2023-8">finding, tracking, and assessing the risk</a> associated with potentially hazardous asteroids in our solar system.“We definitely want to find all those before they find us,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nasa.gov/people/lindley-johnson/">Lindley Johnson</a>, Lead Program Executive for the Planetary Defense Coordination Office.To do that, NASA works with a global coalition of astronomers called the International Asteroid Warning Network (IAWN). Here’s what they would do if an apocalyptic asteroid strike was headed toward Earth. <h2>An international warning system </h2>In the event that a dangerous asteroid is headed toward Earth, IAWN has procedures in place to notify the public. First, the party members who detected the threat would share their observations across the IAWN network to verify their findings and assess the danger.Once all parties agree that Earth should brace for impact, NASA would send out an alert.“I don’t have a red phone on my desk or anything,” Johnson said. “But we do have formal procedures by which notification of a serious impact would be provided.”If the asteroid was headed toward the US, NASA would notify the White House, and the government would release a formal statement to the public. If it was big enough to pose an international threat, IAWN would notify the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs.<h2>Hunting for asteroids </h2>An asteroid is considered “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-warns-asteroid-skyscraper-football-stadium-size-pass-earth-watch-2024-2">potentially hazardous</a>” if it is larger than roughly 460 feet across and intersects Earth’s orbit at a minimum distance of 0.5 astronomical units, which is half the distance between Earth and the sun. There are about 2,300 known potentially hazardous asteroids out there, and roughly 153 of them are larger than 0.6 miles across. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">That’s big enough to trigger a catastrophe if one struck Earth.</a>To find and track them, NASA and the other IAWN partners look for new asteroids in addition to tracking ones that have already been discovered. All their observations get compiled into a database at the Minor Planet Center.So far, IAWN has found over 34,000 near-Earth asteroids. With enough observational data, NASA can confidently predict their orbits at least a century into the future, Johnson said.There’s a slim chance that the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-predicts-exact-date-asteroid-hit-earth-atomic-bomb-bennu-2023-9">potentially hazardous Bennu asteroid</a> could hit Earth in 159 years, triggering an explosion equal to 24 nuclear bombs. But the odds of that happening are only about one in 2,700, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-spacecraft-provides-insight-into-asteroid-bennus-future-orbit">according to a 2021 study</a>.If Bennu does head toward Earth, NASA has a few tricks up its sleeve to defend our planet.<h2>Defending Earth</h2>Most of the time, IAWN catches oncoming asteroids long before they become an immediate threat to Earth, according to Johnson. But NASA would need at least five to 10 years of advanced notice to prevent the apocalypse from an approaching asteroid. In 2021, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-crashes-dart-spacecraft-into-asteroid-to-test-planetary-defense-2022-9">NASA launched its first planetary defense test mission</a>. It rammed an uncrewed spacecraft into an asteroid to shift its orbit away from Earth.<div type="image" title="An illustration of a spacecraft flying in front of an asteroid" height="1376" width="2180" msid="107779800" hostid="261" sizebytes="184652"></div>The mission was a success, and NASA <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/adam-driver-asks-nasa-save-earth-from-world-ending-asteroids-2023-3">plans to test more deflection techniques</a> in the future. A developing “gravity tractor” technique would send a spacecraft to stay in position next to the asteroid and allow the gravitational interaction to pull the asteroid out of its orbit. NASA is also working on a technique that uses an ion beam to shift an asteroid's course.But if the threat was coming in less than five years, NASA wouldn’t have time to deflect the asteroid. Then, it might resort to destruction to minimize and disperse the impact.If NASA only had a few months of warning, then <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5">there’s not much it could do to save Earth</a>.Thankfully, IAWN’s strategy is to find asteroids decades, if not centuries, before the impact. “That gives us plenty of time to then try to do something about them while they’re still in space, so that we completely avoid any catastrophe here on Earth,” Johnson said.

