Meteorites killed the dinosaurs and have nearly wiped out humanity in multiple Hollywood blockbusters, but have these deadly space rocks actually gotten a bad rap? One geologist argues we should actually be thankful for all meteorites have done for us.
Ted Nield, the author of the new book Incoming!: or, Why We Should Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the Meteorite, explains in an interview with the British newspaper The Guardian why meteorites have been benefited Earth throughout its long history.
He points out that, while meteorites can cause an extinction event every few hundred million years, the odds of being killed by a meteorite are beyond remote - in all of human history, the only claimed meteorite fatality was a dog in Egypt in 1911, and he says that was almost certainly just a story. And, on any sort of timescale we should be worried about, Earth's chances of being hit by a meteorite are next to zero.
For more: Why a massive meteorite strike could be the best thing to happen to us
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