Will It Happen Again? Comets and Asteroids Extinction with Govert Schilling - #533

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Physics, Natural Sciences, Science

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 December 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 Sixty-six million years ago, a single asteroid ended the reign of the dinosaurs—and Govert Schilling says the next one could be headed for us. In this episode, we uncover the science of cosmic threats, extinction risks, and whether humanity stands a chance when the sky turns deadly. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 00:33 Is Earth particularly sensitive to impacts? 03:24 The role of cosmic impacts in human existence 07:59 The closest Earth has come to total destruction 10:23 Asteroids vs. comets 18:28 Recent near misses 21:12 Could we stop an asteroid? 24:42 Panspermia 28:44 Was the extinction of dinosaurs inevitable? 35:18 How to protect the Earth from impacts 38:09 Existential risks and human responsibility 44:46 What Govert wishes for when he sees a shooting star 46:16 Outro Additional resources: 📚 Target Earth by Govert Schilling: https://a.co/5uCEmZi ➡️ My new book: 📖 Into the Impossible Volume 2: Focus Like a Nobel Prize Winner: Lessons from Laureates to Concentrate Your Creativity and Ignite Your Career: ⁠⁠⁠https://a.co/d/hi50U9U⁠⁠⁠ ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠⁠⁠ 🔔 YouTube:⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠ 📝 Join my mailing list:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠⁠⁠ ✍️ Check out my blog:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠⁠⁠ 🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠ — Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow/subscribe so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:48.9	Earth's been hit before, and I'll get hit again.
0:52.2	66 million years ago, a rock from space erased the dinosaurs in under three minutes flat.
0:58.0	What's terrifying isn't that it happened?
1:00.0	It's that we're long overdue for the next one.
1:03.0	Today I'm asking Govert Schilling, is humanity ready for its target Earth moment?
1:08.0	And if not, who survives when the sky falls?
1:12.9	Govert, how are you doing today?
1:14.7	I'm very good, Brian.
1:15.9	And thanks for inviting and having me on you show.
1:18.4	It's always a pleasure to have you on.
1:20.2	And, you know, we're going to be discussing this book and the cover of it as well as we
	...

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