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"No fan of mine": Kyle Sandilands shocked on air by brutal John Blackman audio

<p>Kyle Sandilands was paying tribute to his “childhood hero” <em>Hey Hey it's Saturday </em>star John Blackman on-air Thursday morning, when he was interrupted by an audio of the late star trashing him in a recent interview. </p> <p>Speaking on the Kyle and Jackie O Show, the shock jock said he was upset when he learned of <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/health/caring/australia-is-a-sadder-place-shock-as-john-blackman-s-death-confirmed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Blackman's passing</a>, but before he was able to elaborate on how the radio star was his childhood hero, his manager Bruno Bouchet interjected and told him about Blackman's brutal review. </p> <p>In a May interview on the <em>You Cannot Be Serious</em> podcast, Blackman said: “Why are we giving these two publicity hungry, oxygen thieves, waste of oxygen. The man [Sandilands] is a no talent. He doesn’t have a voice for radio, by the way.”</p> <p>Footage of Sandilands listening to the audio for the first time was shared by <em>KIIS FM</em> on their Instagram stories, and both he and Henderson were shocked. </p> <p>“I’m very confused,” Sandilands said, before coming to the conclusion that  Blackman wasn’t a fan of him because he’s not as polished as “old school” media veterans.</p> <p>“What’s happened here is old school media, TV, radio, newspapers. They’re all fake,” he said.</p> <p>“They pretend everything’s wonderful. You never really know the real person." </p> <p>He then elaborated and said that he and Henderson try to keep it real with their listeners. </p> <p>“We don’t pretend it’s a wonderful day. Even though it’s p*ssing with rain and snowing or whatever. We don’t pretend. We say, ‘Oh, what a s**t day.’ We’re just a different breed.</p> <p>“Oh well, that’s one hero of mine that’s dead. No fan of mine.”</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

Music

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Mining tycoon's father dies aged 95

<p>Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest's father, Donald Forrest, peacefully passed away at their ancestral Western Australian home at the age of 95 on a Sunday morning.</p> <p>In a heartfelt obituary, the Forrest family shared, "Don passed away peacefully in his sleep, knowing he was with people and places he loved."</p> <p>“We all wish him well in his onward journey.</p> <p>“He goes with the love, deep affection and enduring memories of all those whose lives his 95-year history has embraced.</p> <p>“His legacy will be cherished by all who knew him.”</p> <p>Donald was remembered as a “loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, stepfather, uncle and patriarch”.</p> <p>The family will host his funeral on Sunday October 1 “at his beloved Minderoo Station”, which has been in the family for four generations and is located in WA’s Pilbara region.</p> <p>A memorial service will be held in Perth afterwards for family and friends unable to attend his funeral. </p> <p>The Forrest patriarch is survived by his wife Marie, sons David and Andrew and daughter Jane.</p> <p>The sad news comes just two months after Andrew announced his <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/australia-s-richest-couple-call-it-quits" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shock split</a> from his wife of 31 years, Nicola. </p> <p>Andrew and Nicola, who are known as Australia's richest couple, have <a href="https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/the-real-reason-behind-australia-s-richest-couple-s-split" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insisted </a>that the divorce won't affect the direction of their mining empire or philanthropic interests. </p> <p><em>Image: Getty </em></p>

Caring

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Australia's richest couple call it quits

<p>Australia's richest couple have announced their separation after 31 years of marriage. </p> <p>Andrew and Nicola Forrest, who made their fortune through their mining company Fortescue Metals, said their split would have no impact on their work projects. </p> <p>"After 31 years of marriage, we have made the decision to live apart," the couple said in a joint statement.</p> <p>"Our friendship and commitment to our family remains strong."</p> <p>"There is no impact on the operations, control or direction of Fortescue, Minderoo or Tattarang."</p> <p>The couple said they would aim to convey a sense of stability for their business during the transition.</p> <p>"We will continue our shared mission to create and gift our wealth to tackle community and global challenges, as recently shown by last month's donation of one-fifth of our Fortescue shareholding to Minderoo Foundation," they said.</p> <p>The news of their split comes after Mr Forrest gave Ms Forrest half the ownership of their flagship company, Tattarang, and more than $1.1 billion worth of Fortescue shares was moved into a new company, Coaxial Ventures, owned by her, according to the <em><a title="Australian Financial Review" href="https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/andrew-and-nicola-forrest-to-pursue-separate-lives-20230712-p5dnpi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian Financial Review</a></em>.</p> <p>Mr Forrest remains Australia's second-richest person in the latest AFR <a title="Rich List" href="http://Australian Financial Review's annual Rich List" target="" rel="">Rich List</a>, with an estimated wealth of $31.44 billion, as only fellow mining magnate Gina Rinehart is richer, with $44.33 billion to her name.</p> <p>After amassing their billions in the mining industry, the Forrests founded the philanthropic Minderoo Foundation in 2001.</p> <p>Its work in recent years has included several environmental projects and supplying millions of Covid-19 tests to Australia in the early days of the pandemic.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Relationships

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"We're offering plenty": Kiwis targeted for job no Aussies want

<p>A Perth mining company has resorted to looking for workers from New Zealand after Aussies have continued to turn down roles that offer up to an enticing $300,000 salary per year – and that's for roughly six months of work in any standard 12 months.</p> <p>As a result, Mineral Resources has launched a brand new advertising campaign, geared up to attract Kiwi tradies, guaranteeing “a great pay packet”.</p> <p>“We’re offering plenty,” Mineral Resources CEO Mike Grey told NZ programme AM.</p> <p>“The incentives are amazing, and I have no doubt that our salaries double [New Zealand salaries]; in some examples, they triple.”</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/ClX7JZZv16i/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/ClX7JZZv16i/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Mineral Resources (@mineral_resources)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>The mining business is on the hunt for new workers to fill a range of roles including: construction, mining, operations, unskilled labour and administration.</p> <p>The firm is also recruiting higher-paying roles such as mining engineers.</p> <p>One of the highest paying jobs on offer is for construction supervisors and superintendents who can earn up to $300,000 a year.</p> <p>Workers will be required to work on a fly-in, fly-out basis. They would be flying out of New Zealand to work the mines in Perth, with roughly half of the workforce only working for six months per year.</p> <p>It’s not the first time Australian mines have struggled to find workers for highly-paid roles. Earlier in 2022, mining services firm Thiess offered new staff members a $10,000 sign-on bonus and a $5000 bonus for a successful referral.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Money & Banking

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‘This case has made legal history’: young Australians just won a human rights case against an enormous coal mine

