New theories suggest that the likelihood of intelligent life existing beyond Earth is higher

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

In 1983, theoretical physicist Brandon Carter said that the time it took for humans to evolve on Earth compared to the total lifespan of the Sun was essentially unlikely to have been our evolutionary origin. We concluded that observers like humans who are comparable to the above are very rare. . In a new study, scientists from Pennsylvania, the University of Munich and the University of Rochester have critically reevaluated the core assumptions of Carter's “hard step” theory through the lens of historical geologics. Specifically, they propose alternative theories with no harsh steps, and the evolutionary specificity required for human origin can be explained through mechanisms other than essentially non-performance. Furthermore, if the surface environment of the Earth initially did not reach the specific important intermediate steps necessary for human existence, as well as human life, the timing of human origin would be a habitability surrounding the history of the Earth. Controlled by continuous openings in the new global environment window.

The new theory proposes that humans may represent potential consequences of biological and planetary evolution. Image credit: Fernando Ribas.

“This is a huge change in how we think about life history,” said Professor Jennifer McCalady of Pennsylvania.

“It suggests that the evolution of complex life may be less about the interaction between luck and its environment, and I am to understand our origins and our place in the universe. paves the path for exciting new research in our quest.”

“The 'hard step' model, originally developed by Brandon Carter in 1983, took humans to evolve on Earth compared to the total lifespan of the sun, so our evolutionary origins are largely due to the fact that He claims it is unlikely. Human beings are extremely low across the globe. ”

In a new study, Professor Makaradi and her colleagues say that the Earth's environment is initially incapable of parasitic life in many forms, and only important evolutionary steps when the Earth's environment reaches a state of “tolerant” claimed that it was possible.

“For example, because complex animal life requires a certain level of oxygen in the atmosphere, oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through photosynthesis is the oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through microorganisms and bacteria, and oxygenation of the Earth's atmosphere through planets. It was a natural evolutionary step, said Dr. Dan Mills, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Munich.

“We argue that intelligent life may not need a series of lucky breaks.”

“Humans did not evolve “early” or “slowly” in the history of the Earth, but when conditions were right, they “on time.” ”

“It's probably just a matter of time, and while other planets can probably achieve these conditions more quickly than Earth, other planets may take even longer.”

The central prediction of the “hard step” theory is that, based on Carter's, steps such as the origin of life, the development of complex cells, and the emergence of human intelligence, if there are no other civilizations, then the other civilizations are He says there is little that exists in the universe. The interpretation of the total lifespan of the Sun is 10 billion years, and the age of the Earth is about 5 billion years old.

In a new study, the authors have the ability to originate human origin by continuous openings in the window of habitability to the history of the Earth, driven by changes in nutritional availability, sea surface temperature, ocean salinity levels, and oxygen levels. I suggested that the timing could be explained. atmosphere.

Given all the interaction factors, the Earth has only just become kind to humanity recently. It is simply a natural result of workplace conditions.

“We believe we need to use geological time scales rather than predicting based on the lifespan of the sun, because it takes time for the atmosphere and landscape to change,” Penn State said. said Professor Jason Wright.

“These are the normal timescales on Earth. When life evolves with planets, they evolve at the planet's pace on the planet's timescale.”

Team's paper It was published in the journal this month Advances in science.

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Daniel B. Mills et al. 2025. A reevaluation of the “hard step” model for the evolution of intellectual life. Advances in science 11(7); doi:10.1126/sciadv.ads5698

Source: www.sci.news

Scientists suggest that the composition of the inner core of the Earth is undergoing changes

Posted on February 12, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Geoscientists at the University of Southern California, the University of Los Angeles, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Cornell University, the Institute of Geology at the University of Utah and the University of Utah have said they have detected structural changes near the center of the Earth.

The inner core of the Earth was previously thought to be solid. Image credit: USC Graphics/Edward Sotero.

Professor John Vidale, a researcher at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said:

“What we discovered is evidence that the surface near the inner core of the Earth is undergoing structural changes.”

Located 5,000 km (3,000 miles) on the surface of the Earth, the inner core is fixed by gravity within the outer core of the molten liquid. Until now, the inner core was widely considered to be a solid sphere.

“The original purpose was to further diagram the deceleration of the inner core. However, when I was analyzing decades of earthquake records, one dataset of seismic waves remained. It was strangely distinctive from that,” Dr. Vidale said.

“Later I realized I was staring at evidence that my inner core was not solid.”

In this study, the authors recorded seismic waves recorded by Yelson and Yellow Knife Receber Array Stations in North America from repeated seismic pairs in the North-South Sandwich Islands between 1991 and 2023.

One dataset of seismic waves from the latter station contained non-characteristic properties that researchers have never seen before.

“The dataset initially confused me,” Dr. Vidale said.

It was not revealed that seismic waveforms represent additional physical activity in the inner core until the team improved their resolution techniques.

Physical activity is best described as a temporal change in the shape of the inner core.

New research shows that surfaces near the inner core can undergo viscous deformation, altering their shape and shifting at the shallow boundary of the inner core.

The most obvious cause of structural changes is the interaction between the inner and outer cores.

“It is widely known that the melted outer core is a turbulent flow, but that turbulence has not been observed to contiguously contiguously to the inner core of the human timescale,” Dr. Vidale said. Ta.

“The first thing we're looking at in this study is the outer core that probably disrupts the inner core.”

“This discovery could open the door to uncover previously hidden dynamics deep within the Earth's nucleus, and lead to a better understanding of the Earth's thermal and magnetic fields.”

study Published in the journal Natural Earth Science.

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Je Vidale et al. Variations in annual scales at both rotation speed and surfaces near the inner core of the Earth. nut. GeosciPublished online on February 10th, 2025. doi:10.1038/s41561-025-01642-2

Source: www.sci.news

Earth and Mars’ foundational materials were initially abundant in moderately volatile elements.

Posted on February 6, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A new analysis of the metstones of magmatic iron challenges traditional theories about why Earth and Mars are depleted with moderately volatile elements.

Bendego met stone. Image credit: Jorge Andrade / CC by 2.0.

Medium volatile elements (MVEs) such as copper and zinc play an important role in planetary chemistry with essential elements of life, such as water, carbon, and nitrogen.

Understanding its origins provides important clues as to why the Earth has become a habitable world.

Earth and Mars contain significantly fewer MVEs than primitive metstones (chondrites), raising basic questions about the planetary layer.

This new study employs a new approach by analyzing iron meteorites (the metal core remnants of the earliest planetary building blocks) to reveal new insights.

“We’ve seen a lot of experience in the world,” said Dr. Damanveer Grewal, a researcher at Arizona State University.

“This discovery reconstructs our understanding of how the planet acquired its components.”

Until now, scientists believed that MVE was lost because they were not completely condensed in the early solar system or escaped during planetary differentiation.

However, new research reveals a different story. It is held by many MVEs on the first planet, suggesting that the building blocks of Earth and Mars later lost theirs.

Surprisingly, the authors discovered that many inner solar system planets retain abundance of MVEs like chondrites, and accretion continues despite being differentiated. It indicates that it has been saved.

This was not because Earth and Mars ancestors began to deplete with these elements, but instead occurred in the long history of collision growth, rather than incomplete condensation of solar nebulae or planet differentiation. Suggests that.

“Our work redefines how we understand the chemical evolution of planets,” Dr. Grewal said.

“It shows that the components of Earth and Mars were originally rich in these vital elements, but the intense collisions during the planet’s growth caused depletion.”

study Published in the journal Advances in Science.

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Damanveer S. Grewal et al. 2025. Enrichment of moderate volatile elements in first-generation planets of the inner solar system. Advances in Science 11 (6); doi:10.1126/sciadv.adq7848

Source: www.sci.news

Should we be concerned about the fragments from the universe hitting Earth daily?

Posted on February 2, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Effectively zero. It may be attacked by the satellite that you fall.

Although the number of satellites in the orbit has risen in exponential functions, modern satellites have the ability to control the re -entry trajectory, and they are built from low -density materials to burn out as they fall into the atmosphere.

However, fragments in the universe are still reaching the ground. We use the rocket stage from the long March rocket in China as a recent example.

However, in the past 50 years, NASA has recorded average. One of the fragments of the universe that reaches the ground per day Currently, death or serious injury is not known.

One piece per day sounds like a lot, but at least three airplanes are dropped (mainly non -profit aircraft) in order to focus on it. 。

Being attacked by a piece of satellite is unlikely to be hit by a part of the crashed airplane -credit: Petrovich9

When the plane crashes, it usually remains in one piece until the moment of the impact, and is often full of fuel. As a result, the falling aircraft is much more fatal than a typical cosmic fragment. This may be part of a small titanium and carbon fiber panel.

There is no difference here for the extra altitude that the fragments of the universe have fallen. Falling from 300 km (about 186 miles) is the same as 10 km (6.2 miles) to reach the terminal speed long before hitting the ground.

Aircraft tend to fly near a dense population area, but spaceship is much more evenly distributed around the world. If everyone in the world goes out and spread, they cover only about 0.0002 % on the surface of the earth.

Therefore, even if the fragments of the fallen universe are fatal, they miss 99.9998 % and translate them into one death every 1 or 300 years.

This article is the answer to the question (asked by Charlie Bond by e -mail) “What is the possibility of a falling satellite?”

To send a question, please email questions@sciencefocus.com or send a message. Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram Page (don’t forget to include your name and location).

For surprising science, see the ultimate fun fact page.

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There could be billions of years old towering structures deep within the Earth

Posted on January 23, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

A strange continent-sized structure (red) lurks beneath the planet's surface

Edward Garnero. SW French, BA Romanowicz, Geophys. J. Int. 199, 1303, 2014.

Two giant blobs deep within the Earth may remain stable for billions of years despite powerful internal fluctuations, according to an analysis of seismic waves reverberating across the planet.

“When a major earthquake occurs, the entire earth expands and contracts like a bell.” arwen Deus At Utrecht University in the Netherlands. “The earth becomes an instrument.”

Decades ago, measurements of such seismic waves identified two strange continent-sized structures, one under the Pacific Ocean and one under Africa. They extend for almost 1000 kilometers from the outer core to the lower mantle, the slowly moving layer between the Earth's crust and core.

Because seismic waves pass through these objects more slowly, they are called “large low shear velocity regions” or LLSVPs. However, little is known about its composition and origin.

To gain further information, Deus and her colleagues analyzed how these regions attenuate the energy of seismic waves, in addition to changes in wave speed. Such measurements reveal information about the temperature, composition, shape, and size of the LLSVP.

The researchers expected that the structure, which would be hotter than the surrounding area, would significantly attenuate seismic waves. “Lo and behold, we found the opposite,” says Deus.

To explain the lack of decay at high temperatures, the researchers propose that LLSVP must be composed of minerals with large crystals that are stable in heat. This also suggests that these regions are highly viscous and can maintain stability as the mantle moves around them.

This stability could mean that these objects are very old, dating back to the formation of planets at least 500 million years ago, and possibly more than 4 billion years ago, Deus said. They may act as repositories of primordial material, unchanged since the Earth formed, that sometimes reaches the surface via volcanoes.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Earth becomes visible to the naked eye, shining as bright as Venus

Posted on January 10, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) captured on December 31, 2024 using the telescope at Rio Hurtado, Chile

lionel magic

A comet that has surprised astronomers could shine as brightly as Venus in the night sky as it passes Earth in the coming days.

Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was discovered by NASA’s Asteroid Earth Impact Last Alert System more than 600 million kilometers from Earth in April last year. Astronomers initially thought that the comet would not be able to survive in an orbit so close to the Sun, but subsequent observations showed that the comet was following a different path that would allow it to survive, possibly reaching Earth. It has been suggested that it may even be possible to remain unharmed until the approach of

This new orbit, which takes 160,000 years to complete, will mean the comet will snake its way through the solar system, making it visible to stargazers in the Southern Hemisphere. But for the last part of its journey around the sun, people in the northern hemisphere should also be mostly visible through binoculars.

Observations since the new orbit was proposed have shown the comet to be brighter than expected, which could mean it is breaking up as it approaches the sun. However, the latest observations show that the brightness persists and even increases, which would not be the case if the comet disintegrated.

If C/2024 G3 survives, it could appear very bright in the night sky, with some astronomers predicting its brightness could rival that of Venus, making it one of the brightest comets in decades. I’m doing it.

However, the comet’s exact brightness is unknown. It may be far enough away that it reflects the sunlight and is clearly visible, or it may be washed away by the sunlight and become invisible.

Astronomers have also suggested a phenomenon called forward scatter, where dust from the comet makes it appear brighter than normal, but meteorologist Joe Rao said that’s unlikely. space dot com.

If a comet shines brightly, it will probably reach its maximum level around the time of its closest approach to the Sun. The Central Astronomical Telegraph Office, which aggregates observations from astronomers around the world, predicts that this will occur on January 13 at 10:17 a.m. GMT, with the comet’s closest approach to Earth occurring several hours later. are.

