Fact or Fiction?: Dark Matter Killed the Dinosaurs

Scientific American ^ | March 25, 2015 | Lee Billings

[grundle]

The theory states that as our galaxy rotates, every 26 million years our solar system passes near a large collection of dark matter, whose gravity causes comets to smash into earth.

[dfwgator]

In before the Far Side cartoon.

[doorgunner69]

In before the Far Side cartoon.

Especially that one of the dinosaurs lighting up behind a rock.

[sparklite2]

Heh. I know which one, too.

[PROCON]

The truth is....

[Fungi]

“Scientific” American? Not scientific and maybe American. An oxymoron if I ever heard one. To think that SA publishes or at least tries to publish anything true beyond its agenda is a laughable joke.

[Ransomed]

A 10 billion year old civilization that only gets around to cleansing this part of the galaxy of vermin with a directed gamma ray burst every 26 million years or so is also a possible explanation.

Obviously.

Freegards

[PROCON]

My Dad, a brilliant Electrical Engineer, cancelled his subscription to Scientific American back in the early 80's.

Scientific PC is what it's become.

[Lake Living]

So that’s what happened to all the flood waters of Noah’s day. It all became dark matter. Who would have guess that? ~s

[P-Marlowe]

If they hadn’t been killed by dark matter, they would have all died from old age by now anyway.

[Paladin2]

Beauty killed the Beast.

[Veggie Todd]

In before the Far Side cartoon.

Is that the one where the dino's are watching the Ark sail away and one says, "Crap, was that today?"

[Kickass Conservative]

We are currently being killed by Half Dark Matter.

It resides in the White House.

[SamuraiScot]

It was a real magazine when I was a kid. My father commented that an intelligent laymen could get 2/3 of the way through any article—and you had to be a rocket scientist after that. So it served both scientists and non-scientists very well.

We did a mess of projects with my dad from that magazine. My favorite was the Vortex Generator, made from an empty coffee can. You put the plastic lid on top, but cut a 1-inch diameter circle in the metal bottom. If you tap lightly on the plastic lid, it sends a blast of air out that hole that will put out a candle across the room.

. . . Or surprise your older brother big-time when he walks in the door and a focused blast of air smacks him in the forehead.

Nowadays in SciAm, I guess that project would be considered too much like a gun. Too manly.

[rawcatslyentist]

Ice ages when earth and mars swapped orbits did most of it.

[9thLife]

I don’t really give a rat’s butt about what killed them but I guess I’m Luddite and a flat-earther. Bitterly clinging to my guns and my religion. A racist bigot homophobe islamophobe. You know the type.

[BuckeyeTexan]

They’ve also theorized that the universe is infinite, finite, static, shrinking, and expanding.

So when they readily admit that their theories are all based on speculation, I remain skeptical.

[Pelham]

[clearcarbon]

The dinosaurs died out because excessive negative behavioral influence from liberal hollyrock led them to forget the basics of reproduction.

[Flick Lives]

I thought the science was settled.