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Nuking a ‘City Killer’ Asteroid Might Not Be the Worst Idea. Scientists Tested It.

No actual asteroids or Bruce Willises were harmed in the making of this research paper.

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If your concept of eradicating a potential “city killer” asteroid begins and ends with the plot of Armageddon, well, you’re actually not that far off from one proposed method of asteroid obliteration—just without actually putting anyone on the asteroid. Nuking an asteroid to smithereens is such a viable, if completely theoretical, tactic that scientists publishing their findings in The Planetary Science Journal just tested it out. In a computer simulation. No actual asteroids or Bruce Willises were harmed in the making of this research paper.

The team, led by Lawrence........

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