NASA explains how it would alert the public of an apocalyptic asteroid strike 

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Scientists have uncovered traces of what they think could be the world's largest asteroid impact. </li><li>The structure, hidden in the ground in Australia, is thought to be about 300 miles across.</li></ul>The world's largest <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-oldest-meteor-crater-australia-2020-1">asteroid impact</a>, 300 miles across, could be hidden in the Australian ground. Scientists have been tracing "magnetic" and "gravity" patterns spreading out in circles from a point about 10 miles from Deniliquin in New South Wales, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meteor-australia-stardust-older-than-sun-2020-1">Australia</a>. The structure, the scientists say, could be the remnants of an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-sizes-that-can-damage-cities-states-planet-2018-6">enormous asteroid impact</a> that hit the Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. If confirmed, it would be the largest asteroid impact on record. <h2>The memory of the impact is hidden in the ground</h2>One would think finding the world's largest asteroid impact should be fairly easy. But the reality is very different. It is true that asteroid impacts <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-evidence-suggests-the-worlds-largest-known-asteroid-impact-structure-is-buried-deep-in-southeast-australia-209593">create massive geological structures</a>.The force of the impact is so strong it can bend the Earth's crust, creating ripples similar to those a rock makes when hitting a pond, Andrew Glickson, a paleo-geophysicist from the Australian Geological Survey Organization, said in a post in The Conversation August 10. But if this impact happened, hundreds of millions of years of erosions would have erased most of the visible features of the event. Still, scientists can look for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-struck-perfect-angle-to-doom-dinosaurs-study-2020-5">telltale signs</a> left behind, with a little patience, Glickson said.Five years of ground surveys around the area of Deniquilin have uncovered "radial faults," circular fractures that radiate from a central structure, Glickson and his colleague Tony Yeates said in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195122002487?via%3Dihub">a peer-reviewed paper</a> published last year.These are accompanied by "small magnetic anomalies" around the center point. These were likely caused by molten rock oozing into the peaks and troughs left behind by the impact. Glickson said this so-called Deniliquin structure "spans up to 520 kilometers in diameter" or about 300 miles.That would be an impact bigger than any other documented on Earth. That includes the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-deepest-gold-mine-is-in-south-africa-2016-12?">Vredefort impact</a> structure in South Africa, which is thought to have been between 100 and 200 miles wide, and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/chicxulub-asteroid-impact-triggered-underwater-volcanic-eruptions-2018-2">Chicxulub impact</a>, about 90 miles across, which scientists believed triggered the mass extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs. To confirm the finding, the scientists will aim to get physical evidence from the site itself. "For proof of impact, we'll need to collect physical evidence of shock, which can only come from drilling deep into the structure," said Glickson in the post. <h2>The asteroid may have caused one of Earth's mass extinctions</h2>Before the scientists can drill into the site, it will be difficult to know when exactly this asteroid would have hit.Glickson believes the impact happened when Australia was still part of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-continents-crystals-plate-tectonics-2017-1">Gondwana,</a> a supercontinent that broke off from Pangea and later turned into South America, Africa, Arabia, Madagascar, India, Australia, and Antarctica.That would mean it would be at least 180 million years old, probably more. "Specifically, I think it may have triggered what's called the Hirnantian glaciation stage, which lasted between 445.2 and 443.8 million years ago," Glickson said in the post. This <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-6th-mass-extinction-2019-3">mass extinction event</a> was caused by an ice age that wiped out <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825209001652">85% of the planet's species</a>, 350 million years before the dinosaurs were wiped out, Glickson said. But the impact could be even older. Glickson said he could see it date back up to 514 million years.

A mystery 300-mile wide formation lurking beneath Australia may be the largest asteroid impact crater on Earth

