Saturday, February 6, 2010

What may happen in 2012 that wipes out the world?

Although it seems just odd and highly improbable that the world will suddenly wipe off the face of Earth . But the hype around it is really immense. I looked up some ways which can end the world in a jiffy.Take a look and see if you agree.
  • Asteroid Impact
asteroid



This is the first thing that comes to mind.They wiped out dinosaurs and can do it again. Rocks hit the Earth almost every day but none are big enough to cause any trouble.A huge one can still find its way to Earth although the chances are about 1 in 700,000. 

One more thing, since we are not dinosaurs, the chances are that we'll see one of them coming and destroy it or deflect it off path.
  • Supernova 
supernova



A supernova  is a stellar explosion. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months. During this short interval, a supernova can radiate as much energy as the Sun could emit over its entire life span. The explosion expels much or all of a star's material at a velocity of up to 30,000 km/s (a tenth the speed of light), driving a shock wave into the surrounding interstellar medium. This shock wave sweeps up an expanding shell of gas and dust called a supernova remnant.

This surely is something capable of the task at hand but again it has odds of about 1 in 10,000,000 . 
  • Gamma-ray Burst
Gamma-ray Burst



Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are flashes of gamma rays associated with extremely energetic explosions in distant galaxies. They are the most luminous electromagnetic events occurring in the universe. Bursts can last from milliseconds to nearly an hour, although a typical burst lasts a few seconds. The initial burst is usually followed by a longer-lived "afterglow" emitting at longer wavelengths.

Just a fact-Gamma rays are capable of penetrating a 30 cm thick sheet of metal.So, you can understand the danger.
Odds- 1 in 14,000,000.
  • Solar Flare
Solar Flare



A solar flare is a large explosion in the Sun's atmosphere that can release as much as 6 × 1025 joules of energy.

Odds- Almost nil
  • Death Of Sun
Death of Sun
The Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova. Instead, in about 5 billion years, it will enter a red giant phase, its outer layers expanding as the hydrogen fuel in the core is consumed and the core contracts and heats up. Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches around 100 million kelvins and will produce carbon, entering the asymptotic giant branch phase.
When this happens, Earth would be toasted but do we need to start worrying now?It isn't going anywhere for billions of years.
  • Black Hole
Black Hole
A black hole is a region of space from which nothing, including light, can escape. So what chance does our poor Earth stand.
But odds of one coming close enough are about 1 in 1,000,000,000,000.
  • Death of Universe
Earth is surely in danger if this happens, if all matter decays. Do I need to discuss the odds of this happening any time soon.
  • Alien Attack
Alien Attack
(Image Source-Crysis Warhead Screenshot)
The odds of this happening are probably better than some of the things discussed above. If aliens decide to attack us and give us severe nose bleeds we are in for a hard time.

1 comment:

Zobayer Hasan said...

ha ha ha, nice concept and facts..