<p>In a <a href="https://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw/QLC/2022/21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">historic ruling</a>, a Queensland court has said the massive Clive Palmer-owned Galilee Basin coal project should not go ahead because of its contribution to climate change, its environmental impacts, and because it would erode human rights.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/these-young-queenslanders-are-taking-on-clive-palmers-coal-company-and-making-history-for-human-rights-138732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The case</a> was mounted in 2020 by a First Nations-led group of young people aged 13 to 30 called Youth Verdict. It was the first time human rights arguments were used in a climate change case in Australia.</p> <p>The link between human rights and climate change is being increasingly recognised overseas. In September this year, for example, a United Nations <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-violated-the-rights-of-torres-strait-islanders-by-failing-to-act-on-climate-change-the-un-says-heres-what-that-means-191329" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committee decided</a> that by failing to adequately address the climate crisis, Australia’s Coalition government violated the human rights of Torres Strait Islanders.</p> <p>Youth Verdict’s success today builds on this momentum. It heralds a new era for climate change cases in Australia by youth activists, who have been frustrated with the absence of meaningful federal government policy.</p> <h2>1.58 billion tonnes of emissions</h2> <p>The Waratah Coal mine operation <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/the-first-nations-group-fighting-clive-palmers-mining-project/6xbg2e81w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposes to</a> extract up to 40 million tonnes of coal from the Galilee Basin each year, over the next 25 years. This would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/25/court-finds-clive-palmers-queensland-coalmine-will-harm-future-generations-in-landmark-climate-ruling?CMP=share_btn_tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produce</a> 1.58 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, and is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/galilee-basin-farmers-object-to-palmer-mine/11764540" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four times more</a> coal extraction than Adani’s operation.</p> <p>While the project has already received approval at the federal government level, it also needs a state government mining lease and environmental authority to go ahead. Today, Queensland land court President Fleur Kingham has recommended to the state government that both entitlements be refused.</p> <p>In making this recommendation, Kingham reflected on how the global landscape has changed since the Paris Agreement in 2015, <a href="https://theconversation.com/carmichael-mine-jumps-another-legal-hurdle-but-litigants-are-making-headway-69423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and since the last major challenge</a> to a mine in Queensland in 2016: Adani’s Carmichael mine.</p> <p>She drew a clear link between the mining of this coal, its ultimate burning by a third party overseas, and the project’s material contribution to global emissions. She concluded that the project poses “unacceptable” climate change risks to people and property in Queensland.</p> <p>The Queensland <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/asmade/act-2019-005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Human Rights Act</a> requires a decision-maker to weigh up whether there is any justifiable reason for limiting a human right, which could incorporate a consideration of new jobs. Kingham decided the importance of preserving the human rights outweighed the potential A$2.5 billion of economic benefits of the proposed mine.</p> <p>From a legal perspective, I believe there are four reasons in particular this case is so significant.</p> <h2>1. Rejecting an entrenched assumption</h2> <p>A major barrier to climate change litigation in Queensland has been the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/landmark-rocky-hill-ruling-could-pave-the-way-for-more-courts-to-choose-climate-over-coal-111533" target="_blank" rel="noopener">market substitution assumption</a>”, also known as the “perfect substitution argument”. This is the assertion that a particular mine’s contribution to climate change is net zero, because if that mine doesn’t supply coal, then another will.</p> <p>Kingham rejected this argument. She noted that the economic benefits of the proposed project are uncertain with long-term <a href="https://www.iea.org/news/world-energy-outlook-2022-shows-the-global-energy-crisis-can-be-a-historic-turning-point-towards-a-cleaner-and-more-secure-future" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global demand</a> for thermal coal set to decline. She observed that there’s a real prospect the mine might not be viable for its projected life, rebutting the market substitution assumption.</p> <p>This is an enormous victory for environmental litigants as this was a previously entrenched argument in Australia’s legal system and policy debate.</p> <h2>2. Evidence from First Nations people</h2> <p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/on-country-evidence-in-landmark-case-against-clive-palmers-coal-project/6eiueghuy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It was also the first time</a> the court took on-Country evidence from First Nations people in accordance with their traditional protocols. Kingham and legal counsel travelled to Gimuy (around Cairns) and Traditional Owners showed how climate change has directly harmed their Country.</p> <p>As Youth Verdict co-director and First Nations lead Murrawah Johnson <a href="https://www.edo.org.au/2022/04/20/landmark-hearing-into-clive-palmers-galilee-coal-project-legal-challenge-begins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put it</a>:</p> <p><em>We are taking this case against Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal mine because climate change threatens all of our futures. For First Nations peoples, climate change is taking away our connection to Country and robbing us of our cultures which are grounded in our relationship to our homelands.</em></p> <p><em>Climate change will prevent us from educating our young people in their responsibilities to protect Country and deny them their birth rights to their cultures, law, lands and waters.</em></p> <p>This decision reflects the court’s deep engagement with First Nations’ arguments, in considering the impacts of climate change on First Nations people.</p> <h2>3. The human rights implications</h2> <p>In yet another Australian first, the court heard submissions on the human rights implications of the mine.</p> <p>The Land Court of Queensland has a unique jurisdiction in these matters, because it makes a recommendation, rather than a final judgment. This recommendation must be taken into account by the final decision-makers – in this case, the Queensland resources minister, and the state Department of Environment and Science.</p> <p><a href="https://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2020/QLC20-033.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In an earlier proceeding</a>, Kingham found the land court itself is subject to obligations under Queensland’s Human Rights Act. This means she must properly consider whether a decision to approve the mine would limit human rights and if so, whether limits to those human rights can be demonstrably justified.</p> <p>Kingham found approving the mine would contribute to climate change impacts, which would limit:</p> <ul> <li>the right to life</li> <li>the cultural rights of First Nations peoples</li> <li>the rights of children</li> <li>the right to property and to privacy and home</li> <li>the right to enjoy human rights equally.</li> </ul> <p>Internationally, there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/mass-starvation-extinctions-disasters-the-new-ipcc-reports-grim-predictions-and-why-adaptation-efforts-are-falling-behind-176693" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clear links</a> made between climate change and human rights. For example, climate change is worsening heatwaves, risking a greater number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hot-is-too-hot-for-the-human-body-our-lab-found-heat-humidity-gets-dangerous-faster-than-many-people-realize-185593" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deaths</a>, thereby affecting the right to life.</p> <h2>4. A victory for a nature refuge</h2> <p>Kingham also considered the environmental impacts of the proposed mine on the <a href="https://bimblebox.org/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bimblebox Nature Refuge</a> – 8,000 hectares semi-arid woodland, home to a recorded 176 bird species, in the Galilee Basin.</p> <p>She deemed these impacts unacceptable, as “the ecological values of Bimblebox [could be] seriously and possibly irreversibly damaged”.</p> <p>She also observed that the costs of climate change to people in Queensland have not been fully accounted for, nor have the costs of mining on the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Further, she found the mine would violate Bimblebox Alliance’s right to family and home.</p> <h2>Making history</h2> <p>This case has made legal history. It is the first time a Queensland court has recommended refusal of a coal mine on climate change grounds, and the first case linking human rights and climate change in Australia. As Kingham concluded:</p> <blockquote> <p>Approving the application would risk disproportionate burdens for future generations, which does not give effect to the goal of intergenerational equity.</p> </blockquote> <p>The future of the project remains unclear. But in a year marked by climate-related disasters, the land court’s decision offers a ray of hope that Queensland may start to leave coal in the ground.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-case-has-made-legal-history-young-australians-just-won-a-human-rights-case-against-an-enormous-coal-mine-195350" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: The Conversation</em></p>

Legal

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How satellites, radar and drones are tracking meteorites and aiding Earth’s asteroid defence

