Determining why the dinosaurs went extinct has been debated for ages and studied for even longer. Now, the most acceptable extinction event hypothesis — that of an astroid impact that changed the Earth's climate — has a very interesting new wrinkle. As it turns out, it might not have been the size of the rock or the actual destruction it wrought that made the asteroid so utterly devastating, but simply the exact spot where it slammed into our planet.
Studying rock samples from up to 1,300 meters beneath the Gulf of Mexico, researchers were able to get a fantastic look at what the area was like at the time when the asteroid — estimated to be nearly 10 miles wide — struck. When the rock slammed into the Earth 66 million years ago, the area was little more than a shallow sea, and scientists now believe that the collision sent an enormous amount of sulphur skyward, which ultimately doomed the planet by sending it into an ice age which the lumbering prehistoric beasts simply couldn't endure.
The researchers, who presented their findings in a new BBC documentary called The Day The Dinosaurs Died, suggest that if the killer asteroid had made a watery splashdown in the middle of the Atlantic or Pacific oceans, the deadly vaporized rock that blotted out the sun in the days after its impact would have been far less severe. If that had happened, plant life would still have gotten the sunlight it needed to survive, and the food chain might have remained intact. Of course, had that happened, the eventual rise of mammals may also never have occurred, and we might not even be here to study any of it at all.
Over the past few years, Apple's WWDC event has been a decidedly software-only affair, with nearly all the focus centering on upcoming iterations of iOS, macOS, and more recently, watchOS and tvOS. This year, however, WWDC will be a tad more exciting.
Amid reports that Apple has plans to introduce a brand new Siri-based smart speaker and iPad Pro at WWDC next month, we're now getting word that Apple in just a few weeks may also unveil a revamped MacBook Pro and a few other surprises. According to a fresh report from Bloomberg, Apple at WWDC may announce three new notebooks, including a updated MacBook Pro, a new MacBook model, and last but not least, a new MacBook Air.
Apple is planning three new laptops, according to people familiar with the matter. The MacBook Pro will get a faster Kaby Lake processor from Intel Corp., said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss internal planning. Apple is also working on a new version of the 12-inch MacBook with a faster Intel chip. The company has also considered updating the aging 13-inch MacBook Air with a new processor as sales of the laptop, Apple’s cheapest, remain surprisingly strong, one of the people said.
Incidentally, reputed analyst Ming-Chi Kuo is on record stating that Apple's 2017 MacBook Pro refresh will include support for 32GB of RAM.
Word of a varied Apple notebook refresh is certainly exciting, especially for users who haven't yet pulled the trigger on Apple's new MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. Upon its initial release last Fall, Apple's flagship notebook was lambasted for being overpriced and underpowered. With a refresh on the horizon, the MacBook Pro will at the very least provide users with more bang for their buck.
Additionally, it's reassuring to see that Apple hasn't completely forgotten about the MacBook Air. Indeed, the last time Apple significantly refreshed its svelte notebook was back in 20
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