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Changes in Earth's Orbit Linked to Extinctions

Josh Fink writes "A group of Dutch Scientists have recently released a study stating that they have found that changes in Earth's orbit around the sun are linked to mammal extinctions. From the article: '"Extinctions in rodent species occur in pulses which are spaced by intervals controlled by astronomical variations and their effects on climate change..." The cycles are associated with lower temperatures, changes in precipitation, habitats, vegetation and food availability which are the main factors influencing the extinction peaks, the study published in the journal Nature said.' So on top of worrying about global warming, it seems we should also worry about the physics that govern the orbit of Earth around the sun. Too bad we don't have a way of keeping the Earth in the same orbit/on the same axis of rotation."

17 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. We did... by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 3, Funny
    Too bad we don't have a way of keeping the Earth in the same orbit/on the same axis of rotation.

    We did until George Bush ordered it to be defunded.

    1. Re:We did... by sharkey · · Score: 5, Funny

      Bush cut funding for Chuck Norris?

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    2. Re:We did... by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's because it wasn't faith based. He is funding orbital adjustment via Evangelical Christian prayer.

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      It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
    3. Re:We did... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Too bad we don't have a way of keeping the Earth in the same orbit/on the same axis of rotation.

      We did until George Bush ordered it to be defunded.


      Women and children hit hardest.

    4. Re:We did... by cosinezero · · Score: 4, Funny

      Axis of Evil, Axis of Rotation, THEY ALL MUST GO!

    5. Re:We did... by doh123 · · Score: 2, Funny

      so your saying to cancel out global warming with nuclear winter?

  2. Wrong... by CUatTHEFINISH · · Score: 4, Funny

    The dinosaurs died because you touch yourself at night. Family Guy told me so.

  3. American Obesity by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is causing a wobble in the earth's orbit and causing global warming. Now where is my Nobel prize?

  4. They've got it all wrong... by justinbach · · Score: 2, Funny

    This is clearly due to world jump day... http://www.worldjumpday.org/

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    I left my wallet in El Sigundo!
  5. Shortsightedness by revery · · Score: 5, Funny

    Too bad we don't have a way of keeping the Earth in the same orbit/on the same axis of rotation.

    You sir are shortsighted. Find someone to blame, add it to the party platform (either one, it doesn't matter) and then fund raise on it. Global Wobbling must be stopped!! We can stop it!!! It won't be stopped if party X get's/keeps control of Congress!!! The time to act is now!!

    Please click here to donate 25, 50, 100, 1000 dollars to STOP GLOBAL WOBBLING. You will receive two complimentary pamphlets entitled "The Wobble, the Planet, and You" and "Why is Galileo weeping?". Both are packed with earth-shattering information to help you spread the news of this new threat to our precious freedoms and way of life.

  6. Old Mouse Pad by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's not the Earth's orbit causing rodent extinction.

    That was the mice rebooting the Earth while debugging it.

    Since the users of our iPlanet are bailing out now without the system shutting down, I expect we're obsolete. Get ready to do your part for the firewall they turn us into.

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    make install -not war

  7. Duh! by ThreeDeadTrolls · · Score: 2, Funny

    Blame it on microsoft, it makes everyone so much more happier.

  8. Damn them! by interval1066 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn the Republicans! They are responsible for this.

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  9. Re:BTW by dasunt · · Score: 3, Funny
    70% of all vertebrate species died in under a million years, leaving fungi dominant. Something of a mass extinction event, eh? (In fact, Earth's worst mass extinction event.) Observe the big temperature spike at PETM. (Top right corner)

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/65_M yr_Climate_Change.png

    The world's worst extinction event is the Permian-Triassic extinction event (251 million years ago).

    That temperature spike is the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (55 million years ago).

    Wikipedia has a chart of extinction events over time. Note the lack of a spike near 55 million years ago.

    Man, why do people like you just draw random assertions out of a hat and pretend that's the divine truth. Let's actually look at the science, eh?

    Here's a crowbar. You might need it to extract your foot from your mouth. ;)

  10. I believe that headline would be... by jpellino · · Score: 2, Funny

    Extinctions Linked to Changes in Earth's Orbit.

    Or was I the only one who read it as a paucity of mammoths might cause a tilt...?

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  11. Changes in Earth's Orbit Linked to Extinctions by gpw1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    OK; Listen everybody , those north of the equator, at the count of 10 move to your right 1 meter.

  12. But a Grass Roots Movement May Kill Us! by iamlucky13 · · Score: 2, Funny

    600 million people were supposed to simultaneously jump on July 20th to alter the earths orbit to prevent global warming. Only after the fact did anybody bother to tell us this could lead to our extinction. Oh no!

    Stupid people are funny.