A meteorite 200 times bigger than the dinosaur-killing asteroid helped life on Earth flourish

Dark blue sphere with green and brown highlights approached by a rugged grey sphere.

There is probably no better example of the destructive power of space rocks upon our planet than the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs along with three-quarters of Earth's plant and animal species around 66 million years ago. 

Now, scientists have discovered that an even earlier and more massive space rock may have struck Earth — yet this one seems to have benefitted life rather than doom it. The impact occurred around 3.3 billion years ago, during the infancy of the solar system when asteroid strikes were far more common.