Earth is safe from gamma-ray bursts, Hubble finds

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This is a sampling of the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts taken by NASAs Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA ESA Andrew Fruchter (STScI) and the GRB Optical Studies with HST (GOSH) collaboration.
This is a sampling of the host galaxies of long-duration gamma-ray bursts taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, Andrew Fruchter (STScI), and the GRB Optical Studies with HST (GOSH) collaboration.

A gamma-ray burst (GRB) occurring in our own galaxy could decimate life on Earth, destroying the ozone layer, triggering climate change and drastically altering life’s evolution. However, the good news is that results published online today in the journal Nature show that the likelihood of a natural disaster due to a GRB is much lower than previously thought.


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Oct 07, 2008 | User rating: not rated yet
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