How Astrophysics Can (LITERALLY) Preserve Civilization

How Astrophysics Can (LITERALLY) Preserve Civilization

From PBS Space Time by PBS

June 6, 2026 · 25 min

About this episode

The episode discusses how astrophysics can help in identifying and deflecting asteroids that may threaten Earth.

Remove your personal information from the web at https://joindeleteme.com/SPACETIME Giant space rocks are definitely going to hit the Earth again. We actually do know how to deflect them, but only if we find them and correctly assess their risk. But the solar system is a chaotic place. How is it even possible to tell if a space rock will one day collide with the Earth? Check out the Space Time Merch Store https://www.pbsspacetime.com/shop Sign Up on Patreon to get access to the Space Time Discord! https://www.patreon.com/pbsspacetime Sign up for the mailing list to get episode notifications and hear special announcements! https://mailchi.mp/1a6eb8f2717d/spacetime Search the Entire Space Time Library Here: https://search.pbsspacetime.com/ Hosted by Matt O'Dowd Written by Matt O'Dowd Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria Directed by Andrew Kornhaber Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour Executive Producer: Andrew Kornhaber Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios. This program…

People in this episode

Host: Matt O'Dowd

Topics covered

  • asteroids
  • deflection
  • risk assessment
  • solar system
  • civilization preservation

Keywords

  • asteroids
  • deflection
  • risk assessment
  • civilization
  • solar system

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS, Kornhaber Brown, PBS Digital Studios, Patreon, DeleteMe

Products: Space Time Merch Store

Books & works: Space Time

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