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Title: It's official: An asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs
Source:
Reuters
URL Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100304/sc_nm/us_dinosaurs_asteroid
Published: Mar 6, 2010
Author: Kate Kelland
Post Date: 2010-03-06 09:24:48 by Ferret Mike
Keywords: None
Views: 216
Comments: 14
LONDON (Reuters) – A giant asteroid smashing into Earth is the only plausible explanation for the extinction of the dinosaurs, a global scientific team said on Thursday, hoping to settle a row that has divided experts for decades. A panel of 41 scientists from across the world reviewed 20 years' worth of research to try to confirm the cause of the so-called Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) extinction, which created a "hellish environment" around 65 million years ago and wiped out more than half of all species on the planet. Scientific opinion was split over whether the extinction was caused by an asteroid or by volcanic activity in the Deccan Traps in what is now India, where there were a series of super volcanic eruptions that lasted around 1.5 million years. The new study, conducted by scientists from Europe, the United States, Mexico, Canada and Japan and published in the journal Science, found that a 15-kilometre (9 miles) wide asteroid slamming into Earth at Chicxulub in what is now Mexico was the culprit. "We now have great confidence that an asteroid was the cause of the KT extinction. This triggered large-scale fires, earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale, and continental landslides, which created tsunamis," said Joanna Morgan of Imperial College London, a co-author of the review. The asteroid is thought to have hit Earth with a force a billion times more powerful than the atomic bomb at Hiroshima. Morgan said the "final nail in the coffin for the dinosaurs" came when blasted material flew into the atmosphere, shrouding the planet in darkness, causing a global winter and "killing off many species that couldn't adapt to this hellish environment." Scientists working on the study analyzed the work of paleontologists, geochemists, climate modelers, geophysicists and sedimentologists who have been collecting evidence about the KT extinction over the last 20 years. Geological records show the event that triggered the dinosaurs' demise rapidly destroyed marine and land ecosystems, they said, and the asteroid hit "is the only plausible explanation for this." Peter Schulte of the University of Erlangen in Germany, a lead author on the study, said fossil records clearly show a mass extinction about 65.5 million years ago -- a time now known as the K-Pg boundary. Despite evidence of active volcanism in India, marine and land ecosystems only showed minor changes in the 500,000 years before the K-Pg boundary, suggesting the extinction did not come earlier and was not prompted by eruptions. The Deccan volcano theory is also thrown into doubt by models of atmospheric chemistry, the team said, which show the asteroid impact would have released much larger amounts of sulphur, dust and soot in a much shorter time than the volcanic eruptions could have, causing extreme darkening and cooling. Gareth Collins, another co-author from Imperial College, said the asteroid impact created a "hellish day" that signaled the end of the 160-million-year reign of the dinosaurs, but also turned out to be a great day for mammals. "The KT extinction was a pivotal moment in Earth's history, which ultimately paved the way for humans to become the dominant species on Earth," he wrote in a commentary on the study. (Collins has created a website at http://impact.ese.ic.ac.uk/ImpactEffects/Chicxulub.html which allows readers to see the effects of the asteroid impact.) (Editing by Myra MacDonald)
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#1. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
Well, I know I feel better now. Now maybe I can get some sleep! LOL!
"The Central Intelligence Agency owns everyone of any significance in the major media." ~ William Colby, Director, CIA 1973–1976 Nothing in the State, everything outside the State, everything against the State - Jan Lester, Escape From Leviathan "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." - Frederic Bastiat Good order results spontaneously when things are let alone. - Zhuangzi
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
Yes, I am sure many of us have just about worried ourselves to death over this thing. Now maybe we can rest a little.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. deleted
The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
Don't tempt the higher powers to try another makeover. I mean, if dinos croaking led to our species' dominance, they might try again to see if two times leads to an even better dominant species then us. I mean, just imagine a smarter, more savvy species digging up Al Gore's skeleton and mounting it in their national museum's disply on our extinct era. I mean, irony does have a twisted sense of humor after all. ;-)
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
So Bono... and Sir Bob... you two have been very quiet on the whole "debt cancellation" front of late. Why is that? Do you have a problem with your OWN country getting "debt forgiveness"?
