Civilization-crippling asteroids. A pretty scary concept of course, but a far-fetched one.

At least that’s what all of us—even the most ardent sci-fi fans among us—would like to think.

               Don’t be so sure. A research report published in the science journal Nature now suggests that asteroids of up to 20 km wide could presently strike Earth—at a rate of one every decade or two.

               Such impacts would be comparable to the one that hit the Russian city of Chelyabinsk this February. That strike released the equivalent of 500,000 tons of TNT of energy—causing injuries to 1,000 people and substantial damage.

               Hopefully, scientists will have devised an early-warning detection system by the time the next big space-chunk hits us.
But if not…just another reason to take an umbrella outside.

On Saturday, November 9, the UMBC women’s soccer team made the Retriever family proud as they clinched the America East Championship with a 2-1 win over defending champion Stony Brook.

This is the first-ever tournament title for UMBC women’s soccer. It was also the biggest team turnaround in America East Conference history as they achieved a school record of 13 wins!

Read the press release or check out video highlights from the game.

Show your #UMBCgrit and celebrate our 2013 women’s soccer team and coaching staff with a gift to the women’s soccer team!

As of late October, students, faculty and staff now have access to six hybrid road bicycles to rent for a ride across campus, or throughout Catonsville, Halethorpe and the greater Baltimore area.

The Retriever Activity Center (RAC) has eight bikes available for rent, for free, and the UMBC community can borrow the bikes for an hour or even a day. Each rental comes with a bike lock and helmet.

“The initial roll-out of the program is going to be essentially a no-cost program for the students,” said Mike D’Archangelo, assistant athletic director at UMBC . “In other words, they’re just going to fill out a sheet of paper with their name, their student ID number; there might be a small waiver piece. And then they’re going to be able to access this bike to get to the local Catonsville and Arbutus communities.”

Scott Westcoat of C’Ville Bikes & The Hub has partnered with UMBC to offer the bicycles at no cost. The bikes come at a minimal cost from Diamondback Bicycles, for whom Westcoat’s shop is a designated dealer.

For more information or to rent a bike, please visit the Retrieverfleet Bike Sharing Program myUMBC page.

The new SDK is available now for Android versions 4.22, 4.3, and 4.4

Earning 2,002 of the 5,523 total votes, UMBC senior striker Pete Caringi III (Perry Hall, Md./Cavlert Hall) earned the 2013 America East Men’s Soccer Fans’ Choice Player of the Year award.

Caringi III received 36 percent of the vote, just barely edging out New Hampshire’s Ugochukwu Uche who had 35 percent and a total of 1,906 votes. Hartford’s Damion Lowe came in third with 12 percent of the vote (688) and Binghamton’s Robbie Hughes had nine percent (497).

Caringi leads the conference and ranks 15th in the nation with 10 total goals, while also leading the league with 22 points. He helped UMBC capture the men’s soccer regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the America East Championship.

This is the fifth straight year America East has given out a Caringi is the first repeat winner (2012 & 2013).