Supernova Could Have Aided Human Evolution

Star dust found deep beneath the Pacific Ocean has led German scientists to speculate that a supernova 3 million years ago might have helped bring about human evolution. The supernova might have caused an increase in cosmic rays for about 300,000 years that could have heated up the Earth, they wrote in Physical Review Letters.

The timing coincides with a change in Africa’s climate. It is believed this change brought hominids out of the trees, forcing them to walk upright.