The cichlid fish in Lake Tanganyika never knew what was coming. How could they? A star from dozens of lightyears away was to blame for what would soon happen.
Cosmic rays from a nearby supernova would soon rain down on the unsuspecting cichlids, tearing apart their DNA, causing the fish to mutate and opening the door for myriad viruses to infect their population. Or so we think, anyway.
That's the scenario posited by a team led by former University of California (UC) Santa Cruz undergraduate Caitlyn Nojiri.
