As Comet 3I/Atlas Whizzes Past Earth and Clash of Clans is Threatened By a Looming Asteroid, YouTube Scientist Hank Green Says We're Detecting More Space Objects Than Ever — But Should We Really Be Worried?

18 years ago, NASA mislaid an asteroid. Officially designated 2007 FT3, the Empire State Building-sized stone was tracked for astir 24 hours earlier it slipped backmost into the star system's acheronian — and it hasn't been spotted since. It remains the fourth-largest abstraction entity with a amended than 1-in-2 cardinal accidental of smashing into Earth, but scientists stay unsure wherever it is now.

This year, the net has taken large involvement successful 3I/ATLAS — lone the 3rd interstellar entity ever detected, though besides the 3rd since 2017. (The overwhelming technological statement suggests 3I/ATLAS is simply a comet, though 1 rogue astrophysicist has sparked endless online speculation by suggesting it is an extraterrestrial spacecraft.)

Now, arsenic NASA unveils caller images of 3I/ATLAS this week and arsenic the hunt for 2007 FT3 continues, 1 happening is certain: we are uncovering much things flying done abstraction than we utilized to. That's a bully thing, YouTube idiosyncratic and writer Hank Green tells IGN — arsenic it shows we're getting amended astatine spotting them. But however prepared are we for thing connected an interaction trajectory with Earth, and should we beryllium getting disquieted that abstraction is really acold busier than we thought?

"The archetypal happening is we're mode amended astatine spotting them than we've ever been," Green begins, erstwhile IGN asks wherefore caller asteroid and comet discoveries look much prevalent present than ever. "Literally, similar arsenic of 2 weeks ago, Vera Rubin went online [Chile's caller observatory which contains the biggest camera ever built]. We've got 3 antithetic systems for detecting antithetic threats now, to the constituent wherever if we were going to beryllium deed by a truly large rock, similar a dinosaur-sized rock, we'd know. Which is amazing. We had each of this ignorance starring up to now, and present we person certainty.

"But erstwhile successful a portion there's capable uncertainty astir a peculiar rock, that's large capable that if it deed successful the incorrect spot would beryllium truly bad," helium continues. "And determination are mode much of those than determination are the large ones. So we person to proceed to beryllium vigilant and we person to fig what we would bash if we really spotted 1 that mightiness origin a problem."

Earlier this year, Green was contacted by Supercell, the shaper of deed smartphone crippled Clash of Clans, with a caller idea. The city-building strategy app was readying an in-game lawsuit wherever it threatened players' hard-built bases with demolition by an asteroid. And not conscionable immoderate asteroid: it would beryllium the long-lost 2007 FT3.

Months later, and the lawsuit is present live, fronted by a flashy trailer that sees the enigma of 2007 FT3 seemingly explained. In the satellite of Clash of Clans, the rock's disappearance is revealed to beryllium Green's doing, arsenic helium zaps the asteroid distant from Earth by digitizing it — sending it careening towards the Clash of Clans beingness instead. Now, each these years later, the asteroid has yet loomed adjacent capable to Clash's satellite that it's go your problem.

Clash of Clans' asteroid defence strategy involves hammers and a large net, which is not a viable real-world option.

"There's an constituent of conscionable the cleverness of utilizing this aged subject communicative that I thought was clever," Green says of his involvement, sparked by the hunt for 2007 FT3. "But it was mostly like, 'I've ne'er done thing similar this before, I've ne'er gone retired to LA to marque a small movie.' It was like, directors and 3rd adjunct directors and everybody was connected it. It was wild. I consciousness similar I learned truthful overmuch conscionable astir however things get made and besides what I'm susceptible of.

"Also," helium adds, referencing the prosthetics helium wore to marque himself concisely look implicit a decennary younger, "that was my archetypal acquisition with tone gum."

Sadly, however, aiming a elephantine laser astatine the entity and digitizing an asteroid isn't an effectual method of stopping doomsday rocks successful the existent world. Not yet, astatine least. So what could we bash if bash spot a dangerous-looking abstraction entity fixed capable warning?

Hank Green knows science. And science, alternatively than hammers, tin really halt asteroids.

"We've started to bash that work," Green says. "We've sent probes to smash into asteroids to alteration their trajectory precise slightly, and the bully happening astir that is if you get them erstwhile they're precise acold away, a precise flimsy alteration of trajectory is enough. We've done the archetypal of those missions and we've shown that we can."

All of this inactive relies connected uncovering the stone first, but Green is beauteous confident. "There's a accidental that thing could travel from a weird enactment determination retired successful the acold reaches of the star system, and a comet could get astonishment flung successful and we tin way those little well, but arsenic acold arsenic asteroids go, the large ones are casual to spot."

Comets are trickier, arsenic typically they person longer orbits and walk a batch of clip lurking successful the outer star strategy (or beyond, arsenic 3I/ATLAS appears to show). But Green isn't overly disquieted present either. ATLAS was spotted by an asteroid detection strategy (on explaining this, helium pulls up the comet's acronym, which stands for the Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System that recovered it). And the different happening Earth has going for it? Well, abstraction is really, truly big.

"When we crook connected Vera Rubin for real, we'll astir apt commencement detecting adjacent much of these interstellar objects, and we'll benignant of recognize they've been flying done the star strategy the full time," Green says, estimating that a single-digit fig of interstellar objects volition beryllium discovered passing done each year.

3I/ATLAS, which is astir surely a comet. Image credit: NASA.

"But arsenic acold arsenic them being a imaginable threat, the likelihood are conscionable truthful tremendously... determination are truthful galore rocks already successful the star strategy that could get adjacent capable to beryllium a imaginable occupation and nary of them are, due to the fact that Earth is precise tiny successful examination to the size of the star system," Green affirms.

All that's needed are a fewer fragments of determination information and scientists tin statesman to exemplary if immoderate entity whitethorn go a occupation implicit the coming decades oregon centuries, Green explains, "because the star strategy is beauteous overmuch Newtonian, it's beauteous overmuch conscionable doing physics."

Or, backmost successful Clash of Clans, each you request is to deed things with hammers — which seems a batch much convenent. Happily, the game's ongoing lawsuit has progressed to the constituent wherever players person successfully completed a meteor catching device, though astatine slightest 1 meteor shard has landed, helpfully bringing with it a caller Town Hall.

"It tin beryllium rather intimidating astatine archetypal due to the fact that you tin spot immoderate of the things radical person done and deliberation 'I volition ne'er get there'," Green says of the game. "It's similar seeing idiosyncratic bash a backflip and think, 'well that's large for you but I americium truly acold distant from that.' But the large happening astir the operation of it is it does support you engaged and pulls you from that aboriginal [gameplay] erstwhile your Town Hall looks similar a villager's house."

Will the existent 2007 FT3 ever beryllium found? Green seems assured it will. NASA has mislaid asteroids before, and typically it catches show of them again wrong a fewer decades — and nary of those were connected a collision people either. "As we've seen, we were capable to observe 3I/ATLAS reasonably aboriginal connected successful the process," helium concludes. "But I'm surely successful favour of having a strategy acceptable to go, conscionable successful case."

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social