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Research by New York University Biology Professor Michael Rampino ( http://www.biology.as.nyu.edu/object/MichaelRampino.html ) concludes that Earth's infrequent but predictable path around and through our Galaxy's disc may have a direct and significant effect on geological and biological phenomena occurring on Earth. In a new paper in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, he concludes that movement through dark matter may perturb the orbits of comets and lead to additional heating in the Earth's core, both of which could be connected with mass extinction events.
The Galactic disc is the region of the Milky Way Galaxy where our solar system resides. It is crowded with stars and clouds of gas and dust, and also a concentration of elusive dark matter--small subatomic particles that can be detected only by their gravitational effects.
Previous studies have shown that Earth rotates around the disc-shaped Galaxy once every 250 million years. But the Earth's path around the Galaxy is wavy, with the Sun and planets weaving through the crowded disc approximately every 30 million years. Analyzing the pattern of the Earth's passes through the Galactic disc, Rampino notes that these disc passages seem to correlate with times of comet impacts and mass extinctions of life. The famous comet strike 66 million ago that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs is just one example.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-02/nyu-ddm021815.php
[Also Covered By]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/dinosaurs/11422695/Dark-matter-may-have-killed-the-dinosaurs-claims-scientist.html
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Friday February 20 2015, @06:40AM
Shit. Shouldn't have asked this, now this is a conundrum.
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Friday February 20 2015, @07:34AM
At least it's not a goddamned Paradox, Louise! ("Millenium" 1989? Wow, Old Movie!)
Now if only we knew what dark matter was, and where it was, and how to tell where it was, perhaps we could steer the solar system around the rough patches? I think we are going to need more than Bruce Willis for this one.
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Friday February 20 2015, @07:38AM
You are not talking about ... No, you can't think of... Do you really want to ask Chuck Norris [chucknorrisfacts.com]? Isn't there a risk of creating another big bang?
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Friday February 20 2015, @08:27AM
Bah! [schneierfacts.com]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by q.kontinuum on Friday February 20 2015, @09:04AM
Good one :-)
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum