When an asteroid hits the Earth, nothing in its path survives. But did such deadly impacts trigger life in the first place. Standing at ground zero in the center of Haughton crater, Nunavut it is difficult to grasp the enormity of what occurred here 23 million years ago. Lush forests grew, giant rabbits hopped around and small rhinoceros grazed. All this changed when a comet or asteroid more than a kilometer wide slammed into the forest. The impact excavated between 70 and 100 billion tonnes of rock, forming a crater 24 kilometers wide. The warmth of the impact heated groundwater, creating hydrothermal systems, perfect homes for intrepid colonizing organisms, such as bacteria and algae. But if the new thinking on impact craters is right, then although devastating impacts were common, so too were fertile hydrothermal systems.