They seem to come around every 36 million years roughly, and we are due for one now! This theory has been brought out before but now there are simulations that add weight to the possiblity of this happening for real. The gist is, we (the whole solar system) in its orbit round the milky way, every 35, 36 million years we bob up and down into and out of denser lanes of dust clouds and such an the gravitational interactions changes the orbits of comets in interstellar space and in the oort cloud in such a way that thre is a tenfold increase in the likelyhood of a big collision on earth. And they think its a two way street, that life from earth, once developed, can be launched into space and seed the surrounding interstellar space as well as other planets in our solar sytem. Interesting stuff.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502092145.htm
Originally posted by sonhouse They seem to come around every 36 million years roughly, and we are due for one now! This theory has been brought out before but now there are simulations that add weight to the possiblity of this happening for real. The gist is, we (the whole solar system) in its orbit round the milky way, every 35, 36 million years we bob up and down into and out of dense ...[text shortened]... r solar sytem. Interesting stuff.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502092145.htm
Originally posted by FabianFnas And it was 36 million of years ago too !!! 😲
😉
I first saw an article about this subject in Analog Sci Fi mag, they have a science article each month and there was one about this ten years ago. When I saw the numbers, that was the first thing I thought, we are due for one in our time frame. Of course that could be a million years from now and its not EVERY 36 mil like clockwork, the actual dates vary by as much as 4 million years so don't hold your breath or sell all your belongings JUST yet.🙂
Originally posted by sonhouse They seem to come around every 36 million years roughly, and we are due for one now! This theory has been brought out before but now there are simulations that add weight to the possiblity of this happening for real. The gist is, we (the whole solar system) in its orbit round the milky way, every 35, 36 million years we bob up and down into and out of dense ...[text shortened]... r solar sytem. Interesting stuff.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502092145.htm
An interesting article, although I don't think its an entirely "new" idea, probably a new model based on more accurate inputs etc
I'd like to see the confidence intervals surrounding the "36 million year cycle", I mean if we are in one now (ish) then how did one influence the dinosaur extinction 65mya? 7 million years margin of error seems pretty big...... albeit only a blink of a geological eye.
Originally posted by timebombted An interesting article, although I don't think its an entirely "new" idea, probably a new model based on more accurate inputs etc
I'd like to see the confidence intervals surrounding the "36 million year cycle", I mean if we are in one now (ish) then how did one influence the dinosaur extinction 65mya? 7 million years margin of error seems pretty big...... albeit only a blink of a geological eye.
I mentioned it's not a new idea, but now they have simulations that support it. The time frame not being exact would be because gravitational interactions are chaotic in nature and it's only one asteroid being in the right place at the right time with the right velocity that will end up whacking Earth, so it won't be like clockwork, it would be impossible for it to be clockwork. Every time the solar system goes the up and down motion that takes it into denser regions, all the stars in that area are also moving so its like a giant brownian movement (not quite but thats an analogy) so nothing is the same each trip through the lane.
Originally posted by scherzo That's Creationism for you!
If a apocalyptist says 36 million years ago, I laugh. 😀 The universe didn't exist then if you believe the creationistic ideas, nor did the Earth itself. Scherzo made an apocalytistic remark, therefore I laughed. 😀 But I note that he is not a apocalyptist himself, he was just ironic.
I think most (all?) of apocalyptists are creationists (not neccesary vice versa), so there is a coupling.
And, yes, creationsism is beleiving that universe is far yonger than 14 billion of years. They have said so themselves.
Originally posted by FabianFnas If a apocalyptist says 36 million years ago, I laugh. 😀 The universe didn't exist then if you believe the creationistic ideas, nor did the Earth itself. Scherzo made an apocalytistic remark, therefore I laughed. 😀 But I note that he is not a apocalyptist himself, he was just ironic.
I think most (all?) of apocalyptists are creationists (not neccesary ...[text shortened]... s beleiving that universe is far yonger than 14 billion of years. They have said so themselves.
So the age of the earth is 5 billion years, rounding out. The last extinction was 36 million years ago. That is 138:1, very late in earths' history. So creationists who think the earth is 8000 years old have to explain then, how this extinction happened 57 years ago.
Originally posted by sonhouse So the age of the earth is 5 billion years, rounding out. The last extinction was 36 million years ago. That is 138:1, very late in earths' history. So creationists who think the earth is 8000 years old have to explain then, how this extinction happened 57 years ago.
Exactly.
Bishop James Ussher from Ireland (1581-1656) calculated the date of creation to the night preceding October 23, 4004 BC. He must be right, mustn't he, because he was a christian creationist.
Bishop James Ussher from Ireland (1581-1656) calculated the date of creation to the night preceding October 23, 4004 BC. He must be right, mustn't he, because he was a christian creationist.
So, not 8000 years, more 6000ish...
He had god on his side. On his back. On his tummy. Just wasn't anywhere on his body there wasn't god.
New results on cyclic extinction events.
02 May '08 18:52
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