Category: Life on Earth

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Solar System Animals Astronomy Evolution Life on Earth Planet Earth Plants

Earth without Moon: what would it be like?

Earth without moon - what it would be like
Have you ever wondered what Earth would be like without Moon? Without its closest celestial companion, our planet’s tides, climate, and even the length of days would change dramatically. The Moon stabilizes Earth’s axis, influencing seasons and weather patterns. Without it, life as we know it would be profoundly different.

The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. It is also the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System and the largest among planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits. It formed about 4.51 billion years ago from the debris left over after a giant impact between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia (this is known as the Giant Impact Hypothesis and is the most widely accepted explanation of the formation of the Moon). This impact happened not long after the Earth has been formed. But, what if that giant impact never happened? What would the Earth without Moon be like?

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Prehistoric Evolution Life on Earth Planet Earth

Dinosaurs were already doomed as the frequency of Asteroid Impacts increased 290 million years ago

Chicxulub impact
The Chicxulub impactor was an asteroid or comet at least 10 kilometers (6 miles) in diameter. Around 66 million years ago, it impacted a few miles from the present-day town of Chicxulub in Mexico, at around 64,000 kilometers per hour (40,000 mph). The impact has created a crater (Chicxulub crater) more than 180 km (110 miles) in diameter, making it the third largest known impact crater on Earth. Image credit: Joe Tucciarone/Science Photo Library

By studying lunar craters, scientists have discovered that asteroid impacts became more frequent about 290 million years ago. So was just a matter of time for dinosaurs to become extinct.

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Climate Animals Environment Global Warming Life on Earth

African musicians protest the destruction of the environment with a song titled “Samalilani” (Preserve)

Samalilani
Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled "Samalilani". They also draw attention to climate change and environmental issues facing Zambia, like deforestation and charcoal burning.

Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled “Samalilani” (means “preserve” in English). They also draw attention to climate change and environmental issues facing Zambia, like deforestation and charcoal burning.

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Planet Earth Evolution Life on Earth Solar System

What if the Earth was tidally locked to the Sun?

Sunrise from space (NASA)
Image: NASA - ISS013-E-78960 (9 Sept. 2006) - A rising sun and Earth's horizon are featured in this image photographed by an Expedition 13 crew member on the International Space Station.

We only see one side of the moon, because it is tidally locked to the planet Earth (tidal locking the situation when an object’s orbital period matches its rotational period). What if the Earth was tidally locked to the Sun?

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Life on Earth Animals Evolution Planet Earth Plants Prehistoric

What If Earth’s History Compressed Into One Year

Earth from the Geostationary Orbit
Earth image taken by Japanese weather satellite Himawari 8, which takes a photo of Earth every 10 minutes. Himawari 8 is the 8th of the Himawari geostationary weather satellites operated by the Japan Meteorological Agency. Himawari 8 entered operational service on 7 July 2015 and is the successor to MTSAT-2 (Himawari 7) which was launched in 2006.

What if the Earth’s history (our planet’s age is approximately 4.54 billion years), compressed into just one year? @YearOnEarth just did that. At midnight on the 31st of December, Chris Jennings started a little project for the incoming year: tweeting the entirety of the geological history of the Earth, compressed into one year.

The result is an amazing timeline of the Earth’s history.

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Animals Life on Earth

Cheetah facts: 20 interesting things about the world’s fastest land animal

Cheetah running at full speed in South Africa (Acinonyx jubatus)
Cheetah running at full speed in South Africa (Acinonyx jubatus). Source: Deposit Photos

The cheetah (scientific name: Acinonyx jubatus) is a large cat of the subfamily Felinae, which specialized for high speed. Cheetahs live in North and East Africa, and a few localities in Iran. Here are 20 amazing cheetah facts.

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Animals Life on Earth

Want to Speak Elephant Language? [Now You Can!]

Elephants in Okavango Delta, Botswana
Elephants in the Okavango Delta. The area is one of the best places to see animals and birds in Africa. The area supports large concentrations of animals on both a permanent and seasonal basis. A myriad of species are found within the delta including African Bush Elephant, African Buffalo, Hippopotamus, Lechwe, Topi, Blue Wildebeest, Giraffe, Nile crocodile, Lion, Cheetah, Leopard, Brown Hyena, Spotted Hyena, Greater Kudu, Sable Antelope, Black Rhinoceros, White Rhinoceros, Plains Zebra, Warthog and Chacma Baboon. Notably the endangered African Wild Dog still survives within the Okavango Delta and exhibits one of the richest pack densities in Africa. In addition to these large animals the Okavango Delta also supports over 400 species of birds and 71 recorded species of fish including Tigerfish, Tilapia and Catfish. Thanks to this wide variety of wildlife, the delta is now a popular tourist attraction.

Ever wanted to speak “Elephant”, or to understand these amazing, beautiful animals? Thanks to a new web-based translator developed by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and ElephantVoices, now you can! “Hello in elephant” website translates human words and emotions into the “elephant language”, or elephant calls that signal similar emotions or intentions.

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Animals Life on Earth Oceans

Orcas swimming around a woman (video)

Three orcas swimming with a woman (New Zealand)
A woman was swimming on 4 December 2018 at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel peninsular, New Zealand. Then a pod of orcas (killer whales) swam up to her (probably a mother and two calves), and circled her. They kept swimming around her while she was headed to the shore. Especially the mother swam really close to her. A man named Dylan Brayshaw captured the full scene from a drone. The result was an amazing drone footage.

A woman was swimming on 4 December 2018 at Hahei Beach on the Coromandel peninsular, New Zealand. Then a pod of orcas (killer whales) swam up to her (probably a mother and two calves), and circled her. They kept swimming around her while she was headed to the shore. Especially the mother swam really close to her. A man named Dylan Brayshaw captured the full scene from a drone. The result is the amazing drone footage below.

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Astrobiology Evolution

Proof of life: how would we recognize an alien if we saw one?

An octomite
An 'octomite', or a speculative alien produced by natural selection. Courtesy Helen Cooper/Cambridge University The researchers imagine a complex alien called the ‘Octomite’ which is comprised of a hierarchy of entities, where each lower level collection of entities has aligned evolutionary interests such that conflict is effectively eliminated. These entities engage in division of labour, with various parts specialising on various tasks, such that the parts are mutually dependent.

What would convince you that aliens existed? The question came up recently at a conference on astrobiology, held at Stanford University in California. Several ideas were tossed around – unusual gases in a planet’s atmosphere, strange heat gradients on its surface. But none felt persuasive. Finally, one scientist offered the solution: a photograph. There was some laughter and a murmur of approval from the audience of researchers: yes, a photo of an alien would be convincing evidence, the holy grail of proof that we’re not alone.

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Animals Life on Earth Oceans

Immortal Jellyfish [the only animal which can live eternally!]