Citation

Collar JI. Phys. Rev. Lett. 1996; 76(6): 999-1002.

Affiliation

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of South Carolina, Columbia 29208, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1996, American Physical Society)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10061605

Abstract

Massive stars in their final stages of collapse radiate most of their binding energy in the form of MeV neutrinos. The recoil atoms that they produce in elastic scattering off nuclei in organic tissue create radiation damage which is highly effective in the production of irreparable DNA harm, leading to cellular mutation, neoplasia, and oncogenesis. Using a conventional model of the galaxy and of the collapse mechanism, the periodicity of nearby stellar collapses and the radiation dose are calculated. The possible contribution of this process to the paleontological record of mass extinctions is examined.

Language: en