Could Invisible Planet Flybys Have Triggered Earth’s Mass Extinctions?

A speculative paper argues that ancient planetary flybys may have helped trigger some of Earth’s mass extinctions. Earth’s history is full of close calls and resets. Life did not move smoothly toward complexity. It survived repeated collapses, including mass extinctions that erased vast numbers of species and changed which branches of life had room to [...]

By evan gough· 7/11/2026, 1:05:54 AM· 2 min read