Researchers reveal mystery of the origin of water on Earth

Water covers more than two-thirds of the surface of planet Earth, but its exact origin still remained a mystery. Scientists have for a long time could not figure out whether water was present on the planet during its formation or the water arrived to our planet later, possibly together with comets or meteorites.

Currently, researchers from the University of Hawaii at Manoa using a modern method of analysis, called an ion microprobe, found that the stones from the Baffin Island, located in Canada, shall indicate that the water is present on our planet since the time of its formation.

The method of ion microprobe allowed researchers led by Dr. Lydia Hallis from NASA Astrobiology Institute of the University of Hawaii to study tiny inclusions of glass in these stones and find within these inclusions even more tiny amounts of water. Defined for this water ratio of hydrogen to deuterium, scientists were able to pinpoint that the water has a terrestrial origin. The hydrogen / deuterium varies with the different water bodies in the solar system, so the definition of this relationship allows to determine with certainty the origin of the samples of water.

Cosmos atrosanguineus - a flower that smells like chocolate

These fabulous creatures have a unique vision and are able to move with incredible speed. Being active hunters, they can see better than the complicated military image processing software, and can strike the victim with the power of 22-caliber bullets.

                   Slow death of Phobos

The moons of Mars, Phobos has already begun to collapse under the influence of tidal forces of Mars - to such conclusion the team of scientists from Goddard Space Flight Center. And the visible signs of this process - long furrows around a large crater Stickney on Phobos.

Previously it was assumed that the grooves - the consequences of a collision with another Phobos heavenly body, because of which there was a crater Stickney. It appears, however, that the center of grooves - not the crater center is located in another place near it. Also grooves are of different ages.

Now it is assumed that Phobos is a solid core surrounded by a layer of powdery regolith thickness of about 100 meters. Under the influence of tidal forces from Mars regolith behave like elastic fabric, but can not withstand the stresses and cracks. This model is the way It affirms observations. The same fate may expect satellite of Neptune - Triton.

Each year, Phobos reduces the height of the orbit of 2 meters because of the attraction of Mars. It is assumed that during the 30-50 million years he collapses and falls to the surface of Mars.

   Earth-like planet found in 39 light-years from the Sun.

The rocky planet nearly the size of Earth, but is characterized by high temperatures has been discovered by astronomers at a relatively short distance from the solar system. A new celestial body told the journal Nature.

GJ1132b exoplanet about 1.2 times larger than Earth. It consists mainly of iron and rock. The diameter of the celestial body - about 15 thousand kilometers, and weight - 60 per cent more. A person standing on the surface, would have felt the force of gravity, 20 percent greater than the Earth's. This is the nearest Earth-like planets - three times closer to the solar system than its counterparts.

However, from its star (dwarf Gliese 1132, about five times less than the Sun) planet separates a short distance: the latter receives 19 times more radiation than the Earth, which is why the temperature of the surface, according to the calculations of astronomers, varies between 136 and 306 Celsius.

Thus, GJ1132b too hot for humans, but may have a dense atmosphere. Scientists believe that it strongly resembles Venus. In its atmosphere prevailing helium and hydrogen. If the last surface was GJ1132b water, oxygen and carbon dioxide can also be preserved in the atmosphere.

Astronomers hope to test these hypotheses by direct observation with telescopes of the next generation - for example, the James Webb telescope (to be launched in 2018). So scientists will be able to see the color of a sunset on the planet - and, consequently, to assess the heat that rises from its "fried" the surface, as well as the wind speed.

Most of the famous astronomers rocky planets much hotter: The surface temperature there exceeds two thousand degrees. Previously, the closest to the solar system Terrestrial rocky exoplanet was discovered at a distance of 127 light years.

"Our ultimate goal - to find a twin of the Earth, but on the way we found a twin of Venus. We suspect that there is an atmosphere reminiscent of Venusian, and we can not wait to sniff it, "- said study co-author David Charbonneau (David Charbonnneau) from Harvard.

The image of the protoplanetary disk around a young star HL Tau, located 450 light-years from Earth. Built using a radio interferometer ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter Array). Age star is about 100 thousand years - it is at an early stage of stellar evolution.