This equates to an approximately three-day viewing period from January 12 to 14 for people in the Northern Hemisphere hoping to catch a glimpse of the comet if it’s bright enough. For people in areas such as the United States and Europe, the best time to see the comet is about 30 minutes before sunrise on January 12, when it should be visible through binoculars about 5 degrees from the sun or directly above the horizon. You should get a second chance around 30 minutes after sunset on January 14th.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Webb detects a gravitationally stretched star located 6.5 billion light years from Earth

Posted on January 8, 2025 by Igor Mitreski

Using observations from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers found that at a time when the Universe was half its current age, a single galaxy behind the galaxy cluster Abel 370 had a redshift of 0.725 (Dragon We identified a star with more than 40 microlenses in an arc (called an arc).

In this Hubble image of Abell 370, the host galaxy in which 44 stars were discovered appears several times. Image credit: NASA.

“This groundbreaking discovery demonstrates for the first time that it is possible to study large numbers of individual stars in distant galaxies,” said Fengwu Sun, a postdoctoral researcher at the Harvard University & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. the doctor said.

“Previous studies using the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope discovered about seven stars, and now we have the ability to resolve them in a way that was previously impossible. ”

“Importantly, observing larger numbers of individual stars will also help us better understand the dark matter in the lens surfaces of these galaxies and stars. i didn't understand.”

In the study, Sun and his colleagues analyzed web images of a galaxy known as Dragon Arc, which lies along the line of sight from Earth behind a massive galaxy cluster called Abel 370.

Through gravitational lensing, Abel 370 stretches the Dragon Arc's characteristic spiral into an elongated shape. It is a hall of mirrors as big as the universe.

Astronomers carefully analyzed the color of each star in the Dragon Arc and discovered that many of them were red supergiants. This is in contrast to previous discoveries that primarily identified blue supergiants.

The researchers say this difference in star types highlights the unique ability of Webb observations at infrared wavelengths to reveal stars even at low temperatures.

“When we discovered these individual stars, we were actually looking for background galaxies that were magnified by galaxies within this giant cluster,” Dr. Sun said.

“But when we processed the data, we found that there were many what appeared to be individual star points.”

“It was an exciting discovery because it was the first time we had been able to see so many individual stars so far away.”

“We know more about red supergiants in our local galactic neighborhood, because they are closer and we can take better images and spectra, and sometimes even break up stars. It’s from.”

“Knowledge gained from studying red supergiants in the local universe can be used in future studies to interpret what happens next to red supergiants during the early stages of galaxy formation.”

Most galaxies, including the Milky Way, contain tens of billions of stars. In nearby galaxies, such as the Andromeda galaxy, astronomers can observe stars one by one.

But in galaxies that are billions of light years away, their light has to travel billions of light years to reach us, so stars appear mixed together, which explains how galaxies form and evolve. This has been a long-standing challenge for scientists who study it.

“To us, very distant galaxies usually look like diffuse, blurry clumps,” says Dr. Yoshinobu Fudamoto, an astronomer at Chiba University.

“But in reality, those clumps are made up of so many individual stars that our telescopes can't resolve them.”

of findings Published in a magazine natural astronomy.

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Yuya Fudamoto others. Identified over 40 gravitationally expanded stars in the galaxy at redshift 0.725. Nat Astronpublished online on January 6, 2025. doi: 10.1038/s41550-024-02432-3

Source: www.sci.news

The 12 swiftest creatures on Earth

Posted on December 25, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

“Have you ever been late and thought, ‘Usain Bolt wouldn’t have these problems?'” Well, in the realm of the world’s fastest animals, Bolt is a blunt force compared to some amazing records. It’s just – Holder is there. “

Whether on land, air, or sea, speed is essential for a variety of reasons. Finding your next meal or running away from sharp teeth all require speed and lots of speed.

Here are some of the fastest animals on Earth.

Fastest land mammal (quadrupedal)

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/41/2024/12/cheetah.mp4

African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) running and turning while hunting

The world’s fastest four-legged mammal is the cheetah. These amazing cats can accelerate up to 94 km/h (58.4 mph) in less than 3 seconds thanks to their powerful leg muscles and slender bodies.

Combined with their excellent eyesight, they are a formidable force when hunting animals such as impalas and gazelles across vast swaths of the African savannah.

Fastest insect (on land)

Flycatcher (Cicindela hudsoni) – The world’s fastest land-flying insect. Photographed on Fore Island, Shark Bay, Western Australia. Photo courtesy: Auscape/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

At 20mm long, the Australian beetle’s top speed of 9km/h (5.5mph) doesn’t seem that fast. But it becomes a little more impressive when you consider that this means that it travels a distance equal to 125 times its body length every second.

The beetle uses its speed and lightning reactions to catch and eat other insects, such as flies, in the blink of an eye.

Fastest insect (in flight)

A male horsefly (Hybomitra distinguenda) hovers in search of a female. Photographed in Surrey, England. Photo credit: Alamy

Male horseflies are the world’s fastest flying insects, reaching speeds estimated at 145 kilometers (90 miles) per hour. The fly itself is easily recognized by the colorful orange markings on its abdomen and is found all over the world, except in polar regions.

fastest bird (in flight)

White-throated Needletail (Hirundapus caudacutus) in flight. Photo credit: JJ Harrison/Wikipedia

The white-throated blackbill may be the fastest bird in horizontal flight, but this has never been formally proven. It is said to be able to reach speeds of more than 170 km/h (105 mph), which, if proven, would make it faster than a golden eagle or a gyrfalcon.

The bird itself is a type of swiftlet, but it has a large body and a very narrow tail (hence the name). They are migratory birds that travel long distances, but are a rare sight in the UK and Ireland.

fastest bird (on land)

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/41/2024/12/ostrich-running.mp4

Ostriches use their wings to balance themselves while running and maintain speeds of up to 45 miles per hour.

Ostriches are the fastest two-legged birds and can reach speeds of 70 km/h (45 mph) on land. Ostriches raise small wings to aid stability and use their long legs and powerful muscles to outrun many predators.

The ostrich’s leg muscles are so powerful that, although rare, it can kill a lion with a kick. However, their speed and power more than compensate for their lack of flight ability.

fastest fish

A black marlin (Istiompax indica) swims underwater with the sun in the background. Photo courtesy: Getty Images

The world’s fastest swimming fish is the marlin, with an estimated top speed of 129 km/h (80 mph).

Marlins are valuable game fish, but they are extremely difficult to catch thanks to their extremely sharp beaks and incredible stamina. The most popular place to catch this impressive fish is the Great Barrier Reef, but the fish can be found in many tropical regions, including the Indian and Pacific oceans.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

The Animal with the Longest Lifespan on Earth in 2025

Posted on December 22, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Understanding time can be a complex concept. Einstein famously explained how time is relative, experienced differently based on the speed of an object. Let’s dive into the topic further.

Many animals have defied the odds and lived long, extraordinary lives. But which animal holds the title for the longest lifespan?

Scientists have studied longevity for years, with species on this list offering potential insights for longer, healthier lives. Let’s explore some of the world’s longest-living creatures.

Humans: Earth’s Longest-Lived Land Mammals

A photo of Jeanne Calment in 1995 at the age of 120. Photo courtesy: Pascal Parrot/Sygma/Getty Images

Jeanne Calment holds the record for the world’s longest-lived person, living an astonishing 122 years and 164 days. Born in 1875 in Arles, France, she claimed to have met Vincent van Gogh and humorously described him.

Calment credited her stress-free life and sense of humor for her longevity, even indulging in smoking after meals until she quit at 117. She outlived her daughter and grandson, passing away in 1997.

Glass Sponge: The Longest-Lived Aquatic Creature

Stalked vitreous cavernoma (hexatinerid) of Borosoma photographed at Maruru Seamount. Photo credit: National Marine Sanctuary/Wikipedia

The glass sponge, with its delicate appearance, can live up to 15,000 years, found in oceans worldwide at depths below 450 meters. Its unique ability to generate electrical impulses sets it apart from other creatures.

When threatened, the glass sponge’s flagella halt their beating, a survival adaptation distinct from other sponge species. Its shape remains unchanged when stimulated.

Cookie the pink parrot, photographed at Brookfield Zoo, USA, in 2008. Photo: Nimesh Madhavan/Wikipedia

Cookie the Cockatoo, a male pink parrot, holds the record for the oldest parrot, living until 83 years old before passing away in 2016 at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, USA.

Despite retiring from public life at 81 for health reasons, Cookie outlived other pink parrots by decades.

Naked Mole Rat: The Longest-Lived Rodent

Close-up of a naked mole rat (Heterocepalus glaber) in its underground burrow. Photo credit: Getty Images

Naked mole rats, resilient rodents, can survive 18 minutes without oxygen and show resistance to cancer. They live underground, protected from predators, and age differently than other mammals.

With accurate cell replication and DNA protection, naked mole rats can live for decades, with some reaching 37 years old.

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Ocean Quahog: The Longest-Lived Invertebrate

The oldest marine quahog is thought to be over 500 years old and is known as “Min”. Photo courtesy of Bangor University

The ocean quahog, an arctic clam species, holds the title for the oldest animal on Earth. A specimen found in 2006 off the coast of Iceland was estimated to be 507 years old by scientists.

Known as “Ming” or “Hafrun,” these clams display annual growth rings, allowing scientists to determine their age.

Aldabra Giant Tortoise: The Longest-Living Turtle

Adwaita, a giant Aldabra tortoise, rests in a cage at Alipore Zoo in Kolkata, India, on April 25, 2005. Photo by Deshakalyan Chowdhury/AFP/Getty Images

The Aldabra giant tortoise, native to the Seychelles’ Aldabra Atoll, is Earth’s longest-living turtle species. The oldest, Adwaita, lived an estimated 255 years before passing away in 2006.

Greenland Shark: Earth’s Longest Living Fish

Greenland shark or Greenland sleeper shark (Somniosus microcepalus) swimming along the St. Lawrence River estuary in Canada. Photo credit: Alamy

Greenland sharks, with slow metabolisms, inhabit cold oceans and have lifespans difficult to estimate due to their unique physiology. Carbon dating suggests ages between 252 and 512 years.

Bobi: The Longest-Lived Dog

A photo taken on February 12, 2023 shows Bobi, the world’s oldest dog according to Guinness World Records, at her home in the village of Conqueiros, near Leiria, Portugal. Photo by Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

Bobi, a Rafeiro de Alentejo, achieved a remarkable 31 years before his passing, earning recognition as the longest-lived dog in history. Originally from Portugal, these dogs are known for their gentle nature.

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The impact of climate change: How longer Earth days will affect our planet

Posted on December 7, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The impacts of climate change are widespread, ranging from biodiversity loss to extreme weather events, rising sea levels, wildfires, and mass human migrations. Each year reveals more about our impact on the environment, with some discoveries more surprising than others.

One of the most shocking revelations to join this list is the recent discovery that our greenhouse gas emissions are altering the Earth’s rotation.

As a result, Earth days are gradually becoming longer, potentially leading to significant changes in how we experience time in the future.

“It’s fascinating how our actions as humans can have such a profound impact on the entire planet through the extensive climate change we’ve triggered over the last century,” says Professor Benedict Soja, a scientist at ETH Zurich who contributed to uncovering this concerning trend.

“This effect may surpass previous significant influences on Earth’s rotation.”

Could we see more hours in a day?

We are familiar with the greenhouse effect, where gases like carbon dioxide trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to a rise in temperatures.

Last year, global temperatures were 1.18 degrees Celsius above the 20th-century average, approaching the 1.5 degrees Celsius target set in 2015 as a limit to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Record melting of Swiss glaciers in 2022 – Credit: Getty Images

The primary consequence of this warming is the melting of large ice areas in the Arctic and Antarctic, with Switzerland losing 10% of its glacier mass in the last two years, Antarctica shedding 150 billion tons of ice annually, and Greenland losing 270 billion tons.

While many are concerned about the impact of this melting on coastal areas, Soja and his team posed a different question: Will this significant mass redistribution likely prevail? What will be its broad-scale impact on the planet? In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they provided an answer.

“As the ice melts, the Earth’s mass shifts from the polar regions to the oceans,” Soja explained. “This results in the Earth becoming flatter and more oblate, with its mass moving further from the rotation axis.”

Understanding the Mechanism

Similar to any rotating object, the Earth adheres to the law of momentum conservation. Simply put, momentum must be preserved, and it depends on the moment of inertia and rotational speed. As mass moves away from the rotation axis due to melting ice, the moment of inertia increases.

Therefore, to uphold its momentum despite ice melting, the Earth’s rotation slows down, elongating our days.

Soja likens this concept to a figure skater performing a spin, where extending the arms slows down the rotation, while pulling them in speeds it up.

https://c02.purpledshub.com/uploads/sites/41/2024/12/GettyImages-487874394.mov

The effect of changing the distance between the mass and the axis of rotation is seen when figure skaters use their arms to change the speed of rotation.

The study indicated that from 1900 to 2000, the climate’s impact on the length of Earth’s day ranged from 0.3 to 1.0 milliseconds per century. Since 2000, accelerated melting has raised this rate to 1.3 milliseconds per century, with a potential increase to 2.6 milliseconds per century by 2100 if emissions remain unchecked.

While these changes may seem small in our daily lives, they could have significant effects on a globally synchronized technological network.

