The end of it all
Hey folks, if you didn’t already know this, the universe is a dangerous place.
Life can seem pretty nice down here on Earth — well, sometimes. But our daily lives carry us away from contemplating that we’re orbiting one star in a gigantic disk of stars and gas, and our galaxy is but one of at least 100 billion others in this vast cosmos. And despite our human stories, fables, and fairy tales, the universe is indifferent about our existence. The universe just is — we don’t have protection from imaginary forces keeping us safe from real hazards.
In this month’s cover story (page 16), science journalist Randall Hyman carries us through a catalog of potential cosmic dangers. We all know the well-told story of 66 million years ago, when the K-Pg Impact ruined the weekend for the dinosaurs and allowed us to eventually rise up to our current level.
But varieties of other troubles could sweep in from beyond our fragile atmosphere. Asteroids and comets could (and will eventually) impact us again — just because we now know that no rock large enough to be a civilization killer orbits in near-Earth space does not mean that other big ones couldn’t approach from farther away.
You might remember a couple of years ago when the bright star Betelgeuse, in Orion, seemed a little unstable in its light output, and everyone started hoping that it might be about to go supernova? Well, don’t hold your breath, but it will within the next 100,000 years, give or take. At 550 light-years, it’s pretty close, and other elderly supergiants are in the neighborhood too. And, believe me, a dose of sterilizing radiation from a nearby supernova would put an abrupt end to people wishing for exploding stars.
What about a superflare from our own Sun? A neighborly visit of antimatter? A micro black hole whizzing past us? Lots of dangers are out there, if they stray too close.
Enjoy the story, and peer into the cosmos tonight with just a little different idea in mind about what awaits us.