Because an asteroid hit Earth at a particularly deadly angle, the dinosaurs became extinct. Researchers have now calculated the exact turning angle using 3D simulations.
The puzzle of the extinction of the dinosaurs now seems to be completely solved: According to a study, the asteroid, which wiped out three quarters of all animal and plant species 66 million years ago, fell to earth in a particularly fatal angle. According to the study, which took place on Tuesday in “Nature Communications” trade magazine published, it crashed to the earth at an angle of 60 degrees – and thus triggered the mass extinction.
The fatal impact of the asteroid struck the 200-kilometer Chicxulub crater in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers from Imperial College in London, the University of Freiburg (D) and the University of Texas in Austin have now taken a closer look at this crater. In 3D simulations, they investigated four possible steering angles of 90, 60, 45 and 30 degrees and two impact speeds of twelve and 20 kilometers per second.
The simulations showed that the asteroid hit Earth at an angle of 60 degrees. Such an angle is particularly deadly, study leader Gareth Collins from Imperial College London told AFP. In this way, large amounts of dust and gas were thrown into the atmosphere. In particular, tiny sulfur particles blocked the sun’s rays, which led to a strong cooling of the earth and the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Pictures of the day
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The first test flight of a spacecraft launched by the British billionaire Richard Branson’s spacecraft Virgin Orbit failed. The mission was canceled shortly after the rocket was released because of an alleged anomaly. Instead of reaching orbit, the rocket crashed into the Pacific.
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Wait, this is just called the People’s Congress. A soldier from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army makes it clear to a photographer in front of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing that he has lost nothing here with his camera after the end of the second plenary session of the Chinese National People’s Congress.
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Rescue from the attacker: A man helps ducklings out of the water who were attacked by a Egyptian goose on a lake in Stuttgart. On land, the duck mother was reunited promptly.
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Suitable for exams? Indian students are waiting in front of an exam in front of the school building in the state of Kerala to have their fever measured.
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For the good: After Japan has lifted the state of emergency, guests with face protection eat and drink in a Osaka pub.
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A sudden heavy storm has triggered a major alarm for water rescue workers on the Bavarian Chiemsee. Since there were still many water sports enthusiasts on the lake, the rescuers had to disengage with a helicopter and 14 boats. They saved 22 people and brought them ashore.
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A small English town looks into the abyss: you will have to get used to this sight in Walsall for the time being. After a four-meter-long and three-meter-wide countersunk hole suddenly opened up under a street in the village, the authorities expect complicated repair work that should last at least four weeks.
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Single for life: In a zoo in Lahore, Pakistan, a cassowary has lived without a partner for around 50 years. In the meantime, the rare bird is considered immediate – since it has passed the breeding age.
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Return to “normalcy” in Hong Kong: A police officer fires tear gas at protesters. For the first time since the pandemic began, thousands have protested in Hong Kong against the influence of China. The police used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons.
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Two-way laps: After further relaxation of the corona restrictions, people are swimming in the Wilmersdorf summer pool in Berlin
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Much rest – and then maybe no storm: people enjoy the sunset on the Pnyx hill in front of the Acropolis in Athens. Greece wants to open the tourism season on June 15 with the opening of hotels and the arrival of the first foreign visitors. It is questionable that the Corona pandemic will have as many guests as usual in the main season.
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Corona there, Corona here: According to these sisters, visiting a leisure park in the USA is reason enough to get the classic car out of the garage
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A waitress in a restaurant in Lausanne: Three out of four restaurants have now reopened, but they only account for around 40 percent of sales compared to the same period last year.
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Police use pepper spray against pro-democratic protesters in Hong Kong. Despite the Corona requirements, there were massive protests in Hong Kong over China’s proposed security laws.
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Lots of space – a cinema in times of the corona crisis. When will the curtain open again?
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The robot Roveo disinfects the surfaces in an office in Villaz-Saint-Pierre FR.
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In the middle of the corona pandemic, protests are taking place in Chile’s capital Santiago. One group rioted because there were no government food boxes.
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A falling pickaxe hit a car roof in Germany when the unsuspecting driver was waiting at a red light in Cologne. The 61-year-old got away with the terror, police said on Friday. According to initial knowledge, a construction worker had stumbled on scaffolding and dropped the tool from his hands.
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Half mast: To commemorate the dead in the corona pandemic in the United States, President Trump has ordered funeral flags in front of the Capitol in Washington.
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Half protection: The member of a Mariachi group Bogota, Colombia, plays the trumpet during a serenade in the midst of the corona pandemic. Mariachis have practically no income due to the initial restrictions and are currently demanding financial aid.
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The Power of Water: The city of Sanford, Michigan, was flooded by the Tittabawassee River after a dam broke. The streets and houses were destroyed, and a car collector lost most of his 20 Pontiac Fieros.
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Just one flight – but it’s still on time: An information board at Valencia Airport, Spain, only shows the arrival of a plane from Zurich. In the most important European holiday destination, Spain, air travel in April declined by 99.7 percent due to corona restrictions.
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Difficult relationship with the mask: Donald Trump looks through a face visor in front of a poster showing the manufacture of these visors during a tour of a Ford plant. During his visit, he again did not wear a protective mask at times – although Michigan’s Justice Minister Nessel had explicitly asked him to do so.
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A mother photographs her daughter in Odessa, Texas, who proudly presents her high school graduation certificate. Because of the corona pandemic, the school’s graduation ceremony took place outdoors in a drive-thru format.
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Hiking in Vallée de Joux: Numerous Swiss took advantage of the nice weather on the driveway – and the relaxed exit restrictions.
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Light trail of a launcher with cargo for the ISS after launch from the Japanese spaceport Tanegashima.
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A firefighter faces a massive smoke wall on his turntable ladder in Ladenburg, Germany. After a fire in the production hall of a plastic factory for unknown reasons, a black column of smoke could be seen for miles.
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A rocky road: as if you didn’t have enough to do when clearing the snow from the Great St. Bernhard Pass, a massive boulder has also spread.
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On the “siding”: In the Indian paradeep, trucks have been parked on a bridge to secure them from the approaching super-cyclone “Amphan”.
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Masterpiece in wool: 91-year-old Margaret Seaman knitted, crocheted and sewn “The Knittingale Hospital” during the curfew in her house in Caister-on-Sea, Great Britain. It wants to use it to raise funds for the state health system NHS.
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Relaxed: the walrus in the Pairi Daiza private zoo in Brugelette, Belgium, is not scratching the Daramatic decline in visitor numbers as a result of the corona crisis. The zoo normally has up to 25,000 visitors a day. Currently there are only 2,000.
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An unwanted breakthrough: In Aichelberg, Germany, a car crashed through the back wall of the garage because its handlebars mixed up gas and brake.
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A fireman stands at an accident site in the Hiefler tunnel in Austria. The charioteer of the accident car had fled on foot before the emergency services arrived and left his injured 23-year-old passenger in the car. The driver was finally searched for.
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