Scientists have discovered an asteroid in our solar system (asteroid 1950 DA) that could collide with Earth in the year 2880 CE. Researchers are now confident that the event wouldn't kill all life on Earth now that they say they understand what not to do in order to prevent the rogue meteor from slamming into our planet.

According to Time Magazine, Researchers at the University of Tennesse uncovered the strange "cohesive forces" that keep giant asteroids, like this one, together. The cohesive properties that govern such giant space rocks are called van der Waals forces, and by understanding how they work, scientists can now more accurately model how to prevent such a meteor from hitting Earth.

Prior to this new discovery, scientists concluded that larger asteroids made of many smaller bits of rock were governed by gravitational forces, which kept them together. Researchers have now concluded that some large asteroids like 1950 DA can't simply be held together by traditional gravity--they are spinning too quickly to stay as compactly composed as they are. This implies that other forces are keeping them together.

The University of Tenessee's Ben Rizitis explained that researcherrs "found that 1950 DA is rotating faster than the breakup limit for its density. So if just gravity were holding this rubble pile together, as is generally assumed, it would fly apart. Therefore, inter-particle cohesive forces must be holding it together."

This means that attempts at destroying asteroids like 1950 DA by hitting them with large objects would be futile and could actually make their impact with Earth worse. So, sending rockets to hit one of these non-traditional asteroids wouldn't work.

Citizens of Earth shouldn't worry about this particular space rock since it won't hit until the year 2880, and even then the chance is just 1-in-300. However, should the meteor collide with our planet, experts predict that it would essentially end life on Earth as we know it and cause massive tsunamis and extinctions.

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