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Good morning. JD Vance and Tim Walz displayed their best versions of Midwest Nice last night as they raced to appeal to moderate voters, BI's Brent D. Griffiths writes. In what was largely a civil discussion, the pair didn't trade serious blows ... <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://l.businessinsider.com/a/click?_t=c8e10479a20f45bba5aad6c5f6fbb009&amp;_m=J2V25MjXJsEukwEdJIqu5ugxEbEKt6oTd&amp;_e=LGLcfOvG4iKBFawBIOcmJ23s3xLTYBTL4h8-DroVXNYgQ68H5rj6rv_Rywv4dSKExCduRGyldWH9P-pHoN66o5lTRoD61e98MEsGQ5OmJe6fQIDCy4tHdUcJHHTfIlxC_ZaqHWn8V4QI8OUX9G6Whr077odpUzsd3Lao9MlHsNulyJAwmRuP1pqis84zbzbd1b8gtmoRaEpCwBvsLzKBsbkMrHFyKAq8D_FbJopV7OIj3sD9G4y_UggRHkbMPMP1cU4V8sMJpTmvITwns7VUjNV3DZyCPoDPToHtuTF2KgUoFhp28V8lQLcNRHNcbtYt4pGZKD2g2MOd7oOc_brQA8U9hf61spGYuaB18kAOznJNWeox7gvO1WOACrvRBwo3lGXWjLQtzaSjy6_dFdGrkA%3D%3D">until the end</a>.In today's big story, the market reacts to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-attacks-israel-with-missiles-after-hezbollah-leader-killing-2024-10">escalating situation between Israel and Iran</a>.What's on deck:<ul><li>Markets: China's stimulus package was a good start, but <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-outlook-stimulus-fiscal-consumer-support-deflation-stephen-roach-2024-10">there's more work to be done</a>.</li><li>Tech: Amazon's "safer than ChatGPT" <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cedric-safer-ai-chatbot-employees-2024-9">chatbot for employees</a>.</li><li>Business: High interest rates and hidden fees mean it's a particularly <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-credit-card-interest-rates-americans-debt-bills-fees-spending-2024-10">bad time to be carrying credit-card debt</a>.</li></ul>But first, a trifecta of economic trouble.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today">sign up here.</a><h3 id="7fa5f018-5b05-4a37-a8dc-d3f89138bcb3">The big story</h3><h2 id="5fd547b9-ec52-41fc-8e08-4f4b27dd8097">An attack, a strike, a hurricane</h2><div type="image" title="Iran's ballistic missile attack on Israel" height="1333" width="2000" msid="113879619" hostid="261" sizebytes="135984"></div>A Middle East conflict escalates. A dockworkers strike begins. A hurricane's devastation continues.In a word: Chaos.In less than a week, three crises have complicated the path forward for the US economy just as things seemed to be back on track.Let's start in the Middle East, where Iran launched <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/iran-attacks-israel-with-missiles-after-hezbollah-leader-killing-2024-10">a massive missile attack</a> on Israel.The strike, which reportedly included nearly 200 missiles, came after the Israeli military killed Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. It appears to have largely been an "ineffective" attack; as was the case earlier this year, US Navy warships <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-navy-warships-downed-iranian-missiles-massive-attack-on-israel-2024-10">shot down multiple Iranian missiles</a>.Geopolitical risks were already a top-of-mind concern for investors, particularly after last year's October 7 attacks in Israel. But <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/stock-market-today-israel-iran-missiles-gold-oil-crude-bonds-2024-10">markets reacted sharply</a> to reports of Iran's imminent attack, with major indices dropping and safe-haven assets like gold climbing.Meanwhile, oil prices surged, a U-turn from a recent slump following reports Saudi Arabia would ramp up supply.Back in the States, a dockworkers strike could <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/port-strike-could-wreck-us-economy-with-price-increases-scarcity-2024-10">upend an economy</a> finally on the mend.Tuesday morning marked the start of a dockworkers strike that will shutter dozens of US ports that handle about half of all US ocean imports. Depending on who you ask, the shutdown's daily economic cost could be anywhere from $540 million to upwards of $4 billion and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dockworkers-port-strike-ila-impacts-2024-10">has plenty of knock-on effects</a>.The tipping point appears to be the two-week mark. If the strike extends beyond that, the impact gets exponentially worse. Should things continue past a month, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/port-strike-impact-costs-us-economy-recession-outlook-shipping-delay-2024-10">the economy could slip into a recession</a>, according to one researcher.The entire saga is also set to crown <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/us-port-strike-biggest-stock-market-winners-losers-investing-analysis-2024-10">winners (air cargo businesses) and losers (shipping container companies)</a> in the market as companies work to find alternate supply-chain routes.It's all happening while the Southeast grapples with the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-helene-destroyed-safe-haven-maples-coffee-shop-north-carolina-2024-10">wreckage left by Hurricane Helene</a>, which killed more than 100 people. Some roads and highways are impassable or difficult to navigate, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-damage-port-strike-could-hurt-us-economy-2024-9">creating more supply-chain issues</a>.As terrifying as this is for an economy trying to hit its stride, it's not hopeless. The Iranian attack was largely thwarted, and the dockworkers strike could be short-lived.But it's a reminder of the fine line the economy is balancing as it tries to finally nail its soft landing.<h3 id="77f31a4c-8462-4e3d-a71f-838cb79493fb">News brief</h3><h2 id="1fcd294b-3f53-425f-9f20-4093e8623b59">Top headlines</h2><ul><li>A top US security official says America will make sure Iran faces '<a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-warns-severe-consequences-for-iran-after-attack-on-israel-2024-10">severe consequences</a>' for escalating its conflict with Israel.