Considerations on Time Management

Three main timescales play crucial roles in timekeeping: International Atomic Time (TAI), Universal Time (UT1), and Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). TAI relies on atomic clocks, UT1 is determined by Earth’s rotation, and UTC synchronizes the two.

Leap seconds were introduced in 1972 to align UTC with UT1 within 0.9 seconds.

Unlike predictable leap years, leap seconds are added irregularly as needed. Since 1972, 27 leap seconds have been added, with the most recent in 2016. Disruptions from leap seconds have caused issues in the digital age, impacting technology companies striving for synchronization.

Atomic clock made in Germany – Credit: Alamy

The recent discovery of Earth’s core slowing down further complicates matters. If the planet’s rotation continues to accelerate, a negative leap second may need to be introduced to UTC. This unprecedented situation poses substantial challenges as systems are unprepared for negative adjustments.

“This has never occurred before, and frankly, I don’t think anyone anticipated it,” Agnew remarked. He compares this scenario to the Y2K scare when concerns about potential computer errors surfaced at the end of the 20th century.

“The critical aspect is that we don’t know the consequences of introducing a negative leap second,” he cautioned. “The negative impacts could be unforeseen.”

According to Agnew, if the effects of climate change had not slowed down, a negative leap second would have been necessary in 2026. “Global warming might postpone negative leap seconds and eliminate their need entirely,” he noted.

While this discovery regarding climate change may offer a positive effect, considering less necessity for negative leap seconds, the implications of further greenhouse gas emissions outweigh any potential benefits. As the situation stands, negative leap seconds may still be required in 2029.

Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the current system?

Agnew proposed a solution to reduce the required precision between timescales, eliminating the need for negative leap seconds and allowing for more predictable positive adjustments.

“It could resemble a leap year. You add a fixed number of seconds at a specific time and accept that it may not be exact but is tolerable,” suggested Agnew.

This proposition aligns with the dominance of slowing over longer timescales, rather than the complex interactions involving Earth’s core or ice melting.

Efforts are reportedly underway to implement this system, with a target to eliminate the need for leap seconds by 2035. However, international agreement hurdles must be overcome. Failure to adapt before requiring a negative leap second could lead to unprecedented chaos, highlighting the urgency of the situation.

Meet the Experts

Benedict Soja: Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geoengineering at ETH Zurich.

Duncan Agnew: Professor Emeritus at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, specializing in crustal deformation measurement and geophysical data analysis.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

A tiny asteroid collides with Earth and disintegrates above Siberia

Posted on December 3, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Webcam images show asteroid burning up in the atmosphere over Siberia

Lensk LR/YouTube

Astronomers discovered the asteroid, about 70 centimeters in diameter, hours before it exploded harmlessly into the atmosphere above Siberia.

european space agency (ESA) issued an alert at 9:27 a.m. GMT, warning that space rocks could illuminate the skies over northern Siberia at around 11:15 p.m. local time (4:15 p.m. GMT).

Speaking before the event, Alan Fitzsimmons from Britain’s Queen’s University Belfast says objects of this size pose no danger to people on the ground, but early warnings are a positive sign that our ability to detect these objects before they hit Earth is increasing.

“It’s small, but it’s still going to be pretty spectacular,” Fitzsimmons said. “The sky above the impact site will darken and a very impressive, very bright fireball will spread across the sky for hundreds of kilometers around it.”

Several objects of this size collide with Earth every year, and we are getting better at detecting them early. The first discovery was in 2008. The next discovery was made six years later, but the pace of observations has picked up. Today’s asteroid, named C0WEPC5, is the fourth predicted to hit Earth this year.

Early warning of small asteroids gives astronomers the opportunity to observe them, collect data, and even try to collect any small pieces that survive. Fitzsimmons said the first such predicted impact in 2008 led to the recovery of a small piece of rock and generated important science. “What was beautiful was that the meteorite’s reflectivity matched exactly what was measured by telescopes before the impact, and it was a perfect match between what we saw in space and what we later found on Earth. It shows a very nice direct connection,” he says.

Detecting larger, more dangerous objects heading toward Earth could provide an opportunity to deflect them or at least evacuate the dangerous area.

A map showing where the asteroid is predicted to hit Siberia’s atmosphere.

ESA

NASA and ESA currently have dedicated programs for asteroid discovery and tracking. This involves a large network of dedicated observatories and amateur astronomers who read the positions of known objects so that their orbits can be better understood and predicted.

This latest asteroid was discovered by NASA’s Asteroid Earth Impact Last Alert System (ATLAS). ATLAS operates four telescopes around the world and is designed to provide up to a week of collision warning.

“This is a victory for science, If you happen to be in Siberia this evening, there will definitely be something to take your mind off the very cold temperatures,” says Fitzsimmons.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Could fossilized excrement unlock the secrets of dinosaur dominance on Earth?

Posted on November 28, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

We now know that dinosaurs were giant reptiles that dominated the Earth, but scientists have long wondered why it took them 30 million years to reach their peak. New research on their fossilized poop and vomit may have found the answer suggests that there was food in their waste.

Carnivorous dinosaurs like tyrannosaurus may have their herbivore ancestors to thank for their enormous size. The researchers propose that if these plant-eating animals hadn’t ingested so many plants, dinosaurs might not have evolved into the giant creatures we know today.

The fossilized poop and vomit, known as bromalite or copralite, dates back to around 230 to 200 million years ago, a time long before the reign of the tyrannosaurus and the Chicxulub asteroid impact that led to the extinction of dinosaurs.

Scientists reconstructed a “food web” from the undigested meals of early dinosaurs, revealing the intricate relationships between different species during the Triassic period. By scanning over 500 fossils, they found evidence of various organisms, including beetles, bones, and partially digested fish.

Combining this information with climate data and other fossils provided insights into the diverse flora and fauna coexisting with dinosaurs on Earth.

“Sometimes seemingly ordinary fossils contain remarkable information that cannot be found anywhere else,” said Dr. Martin Kvarnström, a study co-author from Uppsala University in Sweden, as reported by BBC Science Focus.

Dr. Grzegorz Niedzwicki, another co-author from Uppsala University, added, “Understanding the diet of early dinosaurs may help us grasp why this group thrived. The evolution of life on Earth hinges on predator-prey dynamics and feeding habits.”

A study published in Nature analyzed digestive samples from south-central Poland during the Late Triassic period when the region was part of the Pangea supercontinent.

According to experts, increased volcanic activity and humidity favored the growth of moisture-loving plants during this time, potentially influencing the evolution of dinosaurs.

The study utilized advanced scanning techniques to reveal detailed information from the fossils, highlighting changes in vertebrate populations leading up to the dominance of dinosaurs.

The researchers aim to apply this model to study ancient species in other regions and emphasize the importance of fossilized waste in reconstructing ancient food webs.

“Everyone is focused on finding fossilized skeletons, but it’s the waste that offers valuable insights into events from millions of years ago,” remarked Niedzwicki.

About our experts:

Dr. Martin Kvarnström is a researcher at Uppsala University in Sweden, focusing on using fossils to understand reptile diets, including dinosaurs.

Dr. Grzegorz Niedzwicki, also from Uppsala University, specializes in the early evolution of dinosaurs and other quadrupeds.

Read more

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

47 million years ago, the world’s largest earthworm lizard roamed Earth

Posted on November 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Paleontologists have described a new genus and species of the trogonophid Amphisbaenian (worm lizard) from fossil specimens discovered in Tunisia.

rebuilding the life of Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi Ready to prey on large snails of the Brimulidae family. Image credit: Jaime Chirinos.

Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi They lived in what is now Africa during the Eocene epoch, about 47 million years ago.

The new species belongs to Trogonophidae, a small family of limbless carnivorous lizard-like reptiles belonging to the clade Amphisbaenia.

“Amphibians are a group of charismatic fossil squamates with bizarre morphological features and extreme anatomical variations,” said lead author Dr. Georgios Georgalis of the Institute of Animal Systemology and Evolution, Polish Academy of Sciences and his colleagues. said a colleague.

“In particular, its unique skeletal structure has fascinated and puzzled researchers since the 19th century.”

“Before the advent and widespread acceptance of phylogenetics, amphibians were considered to be the third major group of squamates, along with Serpenta and the paraphyletic 'Lacerthilla'.”

“However, recent phylogenetic analyzes place them as a sister group to lizards in the family Caricidae, and this topology is supported by both molecular evidence and a combination of morphological and molecular evidence. The name Lacertibaenia has also been proposed for the clade Amphisbaenia + Lacertidae.

“Amphibians have a relatively rich fossil record spanning the Cenozoic era in Europe and North America, in addition to several Neogene and Quaternary occurrences from South America and some from Africa. Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary productions, very few Neogene productions from the Arabian Peninsula, and very few Neogene occurrences from southwest Asia. is. ”

“Trogonophidae is a fairly distinctive group of amphibians that is today distributed across northern and north-central Africa (including Socotra Island in Yemen) and the Middle East,” the researchers added.

“Currently, four extant genera are recognized. Agamodon, Diplometopon, Pachykaramasu, and the type genus, Trogonophis”

The most distinguishing feature of trogonophids is their hooked teeth, a feature found only among squamates in the otherwise Iguanian group Chronophytes. ”

“Trogonophids have other unique features among amphibians, including locomotion and burrowing patterns, shoulder girdle or hemipenes morphology, chromosomes, spinal arrangement, lack of caudal autodissection, and triangular cross-section. It also has features.

some specimens Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi It was discovered in a place where fossils of Jebel Chanbi Nature Park In Tunisia.

“Jebel Chambi National Park is located in the Kasserine region of central-western Tunisia,” the paleontologists said.

“Material for this study was obtained from a fossiliferous site (Chambi locus 1) consisting of fluvial-lacustrine deposits located at the base of the Chambi continental sequence.”

“These habitats support fish, amphibians, turtles, crocodiles, squamates, birds, and mammals such as bats, primates, euphorians, hyaenodonts, hyracoids, elephant shrews, marsupials, and mammals. It produces a diverse population of aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates, including rodents and sirenians.

Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi At over 90 centimeters (35 inches) long, it was the largest amphibian ever known.

“Among the extant amphibian fliers, Amphisbaena Alba is the largest species, reaching a maximum total length of 81 centimeters (32 inches) and a skull length of more than 3.1 centimeters (1.2 inches), the researchers said.

Virtually all modern amphibians are burrowing animals and rarely appear on the surface outside of underground environments.

Nevertheless, certain features Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi They seem to contradict this natural history pattern and instead suggest that ancient species likely lived on the surface of the earth.

This is further supported by the extreme size. Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi which makes underground habits less likely to occur.

“Terrastiodontosaurus Marcelo Sanchesi “This is a significant contribution to the fossil record of the hitherto little-known African Amphisbaenia, making it only the fifth species to be named extinct on the African continent,” the scientists concluded. .

“Furthermore, the new material from Chambi further adds to the extremely poor fossil record of the Trogonophidae.”

Regarding new species, paper this week, Zoological journal of the Linnean Society.

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Georgios L. Georgalis others. 2024. The world's largest earthworm lizard: a new giant trogonophid (Squamata: Amphisbaenia) with extreme dental adaptations from the Eocene of Chambi, Tunisia. Zoological journal of the Linnean Society 202 (3): zlae133;doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae133

Source: www.sci.news

Bacteria discovered in asteroid samples, originating from Earth

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Bacteria on a sample of asteroid Ryugu observed using an electron microscope

Matthew J. Genge et al. 2024

Rocks brought back to Earth from the asteroid Ryugu appear to be inhabited by microorganisms. But researchers say these microbes almost certainly came from Earth, not space. The contamination is a wake-up call for future sample-return missions, such as NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance, to search for extraterrestrial life.

In 2020, the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 returned to Earth carrying 5.4 grams of rock collected from the 4.5 billion-year-old asteroid Ryugu. After landing in Australia, the sample capsule was transported to a custom-built facility in Sagamihara, Japan. There, the capsule itself was first opened in a vacuum chamber inside a clean room and then moved to a room filled with pressurized nitrogen for long-term storage. From there, a portion of the sample can be placed in a container filled with nitrogen and sent to researchers.

One of these samples was sent to the UK for research. Matthew Genge Imperial College London and colleagues. Genge and his team initially scanned the samples using X-rays, but found no evidence of bacteria.

Samples from asteroid Ryugu collected by Hayabusa2

JAXA

After 3 weeks, the samples were transferred to resin and further examined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) after another week. When Genge and his colleagues first looked at the sample and saw what appeared to be thread-like bacteria, his students “almost fell off their chairs” at the prospect of discovering extraterrestrial life. . “It was an exciting moment, but we also had in the back of our minds from previous research that bacteria tend to colonize rocks,” Genge said.

By tracking bacterial growth with follow-up SEM measurements, they found that bacterial populations varied in a manner similar to known microorganisms. Their familiar shape, combined with their absence in the first X-ray scan, makes it very likely that they were terrestrial in origin, Genge says.

He believes the samples may have become contaminated after being embedded in the resin. The experiment was conducted at a facility on Earth that also handles space rocks. Rock specimens often contain bacteria that are adapted to live within them. “All it takes is one bacterium or one bacterial spore for this to happen,” he says. “For example, when we’re preparing meteorite samples, we don’t usually see this kind of colonization happening, and that’s because the probability of it happening is so low. In this case , one bacterium fell onto the sample and started multiplying.”

