September 5
Washington - A collision 160 million years ago of two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter sent many big rock chunks hurtling toward Earth, including the one that zapped the dinosaurs.
Their research offered an explanation for the cause of one of the most momentous events in the history of life on Earth -- a six-mile-wide (10-km-wide) meteorite striking Mexico's Yucatan peninsula 65 million years ago.
The impact is thought to have triggered a worldwide environmental cataclysm, expelling vast quantities of rock and dust into the sky, unleashing giant tsunamis, sparking global wildfires and leaving Earth shrouded in darkness for years.
The collision occurred in the asteroid belt, a collection of big and small rocks orbiting the sun about 100 million miles from Earth.
The asteroid Baptistina and rubble associated with it are thought to be leftovers, the scientists said.
In fact, while the bombardment of this region of the solar system due to this shower of debris peaked about 100 million years ago, the scientists said the tail end of the shower continues to this day. Bottke said many existing near-Earth asteroids can be traced back to this collision.
The dinosaur-destroying meteorite, thought to have measured 6 miles across, plunged into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and blasted out the Chicxulub (pronounced CHIK-shu-loob) crater measuring about 110 miles wide. The researchers looked at evidence on the composition of this meteorite and found it consistent with the stony Baptistina.
The researchers estimated that there also was about a 70 percent probability that the prominent Tycho crater on the Moon, formed 108 million years ago and measuring about 55 miles across, also was carved out by a remnant of the earlier asteroid collision.
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Full Version: Space collision meant doom for dinosaurs
i already saw about it in some site..............
some scientists say they die due to disease.....and some said different reasons-----i forgot.but,90 % said they became extinct because of that asteroid collision with earth as u said.i think that must be the truth.its very interesting to know about these.And if that asteroid didnt hit earth,dinosaurs would have lived some another million years.who knows? ? ? ? ? ?
some scientists say they die due to disease.....and some said different reasons-----i forgot.but,90 % said they became extinct because of that asteroid collision with earth as u said.i think that must be the truth.its very interesting to know about these.And if that asteroid didnt hit earth,dinosaurs would have lived some another million years.who knows? ? ? ? ? ?
QUOTE(davesam @ Sep 24 2007, 03:11 PM) 
i already saw about it in some site..............
some scientists say they die due to disease.....and some said different reasons-----i forgot.but,90 % said they became extinct because of that asteroid collision with earth as u said.i think that must be the truth.its very interesting to know about these.And if that asteroid didnt hit earth,dinosaurs would have lived some another million years.who knows? ? ? ? ? ?
some scientists say they die due to disease.....and some said different reasons-----i forgot.but,90 % said they became extinct because of that asteroid collision with earth as u said.i think that must be the truth.its very interesting to know about these.And if that asteroid didnt hit earth,dinosaurs would have lived some another million years.who knows? ? ? ? ? ?
Yes, many scientists believe the human race may never have existed because mammals would not evolve into higher life forms as long as the dinosaurs were the dominant species.
QUOTE(draconic chronicler @ Sep 29 2007, 06:57 PM)
Yes, many scientists believe the human race may never have existed because mammals would not evolve into higher life forms as long as the dinosaurs were the dominant species.
Wouldn't dinos evolve enough sooner or later?
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