Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
The end of the Permian period and the beginning of the Triassic, about 250 mya, is marked by a disappearance from the fossil record of about 90% of the species on planet Earth. It's known as "the Great Dying" and was a more cataclysmic mass extinction than the one that ended the age of dinosaurs 185 million years later. Two UC - Santa Barbara geologists claim to have found the site where a Mt. Everest-sized meteor smashed into southeastern Pangaea (a site now west of Australia) at just that time. A lot of previously puzzling bits of geologic evidence have fallen into place.
TrackBackOT: While this was interesting, more interesting if they can tie to the multiple volcanic eruptions of the period, I was surprise you did mention Rutan's successful test of his space ship. He's on the fast track for the X-Prize.
Posted by: Bryan at May 16, 2004 10:58 PM