But Genge added that this should serve as a warning for future sample return missions. “Finding microbes in samples returned from space should be the gold standard for discovering extraterrestrial life. If we were to do that, we would fly to Mars, collect samples, and bring them back. “If we found microorganisms in it, we would say that was the clincher,” Genge says. “But our findings really show that we have to be very careful in interpreting the samples because they are susceptible to contamination with terrestrial bacteria.”

Javier Martin Torres Researchers at the University of Aberdeen in the UK agree that changes in the microbial filament population suggest a terrestrial origin, but this does not exclude the possibility that they came from elsewhere. . “If you want to be sure that these microorganisms are not of extraterrestrial origin, you need to do DNA sequencing,” he says.

Scientists already knew that bacteria could survive very well in meteorite samples that fell to Earth, but this raises the possibility that bacteria could also survive on materials elsewhere in the solar system. It only strengthens it. “The microorganisms can use organic matter within the meteorite to sustain themselves. They’re feeding on an extraterrestrial snack,” Genge says. “So there may be an ecosystem on Mars. It’s a fairly sparse ecosystem, but it’s an ecosystem that’s supported by manna from the sky and by meteorites that fall on the surface.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Our Sole Encounter with Uranus Occurred During a Peculiar Moment for Earth

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Uranus is more normal than we thought

NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute

Uranus’ strange magnetic field may be much less strange than astronomers first thought, and it could mean that Uranus’ largest moon is much more active and perhaps even has a global ocean It means that there is.

The only direct measurement of Uranus’s magnetic field was obtained by NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft, which flew close to the planet in 1986. The spacecraft’s measurements suggested that the magnetic field was skewed, meaning it was not aligned with the planet’s rotation, and that it was an anomalous field. It is rich in highly energetic electrons and lacks the plasma that is common in the magnetic fields of other gas giant planets like Jupiter. Astronomers at the time thought the results were so strange that they either invoked complex physics to explain the measurements or simply dismissed them as evidence that Voyager 2’s instruments had gone awry.

now, jamie jasinski Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California reanalyzed Voyager 2 data and found that a rare explosion of solar wind that crushed Uranus’ magnetic field just before the spacecraft arrived may have distorted the data, causing the measurements to I discovered that it was disturbed. This means everything we thought we knew about Uranus’ magnetic field may be wrong, Jasinski says. “This is almost like resetting everything,” he says.

Jasinski and his team found that the solar wind compressed Uranus’s magnetic field to a size that typically occurs only 4 percent of the time. But for the past 40 years, scientists have assumed that is the normal state of affairs. Jasinski says the collapse of the magnetic field explains some of the strange results so far, including the lack of plasma and high-energy electrons.

If there is indeed plasma in Uranus’ magnetic field, and Voyager 2 just happened to miss it, it’s possible that not all of it came from the planet itself. Some may have come from Uranus’ moons, the largest of which are called Titania and Oberon. Until now, these moons were thought to be inert, but new research leaves open the possibility that they may be geologically active after all. This is consistent with recent calculations that suggest there may be a hidden ocean on the moon. “The solar wind may have wiped out all evidence of an active satellite just before the flyby occurred,” Jasinski said.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The Earth has been warmed by 1.5°C due to human activity since 1700

Posted on November 11, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Bubbles trapped in Antarctic ice were used to estimate past temperatures

aldiami/Andreas Alexander/Alamy

Humankind has already caused around 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming since the start of the industrial revolution, according to new estimates based on temperature data collected from air bubbles trapped in ice.

Measuring anthropogenic global warming typically uses the period from 1850 to 1900 as a pre-industrial baseline. This is because this is the time when temperature records began. 2024 is almost certain to be the first year in which average temperatures rise by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above this baseline. This single-year data is influenced by naturally occurring factors such as the strong El Niño event, which has pushed up global temperatures.

When you remove this natural variation, scientists believe humans alone have caused 1.31°C of warming since the Industrial Revolution. But by 1850, the Industrial Revolution was already underway, and fossil fuel-powered engines were in use around the world.

Andrew Jarvis Lancaster University and Piers Foster Researchers at the University of Leeds, both in the UK, set out to establish a new pre-industrial baseline using data taken from Antarctic ice core samples. The pair analyzed the composition of air bubbles trapped in ice cores to establish atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations from 13 AD to 1700, before humans significantly influenced atmospheric temperatures. This CO2 data was then used to establish the average global temperature over the same period, assuming a linear relationship between CO2 and temperature increases.

Using this new pre-1700 baseline, humanity has caused 1.49°C of warming by 2023, meaning the 1.5°C level has been “effectively reached,” the researchers say in their findings. It is written in the paper to be reported. “We have provided a new, scientifically defensible way to derive a pre-industrial baseline for measuring global warming,” Jarvis told reporters at a press conference.

Jarvis said the new method would also help reduce the uncertainty in temperature estimates based on the current 1850-1900 baseline used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Using ice core data to establish a baseline between 1850 and 1900, the researchers say humans caused 1.31°C of warming. This is consistent with existing median estimates, but the range of uncertainty is significantly reduced, the researchers note.

“The problem with just looking at surface temperature observations is that the further back in time you go, the more uncertain those observations become,” Forster says. “We are now much more confident than before that the current temperature is around 1.3°C.”

Jarvis and Forster hope their new method will be adopted by scientists and policymakers as the primary way to judge humanity's progress against global climate goals. “I think there is still room in the policy and scientific communities to rethink the pre-industrial baseline,” Jarvis said. “We know that the estimates for 1850 to 1900 incorporate warming, simply because that was not the beginning of the industrial revolution. We provide a way to operate from a secure baseline.”

However, new methods may not be future-proof. The linear relationship between CO2 concentrations and global temperatures is likely to break down as the climate changes. For example, if a so-called tipping point is triggered in the Earth system that triggers a series of warming events.

The new methods won't change the effects of climate change that are felt on the ground, Forster said. “The impact on human life from Spain and the hurricanes we are experiencing today is exactly the same whether you call it 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels or 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. is” . Influence is influence. ”

Richard Betts The Met Office, the UK's meteorological agency, said the new method “provides a clear and easy way to provide an up-to-date estimate of the current level of anthropogenic global warming”. Part of the reason is that it can produce “real-time” estimates of human-induced warming, rather than relying on 10-year moving averages as current estimates do.

He said the approach could help provide policymakers with a more up-to-date picture of current levels of warming, but changing the baseline used in the assessment would be an “objective” for climate action. It warned that it could be considered as “moving.'' “Even without changing the baseline, it is clear that current warming is much closer to 1.5°C than expected using older 10-year averages,” he says .

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Can Catastrophe be Prevented if an Asteroid is Approaching Earth?

Posted on November 6, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Hidden somewhere in the dark of space, there is a giant asteroid on a collision course with Earth. If we don’t spot it and somehow stop its arrival, it will hurtle through Earth’s atmosphere at 60,000 kilometers per hour and slam into the ground, vaporizing everything it touches.

With millions of asteroids hurtling through the inner solar system, the threat is inevitable. A conflict will occur sooner or later. But that doesn’t mean the Earth has to be a sitting duck. The global community is obsessed with planetary defense, carefully planning how to repel extraterrestrial invaders should they appear, or at least minimize carnage.

Among other things, this research includes scanning the sky for threats and testing missions to throw asteroids off course. But it also includes a surprising amount of role-playing, with scenarios in which teams impact asteroids in a war game. “Exercises like this are necessary because in the real world, we have not yet reached this point where we need to actually design and build a mission,” NASA said. Paul Chodas do a lot of role-playing. “It makes you think about details that you wouldn’t otherwise think about.”

In the coming paragraphs, you’ll be in the hot seat for a choose-your-own-adventure version of one of these role-playing games. You decide how to react when an asteroid comes towards us. Whether you want to crash your spaceship, use sunlight-absorbing paint to change its course, or just blow it to pieces, you’ll realize we have even more options…

Source: www.newscientist.com

The Top 10 Deadliest Spiders on Earth

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Poisonous spiders are known as some of the deadliest and most dangerous creatures in the world. They are the stuff of nightmares and horror movies, famous for their ability to paralyze and subdue their prey while still alive.

While most spiders have venom glands, only some pose a threat to humans. Certain species can cause pain and discomfort similar to bee or wasp stings, while others can be more severe.

If you are unfortunate enough to be bitten, seeking medical advice and treatment is recommended.

Here are the top 10 deadliest and most venomous spiders to be aware of:

10 – Mouse Spider

Eastern mouse spider (Missulena bradleyi) photographed in Brisbane, Australia. Photo by Robert White/Wikipedia Commons

Mouse spiders, despite their name, do not actually eat mice. They are named for their underground burrowing habits rather than their prey.

While their venom can cause headaches and numbness, mouse spiders are not typically aggressive, and there is generally no cause for alarm despite their intimidating appearance.

9 – Lycosa Tarantula Spider

Portrait of a spider wolf (Lycosa tarantula) taken in a field. Photo credit: Getty Images

The tarantula spider wolf is nocturnal and has excellent eyesight. While they may appear intimidating, they are rarely aggressive towards humans, and their venom is not highly dangerous.

8 – Bulbul Spider

Female adult brown widow (Latrodectus geometaus) on her web. Photo credit: Getty Images

Bulbul spiders, with their distinctive markings, are found worldwide. While their bites can cause pain and symptoms like vomiting, they are not as dangerous as some other species.

7 – White-Tailed Spider

The white-tailed spider (Lampona cylindrata) lives in southern and eastern Australia. Photo credit: Getty Images

White-tailed spiders prey on other spiders and can cause nausea and headaches if they bite humans. They are often found hiding in clothing and shoes.

6 – Minami Microcrystal Spider

A female black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans) hangs upside down in its nest, displaying its distinctive red hourglass pattern. Photo credit: Getty Images

Black widow spiders are known for their venomous bites, but they only bite when threatened. While their venom can be harmful, serious illness or death is rare.

5 – Redback Spider

Australian redback spider (Latrodectus hasselti) on red soil. Photo credit: Getty Images

Redback spiders are known for their painful bites, which can cause headaches and nausea. They are commonly found indoors.

4 – Brown Recluse Spider

Front view of the brown recluse spider (Loxosceles reclusa). Photo credit: Insects Unlocked/Wiki Commons

Brown recluse spiders are shy and typically avoid humans. Their bites can be painful and may cause vomiting or fever.

3 – Chilean Spider

An immature male brown spider (Loxosceles laeta) photographed at the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki. Photo credit: S Siltane/Wiki Commons

The Chilean spider can cause severe tissue damage and scarring with its bites. In rare cases, it may lead to kidney failure or death.

2 – Brazilian Wandering Spider

A Brazilian wandering or banana spider (Phoneutoria spp.) photographed in the Tambopata Nature Reserve in the Madre de Dios region, Peru. Photo credit: Getty Images

The Brazilian wandering spider is large and venomous, with a bite that can cause various symptoms including paralysis, respiratory arrest, and even death if untreated.

1 – Australian Funnel Web Spider

A poisonous Sydney funnel-web spider (Atrax robotus) showing its fangs. Photo credit: Getty Images

The Australian funnel-web spider is incredibly venomous and aggressive. Their bites can lead to serious illness or death, particularly in children.

read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Astronomers Discover Fewer Potentially Hazardous Asteroids Near Earth than Initially Predicted

Posted on October 10, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

astronomer using Zwicky Temporary Facility (ZTF) investigated. Taurus resonance groupa large interplanetary system containing Comet 2P/Encke, several meteor showers, and possibly numerous near-Earth asteroids.

This image taken by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope shows comet 2P/Encke running along a pebble trail of its debris. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Minnesota.

“We can take advantage of the unique opportunity that this asteroid swarm has to approach Earth to more efficiently search for celestial objects that may pose a threat to Earth,” said Dr. Kuanji Ye, an astronomer at the University of Maryland. ” he said.

“Our results suggest that the risk of impact from large asteroids in the Taurus group is much lower than we thought, which is good news for planetary defense.”

Prior to this study, astronomers had predicted that the Taurus resonance complex contained a significant number of large kilometer-sized space rocks, probably left behind by large objects up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) wide. I was guessing.

If a large object were to hit Earth, like the Chelyabinsk asteroid in 2013, it could cause regional damage.

Even larger objects can cause extinction-level events, like the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs more than 66 million years ago.

“Fortunately, we found that there are likely only a small number of asteroids in this large size class, perhaps only nine to 14, in this population,” Dr. Ye said.

“Judging by our findings, the parent object that first spawned the swarm was probably closer to 10 km (6.2 miles) in diameter, rather than a giant 100 km diameter object.”

“We still need to be cautious about asteroid impacts, but knowing this result will probably help us sleep better.”

The Taurus swarm holds important clues about planetary evolution, especially because of its association with Comet Encke.

This comet has the shortest orbital period of any known comet, at just 3.3 years.

It is also unusually large and dusty for a short-period comet that orbits the sun within 200 years.

