Forget cockroaches; science just identified the ultimate survivor that will outlast every other creature on Earth. Even a planet-sterilizing asteroid can't stop this beast from inheriting the world once humans are gone.
On a bad day for the planet, the first signs would look ordinary at first. A bright streak in the sky, a strange pulse on space-weather monitors, or a distant star suddenly flaring where none had before. The danger would not be the flash itself, but ... [5833 chars]