Red-legged hermit crabs (lat. Ciliopagurus strigatus), living in the coastal waters near Hawaii and in the Red Sea, is considered one of the most brightly-colored hermit crabs living in the world's oceans.

Purple and orange body and white striped legs make it extremely attractive to aquarists all over the world. For visual appeal added one more valuable quality: red-hermit crab likes cleanliness and actively cleans the aquarium from harmful cyanobacteria, filamentous algae and debris.

The fish have demonstrated the ability to super vision

Some fish and amphibians in real life possess supernormal fantastic heroes. As researchers found, in poor visibility, they can at the genetic level, "include" infrared superzrenie.
According to Reuters, talking about some of the representatives of the freshwater fish, such as salmon. The findings are published in the journal Current Biology. According to scientists, when navigating in muddy freshwater fish "include" in the eyes of a special enzyme - an enzyme Cyp27c1, of direct relevance to vitamin A, which is just responsible for visual acuity in poor visibility conditions. From the standpoint of chemistry, enzyme changes at the molecular level of vitamin A, making a modification to vitamin A1 vitamin A2 and switching the sensitivity photoreceptors in the wavelength range. That is, in fact, the fish are starting to see in infrared light. Similarly, some amphibians are shifting their eyes from the ground at underwater.
"We do not know exactly at what stage of evolution of the enzyme Cyp27c1 acquired such skills. However, the fact that it is used as fish and amphibians, suggests that the function was formed millions of years ago, "- he shared the representative of the University of Washington School of Medicine Dr. Joseph Corbo. The enzyme was also detected in bull frog and zebrafish fish (zebrafish). Dr. Corbo said that copies of the gene that controls the enzyme, there are people, but they are inactive. Scientists believe that the results of the study can be used in optogeneticheskih developments in the treatment of neurological diseases.
Earlier, scientists have found yet another feature of the fish by the example of cave tetra Astyanax mexicanus - the ability to "turn off" him to save energy. According to National Geographic, in caves inhabited by these fish, it is very difficult to find food, so the underwater inhabitants need to conserve energy. The researchers determined the amount of oxygen that is consumed part of the brain responsible for vision, and came to the conclusion that the absence of such a seemingly important sense organ allows you to spend 15% less energy. "The researchers also found that the average brain (responsible for vision) in the blind Mexican tetras is much smaller than those species that are able to see. The absence of blind tetra compensate for a large number of taste buds and omnivorous "- the newspaper notes.

Cosmic catastrophe defined shape and composition of the young Earth


Scientists have explained why the composition of the Earth is so similar to the composition of the silicate meteorites - and still do not like them.

By submitting new space missions to distant asteroids, leading the search for meteorites fell to Earth, astronomers like to explain: "It will allow us to look into the past of the solar system and our planet." Readers are often left at a loss, although the idea here is simple enough. It is shown that asteroids were formed about the same time far as the planets. However, unlike the planets billions of years of their lives they were boring. Asteroids (those that remain) are not faced with other bodies, they were not active geological and tectonic processes even more. They do not have hot core - all the chemicals of the early Solar System preserved them almost intact.

It is believed that the young buds of the Earth, mostly served as an ancient class of meteorites chondrites - the most common, and consist mainly of silicates. Indeed, the isotopic composition of elements constituting chondrites, close to the isotopic composition of our planet. But here's the rub: the content of silicon, potassium, sodium and they are much higher, but the world more magnesium, calcium and aluminum. This inconsistencies long time could not explain.

American scientists have put a series of laboratory experiments in which the samples were subjected to different pressures chondrites, simulating the formation of the young planet. Radioactivity and, most importantly, the heat from the shock colliding bodies is heated it was melted and stirred. Heavier elements gradually fell closer to the center, and gradually formed the iron-rich core. These events have also studied in the laboratory at this chondrites example, showing that the crust is formed as a result of the same composition as meteorites themselves.

