Energy

The most expensive stuff in the universe — yeah, grandiose — is called anti-matter. Its existence was first theorized in 1930, when the electron was discovered. Scientists thought it might mean the exact opposite should exist too, and they called this hypothetical particle “positron.” Later, antipodes of other elementary particles, protons and neutrons, were proven to exist as well.When a particle and its evil twin collide with each other, they disappear, releasing literal tons of energy — 10,000 times more than a nuclear reaction does. But there’s a catch: it takes about 100 billion years to create just 1 g of anti-matter, and it can only be created using the Large Hadron Collider. That’s why the cost of this substance is about $62 trillion bucks. And we’re not even close to getting that much!Throughout the entire history of space observation, only two objects from another star system, or maybe even another galaxy, have entered our Solar System. The first one was the Oumuamua asteroid, discovered in 2017. The second was Borisov — a comet found in August 2019. The cloud of dust that surrounds it allows scientists to learn more about substances that may have come to us from another galaxy.

BOOM! An explosion of supersonic waves, interplanetary heat, dust, fumes... The Earth’s atmosphere has been invaded by a cosmic rock the size of Everest! A few seconds ago, this rock, weighing trillions of tons, was hurtling towards Earth. It could fly from New York to Anchorage faster than you could fry yourself an omelet! This monster’s name? The Chicxulub incident. Epic name, right!66 million years ago, it crashed into the Earth. Back then, dinosaurs ruled the planet. But not for long! The epic collision took place in modern Mexico, in the Yucatán Peninsula, right near Cancun, where the dinosaurs were vacationing! Well probably not. Still, the huge space rock hit the ocean, but even all that water couldn’t stop the inevitable.The collision caused a huge amount of energy to be released. The horror on a planetary scale had begun! Imagine a mini sun lighting up the surface of the Earth, with tsunamis the height of the Statue of Liberty bursting from the epicenter of the watery impact. Hmm. Not good.

Recently, Chinese scientists discovered something interesting on the Moon... An unusual crystal. Moreover, they found out that this crystal contains an element that can literally replace nuclear fuel! Let’s find out more. The composition of the Moon has long remained a mystery to us. Half a century has already passed since the Apollo mission. Unfortunately, we haven’t traveled to the Moon much since then, so it’s not surprising that it’s not so easy for us to study it. But recently we’ve made a breakthrough in this area! In December 2020, Chinese scientists sent a Chang’e-5 probe to the Moon. The mission was named after the ancient Chinese deity of the Moon, Chang’e. Quite poetic, isn’t it?

Is it possible to “put out” the Sun? For example, what would happen if we poured all of Earth’s oceans on it — or even more water? Well, let’s find out. The Universe is a place full of mysteries. Since ancient times, scientists have been arguing about how space works. But none of us has ever doubted the existence of one thing — the Sun. Ah, the center of our Solar system. It’s big, bright, and... immortal? Nah, not really. Actually, the Sun is just an ordinary star. It consists of 75% hydrogen, a little helium, and a pinch of other heavy elements. Gravity holds it all together. But in around 5 billion years, the life cycle of the Sun will come to an end. The hydrogen inside it will run out. Our star will begin to grow gradually. And you can’t even imagine just how BIG it will become!

The famous wrestler turned actor, John Cena, and his wife are happily married without children and have no plans to change their cozy lifestyle. We wanted to find out why this lovable hunk has chosen to live without kids, and you might discover that his reasons resonate with you too.

Millions of people around the world go out on the streets and rooftops to look at the amazing cosmic phenomenon. Another planet... right next to the Moon! A big red one. At first, everyone’s excited. Mars showing up out of nowhere is having a strange effect on humanity.Just as the moon can affect the psychological and physical state of some people, Mars’s unexpected visit is causing people to behave pretty strangely. Every night, the sky is lit up by the white light of the Moon and the red glow of Mars.Many people get a sort of instant insomnia. Some even stop drinking coffee because they no longer feel sleepy. Mars brings out the energy and a little wildness in people, makes them laugh more, and even drives a few poor people crazy. They begin to go out of their houses more often and enjoy the unusual night sky.