</li><li>The biggest moments from JD Vance's and Tim Walz's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vance-walz-vp-vice-presidential-debate-highlights-2024-10">first and only faceoff</a>.</li><li>Exclusive: Health startup Roon is <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/health-startup-roon-raising-funding-sequoia-2024-10">raising $15 million from Sequoia to replace 'Dr. Google.'</a></li><li>This iPhone feature is 'saving lives' <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-satellite-message-feature-saving-lives-during-hurricane-helene-2024-10">during Hurricane Helene aftermath</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="8120060b-ae66-48dc-b149-f0489a30ffa2">3 things in markets</h2><div type="image" title="A graph/plug trending upwards toward electrical plug" height="1500" width="2000" msid="113879626" hostid="261" sizebytes="93554"></div><ol><li>A spike in electric demand will send these energy stocks surging. Power consumption is on the rise in the US, thanks to everything from AI to the electrification of transportation. Bank of America <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/energy-stocks-to-buy-utility-artificial-intelligence-data-center-bofa-2024-9">identified five sleepy utility stocks</a>, like Sempra and Northwestern Energy, that stand to benefit.</li><li>A Bridgewater vet is launching his own fund. Paul Podolsky, who spent 15 years at Bridgewater Associates, plans to go live with Kate Capital on November 1. The $200 million fund <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-former-bridgewater-leader-paul-podolsky-new-fund-kate-capital-2024-10">will maintain between 50 and 60 positions across the globe</a>.</li><li>China needs a two-step to avoid deflation. Chinese markets have been riding high thanks to Beijing's recent stimulus efforts, but the country risks falling into a deflationary lull, a Yale economist warned. It now needs <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-outlook-stimulus-fiscal-consumer-support-deflation-stephen-roach-2024-10">fiscal stimulus and structural reform</a> to stave off that fate.</li></ol><h2 id="f4b54806-7f81-450c-ba32-92560d4fae9b">3 things in tech</h2><div type="image" title="Photo illustration of Elon Musk next to a Tesla factory" height="500" width="1000" msid="113879617" hostid="261" sizebytes="57746"></div><ol><li>Musk &amp; Co. could get their mojo back. Wall Street <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-q3-deliveries-preview-wall-street-expects-beat-mojo-returns-2024-9">expects some good news for Tesla</a> ahead of its robotaxi reveal on October 10: Q3 vehicle deliveries exceeding expectations. That's thanks in part to strong demand in China.</li><li>One fix could save Google's ad biz. Things have been looking grim for the search giant ever since the DOJ and 17 state attorneys general launched an antitrust suit against its ad business. But one research firm argues Google could save it by converting it to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/google-adtech-should-be-spun-off-b-corp-arete-analysts-2024-9">a spin-off business worth $150 billion</a>.</li><li>Meet Cedric, Amazon's AI chatbot that's SFW. According to internal documents obtained by BI, Amazon workers are encouraged to use the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cedric-safer-ai-chatbot-employees-2024-9">new internal chatbot that's "safer than ChatGPT."</a> Cedric's launch is aimed at boosting employee productivity and job satisfaction, the documents state.</li></ol><h2 id="9260fa45-d397-4b3c-b4f8-4bb193976216">3 things in business</h2><div type="image" title="Doormat with Airbnb logo and cash." height="455" width="910" msid="113879622" hostid="261" sizebytes="52802"></div><ol><li>Hey Airbnb, welcome to my crib. Gen Z has a new side hustle: Airbnb superhosting. On TikTok and Instagram, precocious twenty-somethings not-so-humbly brag about subletting their rentals, and promise to show you how to get rich like them. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-new-side-hustle-getting-rich-airbnb-super-hosts-2024-10">Critics — and in some cases, the law — be damned</a>.</li><li>Your credit card is overcharging you. It's easy for consumers to be lured in by credit-card companies' glitzy rewards and points. But with the average credit-card interest rate now over 21% — and the hidden fees to boot — card issuers have the power to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-credit-card-interest-rates-americans-debt-bills-fees-spending-2024-10">exploit consumers like never before</a>.</li><li>The real reason Amazon ordered RTO. Amazon's RTO mandate might be a move to cut headcount without the consequences of formal layoffs, Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom told BI. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-return-to-office-backdoor-layoffs-rto-nick-bloom-2024-10">It's a "backdoor layoff" strategy</a> that could cut costs but risks harming areas like AI, where recruiting top talent is tough.</li></ol><h2 id="1ad7b482-3f4b-44b4-81b6-a864aa386478">In other news</h2><ul><li>New York mag's Olivia Nuzzi <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/olivia-nuzzi-accuses-ex-fiance-blackmail-amid-rfk-jr-scandal-2024-10">accuses her ex-fiancé of blackmail</a> amid the RFK Jr. scandal.</li><li>DirecTV's CEO says its Dish acquisition 'isn't so much about bullying' media giants — <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/directv-dish-deal-cable-bundle-pay-tv-disney-cord-cutting-2024-10">but it's definitely about playing hardball</a>.</li><li>Not hearing back on job applications? Some career consultants suggest <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/job-applications-send-dm-ceo-hiring-director-executives-advice-2024-10">a bold new tactic</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="9f5d80ac-3466-429f-a50a-2ffbb70c65ff">What's happening today</h2><ul><li>New York City mayor Eric Adams appears in court on charges of bribery and fraud.</li><li>G7 interior ministers meet.</li><li>Earth's temporary "micro moon" is visible.</li></ul>The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.

