Astronomer Phil Plait (who also runs the Discover magazine blog, Bad Astronomer) has just published a book — "Death From the Skies!" (Viking) — which illustrates the various ways the universe might conspire to destroy Earth.

Here's an abbreviated list, with odds of fatality per lifetime and whether the event is preventable or not:

— Asteroid impact: Local damage if it's a small rock; global for a big one. Fatality odds: 1 in 700,000. Almost 100 percent preventable if we identify potential threats early and act to blow them up or push them away.

— Supernova: Primary danger is ozone depletion and radiation. Fatality odds: 1 in 10 million. Not preventable.

— Gamma-ray burst: Same dangers as supernova, plus possibility of setting planet on fire. Fatality odds: 1 in 14 million. Not preventable.

— Black hole: Total destruction of Earth. Fatality odds: 1 in 1 trillion. Not preventable.

— Alien attack: Possible elimination of humanity. Or maybe a space bug will just give us all runny noses. Fatality odds: Unknown. Preventable if we colonize the galaxy first.

— Death of the sun: Earth incinerated. Fatality odds: Inevitable, but because it won't happen for several billion years, essentially zero for now.

VERBATIM

Stand firm in your refusal to remain conscious during algebra. In real life, I assure you, there is no such thing as algebra.

— American author Fran Liebowitz

BRAIN SWEAT

Which is the speediest species?

a) Bdellovibrio (a bacterium)

b) cheetah

c) mako shark

d) peregrine falcon

BRAIN SWEAT ANSWER

The peregrine falcon has been clocked exceeding 200 miles per hour when "stooping," or diving for prey. Cheetahs can run short distances at speeds up to 68 mph. The mako is the fastest shark, with a top speed of 60 mph. Bdellovibrio travel at just 20 inches per hour.

However, if you compare speed relative to body length, the bacterium is faster than the falcon. In predatory mode, it can move 100 times its body length per second.

PRIME NUMBERS

4 — Number of times greater the global population of chickens is than that of humans

66 — Percentage of all online illegal wildlife sales that are conducted on ebay.com

8,000 — Age, in years, of newly unearthed container of precooked bulgur wheat, making it the oldest known bowl of cooked cereal

Sources: "What does the moon smell like?" by Eva Everything (2008); International Fund for Animal Welfare; Soultana-Maria Valamoti, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece

'TRUE FACTS'

The first telescopes sold in the 17th century weren't used so much by stargazers as by merchants, who closely watched the sea for signs of incoming vessels.

QUIRKS OF NATURE

Among mammals, only bats possess a better ability to hear changes in pitch than humans.

THERE'S A WORD FOR THAT

Rhinotillexomania is the scientific term for compulsive nose-picking.

POETRY FOR SCIENTISTS

You have probably come across

those scales in planetariums

that tell you how much you

would weigh on other planets.

You have noticed the fat ones

lingering on the Mars scale

and the emaciated slowing up

the line for Neptune.

As a creature of average weight,

I fail to see the attraction.

Imagine squatting in the wasteland

of Pluto, all five tons of you,

or wandering around Mercury

wondering what to do next with your ounce.

How much better to step onto

the simple bathroom scale,

a happy earthling feeling

the familiar ropes of gravity,

157 pounds standing soaking wet

a respectful distance from the sun.

— "Earthling" by Billy Collins

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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