On the afternoon of November 5, 2025, the 40th Tiandu Forum (Deep Space Exploration Academic Salon) was successfully held at the USTC 1958 Café, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Focusing on the profound impact of asteroid impact events on Earth's biological evolution, this session specially invited Professor Birger Schmitz from the Faculty of Physics, Lund University in Sweden as the keynote speaker. With the topic "The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and the Extinction of the Dinosaurs", he shared his cutting-edge research achievements in this field, attracting extensive participation from researchers, faculty, students, and science enthusiasts campus-wide and beyond.

Professor Schmitz is an internationally renowned geologist and planetary scientist. He has served as the Chairman of the Swedish Geological Society, the Chairman of the Geology and Geophysics Panel of the Swedish Research Council, and held important positions in many international scientific organizations. Since the 1980s, he has long been committed to studying the connection between asteroid impacts and biological evolution through geological and geochemical methods. In this report, Professor Schmitz first reviewed the hypotheses about dinosaur extinction: 66 million years ago, an asteroid with a diameter of approximately 10 km collided with Earth, leading to the extinction of dinosaurs that had dominated the land for 160 million years, thereby creating conditions for the rise of mammals and even human civilization. Next, he systematically introduced the latest research progress on the Chicxulub impact crater in Mexico in recent years, as well as the sedimentary records of earthquakes and tsunamis triggered by the impact worldwide. These discoveries have enabled scientists to reconstruct the drastic changes in Earth's environment after the impact with "minute-level" precision. Finally, Professor Schmitz put forward a thought-provoking question: If the asteroid had not hit Earth back then, would dinosaurs have evolved into an intelligent civilization? Combining the phenomenon of convergent evolution that has occurred many times in the history of life, he provided scientific clues for this assumption.

The salon was held in a hybrid format of offline exchange and online live streaming. The atmosphere at the venue was enthusiastic. During the interactive session, participants actively raised questions around the interpretation of geological evidence, hypotheses of biological evolution, and other issues, and Professor Schmitz gave in-depth answers one by one, making the exchange highly inspiring. Online, the event was live-streamed simultaneously via Tencent Meeting and the Koushare Academic Platform (https://www.koushare.com/space/330205/home). As of press time, the cumulative number of views has approached 3,000, effectively expanding the coverage and influence of academic sharing.

Asteroid impact events are a key node for understanding the evolutionary history of life on Earth, and also an important part of deep space exploration and planetary defense research. This salon provided a high-level exchange platform for scholars in the field, promoting the collision and integration of interdisciplinary ideas. In the future, the Deep Space Exploration Academic Salon will continue to invite top scholars from home and abroad to share innovative achievements, stimulate scientific research cooperation, and continuously inject new momentum into the development of China's deep space exploration cause.

We look forward to reuniting with all colleagues at future academic events to jointly explore the unsolved mysteries of the universe!

第40期深空探测学术沙龙成功举办，探讨小行星撞击与恐龙灭绝之谜

2025年11月5日下午，第40期天都论坛（深空探测学术沙龙）在中国科学技术大学USTC1958咖啡厅成功举行。本期沙龙聚焦小行星撞击事件对地球生命演化的深远影响，特邀瑞典隆德大学物理学院的Birger Schmitz教授担任主讲嘉宾，以“希克苏鲁伯陨石撞击与恐龙的灭绝”为题，分享了其在该领域的前沿研究成果，活动吸引了来自校内外科研人员、师生及科研爱好者的广泛参与。

Schmitz教授是国际著名地质学家和行星科学家，曾任瑞典地质学会主席、瑞典研究理事会地质与地球物理学小组主席，并在多个国际科学组织中担任要职。自上世纪80年代以来，他长期致力于通过地质学与地球化学方法，研究小行星撞击与生命演化之间的关联。此次报告中，Schmitz教授首先回顾了恐龙灭绝假说，66百万年前一颗直径约10km的小行星撞击地球，导致统治陆地长达1.6亿年的恐龙走向灭绝，进而为哺乳动物乃至人类文明的兴起创造了条件。接下来他系统介绍了近年来关于墨西哥希克苏鲁伯撞击坑的最新研究进展，以及全球范围内由撞击引发的地震与海啸的沉积记录，这些发现使得科学家能够以“分钟级”精度重建撞击后地球环境的剧烈变化。最后，Schmitz教授提出了一个引人深思的问题：若当年小行星未撞击地球，恐龙是否会演化出智慧文明？他结合生命史上多次出现的趋同进化现象，为这一设想提供了科学线索。

本次沙龙采取线下交流与线上直播相结合的方式举办，现场气氛热烈，互动环节中与会者围绕地质证据解读、生命演化假设等问题踊跃提问，Schmitz教授一一作出深入解答，交流富有启发性。线上通过腾讯会议与蔻享学术平台同步直播（https://www.koushare.com/space/330205/home），截至发稿前累计观看量近3000人次，有效拓展了学术分享的覆盖范围与影响力。

小行星撞击事件是理解地球生命演化历史的关键节点，也是深空探测与行星防御研究的重要内容。本次沙龙为领域内学者提供了高水平的交流平台，促进了多学科思想的碰撞与融合。未来，深空探测学术沙龙将继续邀请海内外顶尖学者分享创新成果，激发科研合作，为我国深空探测事业的发展持续注入新动能。

我们期待在未来的学术活动中与各位同行再聚，共同探索宇宙的未解之谜！