Nuclear devices generate massive amounts of X-rays. A new experiment suggests that might be enough to divert a killer asteroid.

“For a one-nanometer fall, we can ignore Earth’s gravity for 20 millionths of a second as Z produces a burst of X-rays that sweeps over the mock-asteroid surface 12.5 millimeters across, about the width of a finger,” said Moore.

Scientists have found nuclear weapons could actually help deflect an incoming cosmic impact — not by blowing an asteroid up, but by showering it with X-ray radiation.