A researcher from the University of Rome (Italy) and the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte in Naples, Daniele Fargion, has determined that gravitational tides triggered by the passage of large celestial bodies or dwarf planets near Earth could have been the cause of mass extinctions. This was reported on June 24 by the news portal Science X.
In his view, while the Chicxulub asteroid impact is widely considered the primary cause of the dinosaurs’ extinction, other instances of species loss may stem from more subtle gravitational interactions. Fargion highlights the presence of numerous objects in the outer reaches of the Solar System, comparable in size to dwarf planets, which, when disturbed, can travel through the inner regions of the system.
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“Such events could have left behind strong traces: massive waves, large volcanic eruptions, sea regression, successive meteor showers, and significant climate changes. These mechanisms may have led to several mass extinctions over the past 600 million years, as suggested by unusual correlations in the geological record,” emphasized the study’s author.
For example, this could account for the largest extinction event in history, the Permian mass extinction, which occurred 251 million years ago and resulted in the loss of 80 to 95% of species, yet left no clear evidence of a major meteorite impact.
As supporting evidence, Fargion points to data from fossil corals, which record a sudden slowdown in Earth’s rotation at the end of the Devonian period. This might indicate an abrupt increase in the distance between Earth and the Moon, a phenomenon difficult to explain by a collision but plausible as a result of a “gravitational tug” from a passing planet.
The professor also proposes that such catastrophes could offer an explanation for the Fermi paradox. In his words, astrophysical tidal extinctions might, though rarely, systematically eliminate advanced civilizations, resetting life to a simpler, more primitive, and “silent” state.
On June 23, Science X reported the discovery of a hidden force of dark matter that is slowing down the Universe’s expansion. Although the standard model assumes that dark matter particles interact with the surrounding world and with each other solely through gravity, scientists have learned that an additional force is also at play between them.
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