Department of Uh-Oh

Until recently, nearly all the thinking about the risks of space-rock strikes has focused on counting craters.  But what if most impacts don’t leave craters?  This is the prospect that troubles Boslough.  Exploding in the air, the Tunguska rock did plenty of damage…

That is Gregg Easterbrook in the latest Atlantic Monthly, June issue, "The Sky is Falling," not yet on-line.  Here are previous MR posts on the asteroid problem.