<p>On July 31 2013 a <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">constellation of US defence satellites</a> saw a streak of light over South Australia as a rock from outer space burned through Earth’s atmosphere on its way to crash into the ground below.</p> <p>The impact created an explosion equivalent to about 220 tonnes of TNT. More than 1,500km away, in Tasmania, the bang was heard by detectors normally used to listen for <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/asno/Pages/australian-ims-stations" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extremely low-frequency sounds</a> from illegal tests of nuclear weapons.</p> <p>These were two excellent indications that there should be a patch of ground covered in meteorites somewhere north of Port Augusta. But how could we track them down?</p> <p>My colleagues and I who work on the <a href="https://dfn.gfo.rocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Desert Fireball Network (DFN)</a>, which tracks incoming asteroids and <a href="https://dfn.gfo.rocks/meteorites.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the resulting meteorites</a>, had a couple of ideas: weather radar and drones.</p> <p><strong>Eyes in space</strong></p> <p>Finding meteorites is not an easy task. There is a network of high-quality ground-based sensors called the <a href="https://gfo.rocks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Fireball Observatory</a>, but it only covers about 1% of the planet.</p> <p>The <a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US satellite data</a> published by NASA covers a much larger area than ground-based detectors, but it only picks up the biggest fireballs. What’s more, they <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/483/4/5166/5256650" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don’t always give an accurate idea of the meteor’s trajectory</a>.</p> <p>So, to have any chance to find a meteorite from these data, you need a little outside help.</p> <p><strong>Weather radars</strong></p> <p>In 2019, Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology started making its weather radar data <a href="https://www.openradar.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">openly available</a> to researchers and the public. I saw this as an opportunity to complete the puzzle.</p> <p>I combed through the record of events from the Desert Fireball Network and NASA, and cross-matched them with nearby weather radars. Then I looked for unusual radar signatures that could indicate the presence of falling meteorites.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=334&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=334&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=334&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=420&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=420&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496384/original/file-20221121-22-iwtkve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=420&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="An annoyed aerial photo showing the locations of the Woomera radar station and the falling meteorites." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">The Woomera weather radar station captured reflections from the falling meteorites.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>And bingo, the 2013 event was not too far from the Woomera radar station. The weather was clear, and the radar record showed some small reflections at about the right place and time.</p> <p>Next, I had to use the weather data to figure out how the wind would have pushed the meteorites around on their way down to Earth.</p> <p>If I got the calculations right, I would have a treasure map showing the location of a rich haul of meteorites. If I got them wrong, I would end up sending my team to wander around in the desert for two weeks for nothing.</p> <p><strong>The search</strong></p> <p>I gave what I hoped was an accurate treasure map to my colleague Andy Tomkins from Monash University. In September this year, he happened to be driving past the site on his way back from an expedition in the Nullarbor.</p> <p>Thankfully, Andy found the first meteorite within 10 minutes of looking. In the following two hours, his team found nine more.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496385/original/file-20221121-16-he3p7h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="Photo of several people walking through a desert field looking at the ground." /><figcaption><span class="caption">A field team from Monash University searched for meteorites in the strewn field.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Monash University</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>The technique of finding meteorites with weather radars <a href="https://ares.jsc.nasa.gov/meteorite-falls/how-to-find-meteorites/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was pioneered</a> by my colleague Marc Fries in the US. However, this is the first time it has been done outside the US NEXRAD radar network. (When it comes to monitoring airspace, the US has more powerful and more densely packed tech than anyone else.)</p> <p>This first search confirmed there were lots of meteorites on the ground. But how were we going to find them all?</p> <p>That’s where the drones come in. We used a method developed by my colleague Seamus Anderson to <a href="https://gfo.rocks/blog/2022/03/14/First_Meteorite_Found_with_Drone.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">automatically detect meteorites from drone images</a>.</p> <p>In the end we collected 44 meteorites, weighing a bit over 4kg in total. Together they form what we call a “strewn field”.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=400&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496386/original/file-20221121-13-qssltc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=503&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="An aerial view of a desert field with a black dot (a meteorite) highlighted by a yellow square." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">A machine-learning algorithm identified meteorites from drone photos.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Curtin Uni</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>Strewn fields <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/maps.13892" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tell us a lot</a> about how an asteroid fragments in our atmosphere.</p> <p>That’s quite important to know, because the energy of these things is comparable to that of nuclear weapons. For example, the 17-metre asteroid that exploded over Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013 produced an explosion 30 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.</p> <p>So when the next big one is about to hit, it may be useful to predict how it will deposit its energy in our atmosphere.</p> <p>With new telescopes and better technology, we are starting to see some asteroids <a href="https://skymapper.anu.edu.au/news/great-balls-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">before they hit Earth</a>. We will see even more when projects such as the <a href="https://www.lsst.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vera Rubin Observatory</a> and the <a href="https://atlas.fallingstar.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS)</a> are up and running.</p> <p>These systems might give us as much as a few days’ notice that an asteroid is heading for Earth. This would be too late to make any effort to deflect it – but plenty of time for preparation and damage control on the ground.</p> <p><strong>The value of open data</strong></p> <p>This find was only made possible by the free availability of crucial data – and the people who made it available.</p> <p>The US satellites that detected the fireball are presumably there to detect missile and rocket launches. However, somebody (I don’t know who) must have figured out how to publish some of the satellite data without giving away too much about their capabilities, and then lobbied hard to get the data released.</p> <p>Likewise, the find would not have happened without the work of Joshua Soderholm at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, who worked to make low-level weather radar data openly accessible for other uses. Soderholm went to the trouble to make the radar data <a href="https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">readily available and easy to use</a>, which goes well beyond the vague formulations you can read at the bottom of scientific papers like “data available upon reasonable request”.</p> <p>There is no shortage of fireballs to track down. Right now, we’re on the hunt for a meteorite that was spotted in space last weekend before <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/science/fireball-asteroid-toronto-new-york.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">blazing through the sky over Ontario, Canada</a>.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194997/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Writen by Hadrien Devillepoix. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-satellites-radar-and-drones-are-tracking-meteorites-and-aiding-earths-asteroid-defence-194997" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: NASA</em></p>

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Astronomers have detected another ‘planet killer’ asteroid. Could we miss one coming our way?

<p>If you surfed the web this morning, you may have seen news of the latest existential threat to humanity: a “planet killer” asteroid named 2022 AP7.</p> <p>Luckily for us 2022 AP7 “has no chance to hit the Earth currently”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/nov/01/huge-planet-killer-asteroid-discovered-and-its-heading-our-way">according</a> to Scott Sheppard at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He and his international team of colleagues <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac8cff/pdf">observed 2022 AP7</a> in a trio of “rather large” asteroids obscured by the Sun’s glare (the other two don’t pose a risk).</p> <p>2022 AP7 orbits the Sun every five years, and currently crosses Earth’s orbit when Earth is on the other side of the Sun to it. Eventually its movement will sync with Earth’s and it will cross much closer by, but this will be centuries into the future.</p> <p>We simply don’t know enough about 2022 AP7 to precisely predict the danger it may pose centuries from now. At the same time, we suspect there could be other “planet killers” out there yet to be discovered. But how many? And what’s being done to find them?</p> <p><strong>What makes a planet killer?</strong></p> <p>Asteroid 2022 AP7 is the largest potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) found in eight years, with a diameter between 1.1km and 2.3km. For context, an asteroid with a diameter more than 1km is enough to trigger a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event">mass extinction event</a> on Earth.</p> <p>As well as having a diameter greater than 1km, an asteroid also needs to have an orbit that crosses Earth’s to be considered potentially dangerous. In the case of 2022 AP7, any threat is centuries down the track. The important point is it has been detected and can now be tracked. This is the best possible outcome.</p> <p>It is estimated we’ve already <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-world-first-nasas-dart-mission-is-about-to-smash-into-an-asteroid-what-will-we-learn-189391">discovered</a> about 95% of potentially hazardous asteroids, and that there are fewer than 1,000 of these. The work of Sheppard and colleagues highlights that hunting down the remaining 5% – some 50 asteroids – will be a massive effort.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=304&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=304&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=304&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492923/original/file-20221102-25180-74aqvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=382&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Statistically, there’s less of a chance of a larger asteroid colliding with Earth compared to a smaller one.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p><strong>What constitutes a near miss?</strong></p> <p>NASA <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroid-watch">closely tracks</a> all known objects in the Solar System. But every now and again an object will catch us off guard.</p> <p>In 2021, we had a close call with an asteroid called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2021_UA1">2021 UA1</a>. It came only a few thousand kilometres from Earth, over the Antarctic. In cosmic terms, this is uncomfortably close. However, 2021 UA1 was only two metres across, and therefore posed no substantial risk.</p> <p>There are likely hundreds of millions of objects of this size in our Solar System, and it’s not uncommon for them to impact Earth. In these cases, most of the object burns up in the atmosphere and creates a spectacular light show, with little risk to life.</p> <p>In 2019 another <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-asteroid-just-buzzed-past-earth-and-we-barely-noticed-in-time-120972">asteroid</a> with a 100m diameter passed Earth some 70,000km away. It was publicly announced mere hours before it flew past. While it wasn’t as close, it was of a much more concerning size.</p> <p>These near misses reiterate how important it is for us to speed up the search for near-Earth objects.</p> <p><strong>Blind spots</strong></p> <p>The reason we haven’t already found every object that could one day pass nearby Earth is largely because of observational blind spots, and the fact we can’t observe all parts of the sky all the time.</p> <p>To find 2022 AP7, Sheppard and colleagues used a telescope at twilight soon after the Sun had set. They had to do this because they were looking for asteroids in the vicinity of Venus and Earth. Venus is currently on the <a href="https://theskylive.com/where-is-venus">other side of the Sun</a> to Earth.</p> <p>Making observations close to the Sun is difficult. The Sun’s glare overwhelms the weak light reflected off small asteroids – presenting a blind spot. But just before and after sunset, there’s a small window in which the Sun’s glare no longer blocks the view.</p> <p>Right now there are only about 25 asteroids known to have well-determined orbits that lie entirely within Earth’s orbit. More are likely to be discovered, and these may contribute significantly to the missing 5% of potentially hazardous asteroids.</p> <p><strong>The Near-Earth Object Surveyor</strong></p> <p>A recent NASA mission spectacularly demonstrated that humans can purposefully change the trajectory of an asteroid. NASA’s DART (<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/planetarydefense/dart/dart-news">Double Asteroid Redirection Test</a>) mission collided a vending-machine-sized spacecraft into a 160m diameter minor-planet moon called Dimorphos.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492925/original/file-20221102-28436-f16d5x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The DART spacecraft successfully collided with Dimorphos, which itself was orbiting a larger asteroid named Didymos.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>The collision altered Dimorphos’s 12-hour orbital period by more than 30 minutes, and was declared a resounding success. So it’s plausible for humans to redirect a hazardous asteroid if we find one.</p> <p>That said, we’d have to find it well in advance. Potentially hazardous asteroids are much larger than Dimorphos, so a bigger collision would be required with plenty of lead time.</p> <p>To do this, NASA has plans to survey for potentially hazardous objects using a telescope in space. Its <a href="https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/near-earth-object-surveyor">Near-Earth Object (NEO) Surveyor</a>, scheduled to launch in 2026, will be able to survey the Solar System very efficiently – including within blind spots caused by the Sun.</p> <p>That’s because the glare we see while observing from Earth is caused by Earth’s atmosphere. But in space there’s no atmosphere to look through.</p> <figure class="align-center "><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=363&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=363&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=363&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=457&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=457&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/492932/original/file-20221102-26-zoxo13.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=457&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The NEO Surveyor spacecraft won’t have the issue of observational blind spots when hunting for asteroids.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA/JPL/University of Arizona</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>It’s very likely the Near-Earth Object Surveyor will reveal new objects, and help us characterise a large number of objects to greatly improve our understanding of threats.</p> <p>The key is to find as many objects as possible, categorise them, track the risks, and plan a redirection mission as much in advance as possible. The fact that all of these elements of planetary defence are now a reality is an amazing feat of science and engineering. It is the first time in human history we have these capabilities.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193709/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Writen by Steven Tingay. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/astronomers-have-detected-another-planet-killer-asteroid-could-we-miss-one-coming-our-way-193709" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: </em><em>DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine</em></p>

