Scientists say that 180 million years ago, a naturally occurring nuclear blast may have hit Mars, rendering it the lifeless planet that it is today. They claim that this blast would have left the planet with nothing but dry, red sand—which sounds like it could be plausible. Evidence that supports the theory includes the presence of radioactive materials, such as uranium and thorium, on the planet’s surface, that appear to stem from a hot spot.

That said, the same thing may have occurred on Earth—and it could happen again. Scientists say that we shouldn’t worry about it, and that if it does happen again, it will probably be in a billion years or so, which doesn’t seem like a very scientific estimate to me, but the not worrying plan is a good idea—not necessarily because the threat is so far away (or not), but because worrying isn’t going to help us in the event of a nuke, manmade or not.

With these theories, however, we can probably expect a few more cries of panic from the Armageddon is Upon Us community pretty soon. Instead of the Earth—or God—sending tornadoes, earthquakes, and forest fires to “punish us” for whatever it is they think we shouldn’t be doing, It/He will be nuking us instead.