The 30 seconds that sentenced dinosaurs to their doom:

[superbeets]

[h=1]The 30 seconds that sentenced dinosaurs to their doom: New BBC documentary reveals the moment an asteroid NINE-MILES long hit the earth and wiped out an entire species[/h]

• A chance encounter between an asteroid and a patch of sulfur-rich rock plunged the earth into a global winter as the vaporised sulphur reflected light from earth
• The tiny asteroid - equivalent to a grain of sand in comparison to a bowling ball - destroyed the dinosaurs 150m year rule on earth
• Seconds later the asteroid would have hit the ocean with less acute impact
• The dinosaurs' decimation allowed mammals - and ultimately humans - to thrive
• A BBC documentary will examine new research into the end of the dinosaurs

 

[superbeets]

The asteroid impact that doomed the dinosaurs to extinction had such a devastating effect on Earth by pure chance, scientists say.
If it had struck 30 seconds later – or 30 seconds sooner – it would have caused far less damage and the dinosaurs would probably have survived.
As a result, man might never have become the planet’s dominant species, a BBC documentary reveals tonight.

 

[superbeets]

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CGI image of the moment the asteroid struck earth 66 million years ago, precisely the same time as the dinosaurs became extinct

The asteroid struck 66million years ago 24 miles off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, causing a crater 111 miles wide and 20 miles deep. Scientists who drilled into the crater found the rock was rich in sulphur compounds.
The impact of the asteroid vaporised this rock, filling the air with a cloud of dust similar to that created by a catastrophic volcanic eruption. This blocked out the sun and cooled the planet dramatically – below freezing for a decade – wiping out most life.
Those dinosaurs not killed by fumes, molten rock falling from the sky or tsunamis would have starved as their food ran out.
Yet if the asteroid, which is estimated to have been nine miles across and travelling at 40,000mph, had arrived a few seconds sooner or later, it could have landed in deep water in the Atlantic or Pacific.

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The impact from the explosion with dust flying into the atmosphere after the asteroid struck earth at 40,000mph

 

[superbeets]

That would have meant that mostly sea water would have been vaporised, causing far less harm. Instead, the effect of the impact of a comparatively tiny asteroid was magnified catastrophically.
Sean Gulick, professor of geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin, who organised the drilling with Professor Joanna Morgan, of Imperial College London, said: ‘That asteroid struck Earth in a very unfortunate place.’
Professor Morgan said research suggests 100billion tons of sulphates were thrown into the atmosphere, adding: ‘That would be enough to cool the planet for a decade and wipe out most life.’
The Day The Dinosaurs Died is on BBC2 tonight at 9pm.

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Tyrannosaurus Rex dominated earth before an asteroid hit and vaporised sulfur-rich rock which catapulted a light-reflecting cloud into the atmosphere and blocked the suns rays

 

[superbeets]

The asteroid's impact was so huge that the blast led to the extermination of three quarters of all life on Earth, including most of the dinosaurs.

But this chance event allowed smaller mammals - and ultimately humans - the chance to thrive.

Had the asteroid crashed seconds earlier or later it would have hit the ocean, potentially causing much less vaporisation which may have allowed the dinosaurs to survive, scientists now believe.

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The drilling machine 25 miles from the coast of Mexico where scientists collected rock cores in order to prove how the dinosaurs became extinct

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The research has unearthed insights into how impacts can help shape planets and possibly even provide habitat for new origins of life

Professor Joanna Morgan of Imperial College London has co-led a major new study with Sean Gullick, professor of geophysics at the University of Texas, Austin into the the impact of this earth-changing asteroid.
The results of this major study will be revealed in a new BBC documentary called The Night the Dinosaurs Died which will be screened on BBC2 tomorrow at 9pm and is presented by Professors Alice Roberts and Ben Garod.
In the study, researchers have drilled into the peak ring of the Chicxulub crater in the Gulf of Mexico where the asteroid hit.

