Re: DINOSAUR CANCER

["Nicholas R. Longrich" <longrich@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>]

On Tue, 23 Jan 1996 steve.cole@genie.com wrote:

> Cancer may have killed dinosaurs, scientist says
>  LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuter) - Cancer caused by particles thrown out by dying
> stars may have killed off dinosaurs 65 million years ago, an American 
> scientist
> said on Thursday.
>  Juan Collar of the University of South Carolina believes that sub-atomic
> particles called neutrinos released from stars collapsing in earth's galaxy 
> may
> have produced a cancer pandemic among dinosaurs.
>  Neutrinos colliding with the nuclei of living atoms could damage DNA,
> nature's genetic building blocks, producing cancer-causing mutations.
>  Writing in the New Scientist journal, Collar suggests that a collapsing star
> within 20 light years of earth could produce about 12 malignant cells per
> kilogram (2.2 lb) of living tissue.
>  The impact would be greater on larger animals like dinosaurs because they
> have more tissue to become cancerous. Because neutrinos are not halted by the
> outer layers of the body, the cancers are likely to develop in vulnerable 
> tissue
> like bone marrow, Collar said.
>  Other scientists have suggested that mass extinctions could be caused by
> cosmic rays from supernova explosions, but Collar says these happen too
> infrequently to explain the disappearance of the dinosaurs.
>  Star collapses, when a star caves in under the weight of its own gravity,
> occur within 20 light years of earth about every 100 million years.
> 
        ...and people say genius is dead!

        -nick L.