Were Dinosaurs wiped out by Mother Nature? The manner in which Earth moves throughout the Milky Way may prove a new theory by an NYU scientist on the disappearance of dinosaur, according to a new report.
The changes in our planet's environment may be attributable to natural occurrences that happen every several million years. A new study says that those changes wiped out the dinosaurs, reports Sputniknews.com.
Biology professor Michael Rampino of New York University says about every 26-30 million years, the Earth undergoes environmental events that kill almost all life on the planet.
The Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction occurred 66 million years ago, when all forms of dinosaurs disappeared. Considered the most famous mass extinction in the history of Earth, the Cretaceous period has raised many questions over the years. Many theories exist as to the actual reasons for the mass elimination of many of Earth's species.
Among the species eliminated at that time were dinosaurs and flying reptiles, mollusks and microscopic marine plankton, along with plant varieties. While many uphold the theory that an asteroid struck the Yucatan peninsula causing catastrophe, new information continually arises questioning the occurrence.
Rampino says natural environmental occurrences actually took place and wrote this in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Rampino added that dark matter might be the reason for the natural occurrences.
A recent report on dark matter details that the substance makes up roughly a quarter of all matter in the universe. It can't be seen and has not been observed.
Dark matter is not something that can be touched or held, rather it is a convergence of energy in one spot that is capable of causing intense activity. There is an area in our galaxy where the energy is concentrated. About every 30 million years, the solar system collides with the disc of our galaxy containing the energy -- and the dark matter. That collision unleashes comets and an array of icy planetary fragments that are believed to collide with Earth.
When this happens, the energy can heat the core of planet Earth. The energy is so strong it can lead to massive geological activity and the environment incurs abnormally high tides, fire and destruction.
"These results suggest that cycles of geological and biological evolution on the Earth may be partly controlled by the rhythms of Galactic dynamics," Rampino said in the paper.
