It's been a pretty good decade so far for witnessing cosmic events. As well as the total solar eclipse and the Sun approaching its peak in activity, creating stunning auroras on Earth, we will soon see an event first recorded in a medieval manuscript, when T Coronae Borealis goes nova.The decade has a few more treats in stall for us beyond that, including a visit from asteroid 99942 Apophis. When Apophis was first discovered in 2004, observations placed it at level 2 on the Torino impact hazard scale, with a score of 0 meaning the likelihood of impact is zero or thereabouts, and 10 meaning "a collision is certain, capable of causing global climatic catastrophe that may threaten the future of civilization as we know it, whether impacting land or ocean."Level 2, while low, is for objects "making a somewhat close but not highly unusual pass near the Earth" and meriting further attention from astronomers. However, further observations in December of that year placed it up to level 4 due to a 1.6 percent chance that the asteroid would hit us in 2029."A close encounter, meriting attention by astronomers," NASA explains of level 4. "Current calculations give a 1 percent or greater chance of collision capable of regional devastation. Most likely, new telescopic observations will lead to re-assignment to Level 0. Attention by public and by public officials is merited if the encounter is less than a decade away."Over the years of searching for and monitoring near-earth objects (NEOs), no object has gone above level 4, and due to its potential threat to Earth the object was named Apophis after the Ancient Egyptian god of darkness and destruction. Further observations ruled out a collision in 2029, as well as in 2036 and 2068, though they will still be close encounters. “A 2068 impact is not in the realm of possibility anymore," Davide Farnocchia of NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies said of the asteroid, "and our calculations don’t show any impact risk for at least the next 100 years."2029's visit will be particularly close, with the asteroid coming within 32,000 kilometers (20,000 miles) of the Earth's surface, closer to the Earth than some of our satellites. The asteroid should be visible from the Eastern Hemisphere without the aid of a telescope or binoculars, with the European Space Agency dubbing its flyby "one of the rarest space events of our lives".                IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.The event is so rare because of its large size – 375 meters (1230 feet) average diameter – as well as its proximity to the Earth."The 2029 flyby is an incredibly rare event," ESA explained in an X post. "By comparing impact craters across the Solar System with the sizes and orbits of all known asteroids, scientists believe that an asteroid as large as Apophis only comes this close to Earth once every 5,000 to 10,000 years.During the approach, NASA has plans to visit the asteroid, with its OSIRIS APEX mission, which repurposed the asteroid sampler formerly known as OSIRIS-REx, sending it to greet the asteroid shortly after its flyby."Our planet’s gravitational pull is expected to alter the asteroid’s orbit, change how and how fast it spins on its axis, and possibly cause quakes or landslides that will alter its surface," NASA explains of their planned mission. "OSIRIS-APEX will allow scientists on Earth to observe these changes. Additionally, the OSIRIS-APEX spacecraft will dip toward the surface of Apophis ­– a 'stony' asteroid made of silicate (or rocky) material and a mixture of metallic nickel and iron ­ – and fire its engines to kick up loose rocks and dust. This maneuver will give scientists a peek at the composition of material just below the asteroid’s surface."ESA is hoping to visit the asteroid too, as a flyby will help us learn more about planetary defense from such objects."Earth’s gravity will 'stretch' and ‘squeeze’ Apophis, triggering landslides and revealing lots about the asteroid’s material, structure, density and cohesion," ESA explained. "This knowledge will help us protect Earth in future."ESA reiterated that the asteroid does not pose a threat in 2029, just a spectacular sight, and an opportunity to do some awesome science in space.

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In a recent discussion on Bill Maher’s “Real Time with Bill Maher,” one guest, Joel Stein, made an interesting observation regarding recent pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses. “They know what they’re doing, and they know what they’re saying, and we think it's cute because they don’t look threatening,” Stein said, adding, “but they have way more power than the people in Charlottesville.” “That’s because it’s coming from the left. Everything is team sports now,” Bill Maher replied. “The people in Charlottesville who were chanting ‘Jews will not replace us,’ I mean that’s bad. It’s not as bad as death. That’s not deplorable?” “It’s absolutely deplorable,” Ana Navarro shot back defensively. “If I was a Holocaust survivor, and I guess there’s not many of those left, but if I was, I would choose ‘Jews will not replace us’ over ‘death to Zionists,’” Maher continued. Navarro then went on to claim that no one is saying that slogans the college protesters are regurgitating regarding Jews is okay. “Who’s excusing them?” she asked. “The left,” Stein said definitively. “There’s no condemnation like there was after Charlottesville,” Maher added. As a Jew himself, Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” grew up around many Holocaust survivors — and he, of course, agrees with Stein and Maher. “I think they would choose ‘Jews will not replace us’ over ‘Death to all Zionists,’” Rubin says. Want more from Dave Rubin?To enjoy more honest conversations, free speech, and big ideas with Dave Rubin, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

