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There's nothing like the thought an asteroid hurtling toward our planet on a trajectory that would end life as we know it to remind us that like it or not we are all in this together.
NASA is as close to a global defense department as we've got and it has recently begun tracking thousands of space objects that at least theoretically have the potential to knock us out for the count. So that is a start -- keeping track.
And NASA has identified 27,000 but as the article documents we have no agency that is responsible for knocking any one of those asteroids off its path of destruction should it target earth, although there is the promising-sounding Planetary Defense Coordination Office buried deep within NASA.
Accordingly, there are those who worry this effort may be too little too late. According to the article:
* “There are three million asteroids and we have not a freaking clue where they are and they are flying around us,” said Danica Remy, president of the B612 Foundation, which is building a database to track near-Earth objects. “We’ve barely made a dent.”
* Concerned Chinese government scientists published a paper this month proposing an “assembled kinetic impactor” delivered by missile to defend against what they call a “major threat to all life on Earth.”
* The Asteroid Discovery Analysis and Mapping program, a venture between the B612 Foundation, Google and Analytical Graphics Inc., is constructing a “Google Maps for space” to track near-Earth asteroids. That should prove helpful.
* Rusty Schweickart, a former Apollo astronaut who co-founded the B612 Foundation and has advocated for a greater role for the United Nations, recently outlined how “the political aspects of the whole issue of planetary defense are very serious.”
Schweickart was referring to the recent experiences we have had with the Covid and all of the divisiveness and disinformation that has arisen as a result of the pandemic. That arguably can raise reasonable doubt about our collective ability to prepare for the much greater existential threat of an asteroid collision.
Others will point to climate change as a much more tangible and immediate threat than asteroids but the same question holds: How can a planet filled up with arguing tribes unite in time to find a common solution?
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I was pleasantly surprised recently when I wrote about Taylor Swift's hit record and it turned out that lots of people are as interested in pop music as I am. Sometimes, the ebb and flow of the news puts all of us in such a serious mood that we might overlook the sweeter side of life, the side that includes popular art of all forms.
If I were going to write another piece in that spirit it would probably be about Adele's new album "30" -- especially her song "Easy On Me." I love the soaring way she sings the title line -- it's comfort food for a love addict. No one can reach further into the emotional stratosphere with her own voice than Adele.
In any event it's a good week for pop music lovers, regardless of the mayhem in the world around us. If you haven't listened to Adele lately, check her out.
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SUNDAY HEADLINES:
* Whose job is it to prevent Armageddon? -- Calls grow for a global planetary defense strategy as thousands of near-Earth asteroids are discovered each year. (Politico)
* U.S. ‘not as advanced’ as China and Russia on hypersonic tech, Space Force general warns (Politico)
* Afghanistan’s Opium Business Cranks Up as the Taliban Look the Other Way --With drought and international sanctions crippling the economy, farmers are planting more poppies and drug markets are open for business. (WSJ)
* For seniors using tech to age in place, surveillance can be the price of independence (WP)
* A Power Struggle Over Cobalt Rattles the Clean Energy Revolution -- The quest for Congo’s cobalt, which is vital for electric vehicles and the worldwide push against climate change, is caught in an international cycle of exploitation, greed and gamesmanship. (NYT)
* Amazon’s Failures to Protect Your Data (Reveal/CIR)
* Biden and aides tell allies he is running in 2024 amid growing Democratic fears (WP)
* Afghan Evacuees Could Wait Years for Chance to Reach U.S.--Albania, Chile and Uganda are among the nations that are temporarily sheltering evacuees seeking to come to America. (WSJ)
* COVID Sure Looks Seasonal Now -- After two years of pandemic waves, we’re finally learning whether the disease has a predictable schedule. (Atlantic)
* Dutch police detain dozens in a second night of COVID-19 rioting (Reuters)
* Chile on edge as voters lean to extremes ahead of election (Financial Times)
* Inside Fentanyl’s Mounting Death Toll: ‘This Is Poison’ -- While a rise in overdose deaths shows the devastating consequences of the opioid’s spread, less is understood about how the drug has proliferated. (NYT)
* Russia reports record daily coronavirus deaths (NHK)
* Covid: WHO says it is very worried about Europe surge (BBC)
* Malcolm X, Julius Jones and Britney: How documentaries are making an impact (WP)
* America’s Workers Are Leaving Jobs in Record Numbers -- U.S. workers handed in nearly 20 million resignations this spring and summer (WSJ)
* The Godmother of ‘Plant-Based’ Living -- Frances Moore Lappé, the author of “Diet for a Small Planet,” which was published 50 years ago and spurred a movement toward vegetarianism, looks back on her legacy. (NYT)
* People are talking about Web3. Is it the Internet of the future or just a buzzword?
* One in three pregnant women may suffer depression (NHK)
* Attempted breach of Ohio county election network draws FBI and state scrutiny (WP)
* The Fraying of U.S.-China Relations (New Yorker)
* Thousands of Afghans evacuated during U.S. withdrawal awaiting resettlement (WP)
* App outage locks hundreds of Tesla drivers out of cars (Guardian)
* Peng Shuai reappears in Beijing, WTA not reassured (Reuters)
* Harry Potter 20th anniversary: The UK film locations (BBC)
* First wave of public servants awarded student loan forgiveness through temporary program (WP)
* Is smart tech the new domestic battle ground? (Guardian)
* Taylor Swift makes her lyrics feel like diary pages. We should read them as art. (WP)
* Optimistic Researchers Say There Still Time To Head Off Climate Change Before It Starts Killing Rich People (The Onion)
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"Easy on Me"
Song by Adele
Songwriters: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins / Gregory Allen Kurstin
That I've been washin' my hands in forever
I know there is hope in these waters
But I can't bring myself to swim
When I am drowning in this silence
Baby, let me in
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
When we are both so deeply stuck in our ways
You can't deny how hard I have tried
I changed who I was to put you both first
But now I give up
I was still a child
Didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
Had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
And the highest hopes
But I know right now
That probably doesn't even show
I was still a child
I didn't get the chance to
Feel the world around me
I had no time to choose
What I chose to do
So go easy on me
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