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'Death Star' Aimed at Earth

An anonymous reader writes "A spectacular, rotating binary star system is a ticking time bomb, ready to throw out a searing beam of high-energy gamma rays that could lead to a major extinction event — and Earth may be right in the line of fire. Australian science magazine Cosmos Magazine reports: 'Though the risk may be remote, there is evidence that gamma ray bursts have swept over the planet at various points in Earth's history with a devastating effect on life. A 2005 study showed that a gamma-ray burst originating within 6,500 light years of Earth could be enough to strip away the ozone layer and cause a mass extinction. Researchers led by Adrian Melott at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, U.S., suggest that such an event may have been responsible for a mass extinction 443 million years ago, in the late Ordovician period, which wiped out 60 per cent of life and cooled the planet.'"

4 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. Re:lies, Lies, LIES!!! by VonnegutsGhost · · Score: -1, Redundant

    No, they asked me

  2. Re:Thanks guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    mod parent up!!!

  3. Re:Don't tase me, bro ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Don't gase me, bro...

  4. Re:Back on this death star thing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Thanks for the flamebait mod fucker. If you didn't find it funny you could have easily have modded "offtopic" or "overrated".
    I am sick of this abuse of moderation bullshit!

    P.S: A Star Wars joke HAD to be done