A Colorado man told police an intruder broke into his Commerce City residence after midnight Sunday and severely beat him — so the victim grabbed a gun and shot the intruder dead, KDVR-TV reported. Commerce City is about 20 minutes northeast of Denver.The incident took place around 2:45 a.m. in the 5300 block of East 64th Avenue, the station said. Police noted in a previous KDVR story that the resident said he was “attacked by an unknown intruder."'If it's an open-and-shut case of an armed homeowner shooting an intruder, they're probably not going to file charges against the homeowner, and you know, beware to all burglars.'Detective Sgt. Derek Aragon told the station the resident initially said he was pistol whipped. Indeed, KDVR reported that the resident was seriously injured and had to be hospitalized.“He was pretty beaten up — face, whole body. ... He had obvious injuries,” Aragon told the station, adding that the resident ran down the street to get help after the shooting.Police said arriving officers discovered the body of the suspected intruder, an adult male, inside the residence, KCNC-TV reported. Officers found the home in a state of disarray, KDVR added.Officials are investigating whether or not the shooting was justified under Colorado’s “Make My Day” law, which allows the use of deadly force against intruders in certain situations, KDVR reported.“As of right now, in the early stages, it's looking that way, but we're still trying to piece that together,” Aragon told KDVR.Legal analyst for KDVR, Christopher Decker, told the station that under the Make My Day law, citizens have the right to use deadly force against those who unlawfully enter their homes and pose physical dangers to them.“If it's an open-and-shut case of an armed homeowner shooting an intruder, they're probably not going to file charges against the homeowner, and you know, beware to all burglars,” Decker added to KDVR.The Adams County Coroner has not yet identified the fatally shot male, KDVR said, adding that police are asking for witnesses to come forward with information by calling the Commerce City Police Department tip line at 303-289-3626. How are observers reacting?Commenters underneath the police department's Facebook post about the fatal shooting seem squarely in the resident's corner:"This is why it is so important to be armed and ready to protect yourselves and your families," one commenter wrote."Heck yeah!! For every action there is a reaction!! Gotta do what ya gotta do to protect [ourselves] and our home[s]!!" another said."Good!" another commenter concluded. "Now he won’t re-offend.""Make My Day law in full effect! FAFO," another commenter declared.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The Catholic archbishop overseeing the Archdiocese of Washington suggested in late March that despite claiming to be a devout Catholic, President Joe Biden had effectively subordinated his faith to leftist politics. The term Cardinal Wilton Gregory used to describe Biden and others with the tendency to pick and choose which nonnegotiable moral teachings to follow was "cafeteria Catholic." In his recent speech at a Napa Institute event in Washington, D.C., Cardinal Robert Sarah — one of the most senior and recognizable leaders in the church — similarly slammed Biden, reusing Gregory's descriptor. Cardinal Sarah, the former head of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum under Pope Benedict XVI, noted at the outset of his remarks that the "West, while not the birthplace of Christianity, is home [to] much of what was once called 'Christendom' and much of what has become modern society, the roots of which are firmly European." Sarah, a socially conservative West African, bemoaned the loss of distinction between the former and the latter, indicating that Catholics in the West have assimilated some of the same beliefs as "the general population." The Catholic leader singled out Biden, now unpopular with the vast majority of American Catholics, as a poster boy for this kind of syncretism and willfully diluted faith. "You have a self-identified Catholic president who is an example of what Cardinal Gregory recently described as a 'cafeteria Catholic,'" said the archbishop. Blaze News previously reported that while Biden was celebrating the so-called "Transgender Day of Visibility" on Easter Sunday, Cardinal Gregory said that "like a number of Catholics, [Biden] picks and chooses dimensions of the faith to highlight while ignoring or even contradicting other parts." 'Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense.' "There is a phrase that we have used in the past, a 'cafeteria Catholic.' You choose that which is attractive and dismiss that which is challenging," continued Gregory. Cardinal Gregory further suggested that "there are things, especially in terms of life issues, there are things that [Biden] chooses to ignore, or he uses the current situation as a political pawn rather than saying, 'Look, my church believes this, I'm a good Catholic, I would like to believe this.' Rather than to twist and turn some dimensions of the faith as a political advantage." While Biden's position on gender ideology and homosexual unions certainly put him at odds with Catholic teaching and the church, his radical stance on abortion stands in direct opposition with millennia-old church teaching. "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable," says the Catechism. "Formal cooperation in an abortion constitutes a grave offense. The Church attaches the canonical penalty of excommunication to this crime against human life." Cardinal Raymond Burke, a canon lawyer and former prefect of the church's highest court, said in 2020 that on account of his antagonistic posturing against the church's moral teaching on abortion, Biden "is not a Catholic in good standing and he should not approach to receive Holy Communion." Cardinal Sarah noted that it's not only Biden who is a "cafeteria Catholic." "Many of you Catholic public officials are in the same category. Many of your Catholic hospitals and universities are Catholic in name only," said Sarah. 'The latter is a dangerous disease even if its first symptoms seem mild.' The religious leader noted further that the "important witness to the fullness of our Catholic faith" in America "has been traded for cultural assimilation" and that the "uniqueness of the Catholic community" in America has been lost at the macro level. However, Cardinal Sarah said that whereas the faith in Europe is "dying and in some places is dead," in part because some prelates are fearful of "opposing the world," the same is not true of the majority of church leaders in the United States. "[The European prelates] dream of being loved by the world. They have lost the concern of being a sign of contradiction. Perhaps too much material wealth leads to compromise with the world affairs," said Sarah. "I believe that the church of our time is experiencing the temptation of atheism. Not intellectual atheism, but this subtle and dangerous state of mind: fluid and practical atheism. The latter is a dangerous disease even if its first symptoms seem mild." Cardinal Sarah clarified that by "practical atheism," he meant a loss of the sense of the gospel and the transformation of Scripture into a tool for secular purposes. This practical atheism is growing increasingly popular among Catholics in other regions of the West, with the ostensible exception of the United States, said Sarah. Cardinal Sarah added, "Too many do not take the faith seriously." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

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