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Mining workers win $53 million jackpot after “spur of the moment” purchase

<p dir="ltr">It’s said lightning doesn’t strike twice but apparently the lottery does, after a group of miners from Kalgoorlie-Boulder won a share of the $160 million Powerball jackpot - the second time a winning ticket has come from the West Australian mining town.</p> <p dir="ltr">The group of 20 workers had formed a lottery syndicate, chipping in $100 each and walking away with a slice of $53 million in division one winnings on Thursday.</p> <p dir="ltr">With each worker pocketing about $2.65 million, the win has come as a shock to them and their boss, who quipped that he would “run after them” and steal their ticket if they didn’t come back to work.</p> <p dir="ltr">Peter, one of the lucky winners, told <em><a href="https://www.6pr.com.au/exclusive-record-powerball-winner-says-goldfield-syndicate-had-never-played-lotto-before/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6PR Radio</a></em> that the win was “still sinking in”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I only thought we’d won the second division,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This was a one-off because it was a big draw … it was a spur of the moment thing.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I couldn’t believe it, I checked the ticket about 10 times.”</p> <p dir="ltr">He went on to tell <em>9News </em>that it had been “life changing” for all of them and that nobody believed he had won since he’s “a bit of a joker”.</p> <p dir="ltr">Chris Wood, the miners’ boss, said he was still in disbelief at the news too.</p> <p dir="ltr">“They’re great workers; it is my best shift,” Mr Wood told the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-28/second-goldfields-powerball-winner/101591758" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ABC</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’m ecstatic. I’m very happy for each of them. I expect I might lose them, though.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite his concerns, one of the miners has already confirmed she would be sticking around after the win.</p> <p dir="ltr">“‘You know how they say, one Powerball and I’m out of here? Well, it ain’t true,” she said in a video shared on Facebook.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I’ve known since the start of my shift and I’m still loading trucks.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“So yeah, there’s 18 at my work who are now millionaires.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The group, colloquially referring to themselves as the “We Outta Here” Syndicate, pinned their winning tickets on the workplace pinboard, having purchased the winning ticket from a newsagency in Boulder, 600km east of Perth.</p> <p dir="ltr">They aren’t the first to rake in a massive lotto win in the town either, after 250 Kalgoorlie residents pooled their tickets to claim the $63 million jackpot in February.</p> <p dir="ltr">As for the remainder of the $160 million Powerball jackpot, it was split between two winners - a NSW dad and a man from Clyde, Victoria, who cried “tears of joy” upon hearing the news.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Oh my god, oh my god. I can’t believe this!” he cried.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Holy s**t! Far out! I’m absolutely speechless.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I never thought I’d get this phone call. This has changed my life!”</p> <p dir="ltr">The winning numbers for Thursday’s Powerball draw were 10, 4, 12, 18, 2, 34, and 7, with 7 being the Powerball number.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-073fd90c-7fff-e474-e68b-8c2563e4fd6d"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty Images / 7News</em></p>

Money & Banking

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We steered a spacecraft into an asteroid

<p dir="ltr">From seeing further into space than ever before to viewing our neighbouring planets in brand new detail, it’s safe to say more of us are talking about the skies above than in previous years.</p> <p dir="ltr">Now, NASA has made headlines for crashing a spacecraft into a distant asteroid in a historic first for humanity.</p> <p dir="ltr">After leaving Earth last November, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spaceship travelled at a speedy 23,500 kilometres per hour for ten months to reach its target, an asteroid moonlet called Dimorphos.</p> <p dir="ltr">Dimorphos is a relatively small asteroid with a diameter of 160 metres - about the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza - that orbits Didymos, a larger asteroid boasting a diameter of 780 metres.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6fbbb56c-7fff-3b7c-bda5-0ec6342814cd"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">DART, meanwhile, is approximately the size of a refrigerator - but size isn’t everything.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision0.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft is dwarfed by its target, Dimorphos, as well as Didymos, which Dimorphos orbits. Image: NASA / John Hopkins APL</em></p> <p dir="ltr">Located 11.2 million kilometres away from us, Dimorphus might not pose any risk to Earth, but it did serve as a suitable target for NASA to test whether a head-on collision from DART could cause the asteroid to change its orbit.</p> <p dir="ltr">This experiment, which uses a technique called kinetic impact to change the asteroid’s orbit, could determine whether it’s possible to prevent asteroids and other cosmic objects from colliding with Earth and avoid the devastating aftereffects of such a collision.</p> <p dir="ltr">NASA Administrator Bill Nelson explained that the experiment is part of the organisation’s overall planetary defence strategy.</p> <p dir="ltr">“At its core, DART represents an unprecedented success for planetary defence, but it is also a mission of unity with a real benefit for all humanity,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As NASA studies the cosmos and our home planet, we’re also working to protect that home, and this international collaboration turned science fiction into science fact, demonstrating one way to protect Earth.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Rebecca Allen, an astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology told the <em>ABC </em>that everything from the location of the impact, how fast DART travelled, and even its size are factors that could affect Dimorphos’ orbit.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-15585374-7fff-10ba-cc0e-78c10d40f192"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">"This vending-sized machine spacecraft, will it have enough kinetic impact to drastically or really measurably change the orbit of this asteroid? That's what we're trying to learn,” she added.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision1.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Shots taken from DART’s onboard camera showed asteroids Dimorphos and Didymos (left), and an up-close look at Dimorphos before DART crashed (right). Images: NASA / John Hopkins APL</em></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong>What happens now?</strong></p> <p dir="ltr">Though DART successfully collided with Dimorphus on Tuesday morning (AEST), we won’t know whether the collision actually resulted in a change in orbit.</p> <p dir="ltr">It will take anywhere from several days to weeks to determine whether it worked, and we can expect to learn more over the coming months.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Over the next two months we’re going to see more information from the investigation team on what what period change did we actually make,” Dr Elena Adams, a DART Mission Systems Engineer, said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That’s our number two goal, number one was hit the asteroid, which we’ve done but now number two is really measure that period change and characterise how much we actually put out.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-s-dart-mission-hits-asteroid-in-first-ever-planetary-defense-test" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>, NASA said researchers are expecting the path Dimorphos takes around Didymos to shorten by just one percent, or about 10 minutes.</p> <p dir="ltr">But even this seemingly tiny change can have an impact over time, experts stress.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Just a small change in its speed is all we need to make a significant difference in the path an asteroid travels.” said Dr Thomas Zurbuchen, an associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA’s Washington headquarters.</p> <p dir="ltr">The next few months will also see NASA use telescopes positioned on Earth and in space to observe the outcome of the collision, including measuring changes to Dimorphos’ orbit.</p> <p dir="ltr">Images will also be taken by LICIACube (Light Italian Cubesat for Imaging Asteroids), which deployed from DART fifteen days before the impact, with the European Space Agency’s Hera project scheduled to conduct surveys of Dimorphos and Didymos - with a focus on the crater created by the collision - in 2026.</p> <p dir="ltr">The images will add to the collection of photos taken by DRACO (Didymos Reconnaissance Camera for Optical navigation), which was onboard DART when it crashed. </p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-2ace8485-7fff-36e0-9e45-208735e6bd71"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">As well as shots showing Didymos and Dimorphos, the images depict the rocky terrain of Dimorphos’ surface up close.</p> <p dir="ltr"><img src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/2022/09/dart-collision2.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="720" /></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>DART’s onboard camera, DRACO, captured the final moments before the spacecraft crashed into the surface of Dimorphos. Images: NASA / John Hopkins APL</em></p> <p dir="ltr">The last photo, taken about one second before impact, was being transmitted to Earth when the craft crashed, resulting in a partial picture.</p> <p dir="ltr">“DART’s success provides a significant addition to the essential toolbox we must have to protect Earth from a devastating impact by an asteroid,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer. </p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3681f89e-7fff-545a-e424-65d63358e4f2"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“This demonstrates we are no longer powerless to prevent this type of natural disaster.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: NASA / John Hopkins APL</em></p>

