New Take On Doomsday

Scientists have developed a new model for simulating the damage caused if a huge meteor struck Earth. The previous model used was vastly simplified-- assuming Earth was a perfect sphere with a perfectly smooth surface. The new model uses Earth's actual shape-- not quite perfectly spherical-- along with the actual topography and the actual wind and water currents to simulate a more realistic catastrophe.

There is at least some good news. Taking the strike that allegedly killed off the dinosaurs as a test case, researchers found the simulation showed less damage from the strike than previous simulations had. Earth's "imperfections" had limited the damage.

That probably didn't help the dinosaurs, but it suggests a bigger rock than previously thought might well be needed to wipe out human civilization.