Earth Biodiversity Pattern May Trace Back to Bobbing Solar System Path

A puzzlingly regular

Every 60 million

Researchers had

The new study lends

"Even with the

Dangerous cosmic

Cosmic rays are

But cosmic rays

"It's kind of a

Thousands of muons

"Life has

But what may be able

Peeking out from

On the Milky Way's

Usually, the Milky

This periodicity

In 2007, researchers

A surge in cosmic

The new study puts

Modeling

Atri and Melott

After chewing

The upper end is

"That is just

And even radiation

"Even if it's

So what's in store for Earth in the near future? The solar system is on the upswing now, bobbing toward the northern edge of the galactic disk. But big increases in cosmic-ray exposure are probably still about 10 million years off, researchers have said.

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