A new essay about an impact shower on the terrestrial planets that happened almost concomitant to the beginning of multicellular life on the Earth’s surface, about 800.000.000 years ago, comes at a very convenient time.
Recently, debris from a SpaceX rocket collided with the Moon’s surface, creating a new crater and blasting material into space. The incident has renewed concerns about the growing problem of space debris (as if space exploration didn’t already have enough challenges).
What is interesting about all these recent “scientific” happenings is the zeitgeist that (after many years) is still alive and kicking – that violent explosions and collisions can be for the best, and in some cases even necessary as Life triggers.
Pop-science tropes often cling to the idea that explosions, collisions, and bombs do not necessarily signify destruction, chaos, sadness, or loss. Ironically, the underlying message is that these destructive events can somehow be restorative (??) and signify new beginnings. While this trope discourse is becoming increasingly tiresome—likely due to the saturation of cinematic storytelling—the barrier to empirical evidence still remains.
To illustrate, around 66.000.000 years ago, the South Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea were already in existence. The rearrangement of the continents (along with the tectonic plates) triggered geological activity that triggered atmospheric changes, which, together with the dramatic lowering of sea levels, led to a powerful extinction event. Geological data also shows that a massive astronomical body struck Earth’s surface around the same time, causing acid rain, freezing temperatures, and releasing particles in the atmosphere that would block sunlight.
According to pop science, the astronomical body collision was, alone, responsible for the extinction of the Dinosaurs and triggered the rise of mammals; therefore, the bombing that came from space was, all in all, good, because without it, we, human mammals, could not exist.
However, recent studies state that the aftermath of the massive astronomical body collision was likely fleeting – freezing temperatures reversed after 3 years, acid rain probably dissipated after 10 years, and the dust blocking the sunlight lasted up to a year. In addition, the fossil data about this particular extinction event does not indicate any pattern that this event was any different from the previous ones in terms of time span (thousands to millions of years) and number of species (proportionally). Also, according to empirical evidence, mammals started to inhabit the Earth’s surface millions of years before.
Therefore, a meteor did hit the Earth’s surface around 66.000.000 years ago, but it is unlikely that it was alone responsible for the extinction event that included the dinosaurs – or the rise of mammals.
It should go without saying, yet it bears repeating – It is very important to stop glorifying explosions and big destructive events as the catalyst of anything. Explosions shatter existing systems; they do not construct new ones.
Science advances when empirical evidence leads the story – and, so far, the evidence shows that life builds itself through resilience and gradual adaptation, not sudden shocks, not raw destruction.
As for 2026, perhaps humans don’t need cataclysmic drama to find wonder in their origins anymore. The story evidence-based science actually tells is infinitely richer – Life isn’t sparked by violent shocks, but woven through quiet patience, intricate balance, and amazing endurance. The slow, persistent magic is what humans might be now ready to embrace.
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