Researchers recreate dinosaur-killer tsunami

Scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been making waves on social media with a recreation of the tsunami that followed the asteroid impact that killed off the dinosaurs. The catastrophic impact triggered tsunami waves up to high and swiftly crossed every ocean on the planet, ensuring a very bad day for any dinosaur not wearing a snorkel, although the results look slightly less spectacular when expressed as an animated gif of the planet. Still, the sheer scale of the tsunami is on display as it races across the somewhat unfamiliar globe. There is a purpose, however, behind the research aside from tweet-worthy gifs. The team at NOAA have used this as a test bed to ‘assess and quantify the risk of future large asteroid impacts,’ as they could cross reference their algorithm’s results against actual fossil evidence. Spoiler alert: you’ll probably need more than an exceptionally sturdy hat to survive a 10km asteroid impact.