Considering all available evidence, scientists believe that Encke has experienced significant fragmentation in the past and may continue to do so in the future.

“Studying the Taurus swarm helps us understand how small objects like comets and asteroids form and break up over time,” said Dr. Ye.

“Our research has implications not only for asteroid detection and planetary defense, but also for our broader understanding of the solar system's celestial bodies.”

The researchers presented their findings. findings this week's DPS56Annual Meeting of the Planetary Science Division of the American Astronomical Society.

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Yosenshi others. 2024. In search of potentially dangerous asteroids in the Taurus resonance group. DPS56

Source: www.sci.news

New research proposes that the young Earth may have taken in the moon from space

Posted on October 3, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

According to some researchers, the moon may have been captured during a close encounter between young Earth and the Earth binary (a system consisting of the moon and other rocks). new paper Published in Planetary Science Journal.

Darren Williams and Michael Zugger explored the concept of collisionless binary exchange for capturing large satellites (comparable to or larger than the Moon) around Earth-mass objects inside and outside the solar system.

During six missions to the Moon from 1969 to 1972, Apollo astronauts collected more than 360 kg (800 pounds) of lunar rocks and soil.

Chemical and isotopic analysis of the material showed it to be similar to rocks and soils on Earth. It was found to be calcium-rich, basaltic, and dated to about 60 million years after the formation of the solar system.

Using that data, planetary scientists gathered at the Kona conference in Hawaii in 1984 reached a consensus that the moon formed from debris after it collided with a young Earth.

“The Kona conference set the story for 40 years,” said Darren Williams, a professor at Penn State University.

“But questions still remained. For example, a moon formed by a collision of planets, with the debris clumped together in a ring, should orbit above the planet's equator. Earth's moon should orbit above the planet's equator. It's circling around.

“The moon is more in line with the sun than the Earth's equator.”

“In an alternative binary exchange capture theory. Earth's gravity separated the binary star and latched onto one of the objects, the moon, which became a satellite orbiting its current plane.”

“There is evidence that this is happening elsewhere in the solar system.”

“The leading hypothesis in this field is that Triton, the largest of Neptune's moons, was drawn into orbit from the Kuiper belt, where one in 10 is thought to be a binary star. There is.”

“Triton orbits Neptune in a retrograde orbit, moving in the opposite direction of the planet's rotation.”

“Its orbit is also highly tilted, making an angle of 67 degrees from Neptune's equator.”

Professor Williams and Professor Michael Zager of Pennsylvania State University argue that Earth could have captured an even larger satellite than the moon, an object the size of Mercury or Mars, but the resulting orbit would not be stable. It was determined that there was a possibility that the

The problem is that the Moon's “capture” orbit started out as an elongated ellipse, not a circle.

Over time, the shape of the orbit changed under the influence of extreme tides.

“Today Earth's tides are more advanced than the Moon's,” Professor Williams said.

“The high tide accelerates the orbit. It gives it a pulsation and gives it a little bit of a boost. Over time, the moon moves away a little bit.”

When the Moon approaches the Earth, the effect is reversed, as it was immediately after capture.

By calculating tidal changes and the size and shape of the orbit, the researchers determined that the moon's initial elliptical orbit had shrunk over a timescale of several thousand years.

The orbit also became more circular, until the moon's rotation became fixed in its orbit around the Earth, as it is now.

“At that point, the tides likely reversed and the moon began to gradually move away,” Professor Williams said.

“Each year, the Moon moves 3 centimeters away from Earth. At its current distance from Earth – 385,000 km (239,000 miles) – the Moon feels a significant pull from the Sun's gravity.”

“The moon is so far away right now that both the sun and Earth are competing for your attention. They're both being pulled by it.”

Mathematically, the researchers calculated, a satellite captured in a binary exchange could behave similarly to Earth's moon. However, it is not certain whether this is the origin of the moon.

“No one knows how the moon formed,” Professor Williams says.

“For the past 40 years, we've had one possibility as to how it got there.”

“Now we have two. This opens up a treasure trove of new questions and opportunities for further research.”

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Darren M. Williams and Michael E. Zagar. 2024. Formation of large-scale terrestrial satellites through binary exchange acquisition. Planetary Science Journal 5(9):208;doi: 10.3847/PSJ/ad5a9a

Source: www.sci.news

Newly Found Planet Orbiting Barnard’s Star Only 6 Light Years from Earth

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Artist’s impression of Barnard’s b, a planet orbiting around Barnard’s star

ESO/M.Kornmesser

Barnard’s star, one of the Sun’s closest neighbors, appears to have at least one planet orbiting around it, and possibly three more that require further confirmation.

Astronomers have been searching for planets around Barnard’s star, 5.96 light-years away, since the 1960s. Barnard’s star is the next closest star to us after the three stars in the Alpha Centauri star system.

In 2018, researchers claimed to have discovered a planet at least three times the size of Earth called Barnard Star B, but subsequent analysis revealed that the apparent planet’s signal was actually a larger-than-expected star. Turns out it was caused by activity. .

now, Jonay González Hernández Researchers at the Canary Islands Institute of Astrophysics have announced the discovery of a new Barnard star b, which has about 40 percent the mass of Earth.

The planet is much closer to its star than any other planet in our solar system, completing an orbit in just over three Earth days. This also means that its surface temperature is around 125°C (257°F), too hot for liquid water or life to exist.

Using an instrument called Espresso on the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, González Hernández and his team observed tiny wobbles in Barnard’s star’s position caused by the orbiting planet’s gravity. I discovered this star.

They also found evidence of three more planets orbiting the star. However, the signal wasn’t strong enough to be certain, so more observations will be needed to confirm that.

“These detections are very tricky and always difficult because there is stellar activity, the magnetic field of the star that rotates with the star,” he says. Rodrigo Fernando Diaz at the National University of San Martin, Argentina. González Hernández and his team have thoroughly checked whether the observations are from a planet, but there could always be “unknown unknowns,” Fernando Díaz said. says. To really confirm this, he says, data from other telescopes is needed, which could take years of observations.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Scientists discover new exoplanet near Barnard Star that is smaller than Earth

Posted on October 1, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

An exoplanet with at least half the mass of Venus orbits Barnard's Star, the closest single star to the Sun, once every 3.15 days.

Artist's impression of Bernard B. Image credit: ESO / M. Kornmesser.

Barnard's Star is a 10 billion year old red dwarf star located in the constellation Ophiuchus.

At a distance of about 6 light years, it is the second closest star to the Sun after the Alpha Centauri triple star system.

The star, also known as Gliese 699 or GJ 699, is much smaller than the Sun and is classified as an M3.5 dwarf.

Despite the prospect of a “super-Earth” with a mass 3.2 times that of Earth in 2018, no planets have ever been confirmed to orbit this star.

The new exoplanet discovery is the result of five years of observations using the ESPRESSO instrument of ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.

“We were always confident that we would find something, even if it took a long time,” said Dr. Jonay González Hernández, an astronomer at the Canarias Astronomical Institute.

The newly discovered planet, named Barnard b, is about 20 times closer to Barnard's star than Mercury is to the Sun.

It orbits its parent star in 3.15 Earth days and has a surface temperature of about 125 degrees Celsius (257 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Bernard B is one of the lowest-mass exoplanets known, and one of the few exoplanets known to have less mass than Earth,” said Dr. González-Hernández. Ta.

“But this planet is too close to its host star, closer than the habitable zone.”

“Even though this star is about 2,500 degrees cooler than the Sun, it's still too hot to support liquid water on its surface.”

In addition to the confirmed planet, astronomers also discovered hints of three more exoplanet candidates orbiting the same star.

However, additional observations are required to confirm these candidates.

“We need to continue observing this star to confirm other candidate signals,” said Dr. Alejandro Suárez Mascareño, also from the Canarias Astronomical Institute and co-author of the study.

“But the discovery of this planet, along with previous discoveries such as Proxima b and Proxima d, shows that our cosmic backyard is full of low-mass planets.”

Bernard B's findings were published in a. paper in diary astronomy and astrophysics.

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JI Gonzalez Hernandez others. 2024. A sub-Earth mass planet orbiting Barnard's star. A&A 690, A79; doi: 10.1051/0004-6361/202451311

Source: www.sci.news

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft will return to Earth without astronauts on Friday

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

NASA announced on Wednesday that the troubled Boeing spacecraft will undock from the International Space Station on Friday and attempt to return to Earth without any astronauts on board. The uncrewed liftoff of the Starliner spacecraft is set to take place, assuming the weather is clear at the landing site in New Mexico. The return journey is expected to last about six hours, with the spacecraft scheduled to land at White Sands Spaceport early Saturday morning.

This return flight marks the final phase of a challenging test flight that did not go as planned. The mission was supposed to demonstrate Boeing’s capability to safely transport astronauts to the space station, leading to NASA certification. However, after encountering issues with thrusters and a helium leak from its propulsion system, the mission had to be aborted, leaving astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stranded on the space station for an extended period of time.

During a press conference, Steve Stich, NASA’s commercial crew program manager, expressed excitement about Starliner’s return and the lessons learned from this test flight. The spacecraft is set to undock from the space station on Friday evening and land in New Mexico early Saturday morning.

The undocking process will be different without astronauts on board, with precautions taken to protect the space station in case of any malfunctions. After departing from the space station, Starliner will perform a deorbit burn before landing in New Mexico with the help of parachutes and airbags.

A successful return would be significant for Boeing, potentially signaling the safe return of NASA astronauts aboard the spacecraft. However, NASA has requested SpaceX to handle the return flight to minimize risks.

The certification process for Starliner remains uncertain, with NASA and Boeing working together to address issues and improve the spacecraft’s thrusters.

Boeing, along with SpaceX, was awarded a contract under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program to develop spacecraft for transporting astronauts to low Earth orbit. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft has been successfully ferrying NASA astronauts to the space station since 2020.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

2024 RW1: Tiny asteroid strikes Earth and disintegrates above the Philippines

Posted on September 5, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Predicted trajectory of asteroid CAQTDL2 over the Philippines

Catalina Sky Survey/ESA

The asteroid struck Earth and burned up in the atmosphere east of the Philippines. Astronomers spotted it just hours before it streaked across the sky in a bright fireball, but many on the ground couldn’t see it because of cloudy skies caused by Typhoon Enteng.

The asteroid, estimated to be about one meter in diameter, was a NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey. It was originally designated CAQTDL2 and was later renamed 2024 RW1.

As expected, the asteroid struck the east of the northernmost island of the Philippine archipelago at around 1645 GMT, 1745 London time, 1245 New York time, or 0045 local time. The impact speed was predicted to be 17.6 kilometers per second, or 63,360 kilometers per hour. Alan Fitzsimmons. That’s average for such an object, says a researcher at Queen’s University in Belfast, UK. “Don’t be fooled by Hollywood movies where you see something screaming into the sky and you have time to run out the house, grab your cat, hop in your car and drive somewhere. You don’t have time for that,” he says.

Asteroid CAQTDL2 can be seen moving across the sky in a purple circle.

Catalina Sky Survey

Luckily, no evacuations were necessary: NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office posted on social media that the asteroid “safely impacted Earth’s atmosphere.”

“Something that small wouldn’t do any damage on the ground because the Earth’s atmosphere blocks that,” Fitzsimmons said. Video shared on social media from Cagayan province in the northern tip of the Philippines shows a flickering green fireball appearing behind a cloud, followed by an orange tail, before disappearing a few seconds later.

☄️? Wow! The newly discovered 1-1.5m diameter asteroid 2024 RW1 (discovered by US near-Earth asteroid hunters) burned up over the Philippines just hours after it was first sighted.

This asteroid was not a danger, but if it had been, it could have been a warning to hunker down and take cover. pic.twitter.com/Fht4yqRsBP

— Dr. Robin George Andrews ☄️ (@SquigglyVolcano) September 4, 2024

Fitzsimmons said two to three objects this size hit Earth every year, and early detection is becoming more common – astronomers detected the first near-Earth asteroid before it fell to Earth in 2008. 2024 RW1 will be the ninth asteroid to be accurately predicted to hit Earth.

“The really good thing about this is that our survey telescopes are now good enough to detect these objects as they approach and to provide a warning,” he says. “In other words, if this object was bigger and potentially threatening to people on the ground, it would have appeared brighter and projected farther. So this is a really cool demonstration that our current survey systems work really well. Right now, we’re probably averaging about one asteroid per year that gets detected before it hits the atmosphere, and survey systems are getting better and better.”

Not only is Earth developing and improving its early warning systems, but in 2022 NASA’s Dual Asteroid Reorientation Test (DART) spacecraft proved it could potentially save Earth from a catastrophic impact with a larger object. DART struck the 160-meter-wide moonlet Dimorphos, slowing it slightly, demonstrating that in theory such a disaster could be averted. Next month, the European Space Agency will launch the Hera mission to study the consequences of the impact in detail and further our understanding of planetary defense.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Don’t Panic: Small Asteroid CAQTDL2 is Approaching Earth

Posted on September 4, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Predicted trajectory of asteroid CAQTDL2 over the Philippines

Catalina Sky Survey/ESA

Astronomers have discovered that an asteroid is on its way to collide with Earth at thousands of kilometers per hour, likely somewhere east of the Philippines, over the ocean. Fortunately, this relatively small object won’t pose any harm and will simply burn up in the atmosphere in a fireball.

The asteroid, estimated to be about one meter in diameter, was a NASA-funded Catalina Sky Survey. The asteroid has been named CAQTDL2 and is scheduled to impact Earth at approximately 16:45 GMT, 17:45 London time, 12:45 New York time, and at approximately 00:45 local time at the impact site in the Philippines.

It is currently estimated that CAQTDL2 will impact at a speed of 17.6 kilometers per second, or 63,360 kilometers per hour. Alan Fitzsimmons That’s average for such an object, says a researcher at Queen’s University in Belfast, UK. “Don’t be fooled by Hollywood movies where you see something screaming into the sky and you have time to run out the house, grab your cat, hop in your car and drive somewhere. You don’t have time for that,” he says.

Fortunately, no such evacuation is necessary. Although the impact would be dramatic and could shine as brightly as the moon in the night sky, it poses no danger to people on the ground. “An object this small can’t do any damage on the ground because it’s protected by the Earth’s atmosphere,” Fitzsimmons says. “It would just burn up harmlessly and then explode in a very impressive fireball.”

Fitzsimmons said two to three objects this size hit Earth each year, and early detection is becoming more common – astronomers first spotted a near-Earth asteroid before it fell to Earth in 2008. CAQTDL2 is the ninth asteroid to be accurately predicted to hit Earth.

Not only is Earth developing and improving its early warning systems, but in 2022 NASA’s Dual Asteroid Reorientation Test (DART) spacecraft proved it could potentially save Earth from a catastrophic impact with a larger object. DART struck the 160-meter-wide moonlet Dimorphos, slowing it slightly, demonstrating that in theory such a disaster could be averted. Next month, the European Space Agency will launch the Hera mission to study the consequences of the impact up close and further our understanding of planetary defense.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Breakthrough: EHT Captures Highest-Resolution Image of Black Hole Ever Detected from Earth

Posted on August 27, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Astrophysicists from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration have conducted test observations that achieve the highest resolution ever obtained from Earth’s surface by detecting light emanating from the center of a distant galaxy at a frequency of about 345 GHz. When combined with existing images of the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87 and the Milky Way galaxy at a lower frequency of 230 GHz, these new results not only produce a 50% sharper picture of the black hole, but also a multi-color image of the region just outside the boundaries of these cosmic monsters.

This artist’s impression shows the locations of radio observatories on Earth that took part in the EHT Collaboration’s pilot experiment to produce the highest-resolution observations from the ground. Image courtesy of ESO/M. Kornmesser.

In 2019, the EHT Collaboration released images of M87*, the supermassive black hole at the center of Messier 87, and in 2022, they released images of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy.

These images were obtained by linking multiple radio observatories around Earth, using a technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), to form a single “Earth-sized” virtual telescope.

To get higher resolution images, astronomers typically resort to larger telescopes, or greater distances between observatories acting as part of an interferometer.

But because the EHT was already the same size as Earth, a different approach was needed to increase the resolution of ground-based observations.

Another way to increase a telescope’s resolution is to observe shorter wavelengths of light, and that’s exactly what the EHT Collaboration is currently doing.

“The EHT has seen the first image of a black hole at 1.3 millimeter wavelengths, but the bright ring created by the black hole’s gravity bending light still appears blurry because we’ve reached the absolute limit of how sharp an image we can make,” said Dr Alexander Raymond, an astronomer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“At 0.87mm, the images will be clearer and more detailed, which may reveal new properties, some previously predicted, but also some perhaps not.”

To demonstrate detection at 0.87 mm, EHT researchers carried out test observations of distant, bright galaxies at this wavelength.

Rather than using the entire EHT array, they used two smaller subarrays, including ALMA and the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX).

Other facilities that will be used include the IRAM Thirty Meter Telescope in Spain, the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) in France, and the Greenland Telescope and Submillimeter Array in Hawaii.

In this pilot experiment, scientists achieved measurements down to 19 microarcseconds, the highest resolution ever achieved from the Earth’s surface.

But it hasn’t yet been able to capture an image: Though it has robustly detected light from some distant galaxies, it hasn’t used enough antennas to be able to accurately reconstruct an image from the data.

This technical test opens up new avenues for studying black holes.

With the full array, the EHT can see details as small as 13 microarcseconds, the equivalent of seeing a bottle cap on the Moon from Earth.

This means that at 0.87mm we can obtain images with approximately 50% higher resolution than the previously published M87* and Sagittarius A* 1.3mm images.

What’s more, it may be possible to observe a black hole that is more distant, smaller and fainter than the two black holes imaged so far.

“Observing changes in the surrounding gas at different wavelengths will help us solve the mysteries of how black holes attract and accrete matter, and how they can launch powerful jets that travel across the Milky Way galaxy,” said Dr Shepard Doleman, EHT founding director and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

This is the first time that VLBI technology has been used successfully at a wavelength of 0.87 mm.

“The detection of a VLBI signal at 0.87 mm is groundbreaking as it opens a new observational window into the study of supermassive black holes,” said Dr Thomas Krichbaum, astrophysicist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy.

“In the future, the Spanish and French IRAM telescopes in combination with ALMA and APEX will allow us to image smaller and fainter radiation simultaneously at two wavelengths, 1.3 mm and 0.87 mm, which was previously possible.”

Team paper Published in Astronomical Journal.

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Alexander W. Raymond others2024. First Very Long Baseline Interferometry Detection at 870 μm. AJ 168, 130;doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ad5bdb

This article is a version of a press release provided by ESO.

Source: www.sci.news

Next week, the JUICE spacecraft might be visible during a close flyby of Earth.

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

JUICE spacecraft may be visible from Southeast Asia during unprecedented operation

European Space Agency

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) will land on Earth in what the European Space Agency (ESA) calls a “double world first.” It is scheduled to fly past Earth and the Moon on August 19 and 20, the first of several complex maneuvers along a looping path to Jupiter. You may be able to see the spacecraft in the sky as it speeds past.

JUICE was launched on April 14, 2023, and has been orbiting the Sun almost parallel to Earth ever since. But on August 19, its journey will start to get interesting: it will pass within 700 km of the Moon's surface, slowing down slightly using a method called gravity assist. The next day, it will drop to less than 7,000 km above Earth's surface, curving its orbit even further. That's when eagle-eyed astronomy fans in Southeast Asia may get a glimpse of the spacecraft.

All of this is necessary because if JUICE were to fly in a straight line to Jupiter, it would need more than 60,000 kilograms of fuel to get there, and even more to slow down and enter orbit once there. With the entire spacecraft's mass unfueled at 2,420 kilograms, this just isn't feasible. Instead, upcoming Earth-Moon flybys will send the spacecraft to Venus, where it will begin to accelerate, then fly past Earth twice to get it just fast enough to reach Jupiter in 2031.

The first maneuver may be the most complex of the entire mission, as JUICE must pass precise points relative to both the Earth and the Moon to en route to Venus. “It's like going through a very narrow corridor very fast, with the accelerator at full speed with only millimeters of clearance on the side of the road,” said ESA's Ignacio Tanco in statementA dual Earth-Moon flyby has never been attempted before, nor has a dual gravity assist been performed.

If all goes well, JUICE will not only head to Venus and then Jupiter, but it will also perform the first major tests of its scientific instruments. For some of the probes, this will be their only chance to observe the planet's surface and iron out any kinks before they reach orbit around Jupiter and begin their mission to search for hints of possible life on the planet's giant moons.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Lake Eridania, a lake larger than any on Earth, was once present on Mars

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

This new image is High resolution stereo camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft Calaris ChaosIt is the collapsed and dried-up remains of a vast ancient Martian lake called Lake Eridania.

This image taken by ESA's Mars Express shows Karalis Chaos, a region on Mars that is thought to have once held abundant water in the form of an ancient lake known as Lake Eridania. Image credit: ESA / DLR / Free University Berlin.

Lake Eridania once held more water than all other lakes on Mars combined, covering an area of over 1 million km.².

The lake was larger than any known lake on Earth, containing nearly three times the volume of water as the Caspian Sea.

It probably first existed as one large body of water about 3.7 billion years ago, and then as it began to dry out, it emerged as a series of smaller, isolated lakes.

Eventually Lake Eridania disappeared entirely, along with the rest of the Red Planet's water.

“The bottom left portion of the frame reveals remnants of an ancient lake bed,” Mars Express researchers said.

“The boundary of this layer can be seen curving upward from the center of the frame, surrounding a large central crater.”

“The old lake bed is now filled with many raised banks, which are thought to have formed when ancient Martian winds blew dust across Mars.”

“This dust was then covered with water, transformed, and dried up again and broke apart.”

In addition to water, there are clear signs of volcanic activity in and around this area, known as Karalis Chaos.

“The image shows two long cracks running horizontally, crossing both the lake bed and the smoother ground above,” the scientists said.

“These are known as the Sirenum-Fossae faults, and they formed when the Tharsis region of Mars, home to the solar system's largest volcanoes, rose up, putting enormous pressure on the Martian crust.”

“A lot of the wrinkled ridges you see here are also the result of volcanic pressure.”

“These appear as wavy lines running vertically across the frame.”

“Wrinkle ridges are common in volcanic plains and form when new lava layers compress, buckle and deform while still soft and elastic.”

“Also interesting is this impact crater, created by a space rock colliding with Mars.”

Source: www.sci.news

Sunday reached record-breaking temperatures as the hottest day ever recorded on Earth.

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

summary

According to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, Sunday was the hottest day on record.
The global average temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), breaking the previous record set in July last year.
Last month was the hottest June on record worldwide.

Sunday is The hottest day on record According to data from the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service, on Earth:

The global average temperature reached 17.09 degrees Celsius (about 62.76 degrees Fahrenheit), slightly surpassing the previous record of 17.08 degrees Celsius recorded on July 6, 2023.

“We are now in truly uncharted territory and there is no doubt that new records will be broken in the coming months and years as the climate continues to warm,” Carlo Buontempo, director of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, said in a statement.

So far, both July this year and July 2023 have been much warmer than the 1991 to 2020 average, according to Copernicus data. Before last year, the hottest day on record was August 12, 2016, when the average temperature reached 16.8 degrees.

Last week, a heatwave that hit southern and central Europe reportedly sparked wildfires in southern Italy, forcing the Greek Ministry of Culture to close the Acropolis for several hours. Associated Press.

In the United States, High temperature warning Six states, including Arizona, California and Montana, enacted special heat stroke laws on Tuesday. Officials believe more than 300 people have died from heat stroke in Maricopa County, Arizona, so far this year.

Last month was the hottest June on record globally, breaking records for the 13th consecutive month of record high temperatures. Copernicus Service Monitoring.

“As it gets hotter, we're going to have to significantly recalibrate how we live our lives,” said Bharat Venkat, director of the UCLA Thermal Lab, which studies the effects of rising temperatures.

As a more personal example, Venkat said he took his dog for a walk at a local mall this summer because the sidewalk was “really hot and I was worried his paws would get burned.”

He stressed that at a larger, more severe level, “many of these adverse effects overlap with existing social inequalities.”

People with underlying medical conditions are more susceptible to heatstroke. People who work outdoors, like delivery people or farmers, face a bigger problem. Certain structures, like prisons and food trucks, retain more heat, making them especially hot for people inside.

Global average temperatures typically peak between late June and early August because this is the hottest time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, which contains most of the world's land mass and population.

In the Southern Hemisphere, average temperatures are also rising due to melting Antarctic sea ice, the Copernicus Service reported.

This year has been particularly warm because of an El Niño weather pattern, said Bob Henson, a meteorologist and climate writer at Yale University's Climate Connections.

La Niña is Estimated Arrival There should be a moderate cooling effect over the next few months.

But overall temperatures will continue to rise and records will continue to be broken, Henson said.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Rare earth metal-containing minerals on the ocean floor found to be a source of oxygen production, according to scientists

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Researchers from the Scottish Institute for Marine Science have discovered that the deep ocean floor of the Pacific Ocean, covered with polymetallic nodules, produces so-called “dark oxygen.”

Polymetallic nodules recovered from the ocean floor in a Northwestern University lab. Image courtesy of Camille Bridgewater/Northwestern University.

Polymetallic nodules – naturally occurring mineral deposits that form on the seafloor – are commonly found in the sediment-covered abyssal plains of oceans around the world.

These consist primarily of iron and manganese oxides, but also contain metals such as cobalt and rare earth elements, which are essential components of many advanced, low-carbon energy technologies.

For the new study, Dr Andrew Sweetman from the Scottish Institute for Marine Science and his colleagues carried out experiments using chambers placed on the seafloor at a depth of around 4,200 metres to measure oxygen levels at multiple sites more than 4,000 kilometres apart in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the central Pacific Ocean, where polymetallic nodules are found.

Nearly every experiment showed a steady increase in oxygen levels over the two days.

The researchers conducted additional laboratory analysis and claim that the source of the detected oxygen release is polymetallic nodules.

Based on numerical simulations, they hypothesize that the electrical properties of the nodes are responsible for oxygen production.

