Rare space radiation disasters may lead to extinction events – just how deadly is a two-month ozone hole?

Both supernovae and extreme solar flares can damage Earth’s ozone layer. But perhaps a black hole swallowing a neutron star somewhere not too far away gives a bigger punch – lasting a second or so.

Nobel Prize in Physics again goes to US (with touch of Australia) for accelerating expansion Universe

The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to (1st half) Saul Perlmutter of Berkeley and (2nd half) to Adam Riess and Brian Schmidt for their discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe through observations of distant supernovae … Continue reading

Dinosaurs not struck by Baptistina asteroid – search on for other cause C-T extinction

We’re now one hypothesis down and know one thing more: tens of millions of years ago there was an enormous piece of floating rock that did not cause the dinosaurs to die out at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, NASA scientists say.

If solar minimum caused Little Ice Age we would have big freeze now

It is often suggested that lower total solar irradiance (TSI) due to a decline in solar activity (less sunspots) was responsible for the Little Ice Age, a period of colder weather conditions from the end of the Middle Ages to … Continue reading