The study doesn’t rule out the asteroid collision theory, but it does put a slight twist to it, which might explain what really happened to the dinosaurs. #dinosaurs #asteroid #massextinction - http://clapway.com/2015/10/01/what-killed-the-dinosaurs123/

The asteroid collision theory is well-known model that attributes the demise of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period to a bolide impact, believed to have occurred roughly 66 million years ago. Evidence suggests that the 5-15 kilometer (3.1 to 9.3 mile) rock hit the vicinity of what is the Yucatán Peninsula today, and triggered a mass extinction event, either directly due to its impact, or indirectly due to the resulting changes in Earth’s atmosphere. The theory, although widely supported, is now being revisited due to new research that points to the occurrence of a double catastrophe. The findings are now published in the journal Science.

SO WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO THE DINOSAURS?

The study, conducted by Berkeley geologists, doesn’t rule out the asteroid collision theory, but it does put a slight twist to it. For years, scientists have been aware of the volcanism that was occurring in India during the same time period, which spread lava across a region known as the Deccan Traps. However, debate has been focused around the role of the eruptions in the mass extinction: were they irrelevant or did they cause a chain of reactions that ultimately lead to the long-term die-off of the dinosaurs?

Initial dating of the Deccan Traps formations indicated the former, as the flood of lava seemed to have occurred long before the impact. New evidence, however, has revealed the most accurate dates yet, giving rise to the theory that the asteroid impact could have changed the volcano’s plumbing system, accelerating the eruptions for hundreds of thousands of years to come.The culmination of these events is thought to have covered the planet with dust and fumes, ultimately causing a huge change in the climate. Long-term eruptions would also result in the delayed recovery of life for 500,000 years after end of the Cretaceous and the beginning of the Tertiary period (K-T boundary), during which many organisms seemed to have disappeared from the fossil record.

But while this does give a clearer picture of what really happened, it doesn’t necessarily ascribe the extinction of the dinosaurs to one initial cause. Scientists are fairly certain that the impact and volcanism occurred roughly 50,000 years of the extinction, but “both phenomena were clearly at work at the same time.”

“…it becomes somewhat artificial to distinguish between them as killing mechanisms: said lead researcher Paul Renne, the director of the Berkeley Geochronology Center. “It is going to be basically impossible to ascribe actual atmospheric effects to one or the other.

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New Twist To The Theory Of What Killed Dinosaurs

%Dear #Earthlings, we are the victims of another #internethoax and the world is not getting hit in #September by a giant asteroid; at least, according to #NASA.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/21/nasa-earth-not-going-to-end-101/

Dear Earthlings, we are the victims of another Internet hoax and the world is not getting hit in September by a giant asteroid; at least, according to NASA.

IN FACT, NASA ASSURES WE ARE GOING TO BE SAFE FOR A WHILE

Specialists at NASA note that there are no indications that the world will be destroyed in a matter of months or years, and the possibility of an asteroid hitting Earth in the next century is about 0.01 percent.

WHAT LED NASA TO THE PUBLIC STATEMENT?

The Internet, the place where rumors spread faster than the flu, was full of whispers stating that the world will be hit by an asteroid strike between September 15 and September 28, 2015. NASA felt the need to speak up against bloggers who claimed that the asteroid would wipe America off the face of Earth, and made a public statement saying that our planet is safe.

Paul Chodas, the manager of NASA’s Near-Earth Object Office, says that if there was an object, large enough to damage Earth that badly, closing in, specialists would have known already. In addition, there’s not one piece of scientific evidence to sustain the rumor. Zero. Nada. As Chodas says, to his knowledge no asteroids are approaching Earth anytime soon since his office spares no expense to track every known and potentially unknown object in space, and the danger of a strike is not likely in the next one hundred years.

THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME NASA CALMS THE MASSES

In 2012, two rumors of an Earth disaster came to light. The Elenin comet, the one that many believed would destroy Earth, led NASA to talk to speak up about it, explaining that the comet was simply a harmless trail of particles that could not damage Earth in any way.

