A 10-kilometre-wide rock did for the dinosaurs, but smashed open a window of opportunity for unimpressive little animals called mammals. Continue reading
Here we are, small beings on a small planet orbiting an unremarkable star in a really rather ordinary galaxy in an otherwise undistinguished part of an unimaginably vast universe.
Yet something about our existence feels, well, special. From the ructions of the early cosmos to the growing pains of our planet and life’s daring evolutionary leaps, not everything about how we got here seems obvious, or even likely.
Perhaps in other corners of the cosmos other sentient beings are also pondering the implausibility of their origins. Perhaps that very implausibility means we are alone with such questions. Either way, follow the trail as we visit 10 turning points in our history - the cosmic accidents that led to us.
http://www.newscientist.com/special/cosmic-accidents-10-lucky-breaks-for-huma...
