New Study Shows Why You Should Care About Asteroid Attacks

More than 26 nuclear-sized explosions have transpired in the Earth's atmosphere since 2000 — all of them caused by asteroids

The B612 Foundation, a California-based asteroid-hunting group (it's a real thing), released the news on Earth Day as part of a presentation at the Seattle Museum.

The findings come from the Nuclear Ban Treaty Organization, which uses monitors stationed around the world to detect nuclear detonations. They picked up the two dozen-plus explosions across the globe, which ranged in energy from one to 600 kilotons, between 2000 and 2013

The majority of the rocks exploded in the atmosphere at too high of an altitude to do any damage — any surviving chunks fizzled into dust or small pebbles by the time they reached the surface. Still, both organizations argue, it's reason enough to pay more attention to what's raining down from the stars Read more...