Institutions around the world have created asteroid calculators to find a fun way to teach people about the devastating effects of future impacts.
Among the competing calculators is one from the Space Science Institute, which worked with NASA and the National Science Foundation to develop the technology, according to The Inquisitr. This calculator lets users release an asteroid on a random or specific location in three settings - small, medium and large. Users will then be shown the impact's effects on the planet as well as the people.
However, the calculator comes with several issues, such as the need to download Google Earth and the inability to customize the asteroid to fit certain situations or conditions.
The University of South Wales joins the competition with its Down 2 Earth: Crater Impact calculator, which lets users choose the speed, angle, size and material of the asteroid, The Inquisitr reported. The technology then provides details about what happens after the impact, saying things like "glass ignites," or "much of the body suffers third degree burns."
Another calculator was designed by Purdue University, which has similar features as Down 2 Earth but provides a video intro that shows the asteroid slamming into the Earth.
The development of these calculators follows Stephen Hawking's recent reveal that he found a way that asteroids could destroy the Earth. The calculators not only provide users a better understanding of these god-particles, but also relief. The Space Science Institute said that the planet only faces the possibility of getting hit by a deadly medium-sized asteroid every 50,000 years, The Inquisitr reported.
However, the calculators may be useful now with a recent report claiming that Earth might get hit by such an asteroid in 2880, and that it will cause a great deal of destruction.
