Ancient settlement destroyed by comet, research suggests

For story suggestions or custom animation requests, contact tips@nextanimation.com.tw. Visit to view News Direct's complete archive of 3D news animations.


RESTRICTIONS: Broadcast: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN Digital: NO USE JAPAN, NO USE TAIWAN
Impact from a comet around 12,800 years ago is believed to have wiped out a human settlement, according to new research published in Scientific Reports.


The study suggests that meltglass samples found at the Abu Hureyra site in Syria could be evidence that a comet destroyed the area.


The high-energy and intense heat needed to create the molten glass material could only have resulted from a cosmic impact, suggests study author and University of California Santa Barbara, Geology Professor James Kennet. He says those sorts of temperatures could melt a car in less than 60 seconds.


The findings back a theory known as the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. This suggests that debris from a disintegrating comet entering Earth's atmosphere struck areas in the Americas, the Middle East and Europe some 12,800 years ago.


Kennet says that the settlement at Abu Hureyra would have been "abruptly destroyed" by such an event.


RUNDOWN SHOWS:
1. Research excavation area
2. Research dig site where meltwater glass was discovered
3. Depiction of comet in space and areas it is suggested to have struck
4. Depiction of comet hitting ancient human settlement


VOICEOVER (in English):


"Research published in the journal Scientific Reports suggests that meltglass samples found at the Abu Hureyra[a] site in Syria could be evidence that a comet destroyed one of humanity's earliest settlements 12,800 years."


"The high-energy and intense heat needed to create the molten glass material could only have resulted from a cosmic impact, suggests study author and University of California Santa Barbara, Geology Professor James Kennet."


"The findings back a theory known as the Younger Dryas impact hypothesis. This suggests that debris from a disintegrating comet entering Earth's atmosphere struck areas in the Americas, the Middle East and Europe some 12,800 years ago."


"Kennet says that the settlement at Abu Hureyra would have been "abruptly destroyed" by such an event."


SOURCES: University of California Santa Barbara, Scientific Reports




***
----------------------------------------­­---------------------------------------­-­----------------

Next Animation Studio’s News Direct service provides daily, high-quality, informative 3D news animations that fill in for missing footage and help viewers understand breaking news stories or in-depth features on science, technology, and health.

Sign up for a free trial of News Direct's news animations at

To subscribe to News Direct or for more info, please visit:

Comet,asteroid,abu hureyra,ancient humans,comet ancient humanity,early human,extinction events,space,human history,science,Educational,animation,3D,graphics,Next Animation,Next Media,feature,sidebar,video,explainer,image,illustration,graphic,