Scientists believe that sixty-five million years ago, an asteroid bigger than Mount Everest slammed into the Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs. And with a near-miss by a pair of asteroids only a week ago, are we destined for the same fate? Discovery Channel investigates this possibility in the new one-hour special, BAD UNIVERSE premiering Sunday, October 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The universe is a dangerous place. Threats can come from any direction. But pop culture has played fast and loose with the facts, and quite often the things we think we know are all wrong. That’s where host Phil Plait – alpha nerd with a PhD in Astronomy who calls himself “The Bad Astronomer” – comes in. He’s on a mission to debunk all the junk science out there and reveal the truth. And when you’re dealing with the universe, ignorance can be deadly.
In BAD UNIVERSE, Plait uncovers the real science behind the mysteries of this planet, our solar system and the bad universe we all live in. Testing some seriously explosive measures – from setting up an explosive asteroid impact simulation and making a comet in the lab, to devising a suicide mission to determine how far away from an asteroid hit a person would need to be to survive it – Plait uncovers the real consequences of an asteroid collision. Because separating science fiction from science fact could be the difference between life on Earth, and no life at all, BAD UNIVERSE looks at a few ways we could ultimately save ourselves from impending doom.
About Phil Plait
Phil Plait is an astronomer, lecturer, and author. After 10 years working on the Hubble Space Telescope and six more working on astronomy education, he struck out on his own as a writer and authors his own website and blog called Bad Astronomy. He is a skeptic, and loves fighting misuses of science as well as praising the wonder of real science.