Technology

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Mining magnate scores dreamy island resort

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The buyer of a luxury Queensland resort on Lizard Island has finally been revealed to be mining magnate Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sitting in the Great Barrier Reef, the island is made up of three land parcels totalling 2000 hectares of land and lies 250 kilometres off the coast of Cairns.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845368/forrest1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/7c34af85b7fd4b98ae54678b28193dcb" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Delaware North</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Forrest and his wife Nicola purchased the land via their private investment property, but have revealed few details about the transaction.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Last week, vendor SEA group confirmed the deal and revealed the final selling price.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The buyer has agreed to purchase the property located at Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia at an aggregate consideration of $42 million in cash,” the vendor </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.realestate.com.au/lifestyle/mining-billionaire-snaps-up-queensland-island-resort/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">said</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> in a statement to investors.</span></p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height:281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7845369/forrest2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/661a4c450e7b43bcad6013c8453f83ab" /></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Delaware North</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Delaware North holds the sublease on the island and operates a high-end resort that includes 40 rooms and villas, a restaurant, bar and day spa.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The sale comes after Forrest purchased Olivia Newton-John’s wellness retreat in Byron Bay for a reported $30 million.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Forrest, the former CEO of Fortescue Metals Group, is Australia’s second-richest person and has recently </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-10/qld-palaszczuk-andrew-forrest-hydrogen-gladstone/100527670" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">revealed plans</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to build the world’s largest facility to produce green energy hydrogen.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, his most recent purchase is subject to approval by the Queensland Government.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images, Delaware North</span></em></p>

Real Estate

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One in ten Australian jobs at risk of automation

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the Australian economy begins its recovery efforts in tandem with the coronavirus pandemic slowing, a worrying statistic has been released about Aussie jobs. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The study, which was conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), warns that one in every 10 jobs is at risk of being automated. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The research concluded that the employment disruption will be felt unevenly across Australia, as cities and regional towns will be hit the hardest. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In comparison, wealthier and affluent urban areas face the least risk of jobs being automated.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The OECD believe that plant and machinery operators, as well as food preparation workers are among the employment sectors most at risk. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The report also says the demographics that will be hit hardest are young people, men and Indigenous people, as they are more likely to have declining job opportunities. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The regional towns where automation is said to hit have roots in the coal mining industries, as 40 percent of jobs in the New South Wales Hunter Region face some disruption while in Queensland's Mackay region it was about 41 per cent.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In comparison, Canberra and Sydney's eastern suburbs face the lowest risk of jobs lost through automation.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Teaching and health services are likely to remain safe from automation technology, as the pandemic saw a drastic increase in jobs in these areas over the last 12 months. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In order to protect existing jobs, the OECD says some workers will have their duties upskilled in order to save as many jobs as possible from the mundane tasks that automation can be utilised for. </span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image credits: Shutterstock</span></em></p>

Technology

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Are you sitting on a gold mine?

<h2>Vintage handbags</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">OK, answer honestly: How many posh handbags have you accumulated over the years? And how many are piled in a dark corner of your closet? Fashion history is fun to look at and to collect, and such a collection could earn you a sizable chunk of change. “Vintage Chanel in good condition will retail on a secondary market for $US2,000 to $US3,000 – or even $US400 if it is in poor condition,” says Marie Dietrich, an appraiser at Gary Germer and Associates. Prada, on the other hand usually sells for much less, says Dietrich, though the nicer ones still go for $US500 to $US800. Here’s where you can sell posh handbags and other specialty items online.</span></p> <h2>Postcards</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Almost everyone has random old postcards lying around in a drawer. A single postcard can sell for as little as $2 or as much as a few hundred dollars, depending on a few factors. According to Warwick &amp; Warwick, the age, rarity, condition, and subject matter all play a role. If the postcard is signed by someone noteworthy, has a message of historical significance, or has a sought-after postage stamp or postal markings, it will bring in more. Some of the more popular collectible postcards can be Art Nouveau and Art Deco style, or feature social history, street scenes, or transportation.</span></p> <h2>TV Guides</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speaking of nostalgia, the April 9-15, 1983 issue of TV Guide featuring Elvis Presley on the cover sold for $US36 on EBTH. Although TV Guides are easy to find at garage sales and flea markets, what people seem to desire is the subject matter on the cover – especially if it fits into their collection. Fans of Elvis Presley make up a big portion of the market for TV Guides featuring him.</span></p> <h2>Polaroid camera</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are plenty of people willing to pay a pretty penny for your Polaroid. Taking a picture and watching it develop before your eyes has always been cool. Plus, once a Polaroid shot develops, it looks like the vintage filter on Instagram. A Polaroid instant camera with film recently sold on EBTH for $US152; a fancier Polaroid with a gold- and leather-bound case was snapped up for $US553 on EBTH. Buy these items now and stash them for safe keeping because they will be worth a lot of cash down the road.</span></p> <h2>Retro video games</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Maybe it’s because of the fascination with gaming, the vintage artwork, or the fact that as adults, the games people were denied as children are affordable to them now – and desirable. “Retro video games are currently enjoying a renaissance in popularity,” says Denny. What that means for you if you have them stacked away in a closet is extra dosh. This past June, EBTH auctioned off a collection of vintage Sega games for $US2,382, but single titles do very well on their own. A 2001 Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube just sold for about $US37 on eBay.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Written by Lisa Marie Conklin. This article first appeared in <a href="https://www.readersdigest.com.au/money/25-things-your-house-right-now-could-be-worth-money">Reader’s Digest</a>. For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, <a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.com.au/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRA93V">here’s our best subscription offer.</a></span></em></p>

Retirement Income

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Expensive and dangerous: Why we must fight miners’ push to fast-track uranium mines

