Nuclear blast could save Earth from large asteroid, scientists say

Physicists at Sandia National Laboratory have given the first comprehensive demo of nuclear-assisted planetary defence against a massive asteroid. Photograph: Mopic/Alamy

Scientists, as well as Hollywood movie producers, have long looked to nuclear bombs as a promising form of defence should a massive asteroid appear without warning on a collision course with Earth.

Now, researchers at a US government facility have put the idea on a firm footing, showing how such a blast might save the world in the first comprehensive demo of nuclear-assisted planetary defence.