Date the world is due to end: March 16, 2880

THE bad news is that an asteroid hurtling towards us at 38,000mph will destroy all life on Earth in an all-consuming armageddon far more devastating than a full-scale nuclear war.

But there is a chink of light: the end of the world isn’t set to happen until March 16, 2880 – according to scientists.

The asteroid identified as a potential planet-destroyer measures nearly a mile across and goes by the distinctly unsinister label (29075) 1950 DA.

Its collision with Earth would be a disaster equivalent to the simultaneous explosion of more than 4,000 H-bombs, each with the force of a million tons of TNT.

The object that could spell our demise is a rapidly rotating enormous pile of rubble held together by a rare attraction between matter known as the van der Waals force.

Researchers at the University of Tennessee warn that any attempt to blow up the asteroid could make matters worse, resulting in multiple objects colliding with Earth. Instead they suggest nudging it off its trajectory with a special spacecraft mission.

Offering further hope, the scientists say the collision with Earth is, at best, a 1-in-300 chance.