How Exploding Stars May Have Shaped Earth's History
Waves of radiation from local supernovae might have mutated DNA, triggered intense lightning storms, and even caused mass extinctions.
The aftermath of a star’s death can rival the events of a creation myth. When a star explodes in a supernova, hurling pieces of itself into the cosmos, it seeds new stars and new worlds with the raw materials required for life. In death, stars are reborn. But like all creation tales, this one has a dark side. Supernovae can rain radiation and death onto living worlds that already exist. And they might be able to change the course of natural history.
One such change might have happened on Earth sometime between 1.7 and 3.2 million years
