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Jan 3, 2023

Chicxulub crater might be the smoking gun for the dinosaurs’ end of days

Posted by in categories: asteroid/comet impacts, existential risks

Forged 66 million years ago, an enormous impact crater near Chixculub, Mexico, was left undiscovered until only a few short decades ago. But what caused it?

Millions of years ago, a dramatic mass extinction wiped out the dinosaurs.

Marking the transition between the Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras (which we are still in), it was one of the most significant events in Earth’s history. The cause? Perhaps a giant asteroid hit Chixculub near modern-day Yucatan, Mexico.

Sixty-six million years ago, something from the very edge of our solar system completed its unlikely journey into the inner planets.


Aunt_Spray/iStock.

But what was it? Where did it come from? And could we survive another today? Let’s find out.

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