Black holes. The most terrifying, mysterious, and fascinating objects in the Universe. Eternally hungry, they eat everything in their path and are constantly expanding. But how small and how big can a black hole be? Let’s find out. It’s not very easy for a black hole to be born. Most often they’re just a result of a massive star ending its life cycle. If you take a star and squeeze it very, very hard, at some point it cannot withstand the pressure anymore. So it collapses and turns into a black hole.

It all started with a minor change on our planet. At first, people noticed the Moon had become brighter and a little bigger. But nobody paid attention to this. The Moon affected tides all over the world. The water flooded the beaches, but it wasn’t a tragedy. A lot of fish came close to the shores. People found giant squid, anglerfish, and other creatures next to the coast, although they usually live in the dark depths. New, stranger things happen every day. Birds no longer fly to the south in winter. They gather in huge groups flying around cities with no purpose. The Moon used to help them navigate in nature, so they can’t figure out which way to fly anymore.

The young faces we once saw on our screens are now entering their 30s and marking a significant milestone in their lives. It’s genuinely nostalgic to compare the images of these former child actors from their early days in the industry to the adults they have become today.

Swimming is an effortless and efficient training method that can benefit anyone without any hassle. Experts suggest that swimming for at least 30 minutes or completing 20–60 laps can significantly improve your overall health. Incorporating a daily visit to your nearby swimming pool can also yield numerous benefits with no negative side effects. In this article, we will highlight 8 positive outcomes that you can gain from swimming regularly.

Asteroids flying around is sometimes like a fierce game of dodgeball where you never know when some of them can go in your direction. So we can just track the situation and hope for the best! To figure out the risk, scientists from different organizations have to study the positions and paths of the asteroids that come close to our planet, especially those that are at least 0.6 miles wide. And the good news is that none of these asteroids will probably hit us for at least the next 1,000 years. Phew!

Let’s pretend that humanity faces a huge threat from outer space. We’ll imagine that a giant planet-eating octopus comes to our solar system to eat Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, and other planets, except Saturn. Therefore, people decide to move to the big planet with giant rings. Fortunately, they already have cool technologies that allow them to make such trips. So, we quickly get into giant ships, take off, and fly to Saturn. Life on the planet itself is impossible because it has no solid ground. The ship won’t be able to land there. This is a giant gas ball that is 9 times wider than Earth.

What comes to your mind when you hear the words “green monster”? Hulk? Shrek? Probably. cBut definitely not a young supernova in the Milky Way galaxy — oh, and if you have forgotten what our home galaxy looks like, here, have a look! So, anyway, is that supernova indeed green and — you know — scary? Not really. But let’s start from the very beginning. Cassiopeia A (aka Cas A) is the remnants of a stellar explosion astronomers spotted in the sky 340 years ago. This supernova is 11,000 light years away from us in the constellation Cassiopeia, and its remnants span about 10 light years. Recently, scientists have managed to capture the sharpest image of these leftovers yet — all thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, the largest optical telescope in space.

Big herds of dinosaurs run through the forest. The temperature rises rapidly, and everything behind them begins to ignite. Some dinosaurs get stuck in swamps and can’t get out. Pterodactyls fly over their heads as they try to avoid the blast wave that will soon cover the Earth. This event happened about 66 million years ago. It wiped out almost every living thing on Earth. Birds and flying dinosaurs were just about the only ones who could survive the most massive extinction event ever. Hey don’t blame me. I wasn’t around then.

Being a mother is a lot of responsibility and, honestly, a difficult job. Some women flatly decide not to bring any child into the world, and they have some solid reasons to think that way. However, there are also some who, even reluctantly, decide to go for it. And that changed their lives forever.

From where we stand, the Sun seems so calm and peaceful. But like humans — and basically the whole living world — the Sun has its own phases when it’s more or less active. It’s just that the consequences are way bigger and more chaotic when the Sun becomes hyperactive!Let’s zoom in to see what’s happening up there. So, one of the ways we measure the activity of our star is by counting sunspots on its surface. Sunspots are dark patches that form when the Sun’s magnetic field gets all tangled up. It’s simple — the more sunspots, the more active our Sun is.

