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| MESSAGE TO ANTHROPOLOGISTS I reserved the copyright of this topic: Anthropology and Space Science, or Space Research. Additionally, I clearly informed everybody that my troubles are related to the mentioned corruption, including in Indonesia or Singapore. Asteroid Doomsday 'Risk' Evaporates after Media Fans Flames Wed Sep 3,11:50 AM ET By Robert Roy Britt Senior Science Writer, SPACE.com A newly discovered asteroid that generated doomsday headlines around the world yesterday morning was, by the end of the day, reduced to innocuous status as additional observations showed it would not hit Earth. Meanwhile, a whirlwind of media hype has astronomers and asteroid analysts arguing among themselves -- again -- about how they should disseminate information to the public. By one expert account, it was business as usual in the Near Earth Object (NEO) community, a loose-knit group of global researchers who find, catalogue, analyze and frequently spout off about asteroids that might one day slam into our planet. Virtual impact Asteroid 2003 QQ47 was discovered Aug. 24 by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research Program (LINEAR). Based on limited data collected during just a few days in late August, astronomers at first could not rule out the possibility that the giant rock would hit Earth. They gave it 1-in-909,000 odds of impact in 2014 and catalogued it as a 1 on the Torino hazard scale, a designation that merits "careful monitoring." Its size -- three-quarters of a mile wide (1.2 kilometers) -- explains some of the attention 2003 QQ47 received. Were a rock that big to hit Earth, the climatic consequences would be global and it would cause, at the least, widespread regional devastation. But only a zero rating is lower on the Torino scale, which goes as high as 10. Astronomers agree that a rating of 1 is not cause for public concern. Most experts do not believe the mainstream press should waste time reporting on such an object. Several other newfound asteroids receiving similar designation in recent years have fallen off the list within days, as more observations allowed for refined orbital projections. Nonetheless, a press release issued early Tuesday by the British government's Near Earth Object Information Center fueled widespread media coverage, including a wire story by Reuters that many asteroid experts saw as inflammatory. Headlines were over-the-top, most researchers felt. They included "Armageddon set for March 21, 2014" and "Earth is Doomed." By late yesterday, however, more observations allowed astronomers to conclude there was no chance for impact in 2014. Old news The incident was just one in a long series miscues involving astronomers, their public relations efforts, and a media eager to report potential doom. "It would appear that all the lessons learned from five years of our PR blunders, media gaffes and errors of judgement have been forgotten," said Benny Peiser, a social anthropologist and asteroid analyst at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. A handful of similar scares -- about one per year -- have evaporated in similar fashion as professional astronomers go about their business of finding and tracking potentially dangerous asteroids. The NEO information Center, whose press release ignited the latest fiery press coverage, issued a follow-up statement early this morning. "The NEO Information Center aims to keep the public and media informed of these kinds of issues, as they unfold rather than after the fact," the statement said. "This approach ensures we can promote understanding of the process of asteroid detection, tracking and risk assessment." Kevin Yates, project manager for the center, had said in the original press release that additional observations would likely eliminate reveal a reduced risk. Today, Yates said, "Openly sharing this sort of information, in a non-sensationalist way, should help to dispel the popular myth that governments and astronomers would keep the discovery of a dangerous asteroid secret. I hope the coverage of this story will give the general public more of a feel for how the assessment of risk evolves over time as more observations are made." The NEO Information Center's statement today concluded with a bizarre note of praise for the media that sounded defensive to others in the NEO community. "The NEO Information Center would like to thank the media for what, on the whole, has been responsible coverage of this story. Almost all of the press and broadcast coverage has included reference to our original statements that the probability of impact was very low at just 1-in-909 000, and that the Torino rating was likely to drop following further observations." "Undermining our integrity" Peiser did not share the center's rosy view for how the whole thing unfolded. He runs an electronic newsletter called CCNet, a forum for discussing the research and risks associated with NEOs, as well as the impact of media coverage on the public view of asteroid research and the credibility of the researchers. "I'm afraid that any attempt to justify an ill-timed and unnecessary media campaign doesn't bode well for the NEO community's efforts to avoid false asteroid alarms that only risk undermining our integrity," Peiser wrote in the latest edition of CCNet today. Peiser leveled this accusation at the center: "Crying wolf becomes official policy." The first and most notorious false asteroid alarm dates back to 1998. Then an astronomer went public with data showing that asteroid 1997 XF11 had a chance of hitting Earth in the year 2028. Once the asteroid was rendered harmless by more observations, a debate began as to if, when and how to release preliminary asteroid data to the media and the public. Though new agencies, institutions and programs have since been set up to better manage the situation, little has changes. A similar scare developed last summer, when British media hyped the potential danger of 2002 NT7. In that situation, astronomers were candid and vocal in their criticism of the British press. Like the return of Elvis One thing has changed of late: There is an increasing sense of sarcasm in the media with each new asteroid scare. Some reporters and editors are getting wise to the long odds -- or perhaps tired of having to report on them -- and doing more than just sensationalizing the data. One story yesterday made light of the initial chances of 2003 QQ47 hitting Earth. Sky News, a British publisher, said a bookmaker was taking bets on the prospect. A spokesman for William Hill bookmakers likened the 1-in-909,000 odds of doom to the chance that a manned expedition to Mars would arrive and discover the Loch Ness Monster there, or the equally probably scenario that Elvis Presley would reappear and marry Madonna (news - web sites). We now know that the latter two scenarios are far more likely than the world ending in 2014 due to an impact by asteroid 2003 QQ47. Miklos Fornai Journalist/Political Scientists NSW Sydney Australia press card : http://www.geocities.com/mc_webring/PressCard.gif BUFO Paranormal and UFO Radio ...2003 Copyright ...All Rights Reserved www.burlingtonnews.net |