<p>Of all the elements on Earth, none is more strictly controlled under law than uranium. A plethora of international agreements govern its sale and use in energy, research and nuclear weapons.</p> <p>Australian environmental law considers nuclear actions, such as uranium mining, as a “matter of national environmental significance” under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00777">Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act</a>. This means uranium involves matters of national and international concern for which the Australian government is solely responsible.</p> <p>The states, which own minerals, cannot exercise such oversight on uranium exports and use. So any new uranium mine needs both state and federal environmental approvals.</p> <p>The Minerals Council of Australia wants to change this. In a <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/submissions/anon-k57v-xgcn-w">submission</a> to a <a href="https://epbcactreview.environment.gov.au/">ten-year review</a> of the EPBC Act, the council argues that uranium’s special treatment is redundant, as environmental risks are already addressed in state approval processes.</p> <p>On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/address-%E2%80%93-ceda%E2%80%99s-state-nation-conference">announced</a> that BHP’s <a href="https://www.bhp.com/our-businesses/minerals-australia/olympic-dam/">proposed expansion</a> of the Olympic Dam copper-uranium-gold-silver mine in South Australia was one of 15 major projects set to be fast-tracked for environmental approval. This would include a single, joint state and federal assessment.</p> <p>But responsibility and past performance make a compelling case to maintain our federal environmental laws more than ever. Here’s why uranium mining must remain a federal issue.</p> <p><strong>Our international obligations</strong></p> <p>Australia is a <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/non-proliferation-disarmament-arms-control/nuclear-issues/Pages/treaties">signatory to several international treaties</a>, conventions and agreements concerning nuclear activities and <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/security/non-proliferation-disarmament-arms-control/policies-agreements-treaties/Pages/australias-uranium-export-policy">uranium mining and export</a>.</p> <p>These include safeguards to ensure Australian uranium is used only for peaceful nuclear power or research, and not military uses.</p> <p>As of the <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/sites/default/files/asno-annual-report-2018-19.pdf">end of 2018</a>, the nuclear material safeguarded under international agreements derived from our uranium exports totalled 212,052 tonnes – including 201.6 tonnes of separated plutonium.</p> <p>Making sure our uranium trading partners don’t redirect that material for the wrong purpose has been the raison d'être of our nuclear foreign policy since 1977. It’s clearly a national legal and moral obligation, and something the states simply cannot do.</p> <p>In response, a spokesperson for the Minerals Council of Australia said a national mechanism to manage safeguards already exists through the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office, adding:</p> <p><em>Uranium is further regulated through the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) […] under the provisions of the ARPANS Regulations 1999. The object of the ARPANS Act is “to protect the health and safety of people, and to protect the environment, from the harmful effects of radiation”.</em></p> <p>But ARPANSA regulates radiation safety and not uranium exports. If uranium mining was removed as a nuclear action, then there would be no public process involving our uranium exports – creating more secrecy and reducing scrutiny.</p> <p><strong>Successful rehabilitation has yet to be seen</strong></p> <p>Uranium mines are difficult to rehabilitate at the end of their lives. In my 24 years of research, including visiting most sites, I’ve yet to see a successful case study of Australia’s 11 major uranium mines or numerous small sites.</p> <p>For example, the Rum Jungle mine near Darwin, which operated from 1954 to 1971, <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi8x4WknoXqAhXIyDgGHUnhAOcQFjAAegQIAhAB&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fapo.ansto.gov.au%2Fdspace%2Fbitstream%2F10238%2F327%2F1%2FANSTO-E-748.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw1eAQiIJx6NV4QTC6OqJ2Rs">left a toxic legacy</a> of acidic and radioactive drainage and a biologically dead Finniss River.</p> <p>As a military project for the Cold War, it was Australian government-owned, but operated under contract by a company owned by Rio Tinto. The site was rehabilitated with taxpayer money from 1983-86, but by the mid-1990s the works were failing, and pollution levels were again rising.</p> <p>The Northern Territory government is proposing a <a href="https://ntepa.nt.gov.au/environmental-assessments/register/rum-jungle-former-mine-site">new round of rehabilitation</a>. After <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/">accounting for inflation</a> to 2019 dollars, Rum Jungle has cost taxpayers A$875 million for a return of A$139 million. The next round of rehabilitation is expected to cost many millions more.</p> <p>The former Mary Kathleen mine, also part of Rio Tinto’s corporate history, operated from 1958-63 and 1976-82.</p> <p>Rehabilitation works were completed by 1986 and won national engineering awards for excellence. But by the late 1990s, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00254-005-0014-2">acid seepage problems</a> emerged from the tailings dam (where mining by-products are stored) and overlying grasses were absorbing toxic <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0375674211001439">heavy metals</a>, creating a risk for grazing cattle.</p> <p>Rare earth metals are also present in these tailings, leading to the <a href="https://researchers.uq.edu.au/research-project/41428">possibility</a> the tailings will be reprocessed to fund the next round of rehabilitation. The site remains in limbo, despite its <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-20/former-uranium-mine-now-an-instagram-hotspot-for-tourists/11412040">Instagram fame</a>.</p> <p>Both Rum Jungle and Mary Kathleen were rehabilitated to the standards of their day, but they have not withstood the test of time.</p> <p>Australia’s biggest uranium mine, Ranger, is fast approaching the end of its operating life.</p> <p>Rio Tinto is also the majority owner of Ranger. Despite Ranger’s <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/media/reports/annual-reports/">recent losses</a>, Rio has retained control and given Ranger hundreds of millions of dollars towards ensuring site operations and rehabilitation.</p> <p>In recent years the cost of rehabilitation has soared from <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/media/reports/annual-reports/">A$565 million in 2011 to A$897 million in 2019</a>, over which time <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/media/response-to-media-reports-on-ssb-funding/">A$603 million has been spent on rehabilitation works</a>.</p> <p>Site rehabilitation is required to be complete by January 2026, with Rio Tinto and Ranger <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/uploads/general/S12_Closure_monitoring.pdf">assuming 25 years of monitoring</a> – although plans and funding for this are <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/sustainability/closureplan/">still being finalised</a>.</p> <p>The legal requirement is that <a href="https://www.environment.gov.au/science/supervising-scientist/publications/environmental-requirements-ranger-uranium-mine">no contaminants should cause environmental impacts for 10,000 years</a>, and no other mine has ever faced such a hurdle.</p> <p>Recently, it <a href="https://amp.abc.net.au/article/12260130">emerged</a> that Ranger had not agreed to continue its <a href="https://www.energyres.com.au/media/response-to-media-reports-on-ssb-funding/">share of funding the scientific research required for the rehabilitation</a> – an issue still unresolved. So despite promises of world’s best ever rehabilitation, concerns remain.</p> <p>The Conversation contacted Rio Tinto to respond, and it referred us to Energy Resources Australia (ERA), which operates Ranger. An ERA spokesperson stated:</p> <p><em>Since 1994, ERA has made an annual contribution to research into the environmental effects of uranium mining in the Alligator Rivers Region under an agreement with the Commonwealth. The agreement provides for a review of funding contributions at fixed periods or at either party’s request to acknowledge changes in Ranger operations.</em></p> <p><em>ERA is required to cease processing in January 2021 in accordance with the expiration of its Authority to Operate under the Commonwealth Atomic Energy Act. Given the impending cessation in processing, ERA believes it is appropriate and reasonable to review the current research funding arrangements.</em></p> <p><em>ERA has followed due process in this matter and welcomes the Commonwealth’s decision to support a process of mediation to resolve the issue.</em></p> <p>No other former uranium mine in Australia can claim long-term rehabilitation success. Nabarlek, Radium Hill-Port Pirie, South Alligator Valley and other small mines all have issues such as erosion, weeds, remaining infrastructure, radiation hot-spots and/or water contamination. They all require ongoing surveillance.</p> <p><strong>Uranium mining is set to be outcompeted</strong></p> <p>Australia’s uranium export revenue from 1977 to December A$2019 was A$29.4 billion. Lithium has now overtaken uranium in export revenue – from 2017 to 2019, lithium earned Australia two to three times our uranium exports.</p> <p>Even if Olympic Dam expands (and especially if it stops extracting uranium in favour of tellurium, cobalt and rare earths also present), this trend is expected to increase in the coming years as Ranger closes and the world transitions to <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-outlook-2019">renewable energy</a> and <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2020">electric vehicles</a> to help address climate change.</p> <p>In response, the Minerals Council of Australia stated that lithium’s contribution to large-scale electricity storage is just beginning, arguing:</p> <p><em>With the development of new nuclear technologies such as small modular and micro reactors, the prospects for the future of both uranium and lithium are positive and no one should be picking winners apart from the market.</em></p> <p>Ultimately, uranium remains an element with immense potential for misuse - as seen with North Korea and other rogue nuclear states. Federal oversight of uranium mining must remain. After all, the price of peace is eternal vigilance.</p> <p><em>Written by Gavin Mudd. Republished with permission <a href="https://theconversation.com/expensive-dirty-and-dangerous-why-we-must-fight-miners-push-to-fast-track-uranium-mines-139966">of The Conversation.</a> </em></p> <p><em> </em></p> <p> </p>

Legal

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Blackwater fatality: New details emerge as town scrambles for answers

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>The small mining town of Blackwater has been in a state of panic after Nathan Turner, 30, passed away while having COVID-19.</p> <p>Locals are confused as to how he got the disease as he hadn’t left the town since February, but it has since been revealed that he threw a party despite displaying symptoms for three weeks.</p> <p>Mr Turner threw a party at his home for his fiancée Simone Devon three days before he passed.</p> <p>Ms Devon previously displayed symptoms for COVID-19, but tested negative.</p> <p>Health officials were quick to track down people who had been in close contact with Mr Turner, and of those 20 people who were tested, 18 had negative results. The other two people are waiting for their test results. </p> <p><span>Member for Gregory Lachlan Millar has admitted anxiety levels in the small mining town are high and called for calm.</span></p> <p>“There are a lot of people pointing fingers at the moment, but that isn't the right way to go about it,” Mr Millar said on Thursday.</p> <p>Locals are now queuing to get tested for COVID-19 as authorities try to contain a potential outbreak.</p> <p><em>Photo credits: <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8365985/Doubts-nurse-linked-Australias-youngest-coronavirus-victim-infection-source.html" target="_blank">Daily Mail</a></em></p> </div> </div> </div>

News

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“It’s more bridal than mine!” Woman’s surprise over mum’s wedding day dress choice