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Evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod looks up to the sky during the scientific experiment in the Gulf of Mexico

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A dinosaur fossil lies on the ground ready to be examined in New Jersey

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Professor Alice Roberts sits down with paleontologist Ken Lacovara to examine the fossil

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Mr Garrod looks at part of the extracted rock core dug up in the Gulf of Mexico

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The rock core is measured out for examination

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This graphic shows an asteroid crash into earth, vaporise rock and catapult clouds of sulfur into the atmosphere. The sulphate particles blocked sunlight, plunging earth into global winter

Their research has unearthed insights into how impacts can help shape planets and possibly even provide habitat for new origins of life.
It also established a new understanding of how violent asteroid impacts cause a planet's surface to behave like a fluid - previous scientific analysis suggested that such impacts deform the surface by melting most of the rock around the impact.
Prof Gullick said that the asteroid struck the earth at a very unfortunate place - a concentration of sulphur-rich rock which vaporised, catapulting a light-reflecting cloud into the air.

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The lack of light led ultimately caused the death of the dinosaurs which had dominated earth for 150m years. This chance extinction allowed mammal - and human life - to evolve and thrive

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Sean Gulick looks to the camera with a crater behind him from a recent asteroid impact on in Arizona

Prof Gullick explained that sulphate particles reflect light, which effectively shaded the earth from the sun, dramatically cooling the planet, limiting plant growth and ultimately cutting off food supplies.
This caused the decline and death of the dinosaurs as a species which had dominated earth for 150m years.
According to Professor Joanna Morgan, the samples suggest that more than 100bn tons of sulphates were thrown into the atmosphere with extra soot from the fires that followed.

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Part of a dinosaur fossil is encased in the hope of being examined for evidence

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The asteroid struck the earth at a very unfortunate place - a concentration of sulfur-rich rock which vaporised, catapulting a light-reflecting cloud into the air

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The impact forced rock from deep in the crust to be lifted into the air and form a strange ring of peaks

'That would be enough to cool the planet for a decade and wipe out most life,' Prof Morgan said as reported by The Times.
But this dark day for the dinosaurs provided an opportunity for mammals and ultimately humans to evolve.
'Just half a million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs, landscapes had filled with mammals of all shapes and sizes. Chances are, if it wasn't for that asteroid we wouldn't be here today,' scientist and BBC presenter Prof Alice Roberts told The Times.
Rock analysis has allowed scientists to calculate the size of the impact which indicates that the asteroid was approximately nine miles wide and hit the planet at 40,000mph.
This would make the asteroid equivalent to a grain of sand hitting a bowling ball.

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The asteroid was approximately nine miles wide. Scientist believe that without it, human life may never have existed

 

[superbeets]

The Day the Dinosaur Died, BBC 2, Monday at 9pm

The Day The Dinosaurs Died investigates the greatest vanishing act in the history of our planet - the sudden disappearance of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Experts suspect that the dinosaurs were wiped out after a city-sized asteroid smashed into the Gulf of Mexico causing a huge crater. But until now, they haven't had any proof.


In a world first, evolutionary biologist Ben Garrod joins a multi-million pound drilling expedition into the exact spot the asteroid hit to get hard evidence of the link.

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Presenter Professor Alice Roberts travels the globe meeting top scientists




The team overcomes huge obstacles as it attempts to drill 1,500 metres beneath sea level to pull up rock from the Chicxulub crater.

Meanwhile, paleopathologist Professor Alice Roberts travels the globe meeting top scientists and gaining exclusive access to a mass fossil graveyard in New Jersey -
believed to date from the same time the asteroid hit. Alice also treks by horseback across the remote plains of Patagonia, to see if the effects of the asteroid impact could have wiped out dinosaurs across the world - almost immediately.


Alice and Ben's investigations reveal startling new evidence of a link between the asteroid and the death of the dinosaurs, presenting a vivid picture of the most dramatic 24 hours in our planet's history. They illustrate what happened in the seconds and hours after the impact, revealing that had the huge asteroid struck the Earth a moment earlier, or later, the destruction might not have been total for the dinosaurs. And if they still roamed the world, we humans may never have come to rule the planet.



BBC2, Monday, 9pm

 

[ScottL]

Without this catastrophic event man may have never existed and this forum would have been millions upon millions of years of Vittosaurus and Sheriffsauras hurling the same insults at each other. Great Stuff SB!

 

[Willie99]

kinda hard to use a keyboard

 

[Willie99]

You don't have to run, I'm a Vegan, meat is baaaad for you

 

[Willie99]

fucking liberals, they always have more babies than everyone else