Not this sort of cosmic explosion, but it has been suggested
(e.g., by the Russian astrophysicist Shlovsky [Sp?] in his book on
supernovas) that mass extinctions could have been caused by the earth
passing through a cloud of supernova debris with its associated X-rays
&c - a process which would have taken 1000s of years. But their seems
to be clearer evidence for the meteorite scenario in the case of the
dinosaurs.
> (2) Why if the actual explosion was first noted on Dec 14 is this "breaking
> news" in May??
The first news about this was announced a good deal earlier (it
was in _Physics Today_ a few months ago) but (I think) details about the
source weren't known at that time. (The existence of gamma ray bursts
has been a puzzle for about 30 years now.)
> Wendee
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Wendee Holtcamp -- GREENDESIGN Communications
> Environment/Nature/Adventure-Travel Writing
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