You’re on a spaceship flying through outer space at a speed of 180,000 miles per second. This is almost the speed of light. Make yourself comfortable, because the voyage is gonna be long. It will last a little more than 90 years. It’s better to use a cryo capsule to not get bored. In short, you need to fly for almost a century at the speed of light to get to a mysterious exoplanet that scientists have recently discovered.

Love can often be a difficult topic to talk about, especially when it comes to social norms and wealth. A billionaire with a net worth of $1.2 billion married a younger model with an age gap of 43 years between them, and his 7 children are questioning her intentions and criticizing their relationship. Despite this, the happy couple reminds us all that love is more than just money. Read on to dive into their story.

Imagine stepping out of your spacecraft and setting foot on the surface of the Moon. Under your feet, the ground is covered with a fine material that looks like powder. That’s lunar dust. You look around and take a lungful of fresh air. It smells very different from the air on Earth but still nice... Unfortunately, this is a highly unlikely scenario. And one of the reasons is that the Moon has almost no atmosphere. Earth’s natural satellite is too small — less than 2% of our planet’s mass. That’s why it doesn’t have a magnetic field strong enough to keep an atmosphere. But even if the Moon had it, solar winds would immediately pull it away.

The Universe is not static. It evolves all the time and grows in all directions. It’s expanding, and scientists found this out almost a century ago. And it’s not at a stable rate — the more time goes by, the faster the Universe expands. As this happens, stars, planets, and galaxies move farther and farther apart, which leaves more space between them. If that’s the case, the Universe is supposed to become colder as it expands, right? After all, it was a lot denser when the Big Bang happened. And a lot hotter. As it was expanding, space was cooling down, which created conditions for planets, stars, and other space objects to form.

One of the strongest birds on our planet is the harpy eagle. It’s an apex predator, and you can find it in the tropical regions of Central and South America. In terms of their lifting capabilities, they’ve been recorded to tackle up to 40 lbs!

Asteroids aren’t as rare on our planet as we may think. About 17,000 of them visit us every year. You’ve probably even seen at least one in your life — for example, if you’ve seen a shooting star. They leave these bright tails behind them as they pass through the Earth’s atmosphere. Of course, they only look beautiful in the sky. If they reached the ground, the consequences would be catastrophic... Luckily for us, most of them explode 30–50 miles above the surface. Their mass is too small for them to withstand such a journey to the end. So, most of them remain harmless to us. But we shouldn’t underestimate them.

You work in a large nature reserve that is home to more than a thousand species of animals. At night, you drive through the territory in a jeep to see if everything is okay. Most animals are sleeping. Suddenly you hear the monkeys screaming. They jump from branch to branch. A herd of horses runs out of the forest. They look worried, too. You hear many animals crying. Looks like some unknown strange thing has woken up and horrified the whole reserve. You see a flash in the night sky. It’s a meteorite, and it’s flying right towards you. You get in the car, hit the gas, and drive away as far as possible. The space rock falls right in front of you and throws your vehicle to the side. You pass out.

So Barry is running along the shore of the lake as fast as possible. He knows that if he stops, his life will turn into a nightmare in no time. 1,000 mosquitoes are about to bite him! But what he doesn’t know is that he’ll be okay after all. So, don’t be afraid, Barry, and stop! Mosquitoes are slow; they fly at a little more than 1 mph. And you can’t run forever. So, after a couple of hours of pointless running, Barry stops. He sweats and emits a smell attractive to insects. One little mosquito flies up to him. It buzzes next to his ear, sits on his sweaty neck, and bites. The insect pierces the skin with a special mouth apparatus called a proboscis. The mosquito starts pumping blood through this needle. Its saliva gets into Barry’s body and causes an allergic reaction. More precisely, it’s Barry’s immune system that starts this reaction. It perceives the mosquito’s saliva as an enemy and sends a unique chemical substance to the bite site.