Showing results for "Flame" in Physics

Sixty-six million years ago an asteroid as large as Mt. Everest hit what is now the Yucatan Peninsula at a speed ten times faster than the fastest rifle bullet. Debris from the impact blew into space, re-entered the atmosphere as a swarm of shooting stars that burned the global forests and grasslands, leaving behind a thin global layer containing rock from the asteroid and from Mexico, and smoke from the fires. This layer marks one of the greatest extinctions in Earth history including not just dinosaurs, but also fish, plankton, ammonites, and plants making up about 75% of the known species.

NSF Live is a weekly discussion show about spaceflight from NASASpaceflight.com. NSF is not affiliated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The initials in the URL are used with permission from NASA.