While the researchers note that it is difficult to estimate how much oxygen polymetallic nodules produce over a wide area, they suggest that this source of oxygen may support ecosystems on the deep seafloor, which could be affected if these nodules are mined.

“We understand that oxygen was needed for aerobic life to begin on Earth, and Earth's oxygen supply began with photosynthetic organisms,” Dr Sweetman said.

“But we now know that oxygen is produced even in the deep ocean, where there is no light.”

“So I think we need to rethink questions like where did aerobic life begin.”

of result Published in a journal Nature Chemistry.

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A.K. Sweetman othersEvidence for dark oxygen production on the deep seafloor. National GeographyPublished online July 22, 2024, doi: 10.1038/s41561-024-01480-8

This article is based on a press release provided by Springer Nature and Northwestern University.

Source: www.sci.news

Physicist working on project to construct a telescope larger than Earth

Posted on July 15, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

We live in the age of black hole photography. In 2019, the first photograph of a black hole was published. Naturally, it was difficult to capture. In fact, it required a telescope almost as large as the Earth. But for researchers like Alex Lupsaski of Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, that wasn't enough. Lupsaski and his colleagues aim to capture a more detailed image, but to achieve that, they will need an even larger telescope.

The 2019 groundbreaking photo was taken by a network of radio observatories dotted around Earth, collectively known as the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). Eight observatories worked together to produce an image as sharp as a single dish larger than anything we could actually build. Lupsaski is part of a team planning the launch of the Black Hole Explorer (BHEX) telescope, which will extend this network 20,000 kilometers from Earth into space, effectively creating a receiver larger than Earth. This, he says, will give researchers the precision they need to measure a mysterious part of a black hole called the photon ring. In this case, the photon ring is produced by the supermassive black hole M87* in a nearby galaxy that appeared in the first photo.

LupsaskaAs deputy project scientist for the BHEX mission, he's a theorist specializing in the physics of extreme environments like the heart of a black hole. He tells us why this is our best hope of beating Albert Einstein's theory of gravity, and why an ambitious space mission is the key to finally unlocking that theory.

Source: www.newscientist.com

The behavior of small black holes within the Sun, Earth, and humans

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that explores wild ideas about manipulating the universe and tests them against the laws of physics, from splitting the moon to creating catastrophic events with gravitational waves. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Listen on Spotify or visit our podcast page.

In the early universe, there may have been tiny black holes as massive as mountains but smaller than atoms. If these primordial black holes exist, they could address major cosmological issues and offer endless opportunities for the Society of Dead Planets to explore.

In this episode, hosts Chelsea White and Leah Crane are joined by black hole experts like Alison Kirkpatrick. Researchers at the University of Kansas are investigating the effects of placing a primordial black hole inside different objects, such as the Sun, Earth, or even the human body, yielding surprising results.

A small black hole inside a star or planet would have minimal impact, either passing through or staying near the center depending on the object’s mass. However, a larger black hole the size of Earth but with the radius of a grape could drastically alter the fate of the Sun or consume a planet from within.

Despite the risks, a black hole of this size could potentially manipulate gravity to reshape the universe. For instance, a small black hole near the Moon’s surface could counteract its drift away from Earth.

Kirkpatrick explains that standing a few meters away from a small black hole is relatively safe, but closer proximity would result in gravitational forces tearing apart the nearest parts of the body. Introducing a black hole into the body, even through teleportation, is not advisable.

Kirkpatrick strongly advises against placing a primordial black hole inside the human body due to the immediate havoc it would wreak. The American Medical Association did not provide a response regarding the effects of black holes on humans.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

The mystery of life’s origins on Earth: Unraveling the puzzle baffling scientists

Posted on July 5, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Life is abundant on Earth, from pigeons in the park to invisible microorganisms covering every surface. However, when Earth first formed 4.5 billion years ago, it was devoid of life. The question remains: how did the first life form emerge?

The answer is still unknown. If we understood the process, we could recreate it in a controlled environment. Scientists could replicate the right conditions with the right chemicals and potentially observe living organisms forming. Yet, this has never been accomplished before.

Although the exact origin of life remains a mystery, there are several clues that provide insight. Living organisms consist of various chemicals, including proteins and nucleic acids that carry genetic information. While these chemicals are complex, their basic building blocks are simple to create.

One of the first demonstrations of this concept came from chemist Stanley Miller in 1953. By simulating the early Earth’s conditions with water and gases, Miller produced amino acids, the fundamental components of proteins, through heating and electrical shocks resembling lightning.

Subsequent studies, such as one conducted by Sarah Simkuch, have shown how complex chemicals can arise from basic compounds. By starting with everyday chemicals like water and methane, researchers have generated thousands of substances found in living organisms.

While this abundance of chemical building blocks suggests a fertile environment for life to emerge, the transition from chemicals to life is not automatic. Several key factors contribute to the formation of life, including structure, sustenance, and reproduction.

Research into the origin of life has focused on creating systems that encompass these essentials, such as genetic molecules capable of self-replication. However, the interdependence of these systems suggests a simultaneous emergence may be more plausible, possibly within confined spaces like deep-sea hydrothermal vents or terrestrial pools.

While the exact beginning of life remains uncertain, advancements in understanding have made the origin of life seem less inexplicable than before.

read more:

Source: www.sciencefocus.com

Debris from the Moon could be concealed within the Earth

Posted on July 1, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Have you ever looked up at Earth’s Moon and wondered where it came from? Most scientists agree that a small planet called Theia collided with the young Earth 4.5 billion years ago. Most of the debris from this giant impact coalesced to become the Moon we see today. But where did the rest of Theia go? Qian Yuan and his colleagues hypothesize that Earth absorbed parts of Theia during the impact, and that these remnants of Theia remain deep inside Earth to this day.

Scientists believe that waves called mechanical energy waves Seismic wavesAs it passes through certain zones inside the Earth, its speed slows down. Large slow states Previous researchers have suggested that these zones are graveyards of ancient ocean floors that sunk into the Earth’s interior during plate tectonics, but Yuan’s team proposes that these zones could be the remains of Theia.

The research team found that the LLVP contains gases such as hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen. Volatile substancesVolatiles are most likely present during the formation of solar systems and planets, when material floating in space begins to accumulate. Because volatiles are light, they can escape into space if they get the chance. When Earth and Theia collided, volatiles from both planets were caught up in the collision. Scientists believe that most of the volatiles escaped into space, but Yuan and his colleagues suggested that some of Theia may have captured these volatiles and sunk deep inside the Earth, forming the LLVP.

To test whether the LLVP is a remnant of Theia, the researchers used a computer model designed to test how different types of solid matter interact with each other. Thermal evolution modelHe explained that other researchers have shown that Theia is made of a much denser material than Earth, so they wanted to test whether Theia’s denser material would mix completely with Earth’s or remain separate.

The researchers used a thermal evolution model to randomly scatter chunks of Theia-like material throughout a mass of Earth-like material and calculate how well they would mix. They ran eight models with chunks of different sizes, densities, and temperatures. In almost all of these models, they found that Theia’s material sank deep into the Earth and coalesced into LLVP-like mountains without mixing with Earth’s material.

The researchers performed seven giant impact simulations to further explore how Theia interacted with the young Earth. They used these simulations to collide Theia with Earth and calculate how that impact would have affected the Earth’s interior. These simulations found that after the collision with Theia, denser, more solid material sank toward the center, while less dense material stayed toward the surface, resulting in a layered Earth’s interior. The researchers explain that these simulations also suggest that denser material from Theia sunk deep inside the Earth without mixing.

The researchers concluded that Theia’s remains may have sunk to Earth and coalesced into a region similar to the LLVP, where it remained for the next 4.5 billion years. They further proposed that if Theia’s material was preserved inside the Earth for billions of years, the composition of the Earth’s interior could have changed.

They suggested that future researchers test their hypothesis by comparing the composition of the LLVP with basalts found on the Moon to see if it matches up. They also suggested that researchers use newer, more accurate models of Earth’s thermal evolution to further explore how Theia’s impact with Earth may have affected the evolution of Earth’s interior and the formation of the LLVP.

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Source: sciworthy.com

Spotting a harmless asteroid passing close to Earth this Saturday: What you need to know.

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

This weekend, there will be a passing asteroid near Earth, which poses no threat. With the right equipment and timing, you may be able to catch a glimpse of it.

The asteroid, known as 2024 MK, will be at its closest point to Earth on Saturday morning, passing at a distance about three-quarters of the way from Earth to the moon. It was first spotted two weeks ago by an observatory in South Africa and measures approximately 393 to 853 feet (120 to 260 meters) wide.

According to Davide Farnocchia, an asteroid expert at NASA’s Center for Near Earth Object Studies, smaller objects pass by Earth regularly. Asteroids of this size come close to Earth roughly every 25 years.

“We may witness this event a few times in our lifetime, but it’s not a common occurrence,” he noted.

The 7,579-foot (2,310-meter) asteroid made a safe pass near Earth on Thursday, but it was too distant to be visible without specialized telescopes.

To see the asteroid on Saturday, skywatchers will need small telescopes as it won’t be bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. It will move swiftly across the southern sky, making it challenging to spot.

Nick Moskovitz, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory, mentioned, “The asteroid will move rapidly through the star field.”

For the best chance of seeing the asteroid, observers in the Southern Hemisphere should look high overhead. People in the US may have better luck spotting it on Saturday night when it might be less bright, but easier to see without the sun’s glare.

If you miss this event, mark your calendars for April 13, 2029, when the asteroid Apophis will pass close to Earth and be visible to the naked eye from parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Bad luck, not inbreeding, led to the demise of the last mammoths on Earth

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Artist’s impression of the last mammoth

Beth Zaiken

About 10,000 years ago, a handful of woolly mammoths washed up on an island off the Siberian coast in the Russian Arctic. Over the next few thousand years, this small group of perhaps eight animals grew into a stable population of 200-300 animals before going extinct about 4,000 years ago. These mammoths are the last known population of woolly mammals on Earth, and may have survived into modern times but for some bad luck.

The history of these mammoths has been clarified through genetic research. Love Darren A team from Stockholm University in Sweden and their colleagues looked at DNA from 14 mammoths from Wrangel Island and seven from the mainland, dating back to before melting ice sheets caused sea levels to rise and isolate them, covering a combined genetic history of 50,000 years.

The researchers’ analysis found that despite the small population, inbreeding wasn’t the cause of the mammoth’s extinction: While small genetic mutations accumulated, Dallen said, the population was good at eliminating larger, harmful ones.

“We can demonstrate that it’s unlikely that inbreeding or genetic disease caused the population to slowly decline and go extinct,” he said. “Despite the inbreeding, the population did well.”

Mammoth tusk found on Wrangel Island

Love Darren

But the team found that individual mammoths were affected by genetic diseases, and that this negative impact at the individual level had been ongoing for thousands of years. “This means that today’s endangered species, which in most cases were at risk of extinction until very recently, are likely to continue to suffer from genetic diseases for hundreds of generations to come,” says Dallen.

Dallen points to the Tasmanian devil as an example of a species that became isolated on a large island after mainland populations became extinct, leading to reduced genetic diversity. This in turn affects the immune system, Dallen says, which puts the species at greater risk of population decline when faced with new pathogens, such as the facial tumour disease that attacks Tasmanian devils.

“Natural selection appears to have been effective in eliminating potentially lethal mutations, but other, less severe mutations gradually increased,” they said. Adrian Lister At the Natural History Museum, London.

“We’re not sure whether this led to eventual extinction, but it’s possible that, combined with environmental changes, it did,” Lister said. “There are lessons here for monitoring the genetic health of endangered species today.”

The exact cause of the mammoths’ extinction is unknown, but interestingly, Wrangel Island contained freshwater lakes and rivers, which suggests that the mammoths may have been able to survive longer than similarly isolated groups that became extinct 5,600 years ago due to drought.

“Diseases, short-term weather events, tundra fires — all of these are thought to be random events,” Dallen says. “Because they’re random, they’re not inevitable. So if they hadn’t happened, the mammoths might have survived to this day, assuming humans hadn’t killed them when they arrived on Wrangel Island.”

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Top 10 Most Sweltering Locations on Earth in 2024

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

The Earth is home to many extreme temperatures, from the frigid Arctic to the scorching Sahara Desert. But where is the hottest place on Earth?

Below are the 10 hottest places in the world based on the highest temperatures recorded.

The places on the list may not always be as hot as stated, but the record temperatures suggest high average heat, so be sure to bring plenty of water and a hat if you visit each spot.

If you want to cool down afterwards, check out the 10 coldest places on Earth.

10. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: 52°C (125.6°F)

Photo credit: Getty

Topping the list of hottest places on Earth was Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with a temperature of 52°C (125.6°F). Recorded June 22, 2010.

The heat was the highest on record for the region, beating the 51°C recorded in nearby Al Ahsa three days earlier.

This ancient port city is located in western Saudi Arabia, has a population of over 4.6 million and serves as the main gateway to Mecca.

9. Mexicali, Mexico: 52°C (125.6°F)

The temperature is 52°C (125.6°F). Recorded It was recorded in the Mexicali Valley, Mexico, on July 28, 1995. It is the ninth-warmest temperature on Earth. The valley also recorded the coldest temperature ever, −7.0ºC (19.4°F).