The difference, according to them, there is because of the new bombing young bark. Part of it after such attacks provided ejected into space. Heat is converted to dust and gas magnesium, aluminum, calcium, sodium, etc. - But calcium, magnesium and aluminum quickly settled back, whereas the remaining elements left Earth. However, the very nature of the bombing remains unclear. When it happened? What was the planet colliding with the body and what caused their appearance near the Earth? It remains to find out.

                   The polar caps of Mars

The polar caps on Mars - the huge area of the carbon dioxide with a mixture of dust and frozen water, which is so great that even visible from Earth. The polar caps are subject to strong seasonal fluctuations, strongly proliferating in the Martian winter and "contracting" with the arrival of spring. The biggest cap is currently located at the north pole of Mars.

Enrolment of recruits astronauts for Mars exploration


The US space agency announced the upcoming gathering of applications for participation in the missions to Mars. The names of the new recruits, who will pass the hard pre-selection and subsequent testing will be announced in mid-2017.

The official announcement about the opening of a set of astronauts appeared on the official website of NASA. For future astronauts set strict requirements. Applicants must be US citizens, have the documents about the end of an accredited educational institution in the United States with a degree of not lower than bachelor's degree in engineering, biology, physics or mathematics. In addition, the candidate space travelers must have experience in the specialty for at least three years, or to provide documents on the presence of at least a thousand hours of flight as commander of the jet.

In case the bidder will be the first stage of selection, he will be tested for physical endurance and tolerance of long flights. It is expected that consideration of applications wanting to become astronauts will take place from 14 December 2015 until mid-February (year not specified in the report, but, obviously, refers to 2016 minutes). The names of qualifiers will be announced in mid-2017. Applications for participation in the training program for astronauts accepted online usajobs.gov. "The next generation of astronauts will inspire exploration of Mars, will reach new heights, leaving traces of man on Mars" - addressed to future recruits head NASA Charles Bolden.

According to the agency, a new generation of astronauts will fly "to any of the four spacecraft in the course of their careers." In particular, it is called the International Space Station, some two commercial ships, developed by US companies (probably talking about projects SpaceX and Boeing), as well as the ship Orion - the brainchild of the company Lockheed Martin.

According to NASA, is now in the "combat reserve" the space agency are 300 astronauts, 47 of which are involved in the program. "In the near future we will need more," - noted in the NASA.

Recall popularizing exploration of Mars US space agency has been doing for a long time. In late August, at NASA there was a special form, fill that Earthlings will make their names in the history of exploration of Mars. All names will be written on a special microchip that will travel in 2016 to the Red Planet as part of a space mission InSight. The exact dates of the beginning of the colonization of Mars is unknown - according to the latest NASA, the astronauts will be able to land on the Red Planet in the mid 2030's.

4 billion years ago, Jupiter threw out another major solar system planet


The idea that we have no time was the fifth giant - in addition to the current Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - resounding even in 2011. In any case, it was her modeling of the evolution of the solar system has allowed precisely enough to come to the orbits of Mars and Earth.

Most likely, the heavenly body thrown casual game of gravity, the impact is very large neighbor - Saturn or Jupiter. However, one of the gas giants is to blame the entire planet in exile, it was unclear. The new work of astrophysicists from the University of Toronto points to Jupiter.

Vanished Planet, the researchers suggest, belongs to the same class as the Neptune and Uranus. It was an icy giant, is not as large as the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, but much denser - and more massive. As one of them managed to joining the gravitational battle, and conquer this planet, breaking her powerful attraction to the sun, throw it away?

Typically, this happens when a close convergence of massive planets. In the process they disperse each other, and one of them is thrown out of the system, becoming the eternal lonely orphan skitalitsey in desert expanse of interstellar galaxy. So could "work" and Jupiter converging with the Sun from more distant regions of the solar system.

Canadian astronomers have considered the impact this process could have on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn - Callisto and Iapetus. Computer modeling has shown that these are the processes that culminated in the expulsion of the entire planet, about 4 billion years ago, could cause one of these satellites in the orbit, where it remains today.

