CNN reports that astronomers from the University of Kansas and NASA have presented a theory that a nearby supernova may have lead to the extinction of two-thirds of all species at the end of the Ordovician. According to the scientists, the supernova may have been a “one-two” punch that decimated life on the planet. First, the gamma-ray burst from the supernova, only 10,000 light years away, destroyed the Earth’s ozone layer. The gamma-rays destroyed molecules in the stratosphere, causing the formation of chemicals that attack ozone. Strong ultraviolet radiation could then reach the surface, killing exposed life.

The chemicals produced by the gamma-rays would also form a global brown smog, cooling the Earth and triggering an ice age. The ice age at the end of the Ordovician is already established, but its cause is not known. According to the article, the Earth had been warmer than normal before the ice age began, and scientists have been unable to explain its onset.

On a personal note, it seems that there’s been a bit more synchronicity going on around me lately. This story is just one more example — just last night, while reading about recent supernova discoveries, and wondered how would a nearby supernova would affect Earth. Well, I guess I have a plausible answer.

Maybe I should go buy that lottery ticket. Maybe the synchronicity will hold out.

Have asteroids been the cause of many of Earth’s major extinction events, and not just the extinction of dinosaurs? National Geographic News looks at new research published in the journal Science that examines the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction, and the less-well-studied Permian-Triassic mass extenction.

In an article entitled “‘Probably the Oldest’ Penis Found in Spider Fossil”, National Geographic News reports on an interesting paleontological find.

National Geographic News reports on a “beetle fossil that still retains its bright blue metallic hue.” The article goes on to describe techniques that might yield information about the colors of certain well-preserved fossils, maybe even for some dinosaurs.

A ScienceDaily News release New Dinosaur Rises From Fossil Bones In India reports on the “first skull ever assembled of a dinosaur of any kind in India.” Fascinating news of a new carnivore from the time before the Himalayas existed.