The US economy teeters after it's hit by a triple threat: Middle East escalation, port closures, and Hurricane Helene

<ul class="summary-list"><li>This post originally appeared in the Insider Today newsletter.</li></ul>Happy Saturday! After deciding to move to Bali on a cold NYC day, one couple is selling their tropical escape. See <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-x-couple-builds-family-home-bali-sell-empty-nester-2024-6">inside their rustic-luxury villa</a> on the market for $1.89 million.On the agenda:<ul><li>Travel agents <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-agents-back-gen-z-millennials-vacation-planning-overseas-resorts-2024-6">are so back</a>.</li><li>Inside <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-fastest-growing-city-in-the-us-celina-texas-2024-6">America's fastest-growing city</a>.</li><li>Our guide to <a target="_blank" href="https://businessinsider.com/which-cruise-lines-should-i-choose-skip-expert-2024/">finding the right cruise line</a>.</li><li>The best foods to <a target="_blank" href="https://businessinsider.com/nutritional-psychiatrist-shares-foods-she-buys-for-healthy-brain-2024-6">keep your brain healthy</a>.</li></ul>But first: A chat with "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" star <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rob-mcelhenney-always-sunny-philadelphia-wrexham-wife-learning-disability-2024-6">Rob McElhenney</a>.If this was forwarded to you, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/subscription/newsletter/insider-today-sunday-edition">sign up here</a>. Download Insider's app <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/app">here.</a><h3 id="8eb0ae57-d606-4303-8d95-a1ad09f23d1e">This week's dispatch</h3><div type="image" title="Rob McElhenney in three different photographs against a grey-colored background." height="1500" width="2000" msid="111038678" hostid="261" sizebytes="248832"></div><h2 id="0fa1543d-17c8-4e14-a47c-74f3d334bbd7">Rob McElhenney's many hats</h2>Rob McElhenney breezed into a sun-lit photoshoot studio in Culver City, Los Angeles. He was running behind schedule, but he was ready.Looking at McElhenney on set while we shot <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rob-mcelhenney-always-sunny-philadelphia-wrexham-wife-learning-disability-2024-6">Business Insider's latest digital cover story</a>, you would've never guessed his morning started with a flat tire. McElhenney was charming, engaged, and curious.It's those qualities that have turned the actor into a multihyphenate. Not only is he the creator of "Always Sunny," but he also co-owns Wrexham AFC, the oldest English football club in Wales. His ownership of the team is documented on his other hit show, "Welcome to Wrexham," which recently ended its third season.McElhenny now has his sights set on something bigger, and he lays out his ambitious new plan in our profile, written by Samantha Rollins and Lucia Moses.His "Wrexham" costar and co-owner, Ryan Reynolds, says McElhenney is the one to bet on."If you need to overcome a problem or manifest a miracle, tell Rob it's impossible," he told BI.<h2 id="c7fbac82-b4b9-4b0b-8490-166f1ca01fc2">Travel agents are back</h2>Following the pandemic-era lockdowns, people are hungry for travel. Millennials and Gen Zers in particular are fueling a travel boom — but they don't want to plan their own trips.Instead of booking online themselves, 38% of Gen Z and millennial respondents said they preferred using a travel agent. The interest in having someone else plan a vacation is returning travel agents to their '90s glory.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/travel-agents-back-gen-z-millennials-vacation-planning-overseas-resorts-2024-6">How travel agents came roaring back</a>.<div type="image" title="Houston, Texas" height="1333" width="2000" msid="111038681" hostid="261" sizebytes="391760"></div><h2 id="ece71f28-aabd-44ef-bfd3-9895921b0a5d">Everyone's moving to Texas</h2>Movers from all corners of the US are flocking to Celina, Texas, a small town about 41 miles north of Dallas. You won't find a bustling shopping mall in Celina, but it does have one commodity in abundance: newly built-homes.Major cities in Texas have long spearheaded the state's rampant population growth, but smaller, lesser-known spots like Celina are now taking the lead. That's partly because they offer what many big cities can't: low costs, a chill lifestyle, and homes.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-fastest-growing-city-in-the-us-celina-texas-2024-6">Inside America's fastest growing city</a>.<div type="image" title="cruise ship surrounded by various items" height="750" width="1000" msid="111038684" hostid="261" sizebytes="72380"></div><h2 id="576019da-c1b6-4634-ba0d-1b1417a256b1">The right cruise for you</h2>Thinking of booking a cruise? It's important to remember that not all cruises are created equal.Each cruise line has amenities, entertainment, and experiences tailored to specific cruisers. For example: Carnival is good for families, while Cunard is a high-end option for mature travelers.