PLANET EARTH
Dinosaur-destroying meteor struck at ‘deadliest possible’ angle
Words by Mindy Weisberger
The flaming space rock that slammed into Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs struck at the worst possible angle, new research suggests. Colliding with an enormous, fast-moving cosmic projectile would have been disastrous under just about any circumstances, but it also hit the planet at a steep angle, causing the deadliest possible outcome by releasing much more gas and pulverised rock than it would have with a shallower approach.