Extinction of all life on Earth scheduled for 2031-2051

[Fumesucker]

72. We are resourceful true but emotionally/politically we are idiots..

Most of our really severe problems are more political than anything else. I think Romney is a perfect example, he's really not that bright and seems to have some sort of deep psychological flaw and yet he has managed to accumulate hundreds of millions of dollars and a great deal of political power while much smarter and far less damaged people are going hungry.

A way to move the Earth's orbit has already been devised, it's really not even all that difficult compared to something like say interstellar flight.. However it requires long term thinking and planning that our species is so far just miserable at..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/1154784.stm

"Our initial analysis shows that the general problem of long-term planetary engineering is almost alarmingly feasible," they say.

All that is required is for a large asteroid, about 100 km (62 miles) across, to fly past the Earth transferring some of its orbital energy to our planet. The asteroid would then move out to encounter Jupiter where it would acquire more energy that it could impart to the Earth on a subsequent encounter.

Humans would have many thousands of years to select the appropriate asteroid and develop the necessary technology to deflect the giant rock in the direction of Earth.

Favourable position

To expand the Earth's orbit around the Sun at a rate that compensates for the increasing brightness of the star would require an asteroid encounter every 6,000 years, or about every 240 generations.

I too used to be an optimist, now I've seen too much of the dark side of human nature, there's a great many ways we can screw up our civilization and our planet and there are people who will do it deliberately if they get the chance, if for no other reason than to piss off the liberals.