Artist's depiction of a collision between two planetary bodies, similar to the hypothesized collision between Theia and the proto-Earth . Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theia_(hypothetical_planet)"> Artist's depiction of a collision between two planetary bodies, similar to the hypothesized collision between Theia and the proto-Earth . Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theia_(hypothetical_planet)

New research reveals that Dante Alighieri's Inferno wasn't just a masterpiece of literature: it was a gedankenexperiment in impact physics. From multi-ring craters to shockwaves that reshaped the globe, discover how a 14th-century poet modeled a planetary impact 500 years before the birth of modern meteoritics.

Reimagining Satan as an impactor

For seven centuries, the descent of Dante Alighieri's Satan has been read as a spiritual tragedy: a silent, heavy fall from grace.…