NASA will use artificial intelligence for planetary defense -

NASA's Frontier Development Lab (FDL), a public-private research institute operated jointly by the space agency's Ames Research Center and the SETI Institute, announced it will use artificial intelligence to study methods of protecting the Earth from potentially hazardous asteroids and comets. The announcement was made on Friday, June 30, designated in 2014 as International Asteroid Day, an annual event that addresses potential threats from Near Earth Objects (NEOs). June 30 was chosen because it is the anniversary of the 1908 Tunguska impact, when an asteroid estimated to have been 120 feet wide exploded over the Stony Tunguska River in Siberia. The annual commemoration is the brainchild of astrophysicist and Queen lead guitarist Brian May and film director Grigorij Richters. Several years ago, Richters directed 51 Degrees North, a film depicting a fictional asteroid strike in London. For this year's event, FDL assembled a research team to discuss the ways artificial intelligence can assist in planetary defense.