Could Exploding Stars Be The Key Factor of Human Evolution?

Could Exploding Stars Be The Key Factor of Human Evolution?
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How could the humans’ ancestor evolved in that way that they have begun to walk on two legs? One supposition is that the boost came from the ancient supernovas. During those times, many powerful stellar explosions happened. And because of that, the Earth was showered with massive energy that changed the planet’s climate. A new hypothesis is out now, saying that because of the electrons that sparked lightning and storms, a lot of landscapes could have been replaced. So, maybe because of that, humans have begun walking on two legs.

The New Study

When talking about the evolution of bipedalism, many factors are included, not only the explosion of supernovas. The scientists say that they have clues of ancient supernovas by the traces found in Earth’s crust, traces of iron-60. The version of iron is originally from the stars nearing the end of their lives. So the theory is that after an explosion of the supernovas, the metal has arrived on Earth millions of years ago.

On the other side, a previous study has discovered traces of iron-60 in the Earth crust from stars that blew up eight million years ago. The explosion of supernovas was around 123 light years away from our planet, and everything happened at the beginning of the Pleistocene epoch. Because of the high-energy emissions of the supernovas, the Earth’s weather has been affected, leading to many lightings that have caused wildfires.

However, returning to the idea of humans walking on two feet, some pressure has been put on ancient humans because of the weather changes. On the other hand, the humans were already upright walkers before the supernova had exploded. Assistant professor of paleoanthropology from Lehman College, William Harcourt-Smith, is saying that we have the first evidence of bipedalism of the ancient humans from seven million years ago. And the full transition was made around 4.4 million years ago.

Finally, the study is not providing the best evidence that these wildfires have been the leading cause of the evolution of bipedalism, but for sure the changing environment and opening habitats have been caused by the changing of the weather.


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I am a pop culture and social media expert. Aside from writing about the latest news health, I also enjoy pop culture and Yoga. I have BA in American Cultural Studies and currently enrolled in a Mass-Media MA program. I like to spend my spring breaks volunteering overseas.

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