In the 2000 novel "
The Light of Other Days" by
Arthur C. Clarke and
Stephen Baxter, Wormwood is the name given to the 200-km-wide chunk of rock that will destroy all life on Earth in the 2500's. News of the discovery of Wormwood was suppressed, later to be revealed to the world by an investigative journalist. After the story of Wormwood broke, interest in
writing,
traditional scientific research methodologies,
environmental issues, having
progeny and similar long-term-impact issues waned to the point of
apathy.