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/which-cruise-lines-should-i-choose-skip-expert-2024">An avid cruiser explains</a>.Also read:<ul><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-rooms-near-stairs-buffet-worth-it-frequent-cruiser-2024-6">I always book rooms near staircases on cruises. If you pick the right part of the ship, your vacation will be way better</a>.</li></ul><div type="image" title="Box of assorted tropical fruit from Miami Fruit." height="900" width="1200" msid="111038687" hostid="261" sizebytes="119470"></div><h2 id="486600ad-e431-4c52-8724-eef71c16f324">Food for thought (literally)</h2>According to Dr. Uma Naidoo, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and professional chef, you can eat your way to a younger, healthier brain.Naidoo told BI that what you eat can significantly boost your brain power and mood. She also shared the seven foods for a healthy brain — and gut — that are always on her grocery list.<a target="_blank" href="https://businessinsider.com/nutritional-psychiatrist-shares-foods-she-buys-for-healthy-brain-2024-6">See all the foods that make her list</a>.<div type="image" title="Bridgerton still" height="1500" width="2000" msid="111038685" hostid="261" sizebytes="149066"></div><h2 id="8f2ddae5-969a-4a7d-ad4c-d60b9c277fbf">What we're watching this weekend</h2>"House of the Dragon": Season 2 of HBO's "Game of Thrones" prequel premieres Sunday."Bridgerton": Netflix's hit romantic drama released the (extremely steamy) second half of its third season."Monkey Man": Dev Patel's directorial debut, an action thriller about an underground street fighter, is now streaming.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-tv-shows-movies-streaming-netflix-max-hulu-june-14-24">See the full list</a><h2 id="425d8c55-3b60-434f-a06d-eecc06bd4d66">Deals we love</h2><ul><li>Designer swimwear sale: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/summersalt-annual-sale-2024-6">Summersalt is holding a 30% off sale</a> featuring its stylish and supportive one-pieces, bikinis, and more.Save on concerts and live events: Get $20 off tickets to your next music festival, concert, or sporting event with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/save-20-on-vivid-seats-tickets-to-ufc-303-the-eras-tour-and-more-with-our-exclusive-coupon-code-2024-6">our exclusive discount from Vivid Seats</a>.These shoes are made for walking: And that's just what we did. More than 50 miles later, here are the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/style/best-walking-shoes-for-women">top 10 walking shoes for women</a>.</li></ul><h2 id="d5e8d88d-bdb5-4f92-8cfe-93e138292bc1">More of this week's top reads:</h2><ul><li>The 48 best gifts you can <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/gifts/best-fathers-day-gifts">still give Dad this Father's Day</a>.</li><li>This one cheap, simple amenity <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/every-hotel-room-should-have-amenity-power-outlet-travel-adapter-2024-6">should be in every hotel room</a>.</li><li>What it's like growing up in Lithuania, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-lithuania-happiest-country-young-people-from-local-2024-6/">the happiest place on Earth for people under 30</a>.</li><li>I don't like dogs, and<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dont-like-dogs-messed-up-dating-life-2024-6"> it's messing up my dating life</a>.</li><li>My group of 12 paid $35,000 for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/group-inclusive-villa-worth-it-mexico-four-seasons-tamarindo-review-2024-6">an all-inclusive week in a huge villa</a>.</li><li>What to do if a fellow airplane passenger <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-to-say-someone-wants-to-switch-seats-on-plane-2024-6">insists you switch seats</a>.</li><li>We're having two weddings so <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/having-two-weddings-lgbtq-guests-florida-dont-feel-safe-2024-6">our queer friends don't have to go to Florida</a>.</li><li>Review: Staying at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rome-cavalieri-waldorf-astoria-review-with-kid-worth-it-2024-6">Waldorf Astoria in Rome</a>.</li><li>Inside a 5-star hotel in <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jw-marriott-hotel-panama-city-richest-neighborhood-punta-pacifica-2024-6">Panama City's richest neighborhood</a>.The Insider Today team: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/joi-marie-mckenzie">Joi-Marie McKenzie</a>, editor-in-chief, in New York. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/jordan-parker-erb">Jordan Parker Erb</a>, editor, in New York. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/dan-defrancesco">Dan DeFrancesco</a>, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/lisa-ryan">Lisa Ryan</a>, executive editor, in New York. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London.</li></ul>

