UN Mounts Asteroid Defense Plan Following Chelyabinsk Meteor 163
Philip Ross writes "Astronomers have warned that our planet is long overdue for a defense plan against catastrophic asteroid collisions. When it comes to deflecting Earth-obliterating celestial bodies, short of a superhero capable of punching the approaching rock back into outer space, there is no single force dedicated to stopping cosmic bullies from striking our little blue planet straight in the eye. That's why the United Nations said it will establish an International Asteroid Warning Group to intercept and divert dangerous asteroids."
Re:Priorities? (Score:4, Informative)
UN should focus on basic / REAL people problems, not playing star wars.
1 - Being well fed doesn't stop meteorites.
2 - The UN's objective is to defend against basic/REAL threats against humanity (which essentially boils down to assuring world peace to avoid a third world war). Millions of people dying of hunger, sad as it may be, doesn't threaten the humanity unless those people also have an army with nuclear power.
3 - (the most important one) The UN is perfectly capable of doing several things at the same time.
Re:It begins (Score:5, Informative)
Thank you for your uninformed, knee-jerk anti-UN comment.
They did eradicate smallpox, you know.
Re:Weeell .... Priorities? (Score:5, Informative)
And the WHO is.... (Score:5, Informative)
...an agency of the UNITED NATIONS.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization [wikipedia.org]