<p>One of the unwritten rules of weddings is that none of the guests should wear white, for fear of upstaging the bride.</p> <p>It explains why an Australian woman was mortified to learn that her mother was wearing a white bridal dress on her wedding day.</p> <p>Businesswoman Jane Lu revisited the memory of her wedding day by sharing her reaction over her mother’s outfit choice in a video on TikTok.</p> <p>Lu showed off her wedding dress to the camera before unzipping a dry-cleaning bag to reveal her mother’s gown.</p> <p>“It’s more bridal than mine!” she said.</p> <p>Lu’s friends joked about her mum “renewing the vows”.</p> <p>A montage of Lu’s mother in her dress followed with the caption: “My dress was quite simple… Hers looks way more bridal than mine!”</p> <blockquote style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="6826635101548432646"><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@thelazyceo" target="_blank" title="@thelazyceo">@thelazyceo</a> <p>I found out on the morning of MY wedding that my mum is wearing a white bridal gown! 🤦🏻‍♀️ <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wedding" target="_blank" title="wedding">##wedding</a> <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/weddingfail" target="_blank" title="weddingfail">##weddingfail</a> <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/weddingdress" target="_blank" title="weddingdress">##weddingdress</a> <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/motherofthebride" target="_blank" title="motherofthebride">##motherofthebride</a></p> <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-6826635052063984389" target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - thelazyceo">♬ original sound - thelazyceo</a></blockquote> <p>The video has received more than 700 comments, with some commenting that she looked like a guest at her own wedding.</p> <p>“I would've made my mum go and buy a different dress that second,” one wrote.</p> <p>But others celebrated her mother’s fashion choice.</p> <p>“I would want my mum to look prettier than me at my wedding,” one commented.</p> <p>Lu tied the knot with her partner James Waldie in early October last year. The fashion CEO was wearing a $299.95 satin dress from her own brand Showpo.</p>

Family & Pets

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"Why is mine such a big deal?”: Karl Stefanovic slams speculation about his divorce

<p>Karl Stefanovic has opened up about his divorce and admitted he doesn’t understand why it was “such a big deal”.</p> <p>He left his wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, in 2016 and the pair finalised their divorce a year later.</p> <p>It was just five months later that Stefanovic started a relationship with Jasmine Yarbrough, who he married in December 2018.</p> <p>The divorce and new relationship affected his popularity, especially with female viewers of the<span> </span>Today<span> </span>show and after months of pressure, Stefanovic was sacked at the end of 2018.</p> <p>“Personally, it was a bit hard because I thought a lot of people do go through relationship difficulties and, unfortunately, for me that was in a very public way, but that’s what happens when you’re a public person,” Stefanovic told Neil Mitchell on <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.3aw.com.au/ally-langdon-crashes-karl-stefanovics-interview-with-neil-mitchell/" target="_blank">3AW</a> yesterday.</p> <p>“But I thought, ‘Well hang on, a lot of people go through this, and why is mine such a big deal?’ I still don’t know why it was.</p> <p>“I got divorced, I did find love again, and I’m sorry if people are offended by that, but it’s made me really happy.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yaw5PFw5n/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B5yaw5PFw5n/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">Happy Anniversary my love! Such a beautiful journey with you. I’m so lucky to be navigating this world with you by my side. I love you 💗</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/jasyarby/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> Jasmine Stefanovic</a> (@jasyarby) on Dec 7, 2019 at 2:21pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Stefanovic explained that he spent a year in exile and said he went through some “genuinely black times”.</p> <p>“Look, my life hasn’t been that difficult, and I think there are people out there who have far worse going on … so I’m not going to rabbit on about how difficult my life was,” he said. “But there was certainly periods where I thought, ‘Oh my god, all I’ve ever done is really work hard and try and do the best I could for a show or network’. And then I thought, ‘Well, hang on a second, how have I got it so wrong?’”</p> <p>Things didn’t stay dark for Stefanovic for long as he’s back on the<span> </span>Today<span> </span>show alongside Allison Langdon, who he says is handling the pressure “incredibly well”.</p> <p>“It’s a difficult job and she’s handled all the pressure incredibly well,” he said.</p> <p>“I think that the most difficult thing … something that Lisa Wilkinson did incredibly well and still does, is just be able to converse on air like you’re having a cup of coffee with someone. Allison has got that … She’s able just to talk freely about things, and that’s difficult to do on air.”</p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ZEvNbJ3c3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ZEvNbJ3c3/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">It all starts... JAN 6, 2020! #9Today</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/thetodayshow/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank"> thetodayshow</a> (@thetodayshow) on Dec 22, 2019 at 2:40pm PST</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Stefanovic isn’t worried about the dip in ratings either, as rival breakfast show<span> </span>Sunrise<span> </span>continues to dominate with 269,000 viewers last week.</p> <p>“It doesn’t really worry me at this point because we have to get chemistry right first, we have to get content of the show right first. Having a look now is like opening a Christmas present weeks before Christmas,” he said.</p> <p>“I know we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Stefanovic continued. “Come Easter I think we’ll have a pretty good idea on how we’re going.”</p>

News

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Australia’s Chernobyl: Why tourists keep heading to this deadly Aussie town

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As the region of Pilbara in Western Australia works hard to grow tourism to the area, which has rare flora and fauna as well as rich Indigenous culture, there is one place that the Western Australia government is trying to keep people away from.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The destination is so deadly that the name has been removed from maps and signs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The former country town of Wittenoom lies abandoned as the decaying town is considered the most contaminated site in the Southern Hemisphere. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are more than 2,000 deaths linked to the town’s blue asbestos mining operations in the ‘60s.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mining was formally shut down in 1966, but the asbestos fibres left behind have rendered the area permanently unsafe for human habitation according to experts who spoke to </span><a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/australias-most-contaminated-town-wittenoon-abandoned/b7752071-b209-452a-bdfb-442a73b66c25"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Travel Nine.</span></a></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0M1PHJI3mX/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B0M1PHJI3mX/" target="_blank">Reports that tourists are visiting Wittenoom - an abandoned, Western Australian town once home to a large blue asbestos mine - are extremely concerning. The town and surrounding areas are still highly contaminated by asbestos - and pose a huge health risk to anyone who visits. The area is so contaminated that it has been dubbed 'Australia's #Chernobyl". It's not worth your health or life for a social media photo. Link in bio to read the story and please - stay away. ☠️☠️☠️ ... ... ... ... #asbestos #asbestosremoval #asbestostesting #asbestossafety #beasbestosaware #wittenoom #blueasbestos #mining #blueskymine #westernaustralia #abandonedtown</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/asbestos_safety/" target="_blank"> Asbestos Safety</a> (@asbestos_safety) on Jul 21, 2019 at 6:24pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The area is so contaminated that it’s been dubbed “Australia’s Chernobyl”. Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Lands Ben Wyatt has described the fallout from the contamination as one of “the saddest chapters in WA history” and one the town would never be able to recover from.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It is important to understand that when the Wittenoom mine closed there were 3 million tonnes of asbestos tailings left behind in the gorge and surrounding area," he told </span><a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/australias-most-contaminated-town-wittenoon-abandoned/b7752071-b209-452a-bdfb-442a73b66c25"><span style="font-weight: 400;">9Honey</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Exposure to a single fibre of these tailings could prove fatal. Therefore, as disappointing as it is, it is virtually impossible to clean the area to a level where it would then considered safe for human habitation."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">However, the strict warnings haven’t stopped people from travelling there, despite the well-known and documented risks of asbestos. </span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Byo_wwpnHiA/" data-instgrm-version="12"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Byo_wwpnHiA/" target="_blank">Wittenoom gorge free camp with @zeke.holt.1 and @megcarmen. Pretty epic spot apart from all the asbestos! 😷</a></p> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/emmet_f/" target="_blank"> E.</a> (@emmet_f) on Jun 12, 2019 at 11:52pm PDT</p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Wyatt has serious words and a simple message for those who want to visit Wittenoom.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I have a simple message for anyone thinking of travelling to Wittenoom. Don't. These warnings signs are not there for decoration or to add your Instagram collection. They are serious warnings about serious health consequences.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"I can't stress enough that it is particularly foolish to travel to Wittenoom. There are plenty of gorges in WA which do not bring with them the threat of a fatal consequences."</span></p>

Domestic Travel

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“Could you explain that for me?” Waleed Aly grills Anthony Albanese on climate change and Adani coal mine