The most popular of all rumors, however, was the one with the world ending on December 21st, 2012, because that was the last day of the Mayan calendar. NASA officials killed the rumor’s veracity months before that date, and historians had already explained that Mayans could not have legitimately predicted any kind of Apocalypse.

Phew.

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LEARN TO COPE WITH THE MAN ON THE WING OF THE PLANE

NASA Confirms: Earth Is Not Going To End in September

NASA spots the "peanut" asteroid - http://clapway.com/2015/08/02/nasa-spots-the-peanut-asteroid867/

The hype about flybys

It’s not an unusual a thing, more of an everyday occurrence that there is some news about asteroids flying by Earth. Usually sparking intrigue and some small discussion about what would happen if it would hit Earth. Most flybys have a name and The peanut asteroid is no different.

The peanut asteroid

Picture this, it is nearing the end of the twentieth century, and all the world is abuzz with the end of the world and new millennia mania. But in the May of 1999, a new asteroid was discovered at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Az. From that point on, because of its appearance akin to that of a peanut, it was dubbed the space peanut. The peanut asteroid’s official name is the 1999 JD6. Footage compiled over several images over seven hours can be seen here. Additional information is available there as well. The instruments used to compile the images that you see in the video were located in two different places. One of which was the Deep Space Network antenna located in Goldstone, California. The other instrument was the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia. Using both of these, the signal was shot to the peanut asteroid in order for the telescope in Green Bank to receive the signal reflections, and capture the images.

Additional information

The data was collected on the 25th of July, marking this flyby as the peanut asteroid’s closest approach to Earth ever. However the peanut asteroid won’t make another flyby debut until around forty years from now, sometime around 2054. From what has been gathered, the scientists examining the information have said that disagreements on the actual size of the asteroid will be resolved. Before this, it was an estimation from educated guesses to other information, but hopefully it will be resolved now. The asteroid has been a focus of many studies, so a lot about the asteroid is now known, and not so much a mystery any more. There is plenty of time wait until the asteroid’s next flyby around 2054.

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While you’re scanning the sky of asteroids, you can listen to all your music on these Samson RTE 2 headphones

NASA spots the "peanut" asteroid

Building Blocks of Life Discovered on #Comet67p - http://clapway.com/2015/07/31/building-blocks-of-life-discovered-on-comet-67p123/

As much as most space enthusiasts are reluctant to do so, it may be time for us to look not to the extrasolar planets, not to dwarf planets, not to black holes or quasar punches or solar storms–but to comets. Comet 67P, specifically, which the European Space Agency’s Philae lander has been investigating since November of last year, has just identified compounds that are also the necessary building blocks of life.

A SIGNIFICANT FIND ON COMET 67P

This was thought to be the case for quite some time, as there was simply no other way to explain how life on Earth got started. For years, scientists have thought that comets acted as seeds to an early Earth, bringing in basic materials with which Earth was later able to furnish life, and a thriving ecosystem.

HOLES IN THE THEORY

However, precisely how life originated on Earth is a mystery still annoying scientists to this day. So far, the general consensus is that we understand the few essential ingredients involved. Water and a few chemical building blocks had to be present, but they certainly weren’t always. Perhaps these things were delivered to the Earth over three billion years ago.

HOW DO COMETS GET HERE?

Most comets persist in places like the Kuiper Belt, far beyond the reach of most studying probes (save, perhaps for New Horizons), but every once in a while, a stray comet is moved out of its wide orbit. Comets’ trademark tails are formed by the increased heat they experience as they approach the sun, as has been observed for several centuries. The cool thing this tells us about comets today is that they carry large quantities of water.

But before the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft left for comet 67p in 2004, no one really knew if there was anything in the realm of necessary building blocks in comets. Was it just water and rocks?

BUILDING BLOCKS OF LIFE ON COMET 67P

The answer is a resounding yes. Published in the journal Science, Philae found 16 organic compounds, and four of them–methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde, and acetamide–were not known to even exist on comets. Of more interesting note, it also found benzene, which is a cyclic hydrocarbon, and plenty of C02.

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Building Blocks of Life Discovered on Comet 67p