Most dinosaurs were wiped out 66 million years ago, but scientists are still trying to piece together exactly what caused their demise. An asteroid, at least as large as Mount Everest, struck the Earth at that time, likely leading to the extinction of all non-avian dinosaurs. However, new research suggests that volcanic activity at Deccan Traps in India may have doomed the animals before the asteroid struck off the coast of Mexico. A series of four massive pulses of eruptions there released enough lava to build a ring one mile thick and five miles across that would encircle the globe. These events also released vast quantities of poisonous gas into the atmosphere, and created extreme global warming, raising temperatures worldwide. This climate change may have weakened the line of dinosaurs so much, they were unable to withstand the additional climate change which happened once the asteroid hit the Earth.Read More Did Global Warming Kill off the Dinosaurs?
Astronomers are building a new telescope designed to search for asteroids which could threaten the Earth. Called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, this new observatory under construction in Chile is expected to find 65 percent of the objects which could threaten our home world. It was 110 years ago when an object from space caused a massive blast in Siberia which flattened trees in an area 2,000 square kilometers in size.Read More 110 Years After Tunguska, Astronomers Ready a New Telescope to Search for Threatening Asteroids from Space
A new plan from NASA could help prevent mass disaster if the Earth is hit by a giant meteor. Although no object is currently predicted to strike our home planet, this new report outlines ways to detect and deflect dangerous objects, as well as contingency plans should an impact occur.Read More NASA Reveals New Plan to Save Earth from Asteroids
Dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid impact 66 million years ago. But, new research suggests plankton and other animals returned to the impact site just a few years after the cataclysmic event. Within 30,000 years, the region was teeming with life. Other areas of the Earth took up to 300,000 years to recover from the collision. Researchers are questioning how life recovered so quickly near the impact site.Read More Life Returned Quickly After Dinosaurs were Wiped Out by an Asteroid