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Gamma ray bursts can happen at anytime![0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLykC1VN7NY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLykC1VN7NY

• djsumdog 9y ago
  I remember learning about this. I wonder if Earth was enveloped in such a burst, if we'd go out quickly, peacefully, like a heart attack in our sleep. Most life wiped out on our planet in an instant. It makes you wonder how many world out there contain the empty structures of civilizations that went out in an instant, with a whisper.
  • stjohnswarts 9y ago
    I just hope we can even find a xeno microbe to put another nail in the coffin of organized religion.
  • bugs_bunny 9y ago
    It wouldn't be quick, and it would be ugly, as explained in... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090403-gamma-ray-extinction.html https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/04/090403-gamm... and https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-deadly-would-a-nearby-gamma-ray-burst-be/ https://astrobiology.nasa.gov/news/how-deadly-would-a-nearby... BUT, such events are (apparently) every billion years or so...
    • danielbarla 9y ago
      I think that on average, there's a GRB close enough to us to matter once every billion years or so. However, it'd still need to be aligned perfectly to hit us, making the actual extinction event far less likely.