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--------------------------------- 2426 - LIFE - Exploding Stars Create Life
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Scientists estimate it takes 100,000,000 to 200,000,000 years for intelligent life to emerge and colonize a planet. 65,000,000 years ago, at the end of the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) period, 50% of life on Earth was extinguished. The dinosaurs did not survive. But, some half of marine invertebrates, plankton, marine reptiles did survive. 65,000,000 years later here you are reading about this stuff.
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- The iridium layer found at the K-T boundary around the globe is evidence of an asteroid impact on Earth that so changed the environment half of all life was extinguished.
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- Further back in our history is evidence of other mass extinctions:
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- 210,000,000 years ago, the end of the Triassic period, 48% of marine invertebrates, mammal-like reptiles, and amphibians were killed.
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- 250,000,000 years ago, at the end of the Permian period, 83% of all marine invertebrates and mammal-like reptiles were killed.
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- 365,000,000 years ago, at the end of the Devonian period, 50% of marine invertebrates, plankton (trilobites) and primitive fish were killed.
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- 440,000,000 years ago, at the end of the Ordovician period, 57% of all marine invertebrates were killed.
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- What were these weapons of mass destruction that caused these extinctions?
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- Archeologists learn of the extinctions by studying the bones and fossils in descending layers of the Earth’s crust. Distinct lines in the ages show extinctions where certain fossils no longer exist beyond that point. But, so far, archeologists have not found the evidence for what caused these other mass extinctions.
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- On December 27, 2004 the brightest flash of light ever seen in our Solar System occurred. This flash of electromagnetic energy (called a Gamma Ray Burst) occurred in 0.2 seconds and contained the amount of energy the Sun emits in 250,000 years. Earth was hit with the blast, but fortunately it came from 50,000 lightyears away. If it had been 10 lightyears away we would have had another mass extinction here on Earth.
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- The damage of these bursts of radiation only lasts a short time, about 15 years. The primary effect is on the Earth’s atmosphere. The Earth is surrounded by a blanket of oxygen (O2) and nitrogen (N2). In the middle of this blanket, in the stratosphere, is a layer of ozone (O3). The ozone layer blocks the penetration of ultraviolet light from the Sun.
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- During a 10 second Gamma Ray Burst the radiation would break up the O2 and N2 molecules. The chemical reactions in the atmosphere would create nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The nitric oxide would destroy the ozone (O3) layer and the NO2 would become a toxic brown gas in the atmosphere.
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- As the ozone (O3) layer is destroyed ultraviolet radiation penetrates the atmosphere and reaches the surface of the Earth. This UV radiation would damage DNA in all living creatures. After a few months the toxic brown gas (NO2) will cover the entire planet. Over time, say 10 years later, the NO and NO2 falls onto the Earth’s surface and reacts with water to form nitric acid. Acid rain and acid snow falls out of the sky.
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- After 15 years the atmosphere is pretty much back to normal. But, on Earth much of the land life is extinguished, much of the near-surface marine life is killed, and the climate is tipped toward global cooling possibly causing another ice age.
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- From geological evidence this 15 year event is too small to be noticeable. The ice age may leave some evidence but it is unlikely that scientists will be able to tie mass extinctions to supernova explosions or gamma ray bursts.
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- The other difficulty is that the Earth is rotating around the Milky Way every 250,000,000 years. The Milky Way is not a solid disk. The stars in the Milky Way are rotating at different radii and different speeds. After a few rotations the stars are hopelessly scrambled making it impossible to identify a supernova that could be the smoking gun for mass extinctions.
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- At the same time exploding supernova may be extinguishing life they are creating life. To begin with the exploding supernova create all the higher level elements in the periodic table above hydrogen, helium, lithium, and beryllium. Oxygen, carbon, iron, magnesium and 90 other elements are all created in the explosion of stars.
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- Also, the radiation from the explosion that destroys life’s DNA, killing 50% of life, mutates life’s DNA that remains causing the diversity of life and the foundation for evolution to create higher life forms, us.
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- Our galaxy is big and mostly empty space, but it harbors millions of blackholes that are remnants of supernovas and collapsing stars. When a giant star burns all it’s fuel, no heat remains to create the pressure withstanding the compression of gravity. The force of gravity collapses the stars mass into a singularity at the center of a blackhole.
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- These creators of life are every where. Our galaxy and other galaxies could be teeming with life and we would not know about it.
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- We are still learning. To learn more here are other book reviews on the topic:
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- 2361 - How did life start on Earth?
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- 2288 - The diversity of life.
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- 2165 - The evolution of life. - 609.
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- 2122 - Are we alone in the Universe? - 716
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- 2148 - The origin of life in the Universe.
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- 1942 - What is the earliest life on Earth?
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- 1874 - Will we likely find life on exoplanets and exomoons? Includes index of 17 more Reviews on this subject.
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- 476 - Gamma Rays and Cosmic Rays
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- 508 - You Are Made of Star Dust
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- 504 - Accelerating Universe from Unknown Force.
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- 510 - Supernova You Can See
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- 455 - Supernovae - A Cosmos, Everything but Quiet. It is violent out there.
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- 541 - Cosmic Rays
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- 542 - Neutron Star Flare - Magnetar 1806-20
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- 342 - The whole shebang. The Universe is under no obligation to make sense.
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- July 30, 2019 579
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--------------------- Wednesday, July 31, 2019 --------------------
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