Time For A Cosmic Risk Assessment

摘要

ON 30 November 1954,34-year-old Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, was taking an afternoon nap on her living-room sofa when a 4-kilogram meteorite smashed through her ceiling, bounced off her radio and struck her on the left hip. The grapefruit-sized swelling it left eventually healed, but Hodges was left traumatised. Ironically, her home was opposite the Comet Drive-in Theater, decorated with a neon sign showing a piece of cosmic rubble streaking through space.rnThis tale, quoted by Jeff Kanipe in his fascinating book The Cosmic Connection, provides a timely reminder that while we go about our daily affairs worrying about things like what's happening at work or the price of fuel, we are forever at the mercy of a capricious universe that may have something far worse in store for us.