Comments on: Dark matter and the dinosaur https://habitablezone.com/2015/12/14/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaur/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:15:13 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2015/12/14/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaur/#comment-34651 RL Tue, 15 Dec 2015 01:03:20 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=53789#comment-34651 And it would be correct... heck, the galaxy as we know it wouldn't even exist were it not for dark matter so without dark matter there would be no dinosaurs to go extinct in the first place... You could also - with just as much validity- assert that a particular cosmic ray striking a particular dust mote, ionizing it and making it attract more dust motes in the solar system's primordial cloud led to the creation of the asteroid that would eventually kill off the dinosaurs. (To be honest this astounds me more than the dark matter connection- all we know is simply the result of essentially infinite, small, chance events) And the 35 million year periodicity of the solar system's orbit in the plane of the galaxy being connected to extinction isn't even new- that is an old one- she just added in dark matter to the mix. I guess I came off harsh, but that sort of thing annoys me no end... I once saw a 'science' program where Michio Kaku was explaining what would happen if two giant black holes came to our solar system on either side of the Earth (spoiler alert- it would really suck for Earth)... the pointless sensationalizing of science serves no purpose other than advance the fame of the scientist doing it....And the reality is sensational enough... why cheapen it with such nonsense? I once emailed Kaku when I was in grad school to inform him he was a cheap media whore- and I must say my opinion of him has not improved. And it would be correct… heck, the galaxy as we know it wouldn’t even exist were it not for dark matter so without dark matter there would be no dinosaurs to go extinct in the first place…
You could also – with just as much validity- assert that a particular cosmic ray striking a particular dust mote, ionizing it and making it attract more dust motes in the solar system’s primordial cloud led to the creation of the asteroid that would eventually kill off the dinosaurs. (To be honest this astounds me more than the dark matter connection- all we know is simply the result of essentially infinite, small, chance events)

And the 35 million year periodicity of the solar system’s orbit in the plane of the galaxy being connected to extinction isn’t even new- that is an old one- she just added in dark matter to the mix.

I guess I came off harsh, but that sort of thing annoys me no end…

I once saw a ‘science’ program where Michio Kaku was explaining what would happen if two giant black holes came to our solar system on either side of the Earth (spoiler alert- it would really suck for Earth)… the pointless sensationalizing of science serves no purpose other than advance the fame of the scientist doing it….And the reality is sensational enough… why cheapen it with such nonsense?

I once emailed Kaku when I was in grad school to inform him he was a cheap media whore- and I must say my opinion of him has not improved.

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2015/12/14/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaur/#comment-34650 mcfly Tue, 15 Dec 2015 00:25:46 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=53789#comment-34650 I don't have anywhere near enough physics in my background to make even an educated guess about her theory. My first thought was, do we know enough about dark matter to begin associating it with something as specific as a particular extinction? Thanks for your insights. I don’t have anywhere near enough physics in my background to make even an educated guess about her theory. My first thought was, do we know enough about dark matter to begin associating it with something as specific as a particular extinction?

Thanks for your insights.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2015/12/14/dark-matter-and-the-dinosaur/#comment-34649 RL Tue, 15 Dec 2015 00:11:45 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=53789#comment-34649 Even if her theory were correct, dark matter would be no more responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs than any of the countless collisions with dust that eventually altered the trajectory of the asteroid/comet that caused the extinction. Its the butterfly effect on a grand scale. But it got her press, which was the point... Even if her theory were correct, dark matter would be no more responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs than any of the countless collisions with dust that eventually altered the trajectory of the asteroid/comet that caused the extinction.

Its the butterfly effect on a grand scale.

But it got her press, which was the point…

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