Alien Planet Evolution

“A bizarre wobble 65 million years ago, perturbing the orbits of Mars, Earth and Mercury, may have caused the demise of the dinosaurs, new models of the Solar System suggest.”

Gerta Keller, professor of geosciences at Princeton University, has recently conducted research on the Chicxulub asteroid in which she analyzed new core samples taken from the asteroid site (Botzer 2004). These samples indicate that the impact that occurred at Chicxulub actually predated the mass extinction of the dinosaurs, which occurred at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary about sixty-five million years ago. Keller claims that the Chicxulub impact occurred approximately 300,000 years before the extinction (Keller 2004). Although previous researchers estimated that the Chicxulub asteroid was the cause of the extinctions, there had always been doubts about the exact age and size of the crater, and about the origin of the “mega tsunami deposits” that were located within the crater (Keller 2004). The focus of Keller’s recent research was on finding some answers to these questions. To do so she analyzed Cretaceous limestone, dolomite, and anhydrite deposits as the site of the Chicxulub crater (Keller 2004).

It is difficult to envision that one of the greatest impact craters on Earth that measures up to 180km wide and 900m deep could just vanish just from sight. There have been many different dinosaur extinction theories offered in the recent decades. These range from poisonous plants to mass suicide by dinosaur herds. Although one concept as to how the dinosaurs became extinct has gained a wide acceptance since the 1980’s, involving a major earth impact by a meteor or comet (Icr.org, 2014). This horrific catastrophic event is thought to have extinguished up to two thirds of all animal and plant species, leaving behind a large crater found in Chicxulub, Mexico (LiveScience.com, 2014).

Dinosaurs ruled the earth for over 65 million years and thankfully for the human race, they became extinct. Ultimately, only a major catastrophe could completely wipe out an entire species, let alone an entity of dinosaurs and the debacle on the causes of dinosaur extinction have flooded the minds of paleontologists for centuries. Geologist and zoologist Stephen Jay Gould published “Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs,” to compare scientific and speculative causes of dinosaur decimation. Personally, I found this passage very informational and enjoyed reading it. Gould provides three theories that capture the reader’s curiosity, allowing room for pondering in one’s mind.

In inspiring people to have the passion in understanding the universal laws that govern us all, Professor Stephen Hawking reminds us on his speech for his 70th birthday to “remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet” (enoch, 2012). Many scientists have been “looking up” and have discovered answers to the many questions that we have of the universe for ages. They have constructed theories, launched satellites, observed stellar phenomena, and even sent living beings in space to gain more understanding of the existence of everything. After centuries of research and observation, there are still some aspects of Astronomy that are still to be explored. One of them is the evolution of the Solar System, which is composed of the Sun and everything that travels around it. This includes eight planets and their natural satellites such as the Earth’s moon; dwarf planets such as Pluto and Ceres; asteroids; comets and meteoroids (Solar System Exploration, 2014). The Solar System is located in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is a part of a galactic group under the Virgo Supercluster. Figure 1 shows the location of our Solar System in the Universe. Many theories have been proposed on how the Solar System existed, but none has been completely successful. This spans from the time of the Ancient Greeks to the present 21st Century. As of now, the widely accepted theory is the Nebular Theory, which describes how the Solar System started as a large cloud of gas that contracted under

Also, in the book I finally understood that the asteroid itself didn’t kill off the dinosaurs, but it was the ash that was produced from the asteroid. The Earth is really a delicate planet, and slight changed have an effect on the environment. Humans have been effecting the planet for too long, and soon enough it’s going to change the Earth drastically. Our species have added approximately 365 billion tons of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels, and on top of that another 180 billion tons from deforestation. These numbers increase each year, and even with people starting to become environmental friendly and finding natural alternatives, there are last effects in the atmosphere, earth, and water. Coral reefs are effected everyday day buy pollution and rising temperatures in the oceans, and habitats are destroyed constantly to build

The End Cretaceous impact hypothesis states that an asteroid impact on the earth caused the extinction. The evidence that supports this hypothesis include the crater found in the Yucatan Peninsula, the rare metal Iridium, and fractured “shocked quartz” crystals that have been shown to cause high-energy explosions. The End Cretaceous flood volcanism hypothesis states that a giant volcano eruption, or a series of volcano eruptions caused the extinction The evidence that supports this hypothesis includes immense lava flow, and volcano explosions, which happen to exposed iridium.

