WASHINGTON, October 16 (RIA Novosti) – US scientists are “itching” to work with their Russian counterparts in putting nuclear weapons technology to use in new systems to defend Earth from threatening asteroids, an investigative journalism outlet reported Wednesday. “In recent years, advocates of the use of nuclear weapons to counter space threats have been gaining ground,” the non-profit Center for Public Integrity (CPI) said in an article posted on its website. “NASA is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to study the idea, and the US nuclear weapons laboratories are itching to work with the Russians on it,”...