This week — asteroids. Could a space rock really slam into us and destroy the world? And if we did spot one heading straight for us, is there anything we could do to stop it? We speak with asteroid researcher Dr. Alan Harris, astrophysicist Dr. Sergey Zamozdra, computational physicist Dr. Cathy Plesko, and physicist Dr. Andy Cheng. 

Check out the full transcript here: http://bit.ly/2MrW1vp 

Selected references: 

• Overview of Chelyabinsk impact and risk from asteroids: http://bit.ly/2ECSRQQ 
• How many asteroids are out there? http://bit.ly/34EhyHl 
• DART mission overview: http://bit.ly/2SkBBZ1 
• Ways to stop asteroids: https://bit.ly/2sJqGgv 

Credits:

This episode was produced by Wendy Zukerman along with Lexi Krupp with help from Michelle Dang, Meryl Horn and Rose Rimler. We’re edited by Caitlin Kenney. Fact checking by Michelle Harris. Mix and sound design by Peter Leonard. Music written by Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord and Emma Munger. Recording assistance from Verónica Zaragovia, Sofi LaLonde, Lawrence Lanahan, and Kevin Caners. Translation help from Andrew Urodov and Dmitriy Tuchin. A big thanks to all the scientists we spoke to: Professor Carrie Nugent, Dr. Mark Boslough, Dr. David Kring, Dr. Daniel Durda, Dr. Kelly Fast and the other Dr. Alan Harris. And thanks to the Zukerman Family and Joseph Lavelle Wilson.