The Probability of Everything

by Sarah Everett

FACT 1: The larger an asteroid and the closer it gets to Earth, the brighter the asteroid will look. THIS MEANS: When the world ends, you see a blinding white light, possibly brighter than the sun. FACT 2: Near-Earth objects entering the atmosphere can make a whizzing sound, a stormy sound, or no sound at all. THIS MEANS: The end of the world might sound like a whoosh, like a thunderclap, or like a peaceful silence. FACT 3: Past asteroids have made the Earth get hotter. THIS MEANS: When the world ends, you might get a warm feeling, like being wrapped in a burrito hug. FACT 4: The law of the conservation of energy says matter can change from one form to another, but it can never be created or destroyed. THIS MEANS: The end of anything (even the world, even us) is just a change. Kind of like water turning to ice or rearranging furniture. We just become something different. THIS MEANS: We don’t have to be afraid.