# Did the Solar System "Bounce" Finish the Dinosaurs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268 "2008-07-04T04:46:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/1 "2008-07-04T04:46:24Z")
See [here](http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/05/02/did.solar.system.bounce.finish.dinosaurs). And it says we may be due for another one. Excerpts: "The sun’s movement through the Milky Way regularly sends comets hurtling into the inner solar system – coinciding with mass life extinctions on earth, a new study claims. "The Cardiff team found that we pass through the galactic plane every 35 to 40 million years, increasing the chances of a comet collision tenfold. Evidence from craters on Earth also suggests we suffer more collisions approximately 36 million years. Professor William Napier, of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, said: “It’s a beautiful match between what we see on the ground and what is expected from the galactic record. “The periods of comet bombardment also coincide with mass extinctions, such as that of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Our present position in the galaxy suggests we are now very close to another such period.” ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/2 "2008-07-04T05:01:44Z")
Figures. Of all the star systems in the galaxy, we had to get the one with the gimpy wheel. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/3 "2008-07-04T05:51:27Z")
So, maybe don’t buy green bananas? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/4 "2008-07-04T07:52:58Z")
Yeah, but ‘very close’, in a discussion framed in terms of millions of years, may not actually be all that close at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/5 "2008-07-04T08:21:05Z")
Yeah, assuming 34 million years, wake me up in 3million years… I do hope I won’t be around by then! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/6 "2008-07-04T08:46:46Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] Yeah, assuming 34 million years, wake me up in 3million years… I do hope I won’t be around by then! [/QUOTE] Or to look at it another way… If I am still around in 3 million years, I expect to be able to take a little thing like the complete devastation of the Earth in my stride. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/7 "2008-07-04T14:20:06Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] Figures. Of all the star systems in the galaxy, we had to get the one with the gimpy wheel. [/QUOTE] Well, it’s our star system. So we’d better tighten our grip on it, we certainly don’t want any bad bounces. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-solar-system-bounce-finish-the-dinosaurs/455268/8 "2008-07-04T14:48:52Z")
The Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology is widely known as the world’s premier authority on the study of _Doctor Who_.