TURN OVER AND LEAVE TO ACT

SLAVA SOBOTOVIČOVÁ
TURN OVER AND LEAVE TO ACT

Exhibition duration: 16 May - 16 June 2025

Know the ways *1

The Y2K computer virus will cause the collapse of civilization and lead to a worldwide catastrophe at midnight on December 31, 1999. *2

Dwarf comet Elenin, travelling between the Sun and Earth, will disrupt the Earth's surface between August and October 2011, causing major earthquakes and tsunamis. A collision with Earth is calculated for October 16, 2011. *3

In about 300 000 years, WR 104, a system of two Wolf-Rayet-type stars (stars with high mass, high luminosity and relatively short lifetimes), is expected to explode. Some optical measurements have shown that the rotation axis of WR 104 is roughly Earthward. If WR 104 turns into a hypernova and a gamma-ray burst occurs, the subsequent gamma-ray burst (which propagates in the direction of the rotation axis) could threaten life on Earth, provided it strikes it at an angle of twelve degrees or less. *4

In less than 500,000 years, an asteroid larger than one kilometre in diameter will collide with Earth, causing the extinction of the human species. Such an event is estimated to occur once every 500,000 years. *5

In less than 1 million years, planet Earth will undergo a supervolcanic eruption, followed by centuries of volcanic winter and global mass extinction. This eruption will spew 3,200 cubic kilometres of volcanic material and can be compared to the Toba supereruption in what is now Indonesia during the last ice age 74,000 years ago. *6

In 16 million years, the star Nemesis will cause the periodic extinction of life on Earth by deflecting bodies farther away than Neptune and directing them to collide with Earth. The extinction of X-Pg, which ended the dinosaur era 66 million years ago, is a point in the same cycle. *7

In less than 100 million years, an asteroid between ten and fifteen kilometres in diameter will hit Earth. Its size is comparable to the asteroid that caused the extinction of the X-Pg dinosaurs 66 million years ago. A similar collision happens every 100 million years. *8

*1 According to the book Scivias ("Know the Ways") of St. Hildegard of Bingen, 1151 or 1152. The title of her writings comes from the phrase Sci vias Domini ("Know the ways of the Lord").
*2 Various sources, e.g. Committee on Government Reform and Oversight. The Year 2000 Problem: Fourth Report by the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, Together with Additional Views, 1998.
*3 See e.g. Mike Wall. "Debris of 'Doomsday' Comet Elenin to Pass By Earth on Sunday, 2011.
*4 Tuthill, Peter; Monnier, John; Lawrance, Nicholas; Danchi, William; Owocki, Stan; Gayley, Kenneth. "The Prototype Colliding-Wind Pinwheel WR 104". The Astrophysical Journal, 2008.
*5 Bostrom, Nick. "Existential Risks: Analyzing Human Extinction Scenarios and Related Hazards". Journal of Evolution and Technology, 2002
*6 The Geological Society of London, 2005.
*7 Various sources. Nemesis is the astronomical concept of an unknown "death star" causing the recurring extinction of life on Earth with a periodicity of 26 million years. The theory was formulated in 1983 by paleontologists David M. Raup and Jack Sepkoski. The body is assumed statistically and its existence has not been proven by sky observations. The Nemesis concept is currently being abandoned.
*8 Nelson, Stephen A. "Meteorites, Impacts, and Mass Extinction". Tulane University, 2017.