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Article: A meteor of life and death? (catastrophes)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- June 24, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Catastrophes
A meteor of life and death?
FICTIONAL detectives rely on one vital clue to solve a mystery. Scientists--and real detectives--generally face the more prosaic task of building an edifice of proof from many accumulated bricks of evidence. The idea that the earth has occasionally been struck by asteroids or comets, with far-reaching effects on the environment, has been built up piece by piece from the status of heresy to that of near-conventional wisdom. Now a new piece of evidence has been dug up that makes the edifice yet more solid. Intriguingly, it may also serve as a clue to an even greater mystery: the origin of life.
The clue ...