According to a new proposal by astronomers, two-thirds of the world’s living creatures may have been destroyed by a supernova near by. Its gamma rays would have recomposed the Earth’s atmosphere and allowed deadly ultraviolet radiation from the sun to hit the surface.
It would have also created dust in the atmosphere, cooling the surface, and setting up conditions that would allow an ice age to begin. Neat. Well, it’s neat, except for the fact that a supernova might expose the Earth to harmful gamma rays every few hundred million years and could happen at any time without warning.
We’ll be safe once we learn to live under water in the deep ocean.
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