Located in the northern part of Mexico's Baja California state, this region is known for its heat, earning it the nickname “The City that Captured the Sun.” It has one of the harshest climates in Mexico, with an average high temperature of 42.2 °C (108 °F) in July and 21.1 °C (70 °F) in January.

8. Al Jazeera Border Gate (UAE): 52.1°C (125.8°F)

In July 2002, a temperature of 52.1°C (125.8°F) was recorded at the Al Jazeera border gate in the United Arab Emirates.

In July 2013, the region again nearly matched its highest ever temperature record (51.2°C).

These temperatures only last about 15 minutes. Temperatures above 50 degrees are almost unbearable. In the UK it reached 40.3°C (Coningsby) In July 2022, temperatures in the UAE rose by more than 10 degrees.

7. Turbat, Pakistan: 53.7°C (128.7°F)

The seventh hottest on this list is 53.7 °C (128.7 °F), recorded in Turbat, Pakistan on May 28, 2017.

World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Confirmed The 53.7°C recorded in Turbat was the fourth highest temperature ever recorded at the time.

Turbat is known as one of the hottest cities in Asia and is located on the Kech River in the southwestern part of the country's Balochistan province.

6. Basra, Iraq: 53.9°C (129°F)

The Middle East is one of the warmest regions in the world, with many record-breaking days when temperatures exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Basra, Iraq, is one of those areas. recording The highest temperature reached was 53.9 °C (129 °F) on July 22, 2016.

This matches the heat recorded in Kuwait just one day earlier (more on that below).

Basra is located along the Shatt al-Arab River in the Arabian Peninsula and is a city with a population of approximately 1.5 million.

5. Mitriba, Kuwait: 53.9°C (129°F)

Badr Al-Ma’ilam Mosque in Kuwait City. Photo courtesy of Getty

The fifth-highest temperature on record Verified The maximum temperature was recorded at the Mitriba weather station in Kuwait, where it reached 53.9°C (129°F), according to the WMO.

This incredible temperature was recorded on 21 July 2016 and was confirmed as the hottest place on record in Asia. It was also the hottest officially recognized temperature in 76 years (at the time).

4. Tirat Zvi, Israel: 54°C (129°F)

The highest temperature ever recorded was 54°C (129°F) in Tirat Zvi, Israel, on June 21, 1942. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) classifies Israel as Europe, so depending on where you place the country, this is officially the highest temperature ever recorded on the European continent.

Tirat Zvi, located near the Israeli-Jordanian border, is on the west side of the Jordan River. Population: only 975 As of 2021.

3. Ahvaz, Iran: 54°C (129.2°F)

The highest continental temperature recorded was 54 °C (129.2 °F). Measured Occurred in Ahvaz, Iran between 4:51pm and 5pm on June 29, 2017.

Ahvaz, the capital of Iran's Khuzestan province, has a population of about 1.3 million and a history dating back to the Achaemenid period. The city is known for its nine bridges, including the Black Bridge and the White Bridge.

2. Kebili, Tunisia: 55°C (131°F)

The highest temperature ever recorded in Africa was measured at 55°C (131°F) in Kebili, Tunisia, on July 7, 1931. This is the second-highest temperature ever recorded on Earth.

Besides the continental record-breaking heat, Kebili The oldest example Settlement site of people who inhabited Tunisia during the Early Palaeozoic Era, about 200,000 years ago. Ancient stone tools have been found near the city.

1. Furnace Creek, Death Valley (USA): 56.7°C (134°F)

The hottest place on Earth is Furnace Creek in Death Valley, California (USA), where a temperature of 56.7 °C (134 °F) was recorded on 10 July 1913. During summer, the average daily maximum temperature in Death Valley is 45 °C (113 °F).

This is only the air temperature; ground temperatures are much higher. On July 15, 1972, the ground temperature was 93.9 °C (201 °F). Recorded In Death Valley, water is only a few degrees away from boiling temperature.

There have been subsequent claims of higher temperatures, but these have not been proven. One of the hottest places on Earth was recorded in 1922 in what is now Libya, at 58 °C (136 °F).

However, in 2012, the World Meteorological Organization Conclusion This was “improperly recorded” and was off by about seven degrees Celsius, they said.

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Source: www.sciencefocus.com

What If the Earth Was the Center of the Solar System?

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Dead Planets Society is a podcast that takes some crazy ideas for how to tinker with the universe and tests their effects against the laws of physics, from snapping the moon in half to causing doomsday events with gravitational waves. apple, Spotify Or check out our podcast page.

By the end of the 16th century, pretty much everyone knew that the Earth revolved around the Sun, not the other way around. This was a huge blow to those who thought the Earth was the center of the universe, but the Dead Planets Society is here to ease their disappointment. Yes, we're trying to revive geocentrism.

Putting Earth at the center of the solar system requires more than just fudging the math: The Sun is much more massive than our puny planet, so forcing it to orbit the Sun would be nearly impossible, so hosts Chelsea White and Leah Crane would have to make some major changes to the solar system as we know it.

In this episode, Andy Rivkin Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland say the only way to make Earth an Earth-centered solar system would be to make it the most massive thing around – which would have some strange effects, assuming it doesn't collapse the planet into a black hole.

First, the Moon would have to speed up to maintain its orbit, orbiting the Earth in an hour or so before it would break apart. If the remaining planets didn't speed up too, they would all crash into the new giant Earth within a decade or two. The Earth's extra mass could also disrupt other nearby stars, causing them to start attracting it to Earth. A victorious Earth-centered solar system might not last long, but it would certainly come to a dramatic end.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Europe’s largest rare earth metal deposit discovered in Norway

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Rare Earths Norway, a mining company, has made a groundbreaking announcement of discovering Europe’s largest proven deposit. This discovery of rare earth elements is highly regarded and could potentially be a game-changer for the Nordic countries and the broader region.

This continental Europe’s largest rare earth deposit, not controlled by China, presents a significant opportunity for Europe amid its oil crisis. The demand for rare earths and critical minerals is expected to grow exponentially as the transition to clean energy accelerates.

Rare Earths Norway revealed in a statement on June 6 that the Fen carbonatite deposit in southeastern India has an estimated 8.8 million tonnes of total rare earth oxides (TREO) with economically mineable prospects. The company also estimates 1.5 million tonnes of magnet-related rare earth elements that can be used in electric vehicles and wind turbines.

This discovery surpasses a significant rare earth deposit discovered last year in Sweden. Rare Earths Norway CEO Alf Rystad emphasized the importance of this discovery, stating that there is currently no mining of rare earth elements in Europe.

Going forward, Rare Earths Norway aims to contribute to mining at least 10% of the EU’s annual demand for rare earth elements by 2030. The company also plans to develop the Telemark rare earth deposit southwest of Oslo to strengthen Norway’s position in the European rare earths value chain.

The International Energy Agency highlighted the shortage of current supplies needed to transform the energy sector due to the geographic concentration of many energy transition elements. China, the world’s largest rare earth ore processor, plays a significant role in supplying rare earth elements worldwide.

Rare Earths Norway intends to continue exploration work at the site with further drilling planned for the coming month. The company aims to begin production by 2030 to contribute to Europe’s rare earth supply and reduce dependence on Chinese sources.

In a recent interview, Alf Rystad remarked that while the discovered resources are valuable, they won’t increase in value compared to oil and gas. He mentioned European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s belief that lithium and rare earth elements will become more important than traditional fossil fuels in the future.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Study finds that Jupiter’s polar lows are driven by processes reminiscent of those on Earth

Posted on June 11, 2024 by Igor Mitreski

Planetary scientists first became aware of the connection between Earth and Jupiter in 2018, when they noticed striking similarities in images of Jupiter's giant cyclones and turbulent ocean currents. In 2022, they Analyzed High-resolution infrared image of a cyclone on Jupiter taken by NASA's Juno spacecraft. Analysis reveals that a type of convection similar to that seen on Earth helps sustain Jupiter's storms, which can be thousands of miles wide and last for years. The 2022 study focused directly on Jupiter's cyclones, but the authors also saw thin tendrils called filaments in the spaces between the vortices of gas. These filaments have analogues on Earth, and the authors used Juno's detailed images to study whether this similarity to Earth's oceanic and atmospheric processes is merely superficial.

This composite image, created from data collected by the JIRAM instrument on NASA's Juno spacecraft, shows a central cyclone at Jupiter's north pole and eight surrounding cyclones. JIRAM collects data in infrared, and the colors in this composite represent radiated heat. The yellow (thinnest) clouds have a brightness temperature of about -9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius), while the dark red (thickest) clouds have a brightness temperature of about -181 degrees Fahrenheit (83 degrees Celsius). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / ASI / INAF / JIRAM.

Fronts are often featured in weather forecasts (for example, cold fronts and storm fronts) and apply to both gases and liquids.

A front is a boundary between masses of gas or liquid that have different densities due to differences in properties such as temperature.

In the ocean, fronts can also form due to differences in salinity, which, along with temperature, affects the density of seawater.

The main characteristic of a front is that its leading edge is characterized by strong vertical speed and can generate wind and currents.

To understand the role of the filaments clearly visible during Jupiter's cyclones in the Juno images, Dr. Leah Siegelman of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Dr. Patrice Klein of the California Institute of Technology examined a series of infrared images from Juno.

The series of images was taken 30 seconds apart of Jupiter's north polar region.

Because the images were taken in infrared, the team was able to calculate the temperature, finding that brighter areas were warmer and darker areas were cooler.

On Jupiter, the hotter parts of the atmosphere correspond to thin clouds, while the cooler parts are covered by thicker clouds that block more of the heat emanating from Jupiter's superheated core.

The researchers then tracked the movement of the clouds and filaments over the 30-second intervals between photos to calculate horizontal wind speeds.

These two pieces of information allowed the scientists to apply methods from ocean and atmospheric science to Jupiter to calculate vertical wind speeds that correspond to the temperatures and horizontal wind speeds the researchers derived from the images.

Calculating vertical wind speeds, they found that Jupiter's filaments do in fact move like Earth's fronts.

The vertical wind speeds at the edges of Jupiter's fronts also mean that the fronts transport energy in the form of heat from the planet's hot interior to the upper atmosphere, potentially generating large cyclones.

Although convection is the primary driving force, fronts account for a quarter of the total kinetic energy powering Jupiter's cyclones and 40 percent of the vertical heat transport.

“These cyclones at Jupiter's poles have continued since they were first observed in 2016,” Dr Siegelman said.

“These filaments between the larger vortices are relatively small, but they are a key mechanism for maintaining cyclones.”

“It's intriguing that fronts and convection exist and influence Earth and Jupiter, suggesting that these processes may also exist on other turbulent fluid bodies in the universe.”

“Jupiter's enormous scale and Juno's high-resolution images allow us to more clearly visualize how small-scale phenomena like fronts connect with larger-scale phenomena like cyclones and the atmosphere. These connections are often difficult to observe on Earth because they are much smaller and more ephemeral.”

“But the long-awaited new satellite, SWOT, will make observing these ocean phenomena much easier.”

“There's a kind of cosmic beauty in knowing that these physical mechanisms on Earth exist on other planets far, far away.”

Team paper Published in the journal Natural Physics.

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L. Siegelman & P. Klein. Frontogenesis at high latitudes on Jupiter. National Physical SocietyPublished online June 6, 2024; doi: 10.1038/s41567-024-02516-x

Source: www.sci.news

Fastest land mammal (quadrupedal)

Fastest insect (on land)

Fastest insect (in flight)

fastest bird (in flight)

fastest bird (on land)

fastest fish

Humans: Earth’s Longest-Lived Land Mammals

Glass Sponge: The Longest-Lived Aquatic Creature

Cookie the Cockatoo: Earth’s Longest-Lived Bird

Naked Mole Rat: The Longest-Lived Rodent

Ocean Quahog: The Longest-Lived Invertebrate

Aldabra Giant Tortoise: The Longest-Living Turtle

Greenland Shark: Earth’s Longest Living Fish

Bobi: The Longest-Lived Dog

Could we see more hours in a day?

Understanding the Mechanism

Considerations on Time Management

Meet the Experts

About our experts:

10 – Mouse Spider

9 – Lycosa Tarantula Spider

8 – Bulbul Spider

7 – White-Tailed Spider

6 – Minami Microcrystal Spider

5 – Redback Spider

4 – Brown Recluse Spider

3 – Chilean Spider

2 – Brazilian Wandering Spider

1 – Australian Funnel Web Spider

summary

10. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia: 52°C (125.6°F)

9. Mexicali, Mexico: 52°C (125.6°F)

8. Al Jazeera Border Gate (UAE): 52.1°C (125.8°F)

7. Turbat, Pakistan: 53.7°C (128.7°F)

6. Basra, Iraq: 53.9°C (129°F)

5. Mitriba, Kuwait: 53.9°C (129°F)

4. Tirat Zvi, Israel: 54°C (129°F)

3. Ahvaz, Iran: 54°C (129.2°F)

2. Kebili, Tunisia: 55°C (131°F)

1. Furnace Creek, Death Valley (USA): 56.7°C (134°F)