According to new research from Keele University and the Universidad de Alicante, near-Earth explosions of giant O- and B-type stars occur at a rate of 2.5 per one billion year; this result supports the view that such events could have caused one or more of the recorded mass extinction events on Earth. Artist’s impression of Zeta Puppis, an O-type star approximately 1,400 light-years away in the constellation Puppis. Image credit: Tahina Ramiaramanantsoa. Keele...