Insider Today: Travel agents are back

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/obama-protect-earth-colonizing-mars-starship-launch-musk-bezos-space-2024-3">Barack Obama</a> recently chastized Silicon Valley tycoons looking at space exploration to save humanity. </li><li>Focussing on saving Earth is the best bet for now, the former president said. </li></ul>Barack Obama and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-life-career-education">Jeff Bezos</a> are at loggerheads on how ambitious goalposts to colonize the solar system will affect Earth's future.Speaking recently, the former US president chastized Silicon Valley tycoons for investing in projects with an aim to send humans to live off-world.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>, for example, launched his aerospace company <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a> with about a $100 million investment of his personal funds. And Jeff Bezos has likely invested between $7.5 billion and $20 billion in his own aerospace company, Blue Origin. "I would rather us invest in taking care of this planet here," said Obama at the opening of the 2024 POwR.Earth Summit in Paris last week."When I hear some of the people talk about the plan to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-space-stations-elon-musk-mars-colonization-lex-fridman-2023-12">colonize Mars</a> because the Earth environment may become so degraded that it becomes unliveable, I look at them like, what are you talking about?" Obama said.Bezos, on the other hand, has said that going to space is the best way to continue humanity's growth while preserving the planet's natural resources."In almost every way, life is better for almost everyone today than it was, say, 50 years ago or 100 years ago," said Bezos in <a target="_blank" href="https://lexfridman.com/jeff-bezos-transcript/">an interview</a> with podcaster Lex Fridman in December. Bezos did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Obama's point of view.Bezos cited literacy, poverty, and infant mortality rates as examples of humanity's progress. But humanity's progress is to the detriment of planet Earth, he said."There's one thing that is moving backwards, and it's the natural world," Bezos told Fridman. "We have traded some of that pristine beauty for all of these other gifts that we have as an advanced society. And we can have both, but to do that, we have to go to space."The billionaire, who co-founded <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-new-glenn-move-faster-2023-12">Blue Origin</a>, a space exploration company that aims to launch its New Glenn mega-rocket on its maiden voyage by the third quarter of this year, laid out his vision for the future of a space-conquering people in his interview with Fridman.Unlike Elon Musk, who sees <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-plan-colonize-mars-plan-unrealistic-scientists-explain-2023-10">humans colonizing Mars</a> as their next venture, Bezos sees more potential in space stations.Per his plans, humans would choose whether to live on Earth or in large space stations near Earth. Resources needed for humanity's expansion could be drawn from the asteroid belt and near-Earth objects, protecting what remains on Earth.Humans living near Earth could then opt to visit the planet on holiday in the "same way that you might go to Yellowstone National Park for vacation," he said."I would love to see a trillion humans living in the solar system. If we had a trillion humans, we would have, at any given time, 1,000 Mozarts and 1,000 Einsteins," he said.

Barack Obama says Jeff Bezos should worry about Earth before space. But Bezos says going to space is how you save Earth.      

<ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.insider.com/adam-driver-did-not-go-house-of-gucci-wrap-party-2022-1">Adam Driver</a> asked NASA how it would save Earth from an incoming asteroid.</li><li>No <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-dart-mission-cant-protect-earth-without-surveilling-asteroids-2022-9">city-killer asteroids</a> are known to be <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planet-killer-asteroid-could-threaten-earth-in-a-few-millennia-2022-10">a threat to Earth</a>, but NASA hasn't catalogued all of them.</li></ul><a href="https://www.insider.com/adam-driver-said-son-hates-movies-wont-watch-new-film-2023-3">Adam Driver</a> sat down with NASA to talk about avoiding an asteroid apocalypse.The actor is launching a new film, called "65," where he plays a space pilot who crash-lands on Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago, then discovers the approach of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dinosaur-fossil-from-day-extinction-asteroid-hit-earth-scientists-claim-2022-4">the asteroid which drove dinosaurs' extinction</a>."What if we found out that an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/asteroid-nasa-dart-impacted-looks-like-comet-hubble-photo-reveals-2022-10">asteroid</a> like this were going to hit our planet today?" Driver asked in a video NASA posted last week.Don't worry about such a large asteroid — an extinction-level space rock — <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/comet-heading-earth-bright-outshine-stars-scientists-c-2023-a32023-3">approaching Earth</a> anytime soon, NASA astronomer Kelly Fast was quick to clarify."Those large ones, most of them have been found. They're easier to spot. There are fewer of them," Fast, who manages NASA's near-Earth object observations, said in the video. "But there are asteroids still left to be found that aren't that large, but still are of a size that could do damage should they impact."Specifically, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-advances-asteroid-tracking-space-telescope-after-years-of-limbo-2021-6">NASA is on the hunt for asteroids</a> larger than 140 meters (460 feet) wide. Those are big enough to flatten a city. Congress had mandated that NASA identify and track 90% of those city-killers, to ensure their orbits aren't taking them on a collision course with Earth."If an asteroid were discovered that were going to impact Earth, NASA's role would be to inform planning, to give information about the asteroid, about where the impact would happen, about what the effects might be," Fast said.The agency also has the ability to intervene and push such an asteroid away from our planet. Three NASA missions are filling the planetary-defense toolbelt.<h2>NASA can slam an asteroid with a spacecraft — and it already did</h2><div type="image" title="sequence of images showing asteroid from a distance then close up then video cutting out" height="1000" width="2000" msid="98951923" hostid="261" sizebytes="58056"></div>Driver's next question was about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-crashes-dart-spacecraft-into-asteroid-to-test-planetary-defense-2022-9">NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), which slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid</a> called Dimorphos last year, to see if that push could change its orbit around a larger asteroid.It was a test of NASA's simplest option for a deadly asteroid: With enough years' notice, a probe could give the space rock enough of a nudge to change its orbit around the sun and take it off its collision course with Earth.<div type="image" title="LICIACube image showing the aftermath of the DART impact." height="1080" width="1080" msid="98951925" hostid="261" sizebytes="12896"></div>"Would that work? Could that be an effective, uh, means of saving the planet from an asteroid?" Driver asked.It worked when DART did it. The spacecraft's impact altered Dimorphos's orbit by 33 minutes, pushing it closer to its parent asteroid.<div type="image" title="Infographic showing the effect of DART spacecraft impact on the orbit of asteroid Dimorphos" height="1520" width="2600" msid="98951926" hostid="261" sizebytes="109614"></div>Other options that scientists have pitched include shooting the asteroid with lasers, or launching a nuclear bomb at it. NASA hasn't tried either of those approaches."DART showed that we do have technology for diverting an asteroid in space, but there is still a lot left to be done," Fast said.<h2>NASA is studying and tracking down near-Earth asteroids</h2>Fast added that NASA's approach to any asteroid would depend on the asteroid's size and composition.Another NASA mission, called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-osiris-rex-asteroid-spacecraft-stored-pounds-of-rock-2020-10">Osiris-Rex, landed on the surface of an asteroid</a> in 2020 and scooped up its rocky space dust.<div type="image" title="osiris rex side by side skitch" height="1500" width="2000" msid="98951927" hostid="261" sizebytes="178566"></div>Those samples are set to return to Earth later this year, and they'll help scientists understand the composition of space rocks, and inform future study of any hazardous asteroids that may be discovered.The third leg of NASA's asteroid-defense plan is a mission that Driver didn't ask about. It's a space telescope specifically designed for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-advances-asteroid-tracking-space-telescope-after-years-of-limbo-2021-6">tracking down city-killer asteroids</a>. It's called the Near-Earth Object Surveyor, or NEO Surveyor.That mission would help NASA fulfill its Congressional mandate to catalogue those asteroids. That's crucial, because <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-asteroid-simulation-reveals-need-years-of-warning-2021-5">NASA has to discover any incoming asteroid years before it impacts Earth</a>, so the agency has enough time to study it and make a plan.<div type="image" title="neocam asteroid hunter spacecraft discovery nasa jpl caltech" height="1476" width="1968" msid="98951928" hostid="261" sizebytes="169106"></div>The infrared telescope NEO Surveyor is currently in development, planned for launch in 2026.Even though Driver and Fast didn't discuss that mission, the actor seemed impressed with NASA's efforts."Thank you for your work in keeping the planet safe from world-ending asteroids plummeting into our planet," Driver said.

You Searched For "asteroids hitting earth today" and got 10 results

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NASA explains how it would alert the public of an apocalyptic asteroid strike

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Insider Today: Travel agents are back

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Barack Obama says Jeff Bezos should worry about Earth before space. But Bezos says going to space is how you save Earth.

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