Wrap Up That Asteroid!

An Australian PhD student has won top prize in an international contest to figure out how to save us from a tragic asteroid impact.

Mary D'Souza suggests that wrapping an asteroid in mylar film will cause it to receive more solar radiation, therefore altering its course.

Mylar film covering just half of the asteroid would change its surface from dull to reflective.

"What happens then is light from the sun shines on the body [of the asteroid] so more of it is reflected ... and it actually acts to move it away from the sun and the earth."