We have identified iridium in an ~5 m-thick section of pelagic sediment cored in the deep sea floor at Site 886C, in addition to a distinct spike in iridium at […]
Impact events
Posted inImpact events
Giant Impacts on Earth-like Worlds
The late stages of terrestrial planet formation are dominated by giant impacts that collectively influence the growth, dynamical stability, composition and habitability of any planets that form. Hitherto, numerical models […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Impact events, Press Release
Detectability of Planetesimal Impacts on Giant Exoplanets
The detectability of planetesimal impacts on imaged exoplanets can be measured using Jupiter during the 1994 comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 events as a proxy. By integrating the whole planet flux with […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Meteorite Impacts Can Create DNA Building Blocks
A new study shown that meteorite impacts on ancient oceans may have created nucleobases and amino acids. Researchers from Tohoku University, National Institute for Materials Science and Hiroshima University discovered […]
Posted inImpact events
Did Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Trigger Largest Lava Flows on Earth?
The asteroid that slammed into the ocean off Mexico 66 million years ago and killed off the dinosaurs probably rang the Earth like a bell, triggering volcanic eruptions around the […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Impact events, Press Release
Does Dark Matter Cause Mass Extinctions and Geologic Upheavals?
Research by New York University Biology Professor Michael Rampino concludes that Earth’s infrequent but predictable path around and through our Galaxy’s disc may have a direct and significant effect on […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
Plants Survive Better Through Mass Extinctions Than Animals
At least 5 mass extinction events have profoundly changed the history of life on Earth. But a new study led by researchers at the University of Gothenburg shows that plants […]
Posted inImpact events
Study Casts Doubt on Mammoth-killing Impact Event
Rock soil droplets formed by heating most likely came from Stone Age house fires and not from a disastrous cosmic impact 12,900 years ago, according to new research from the […]
Posted inImpact events
Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs may have nearly knocked off mammals, too
The extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago is thought to have paved the way for mammals to dominate, but a new study shows that many mammals died off […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Impact events, Press Release
Small Impacts Likely Erased Much of Earth's Primordial Atmosphere
Today’s atmosphere likely bears little trace of its primordial self: Geochemical evidence suggests that Earth’s atmosphere may have been completely obliterated at least twice since its formation more than 4 […]