The dinosaur-killing asteroid hit Earth in spring

The dinosaur-killing asteroid that smashed into present-day Mexico 66 million years ago arrived in springtime, a new analysis suggests.

Scientists examined fossilized fish that perished shortly after the impact and used the growth patterns and chemicals preserved within the bones to pin down the timing of the event. The researchers concluded that the asteroid strike occurred during spring in the Northern Hemisphere, a time when many animals would have been raising young and especially vulnerable to the cataclysm. The season in which the asteroid made contact likely influenced…