What To Know About Asteroid With 2% Of Hitting Earth In 2032 (Why Not To Worry)
Plus: A judge blocks Trump worker buyout program and confusion about the government paying for media subscriptions
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Good morning,
Is everyone excited for the Eagles Game on Sunday?! Excuse me, I meant the Super Bowl. Proud Philly fan here – which I am aware is a highly unlikable thing about me.
I’ve lived in a lot of different places and whenever I mention I’m from the Philadelphia area, I’m reminded about how universally hated our fanbase is – specifically that our fans are “so mean” they even attack Santa Claus. (There’s a whole Wikipedia page on the Philadelphia Eagles Santa Claus incident, if you’re interested.)
Honestly, I don’t blame them. The photo above was taken from my parent’s rooftop in 2018, just after the Eagles’ last Super Bowl win. There were reports of people climbing traffic poles (which were greased ahead-of-time, because law enforcement apparently expected this), peeing off them, and fans flipping a car.
To be honest… I’m hoping for a repeat on Sunday 😉 Go birds!
Sari
(Senior Producer)
P.S. For those less interested in the actual game, there is now a red carpet event before the game – streaming on Tubi starting 3:30pm ET – covered by the NFL’s first-ever fashion editor.
🚨 ONE IMPORTANT THING
Judge Suspends Trump's Federal Workforce Buyout Deadline
A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a midnight “deferred resignation” deadline that offered roughly two million federal workers pay through September if they opt to leave this week.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. froze the Office of Personnel Management’s buyout offers until a hearing on Monday.
It comes as unions representing about 800,000 of the federal employees brought the case, saying the buyouts were arbitrary and unlawful.
ART OF THE DEAL
The plan is part of President Trump’s initiative to downsize the federal workforce. More than 60,000 workers (about 3% of the workforce) have already accepted the offer.
Not all federal workers who accept the offer will be able to stop working immediately, though.
Some legal experts argue that the deal is illegal under the Anti-Deficiency Act, which requires all spending to be appropriated by Congress. As of right now, funding is set to expire in March.
WHITE HOUSE RESPONDS
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told NBC News, “We are grateful to the judge for extending the deadline so more federal workers who refuse to show up to the office can take the Administration up on this very generous, once-in-a-lifetime offer.”
Voluntary vs. forced: The Wall Street Journal says that Trump’s team is preparing executive orders to fire thousands of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services workers, including at the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control.
➕ MORE CONTEXT: At the beginning of Trump’s first term, we saw massive street protests. This time around, the “resistance” seems to be playing out in the courts instead.
In response to Trump signing dozens of executive orders undoing many landmark Democratic policies, lawyers on the left have filed at least 35 suits challenging them. They’ve been successful in some cases: courts have blocked Trump’s executive orders ending birthright citizenship, forcing trans women to be held in men’s prisons, freezing federal funding, and – as discussed above – enforcing the “deferred resignation” deadline.
Democrats had been preparing for some of these lawsuits since before the election, using Project 2025 as a blueprint, which has allowed them to move fast. But Trump may be moving faster – and his team has alleged they’re doing everything legally. Plus, if any of these lawsuits make it to the Supreme Court, it’s possible the 6-3 conservative majority would rule in Trump’s favor anyway.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told the Washington Post it’s a risk they’re willing to take: “I think the Trump administration believes it will generally prevail in the court system the country now has. He may be wrong about that.”
MORE FROM WASHINGTON
📌 Secretary of State Marco Rubio assumed another role in the Trump administration, acting director of the U.S. Archives (FOX)
📌 Senate to vote on confirmation of Russ Vought to lead budget office as Democrats protest nomination (CBS)
📌 Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show (CNN)
📌 DOJ sues Illinois and Chicago over immigration policies (AXIOS)
📣 BABYARK EXTENDED REAR-FACING: PREMIUM CAR-SEAT SAFETY
Studies have found that infants who are rear-facing in car seats are 75% less likely to sustain serious injury in accidents. Rear-facing provides better alignment, support, and protection for the still-developing head, neck, and spine.
babyark convertible car seats allow rear-facing up to 50 pounds, and continued use through age 6, meaning your baby is snugly-tucked into protective luxury at all ages.
