Not to get all main stream media on you and make this sound too dramatic or anything. By the time this collision actually happens, if humans are still around at all (it'll be way past 2012), we'll probably be floating in the ether communicating by telepathy and talking to a big computer named Multivac. Hope I didn't scare you (much).
That'll be after the war with Skynet and the machines.
Anyway, the study was done by Jacques Laskar and his team at the Observatoire de Paris says that there is a 1 in 2,500 chance that the huge collission will happen in about 3.5 billion years, if it happens at all. This is versus the nearly 99% chance that things will continue as normal for another 5 billion (with a B) years and then the sun will expand to engulf the solar system before it implodes and goes BOOM.
Then Multivac will say "Let there be light..."
Sorry, I can't help the Asimov reference. He's how I relate to all things astronomical. Plus, that's my favorite story of his (The Last Question). I'm a bibliophile. Sue me.
At any rate, if you'd like more information on this onerous development in our solar system's future, you can read this story from the Associated Free Press. My friend @qutequte on Twitter (her website is here) sent it to me, so special thanks to her are on order.
