Why Do We Exist? Harvard researcher and leading theoretical physicist Lisa Randall developed a
revolutionary theory on why we human exist. Oddly, it’s connected to dark
matter and the extinction of dinosaurs 66 million years ago. In her new book
“Dark Matter and the Dinosaurs”, she gives insights into her theory and why dark
matter gave our ancestor primates a chance to thrive.
About 66 million years ago, a colossal object hit earth.
Most researchers believe this object could have been
a comet of immense size. The impact of the object
killed around 75% of all species across the planet
instantly and later killed 24% more because of climate
change and poor living conditions. Only 1% of all the
animals alive today existed before that time. Randall
states in her theory that the colossal object hitting earth
could have been caused by dark matter around our
galaxy, the Milky Way. Until now, dark matter has not
been detected but measurements suggest that dark matter has a strong
gravitational force on the objects in our universe. Randall believes that dark
matter could be concentrated in giant bubbles (or halos) around galaxies.
Randall nevertheless thinks that dark matter could also be concentrated in so-
called ‘dark discs’. These dark discs could be the reason why such an object
struck the earth in the first place.
DID YOU KNOW?
Around 85% of all matter in the universe supposedly is dark matter.
Dark Matter And The Dinosaurs : Business Insider
Here’s how Randall explains it. She believes the dark
matter disc has a strong gravitational influence on the
outer region of our solar system, the so-called ‘Oort
Cloud’ which contains billions of objects similar to the
object that struck earth 66 million years ago. Randall
figures that the gravitational force could have forced
one of these objects out of the Oort Cloud and brought
it close to earth.
Interestingly, she calculates that the earth should pass the dark
disc every 25-35 million years, which is also the approximate time
frame mass extinctions happened in earth’s history. Youpaper.org