<p>Labor’s potential new leader Anthony Albanese has deflected a question about how his party will reconcile its climate change policy with coal mining jobs.</p> <p>The Labor Party lost the federal election after its primary support in Queensland dropped to just 27.4 per cent, reaching a record low since 1996 when John Howard defeated Paul Keating.</p> <p>According to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-19/election-results-how-labor-lost-queensland/11122998" target="_blank">observers</a>, Labor’s inability to negotiate its environmental agenda with its support for the multi-million-dollar Adani coal mine project led voters in key Queensland seats to opt for the LNP for better job security.</p> <p>Albanese, who could run unopposed as the new Labor leader after Chris Bowen left the race, said Labor would have “common sense propositions” under his leadership.</p> <p>“Labor has to stand for jobs, economic growth, good distribution when it comes to social policy and to stand up for the environment and climate change,” he said on<em> </em><em>The Project</em> Wednesday night. “I don't think there's a contradiction between the two things.”</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheProjectTV%2Fvideos%2F829861854058236%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>Host Waleed Aly asked Albanese, “How do you stand up for jobs and the environment if those jobs happen to be in the coal industry?”</p> <p>Albanese dodged the question, saying “good sustainability policy creates jobs”.</p> <p>“Look at the renewable energy target, we introduced a 20 per cent target and that has created many thousands of jobs around Australia,” the frontbencher said.</p> <p>Aly asked whether these jobs would go to coal mine workers, who will presumably lose their jobs as coal production declines.</p> <p>“We have the challenge to explain our position, clearly, we didn't do well enough and we need to engage with our base as well as people who didn't vote for us,” said Albanese.</p> <p>Earlier this month, Albanese slammed the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/they-think-everyone-wants-to-stop-adani-anthony-albanese-slams-left-wing-groupthink-20190509-p51lkn.html">increasingly extreme</a>” groupthink amongst voters that he believes is damaging Australian politics.</p> <p>“There are people in my electorate in the inner west [who] get really angry that I keep getting elected – because the people they speak to, they don’t know anyone who doesn't vote Green,” he said.</p> <p>“They think everyone wants to stop Adani. They think everyone wants particular things. They don’t know where Adani is! They don't! I asked someone the other day and they said, 'It's on the Great Barrier Reef.' Actually, it's not, you know.</p> <p>“The point I made is that not everyone thinks the same on any particular issue, including on this.”</p>

News

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Why dangerous asteroids heading to Earth are so hard to detect

<p>Earth is often in the firing line of fragments of asteroids and comets, most of which<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-why-meteors-light-up-the-night-sky-35754">burn up</a>tens of kilometres above our heads. But occasionally, something larger gets through.</p> <p>That’s what happened off Russia’s east coast on December 18 last year. A<span> </span><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47607696">giant explosion occurred above the Bering Sea</a><span> </span>when an asteroid some ten metres across detonated with an explosive energy ten times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.</p> <p>So why didn’t we see this asteroid coming? And why are we only hearing about its explosive arrival now?</p> <p><strong>Nobody saw it</strong></p> <p>Had the December explosion occurred near a city – as<span> </span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/feb/15/hundreds-injured-meteorite-russian-city-chelyabinsk">happened at Chelyabinsk in February 2013</a><span> </span>– we would have heard all about it at the time.</p> <p>But because it happened in a remote part of the world, it went unremarked for more than three months, until details were unveiled at the<span> </span><a href="https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2019/">50th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference</a><span> </span>this week, based on<span> </span><a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/">NASA’s collection of fireball data</a>.</p> <p>So where did this asteroid come from?</p> <p><strong>At risk from space debris</strong></p> <p>The Solar system is littered with material left over from the formation of the planets. Most of it is locked up in stable reservoirs – the Asteroid belt, the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud – far from Earth.</p> <p>Those reservoirs continually leak objects into interplanetary space, injecting fresh debris into orbits that cross those of the planets. The inner Solar system is awash with debris, ranging from tiny flecks of dust to comets and asteroids many kilometres in diameter.</p> <p>The vast majority of the debris that collides with Earth is utterly harmless, but our planet still<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/target-earth-how-asteroids-made-an-impact-on-australia-92836">bears the scars of collisions</a><span> </span>with much larger bodies.</p> <p>The largest, most devastating impacts (like that which<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-dinosaurs-went-extinct-asteroid-collision-triggered-potentially-deadly-volcanic-eruptions-112134">helped to kill the dinosaurs</a><span> </span>65 million years ago) are the rarest. But smaller, more frequent collisions also pose a marked risk.</p> <p>In 1908, in Tunguska, Siberia, a<span> </span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160706-in-siberia-in-1908-a-huge-explosion-came-out-of-nowhere">vast explosion</a><span> </span>levelled more than 2,000 square kilometres of forest. Due to the remote location, no deaths were recorded. Had the impact happened just two hours later, the city of St Petersburg could have been destroyed.</p> <p>In 2013, it was a 10,000-tonne asteroid that<span> </span><a href="https://earthsky.org/space/meteor-asteroid-chelyabinsk-russia-feb-15-2013">detonated above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk</a>. More than 1,500 people were injured and around 7,000 buildings were damaged, but amazingly nobody was killed.</p> <p>We’re still trying to work out how often events like this happen. Our information on the frequency of the larger impacts is pretty limited, so estimates can vary dramatically.</p> <p>Typically, people argue that Tunguska-sized impacts happen<span> </span><a href="https://academic.oup.com/astrogeo/article/50/1/1.18/201316">every few hundred years</a>, but that’s just based on a sample of one event. The truth is, we don’t really know.</p> <p><strong>What can we do about it?</strong></p> <p>Over the past couple of decades, a concerted effort has been made to search for potentially hazardous objects that pose a threat before they hit Earth. The result is the<span> </span><a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/stats/totals.html">identification of thousands of near-Earth asteroids</a><span> </span>upwards of a few metres across.</p> <p>Once found, the orbits of those objects can be determined, and their paths<span> </span><a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/ca/">predicted into the future</a>, to see whether an impact is possible or even likely. The longer we can observe a given object, the better that prediction becomes.</p> <p>But as we saw with Chelyabinsk in 2013, and again in December, we’re not there yet. While the catalogue of potentially hazardous objects continues to grow, many still remain undetected, waiting to catch us by surprise.</p> <p>If we discover a collision is pending in the coming days, we can work out where and when the collision will happen. That happened for the first time in 2008 when astronomers discovered the tiny<span> </span><a href="https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/news/2008tc3.html">asteroid 2008 TC3</a>, 19 hours before it hit Earth’s atmosphere over northern Sudan.</p> <p>For impacts predicted with a longer lead time, it will be possible to work out whether the object is truly dangerous, or would merely produce a spectacular but harmless fireball (like 2008 TC3).</p> <p>For any objects that truly pose a threat, the race will be on to deflect them – to turn a hit into a miss.</p> <p><strong>Searching the skies</strong></p> <p>Before we can quantify the threat an object poses, we first need to know that the object is there. But finding asteroids is hard.</p> <p>Surveys scour the skies,<span> </span><a href="https://spaceguardcentre.com/what-are-neos/finding-and-observing-asteroids/">looking for faint star-like points moving against the background stars</a>. A bigger asteroid will reflect more sunlight, and therefore appear brighter in the sky - at a given distance from Earth.</p> <p>As a result, the smaller the object, the closer it must be to Earth before we can spot it.</p> <p>Objects the size of the Chelyabinsk and Bering Sea events (about 20 and 10 metres diameter, respectively) are tiny. They can only be spotted when passing very close to our planet. The vast majority of the time they are simply undetectable.</p> <p>As a result, having impacts like these come out of the blue is really the norm, rather than the exception!</p> <p>The Chelyabinsk impact is a great example. Moving on its orbit around the Sun, it approached us in the daylight sky - totally hidden in the Sun’s glare.</p> <p>For larger objects, which impact much less frequently but would do far more damage, it is fair to expect we would receive some warning.</p> <p><strong>Why not move the asteroid?</strong></p> <p>While we need to keep searching for threatening objects, there is another way we could protect ourselves.</p> <p>Missions such as<span> </span><a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/missions/hayabusa/in-depth/">Hayabusa</a>,<span> </span><a href="http://www.hayabusa2.jaxa.jp/en/">Hayabusa 2</a><span> </span>and<span> </span><a href="https://www.asteroidmission.org/">OSIRIS-REx</a><span> </span>have demonstrated the ability to travel to near-Earth asteroids, land on their surfaces, and move things around.</p> <p>From there, it is just a short hop to being able to deflect them – to change a potential collision into a near-miss.</p> <p>Interestingly, ideas of asteroid deflection dovetail nicely with the<span> </span><a href="https://theconversation.com/mining-asteroids-could-unlock-untold-wealth-heres-how-to-get-started-95675">possibility of asteroid mining</a>.</p> <p>The technology needed to extract material from an asteroid and send it back to Earth could equally be used to alter the orbit of that asteroid, moving it away from a potential collision with our planet.</p> <p>We’re not quite there yet, but for the first time in our history, we have the potential to truly control our own destiny.</p> <p><em>Written by Jonti Horner. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-dangerous-asteroids-heading-to-earth-are-so-hard-to-detect-113845">The Conversation.</a></em></p>

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