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They caused the ancient supernovae that the ancestors of the people began to walk on two legs, which eventually led to homo sapiens, hands free of cathedral construction, rocket design and selfies on iPhone?
An article published in the Journal of Geology asks the following question: The supernova bombs, which began 8 million years ago and peaked about 2.6 million years ago, generate avalanches of electrons in the lower atmosphere and trigger a series of events that can lead to biped hominines like homo habilis, nicknamed "intelligent man".
The authors estimate that the ionization of the atmosphere has probably resulted in a massive increase in the number of ground-breaking strikes that have caused forest fires worldwide. These hells could be one of the reasons why the ancestors of homo sapiens developed bipedalism – to adapt to the savannas that replaced the inflamed forests of northeastern Africa.
"It is thought that hominins have already tended to walk on two legs, even before this event,"The author of the article, Adrian Melott, emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Kansas, said." "But they were mainly adapted to climb trees. After transforming the environment into savannah, they would have to go more often from one tree to another in the grasslands; it was therefore more practical to walk upright. They could see through the top of the grass and watch for predators. This savanna conversion is thought to have contributed to bipedalism because it has become increasingly dominant among human ancestors.".
Astronomers have identified the explosion of supernova that exploded in the immediate cosmic vicinity of Earth – at a distance of 100 and only 50 parsecs (163 light-years) – during the transition from iron deposits 60 to high reliability found in the sediments of the seabed. from the Pliocene period to the ice age.
"We calculated the atmospheric ionization of the atmosphere from a distant supernova, as indicated by the iron deposits 60,"Melott said." "This explosion seems to be the closest to a much longer series of explosions. We claim to have multiplied by 50 the ionization of the lower atmosphere. In general, the ionization of the lower atmosphere does not occur because the cosmic does not penetrate as deep into the atmosphere, but the more energetic cosmic rays of the supernovae go directly to the surface of the Earth – from many electrons emerge from the atmosphere."
According to Melott and his co-author Brian Thomas of Washburn University, ionization in the lower atmosphere meant that the amount of electrons would create more love at first sight.
"The bottom of the atmosphere is affected in a way that does not normally occur, "said Melott." When high-energy cosmic rays strike atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, they "they" hit electrons – so these electrons move freely instead of bonding to atoms. Normally, there is an accumulation of voltage between clouds or clouds and the earth during the flash process, but the current can not flow because there are not enough electrons to carry it. It is therefore necessary to accumulate a high voltage before the electrons move. As soon as they move, the electrons emit more electrons from multiple atoms and create a lightning bolt. But with additional ionization, this process can start much more easily, so there would be a lot more lightning."
The researcher KU said that the discovery of carbon deposits in the soils corresponding to the time of the cosmic bombardment confirmed the probability that these flashes were at the origin of a global increase in the number of fires.
"We see that a lot more coal and soot were created in the world a few million years ago,"Melott said."It's everywhere and nobody can explain why this would happen around the world, in different climate zones. This could be an explanation. It is thought that the multiplication of fires has stimulated the transition of forests to savannahs in many places – where there used to be, you now have mostly open meadows with shrubs. This should be linked to human development in North-East Africa. Specifically, in the East Africa ditch trail, where you have all the fossils."
Melott says that no event of this type should occur in the near future. The nearest star capable of a supernova explosion over the next few million years is Betelgeuse, distant about 200 parsecs (652 light years) from Earth.
"Betelgeuse is too far to have effects anywhere near such a strong explosion"Melott said." "Tif you do not worry. Anxiety for solar proton eruptions. These are dangerous for our technology – a solar flare that disrupts electricity transmission networks. Imagine a world of electricity without a moon."
Source: today.ku.edu
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