extinction
Ammonites Were Doing Fine Until the Asteroid Hit
I must confess, I think asteroids and I think of movies like Deep Impact or Armageddon! Scientists think that an…
Earth’s Atmosphere is Our Best Defence Against Nearby Supernovae
Earth's protective atmosphere has sheltered life for billions of years, creating a haven where evolution produced complex lifeforms like us.…
41,000 Years Ago Earth’s Shield Went Down
Earth is naked without its protective barrier. The planet's magnetic shield surrounds Earth and shelters it from the natural onslaught…
Does the Rise of AI Explain the Great Silence in the Universe?
Artificial Intelligence is making its presence felt in thousands of different ways. It helps scientists make sense of vast troves…
DART Showed We Can Move an Asteroid. Can We Do It More Efficiently?
Like many of you, I loved Deep Impact and Armageddon. Great films, loads of action and of course, an asteroid…
Did a Comet Wipe out the Dinosaurs?
About 66 million years ago a massive chunk of rock slammed into Earth in what is the modern-day Yucatan Peninsula.…
Scientists Think They Know What Caused the Deadliest Mass Extinction in the History of the Earth
Humanity can have a love/hate relationship with itself, but there's no denying that we're the pinnacle of evolution on Earth…
A Supernova Exploded Dangerously Close to Earth 2.5 Million Years Ago
In its 4.5 billion year history, Earth has had to run the gauntlet. Numerous catastrophes have imperilled the planet, from…
A New Mass Extinction has been Discovered, Wiping Out Life 233 Million Years Ago, and Leading to the Rise of the Dinosaurs
Most everybody knows that the dinosaurs perished rapidly in a tumultuous extinction, caused by an asteroid strike about 66 million…
Did Snowball Earth Happen Because of a Sudden Drop in Sunlight?
Hundreds of millions of years ago, Earth went through two episodes of severe glaciation. These two episodes—the Sturtian and the…