CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE: GIANT HUNK OF SPACE ROCK THREATENS EARTH, OR MAYBE NOT

Science reminds us of things we'd rather not think about, like the GOP's odds of reclaiming the White House.

Asteroid 1997 XF11 won't be colliding with Earth anytime soon, after all.

Whew!

Astronomer Brian Marsden announced last Wednesday that the asteroid would come within 30,000 miles of the Earth's center during the closest point of its orbit in 2028.

That meant a "small" chance the asteroid might actually smash into the globe, Marsden said.

But two NASA astronomers said the next day that their data showed the asteroid will only get within 600,000 miles of our planet that year.

That's still pretty close for an object that's approximately a mile in diameter.

Donald Yeomans and Paul Chodas studied eight-year-old pictures of the heavens from the Palomar Observatory and were able to track the asteroid's orbit from the images.

Both Marsden's original prediction and the rebuttal were sent as "urgent" bulletins by the Associated Press.

There was a time when "urgent" dispatches from the Associated Press meant a president had been impeached or Elvis had been sighted.

Now I think it means the story's on CNN.

Or maybe the AP just wanted to make sure we all had time to prepare for the pending disaster.

You want to make sure your affairs are in order before the planet is demolished by a giant flying hunk of rock.

It says so right in the fine print of your life insurance policy, even though you're probably not covered in the event of an asteroid strike.

Asteroids are nothing to joke about.

Scientists speculate an asteroid measuring 6 to 10 miles in diameter hit Earth 65 million years ago and wiped out three-quarters of the existing species, including the dinosaurs.

And there's always a risk of the Earth being hammered with another asteroid.

It's one of those disasters you know nothing could survive but giant ferns, cockroaches and the Spice Girls.

Hey, if they can live down that movie, they can survive anything.

In addition to explaining the arcane theories behind every day occurrences, science has a wonderful knack for reminding us of things we'd really rather not think about.

Like the probability that the earth will once again get smacked by an asteroid or a major earthquake will once again strike along the New Madrid Fault or a Republican will once again serve in the White House.

When reality rears its ugly head, science is there to tell us why and remind us to be prepared.

Not that there's much we can do to prevent the asteroid strike or the earthquake.

The Republicans, on the other hand...

Peggy O'Farrell is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.