With guided installation and sophisticated energy absorption, the seat is not just built to last, it’s built to protect - funneling force away from your baby into mechanisms built into the car seat itself to absorb the impact in a crash.
Ensuring that the car seat is properly installed, that your infant is correctly buckled, and that you are keeping them rear-facing as long as the car seat limits allow can all be life-saving choices.
🚨 ONE INTERGALACTIC THING
Asteroid Has 2.3% Chance Of Hitting Earth In 2032, But Scientists Say It Can Be Knocked Off Course
Something NASA is keeping a close eye on: An asteroid dubbed 2024 YR4, estimated to be about 130 to 330 feet wide (for reference: a football field is 160 feet wide), now has a 2.3% chance of striking Earth on December 22, 2032.
The risk has continued to climb since the asteroid was first discovered on December 27, 2024 at a NASA observatory in Chile. In just the last few days, it’s risen from a 1.6% chance to a 2.3% chance. A reminder, though, that it still means there is a 97.7% chance it misses Earth.
Keep in mind, this is not a humanity-ending or global event. Even if it hit earth, its size is comparable to an asteroid that hit rural Siberia in 1908, now called the Tunguska event. That asteroid still destroyed 800 square miles of forest, so astronomers are keeping close watch.
WHAT WE KNOW
It is currently 27 million miles away, and won’t get close to earth again until 2028, when scientists say they can make a better prediction about its path. The European Space Agency says 2024 YR4 “will likely remain on ESA’s risk list” until then.
They have been able to project the potential line the asteroid could fall within if it somehow struck Earth.
Where the asteroid could land. Via: Space.com
KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON
If it enters the Earth’s atmosphere – though scientists put the risk at “very low” – it could cause an atmospheric explosion ("airburst") or form a crater upon landing. In a worst case scenario, it could land in populated areas anywhere from South America to sub-Saharan Africa, or in the Atlantic Ocean where it could cause a tsunami.
But experts urge calm, emphasizing that the probability of a strike is still very low. "People should absolutely not worry about this yet," Catalina Sky Survey engineer and asteroid hunter David Rankin told Space.com. "The most likely outcome will be a close approaching rock that misses us."
And, beyond that, scientists working on NASA’s asteroid deflection program, say they already successfully nudged a much larger space rock off course recently, and believe they could do the same to 2024 YR4.
MORE FROM INFINITY & BEYOND
📌 First winter storm of many forces water rescues, knocks out power and creates dangerous travel conditions (CNN)
📌 Trump promises ‘great computerized’ system that could avert midair collisions (MO NEWS)
🚨 ONE THING THAT NEEDS EXPLAINING
What’s Up With Allegations About The Government Paying Millions To The Media?
MORE FROM THE INTERNET
📌 NCAA adjusts transgender policy in wake of Trump executive order (ESPN)
📌 Trump administration begins deporting some criminal migrants to GTMO (FOX)
📌 In Michigan, some Arab-Americans revisit their support for Trump (CBS)📌 Kendrick Lamar vows to keep his passion for storytelling at the Super Bowl halftime show (AP)
📌 Warner Bros. is streaming full movies for free on YouTube (VERGE)
📌 Jessie Eisenberg says he feels most comfortable in Indiana after leaving “unstable” Hollywood (FOX)
📌 The most fun bets to make at the Super Bowl regarding the game and the music (THE RINGER)
📌 Links to watch Super Bowl ads early (FYI they cost $8 million per 30 seconds this year) (CBS)
🎉 CHEERS TO THE FREAKIN’ WKND
What We’re Watching (besides the Super Bowl):
Mosh: Kinda Pregnant ~ Netflix
Jill: The first-ever red-carpet Super Bowl segment ~ Tubi’s Super Bowl broadcast
What We’re Reading:
Mosh: Don’t Try to Rescue Your Kid From the ‘Learning Pit’ ~ Jenny Anderson for the WSJ
Jill: All Fours ~ Miranda July
Want a new book this weekend? New listeners can get one free month of Amazon Audible Premium Plus. For hundreds of thousands of audiobooks and podcasts, Click HERE!
What We’re Eating:
Mosh: Chips and guacamole — thank goodness the tariffs were avoided
Jill: Chili cheese dip