SOCIAL STUDIES
Globe and Mail
March 30th 2007
A DAILY MISCELLANY OF INFORMATION BY MICHAEL KESTERTON
Dangers in space
Giant asteroids. "The risk that an asteroid capable of wiping out humanity will crash into Earth is minuscule, new calculations suggest, but the chances of a smaller one destroying a city or setting off a catastrophic tsunami remain unclear and may be higher than previous estimates," reports The Washington Post. NASA researchers have calculated the risk of "death by asteroid" to be about the same as dying in an airplane crash if you fly once a year. That estimate includes both the likelihood that the event will happen and the number of people who would be killed if it did.
Specks of dust
A study suggests the smallest particle in lunar dust might be toxic, if comparisons with dust inhalation cases on Earth apply. NASA has set up a working group to look into the matter ahead of its planned return to the moon by 2020.
The health effects of inhaling lunar dust have long been recognized since NASA's Apollo missions. Astronaut Harrison Schmitt, the last man to step onto the moon in Apollo 17, complained of "lunar dust hay fever" when his dirty spacesuit contaminated the habitation module.
easynash
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation:Aga Khan 4.
The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being:Aga Khan 3
