The asteroid Apophis will have a close encounter with Earth in 2029. In an impact, its energy would devastate thousands of square kilometres of land. The best way to prevent impact is using a ‘gravity tractor’, which exploits Newton’s law of gravitation.
Friday the 13th is supposed to be unlucky: in the days of sailing ships, sailors would refuse to put to sea on Friday the 13th because they thought it would bring bad luck. This is totally unfounded superstition, but it affects many people, and there is a word for it — paraskevidekatriaphobia — which consists of the Greek words paraskevi (Friday), dekatria (thirteen) and phobia, meaning fear. I hope you are not affected by it, but Friday 13 April 2029 is a date to bear in mind.
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