User:Cap'n Refsmmat/ScienceNews/April 12, 2005

Possible explanation for mass extinction--April 12th, 2005
Around 450 million years ago, some event caused around 60% of all marine life to suddenly die. Scientists had no idea what caused it, until now.

A new theory places a gamma-ray burst to blame. It says that a massive blast of gamma rays from a nearby star hit the Earth, and the radiation then killed much of the life. Animals deeper in the ocean would be safe, as the water would shield them from the worst of the burst.

Such a blast would be partially absorbed by Earth's magnetic field and ozone layer, but such a powerful explosion as that of a dying star would probably damage the ozone layer as well. The radiation would be powerful enough to break right through those protective barriers and still manage to kill most life.

The scary part of this theory is that the star which initiated the burst could be as far as 6,000 light-years away. Astronomers are observing far-away gamma-ray bursts occaisionally, and if one was close enough, we could suffer the same fate. We'd better be ready.

More information on gamma-ray bursts Source: New Zealand Herald