Don't tempt the higher powers to try another makeover. I mean, if dinos croaking led to our species' dominance, they might try again to see if two times leads to an even better dominant species then us. I mean, just imagine a smarter, more savvy species digging up Al Gore's skeleton and mounting it in their national museum's disply on our extinct era. I mean, irony does have a twisted sense of humor after all. ;-) If you want a good chuckle see if you can dig up a copy of "Motel of The Gods". It is a satire on modern archaeology and their propensity to label everything they don't understand, which is a lot despite their pretensions, as a "religious relic". The basic premise of the book is that at some time in the future archaeologists excavate a buried Motel and the conclusions they reach - including the "altar" with the "Tee Vee" on it. If you really want to irritate the archaeologic establishment read anything by John Anthony West or David Hatcher Chilress - rogue archaeologists. The establishment particularly hates West because he is self taught and was not burdened in his research by the pronouncements of the High Priests of Academia.
"One of the least understood strategies of the world revolution now moving rapidly toward its goal is the use of mind control as a major means of obtaining the consent of the people who will be subjects of the New World Order." K.M. Heaton, The National Educator
It wouldn't bother me if the process got speeded up a bit - as there are already quite a few people more savvy than Algore.
"One of the least understood strategies of the world revolution now moving rapidly toward its goal is the use of mind control as a major means of obtaining the consent of the people who will be subjects of the New World Order." K.M. Heaton, The National Educator
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
Well, I'm sorry to tell these so called scientists, it wasn't an asteroid. It was Climate Change. Yes, Climate Change. Brought about by a devastating nuclear war. There was a race of intelligent reptiles, called the Sleestak. One group had an all powerful God that they worshipped, that called the other group of Sleestak heathens, and unbelievers. The unbelievers worshipped money. Needless to say the race was on to armageddon. After their destruction, there were a few survivors, and the destructive force of their weapons opened up a rift in the space time continuum. An Atrusian named Enik was trapped there. Later, humans of all kinds would fall through this same kind of time anomaly. Usually when out camping on a routine expedition, or flying over the Bermuda Triangle. With that said, This asteroid nonsense is just a lie to cover up the truth. There are still sentient reptile people ruling the world to this day, and they possess nuclear weapons. At any time of their choosing, they can destroy all life on this world. My only concern, is what happened to those people who came from the far off colonies of Caprica, were they wiped out, or bred out of existence by the Pakuni Tribes, or were they eaten by sleestak?
It is better to be hated for what you are, than loved for what you are not. - Tommy The Mad Artist.
I'll check, but I'll assume that their works won't be in our local public library. You're welcome. You might find some in a library but only a public as opposed to a university or college.
"One of the least understood strategies of the world revolution now moving rapidly toward its goal is the use of mind control as a major means of obtaining the consent of the people who will be subjects of the New World Order." K.M. Heaton, The National Educator
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one.
I, for one, welcome our new reptile overlords.
#2. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
#3. To: F.A. Hayek Fan (#1)
Well, I know I feel better now. Now maybe I can get some sleep! LOL!
Lord Acton
#4. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
#5. To: Eric Stratton (#4)
"Maybe if we all pray that an asteroid will strike the Crapitol with a full Congress in sesson and wipe out everything within five miles, God might answer our prayers."
Toruk Makto
#6. To: Ferret Mike (#5)
#7. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
#8. To: Ferret Mike, Eric Stratton (#5)
"Maybe if we all pray that an asteroid will strike the Crapitol with a full Congress in sesson and wipe out everything within five miles, God might answer our prayers."
#9. To: Ferret Mike (#5)
I mean, just imagine a smarter, more savvy species digging up Al Gore's skeleton and mounting it in their national museum's disply on our extinct era.
#10. To: Original_Intent (#8)
#11. To: Ferret Mike (#0)
#12. To: Eric Stratton (#10)
Thanks for the recommendations!
#13. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#11)
#14. To: TommyTheMadArtist (#11)
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