Is Don’t Look Up realistic?

How experts are dealing with the real-life threat posed by asteroids heading to Earth

Illustration of an asteroid or comet striking surface of Earth
Illustration of an asteroid or comet striking surface of Earth
(Image credit: Tobias Roetsch/Getty Images)

Space scientist Monica Grady from The Open University on how worried we should be about a potentially lethal asteroid like that in the Netflix film

Don’t look now – but we are currently experiencing a rash of stories about a forthcoming global catastrophe. But in a change from reports of pandemics and climate change, this global catastrophe is produced by the impact of a giant asteroid. Or comet. Or both. This may feel extra ominous given the events in the recent Netflix film Don’t Look Up, in which the Earth is threatened by a “planet killer” asteroid.

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