There are many theories explaining the extinction of the dinosaur. The Most probable theories are: a massive meteor hit the earth causing the extinction. B. A chain of volcano’s erupted and caused acid rain, shortage of sunlight and any other number of atmospheric problems that brought about the extinction of dinosaurs. C. Rapid Climate Change in a short period of time would have brought the dinosaurs to extinction because of an inability to evolve to the new environment. All these theories are possible but it is clear that it was a combination of all three theories working together that produced a worldwide extinction event.

The theory that Alien life exists dates back to the earliest human records of civilization, from hieroglyphics to strange towers built with seemingly nothing more than bare hands and scabby shovels. SOMETHING had to exist to help our past ancestors out, and it certainly wasn’t human. On a more current note, according to philosophers Michael Hippke, and John G. Learned, the aliens’ that are currently contacted us, aren’t here to help us build pyramids or other structures with precision engineering. Instead, they’re here to perhaps threaten us with messages we aren’t willing to decrypt. There are several possible threats from an ETI message. On the most basic level, a message might represent a statement like “We will make your sun go supernova

Evolution is one of the major themes of biology and one of the most widely known concepts in history. People believe that evolution contributes to the diversity of the earth and it is thought to be one of science's best supported theories. There is much speculation on whether the theory of evolution can be supported. Some scientists believe that it is the fundamental foundation of life, while others speculate it's validity.I recently went to the Field museum and visited the exhibit Evolving Planet. The purpose of this exhibit Is to let us see how earth evolved over time. It gives us a consider how life began and changed over time. It goes from life in the early oceans, to how plants evolved, to when dinosaurs roamed the earth, and when mammals

These discoveries and the search for answers led to work by a diverse group of scientists from a number of different disciplines finding evidence of a catastrophic event in the history of the Earth, and the hypothesis of an asteroid impact that would have led to mass destruction of life (plant and animal), including the extinction of the dinosaurs.

According to the research made by Alvarez (1980), it was due to an asteroid impact that single-handedly destroyed dinosaurs to extinction. Advocacy of this mechanism has been aided by the availability and tangibility of supporting evidence in the form of impact craters- the Chicxulub crater in the Yucatan Peninsula's date and timing of impact (dating produced an almost exact date of 65 million years ago), location, enormous size-170 km (Hildebrand et al.1991) and its high iridium content ( a metal not commonly found at the Earth's surface) make it seem that with a theoretical asteroid 10 km big caused the crater great damage at the end of the Cretaceous (Alvarez et al. 1980).

The K-T event, or the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, is the name given for the vanishing of the dinosaurs and different species that took place about 65 million year back. For ages, scientists believed that this event was caused due to the atmospheric and topographical changes that invaded on the dinosaurs’ food supply. But, in the 1980s, researchers Luis and Walter Alvarez discovered a layer of iridium on the earth’s surface. It suggests that a comet, space rock or meteor effect might have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. In the 1990s, researchers found the enormous Chicxulub Crater at the tip of Mexico’s Yucantan Peninsula, which dates to the period being referred [1].

A large impact from an asteroid like this would cause global darkness from the amounts of dust sent into the air. This dust would stop photosynthesis for plants which in all would affect every source of live in the area (Thomas). This darkness would also cause the area to cool which could also kill off organisms. Another would be an impact from a comet, such as the comet that exploded above southeastern Siberia in 1908 (Thomas). The last factor is a Supernova explosion, which isn’t the case for earth since there is no evidence that this influenced life on earth.

Fossils can provide us with a great deal of information about the past. They can also help us to understand the present.