"Jupiter is able to throw the fifth giant planet, while receiving the moon from orbit like Callisto, - says one of the authors of Ryan Cloutier (Ryan Cloutier). - This is impossible for Saturn: Iapetus otherwise would have too perturbed trajectory, which could not have become what it has become today. "

It is worth noting that all this still does not mean that such a convergence of Jupiter's ice-giant, completed his ejection from the Solar System really happened. While this is - only circumstantial evidence, obtained by the purely theoretical. By and large, even the very existence of our fifth giant planet no more than a hypothesis. But this picture of a lonely, exiled from our home stellar rogue planet is still hurtling somewhere in the dead space of the Milky Way, it is no less fascinating.

In addition to the Red Book, which since 1958, scientists are making endangered species of animals and plants, there is the Black Book. It includes animals and plants have disappeared forever from the face of the earth because of the destructive human activities.

These lights in the shape of flowers open, when there are people underneath

Architects and designers do not get tired to amaze. In Jerusalem there was a pedestrian fantastic opportunity to become parties to show almost 9-meter street lights made in the form of giant flowers, disclosed to them as soon as someone approaches, whether it is a man or even a passing tram.

How to tell the creators of this miracle, their "urban flowers" were not aimed at the fight against chaos, their main goal was to beautify the city and to remind people that in the world there is always a place for miracles, fantasy and a pleasant surprise.

Scientists have created a model of a time machine

Scientists from the Australian University of Queensland created a computer model to make travel time. Physicists managed to send the past two photons, which successfully went back, despite the fact that one of these particles has met in the past with them.

Australian physicists from the University of Queensland set out to create a computer model of time travel. After a while they succeeded. According to information received from the Western press, the researchers plan to prove the prediction in 1991 about the displacement of a quantum particle in time. It's about the journey of man, or any special apparatus in this case did not go, and it all comes down to the displacement of an elementary particle.

Physicists managed to create a model of a single photon transfer via the so-called wormhole in space and time. It considered two versions of events. In the first case it come into force paradox in which a quantum particle in the past cooperated with itself. In the second photon is normally closed during vremepodobnuyu curve and prevented from ever there back in time spiral. Both cases, according to researchers, are combined in a single unit two different theories: quantum mechanics and the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein.

Recall, the first travel in time began the great Albert Einstein, proved the possibility of temporary displacement. Despite this scientific world is still skeptical of this idea, since the meeting on time traveler with his ancestors a catastrophe - the man simply did not come to light.

It is true this theory, known as "the paradox of the grandfathers", or the paradox of time continuums, eliminates the Heisenberg uncertainty principle. It is not surprising that an Australian scientist who united theory of relativity with quantum mechanics, managed to prove that, at least, the photon can meet yourself in the past without catastrophic consequences for ourselves in the present.

         White-faced saki (Saki Monkey)

White faced saki - Pithecia Pithecia - rare monkeys from the northern part of South America. They live in the rain forests, drier forests and even in the savannas of the Amazon in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. Males have a mass of 1.5-2 kg, and is heavier than females. The body length of 15 inches, 20 inches of tail. Coat color black, the front part of the head, forehead and throat of males are bright, almost white. Sometimes the head is reddish. Wool is thick and soft, tail long and fluffy. The tail is not prehensile. In females, the overall color is brown and monotonous. Around the nose and mouth lighter bands. Females have a body length of 33.5 cm, tail length 34-43,5 weight of 1.5-1.9 kg of body length (males) 33-37,5, tail length 35-44,5 cm, weight 1.9 -2.1 kg.

Bananoed Livingstone (Tauraco livingstonii)

Bananoed, also known as Toorak, is the ancestor of the family «Musophagidae», which means, of course, "bananoedy." However, what is remarkable about these birds do not eat bananas.

Why flying squirrel - the cute animal in the world?

If the world staged a competition for the most cute animals, Siberian flying squirrel definitely would get the first place.

Although these creatures are called flying squirrels and, in fact, they do not fly, as it were gliding through the air, through the membrane, opens between their front and back legs. Due to this "adaptation" proteins can be raised to a height of over 100 meters, in case they need to escape from a predator or simply move to another tree.