NEW YORK — The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York City has opened a new exhibition that takes a multidisciplinary perspective on the asteroid strike that ended the Cretaceous period and killed all the non-avian dinosaurs. The exhibit — aptly called "Impact" — chronicles what was, in the words of AMNH curator of paleontology Roger Benson, Earth’s "worst day of the last half-billion years."
One spring day 66 million years ago, a rock from outer space slammed into what is now the Yucatan Peninsula. The meteor was roughly the size of Mount Everest, and it struck with the force of 10 billion atomic bombs. Nearby forests instantly incinerated as atmospheric temperatures briefly soared to 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Many animals, including large dinosaurs, were buried in ash — though some were able to escape by digging underground or diving underwater.
