earth

Persees fall so fast to the earth that only three astronauts have managed to photograph them “from above”

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How do you see a fleeting star from the International Space Station? If it is already difficult to capture the persistent here, Although there are guides for itdo it from space, moving to 27,600 km/h, when the persistes pass that speed to eight times and burn in a second, demands patience. But at least three astronauts have achieved it: two Americans and one Russian, each with a very particular style. Image | Ron Garan, Nasa Ron Garan. The former NASA astronaut, flight engineer of expedition 28, took this photo on August 13, 2011, during The meteor rain of the Perseids. The International Space Station was flying over China, about 400 kilometers northwest of Beijing, when Garan managed to immortalize the flash of a persistent burning in the earth’s atmosphere. The photo was no accident. The astronaut had placed himself in the ISS dome with his fair camera during the Perseidas Activity Peak. The green and yellow glow that is perceived between the earth and the emptiness of space is the luminescence of the atmosphere: atoms and molecules that are excited with sunlight during the day and release this energy at night. As for the intense blue brightness under the solar panels of the station, it is dawn. Image | Scott Kelly, Nasa Scott Kelly. Known for spending a year in space to compare with his twin brother Mark, former American astronaut also took advantage of expedition 44 to take pictures. On August 12, 2015, Kelly achieved an image of the stelae left by the Perseids in the long exhibition photos. In the absence of Luna, the starry sky stands out almost more than our planet. From the perspective of the International Space Station, which orbits the Earth to about 400 kilometers of altitude, meteors such as Perseids go underneath, heating up to incandescence. The bright grains of dust travel about 60 kilometers per second, disintegrating about 100 kilometers on the earth’s surface. Image | Oleg Kokonnko, Roscosmos Oleg Kononenko. The Russian cosmonaut, which has traveled five times to space and is the person who has spent the most days out of the earth (1,111), He also has his photo of a Perseida. He took it on August 9, 2024 from the International Space Station. And although the city of the background is a bit climbing, the detail with which he managed to capture the fleeting star makes it an iconic image. It is believed that it is perseiled for the date. These meteors are particles expelled by the Swift-Tuttle comet throughout their orbit, which is close enough to the earth on these dates to be dragged by the gravitational field of our planet. The Pico de Activity occurs in mid -Augustbut you can see the persistes from the end of July to the beginning of August, full summer in the northern hemisphere, which makes them the most popular meteor rain to this side of the world. Image | Scott Kelly, Nasa In Xataka | Emptied Spain is an ideal place to see the Perseids: we have some ways to find the ideal place

China increasingly dominates technology on earth. There is a place where they are still far from Occiden

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A recent report The New York Times He has evidenced the Chinese difficulty to compete with Spacex in the deployment of communications satellites. While Musk’s company already accumulates 8,000 Starlink satellitesthe two main Chinese networks just add 120 units in orbit. Why is it important. Low orbit satellites are strategic for autonomous cars, war with drones and military surveillance. China considers Starlink a direct threat and has planned two megaconstellations with 27,000 satellites between them. Qianfan, the constellation of low orbit satellites developed by China, anticipated having 650 operating satellites at the end of the year. Shanghai Spacesail Technologies, the company after the project, has only managed to put 90 in orbit since August. Guowang, an alternative born in 2020, is even worse: 34 satellites of the 13,000 planned for the next decade. The context. The Popular Chinese Liberation Army See Starlink as something “deeply integrated into the US military combat system”. It is not empty paranoia: this network is essential to coordinate drones in Ukraine and Spacex has government contracts for spying and missile monitoring. The background. China has not solved the key problem that Spacex solved years ago: reusable rockets. Chinese companies continue to wear single -use pitchers, which multiplies costs and reduces the frequency of launches. The Falcon 9 can reuse its first stage up to 20 times, greatly reducing the costs. After five hundred missionsit is still the reference. Chinese candidates –Long March 8R, Zhuque-3, Tianlong-3– accumulate failures and delays. Yes, but. China is negotiating Contracts with 30 countries to access Qianfan. He has already signed agreements in Brazil, Thailand, Malaysia and Kazakhstan, taking advantage of certain misgivings towards American technology dependence. The rhythm of Chinese launches accelerates: more than thirty missions in the first half, putting 150 satellites in orbit. But they need to multiply by five or six the rhythm to fulfill their international radio frequency commitments. In addition, there are some counterparts to your proposal: The decisive moment. Chinese megaconstellations must launch half of their satellites in five years after obtaining the frequencies, completing the deployment in seven. Not fulfilling could force them to reduce the size of the networks. Main loser? China dominates manufacturing, batteries, solar panels and traditional (non -advanced) semiconductors. But in sectors that require maximum risk assumption – Biotechnology, the space – the United States maintains a decisive advantage. Getting smaller in some scenarios, but maintains it. The business mentality that rewards rapid and cheap failures against guaranteed successes makes the difference between Spacex and its Chinese rivals. Outstanding image | Spacex In Xataka | What types of satellites exist: guide not to get lost in a gigantic network of which we are increasingly dependent

We have just measured the longest ray ever registered on Earth: 829 kilometers D

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The rays are huge electrical discharges that in a fraction of second run through the distance between the clouds and the surface of the earth, a distance that can be several kilometers. However, lightning can go to distances a pair of superior magnitude orders. And this is one of those cases. The longest ray. The World Meteorological Organization has confirmed The longest ray observation ever registered. The electric shock toured a distance of 829 kilometers, with a margin of error of about 8 km. To put it in perspective, that is approximately the distance that separates in a straight line Barcelona from Seville. Although the validation by the United Nations Meteorological Office arrived this Thursday, the event occurred almost eight years ago, In October 2017in the United States. The great plains. The ray with its ramifications reached the skies of five states in the central and southern United States. The beginning of his “route” was on the east of the state of Texas, and his end was close to Kansas City, in Missouri. His tour and ramifications also made him pass through the states of Arkansasa, Kansas and Oklahoma. The region of the great plains where lightning was also known as Tornado Alleythe “Alley of Tornados”. This area, the OMM points out, stands out for being one of the areas “with the greatest storm activity known as Mesoescala convective systems”, which also makes it an ideal area for the formation of these “megarrayos.” For 61 km. As explained by the OMM, the new record exceeds 61 km the previous record. That ray also happened in the United States, but later, in April 2020, and reached 768 km, also with a margin of error of 8 km. In both cases, the detection and measurement of these rays was carried out through a method called Maximum Circle Arch. In addition, the OMM emphasizes that the 2017 ray was one of the first events measured with the help of the operational geostationary satellite for the study of the environment of the R (GOES-16) of the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). They also explain that this “megary” went unnoticed in a first analysis of the storm, and was not discovered until the review of the data compiled during the stormy episode. Now the details of the analysis carried out by the OMM team have been published In a working document of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Improving prevention. The study of the rays goes beyond establishing records that feed our curiosity about these violent phenomena. Improving our study tools and knowing these events better is key to reducing the risk they imply in several contexts, from aviation to forest fires. “Rays, although they are a source of astonishment, also constitute a great danger that is charged numerous lives every year worldwide, which makes these phenomena one of the priorities of the international initiative an early warns for all,” pointed in a press release Celeste Saulo, general secretary of the OMM. “This record highlights important issues for public security with respect to electrified clouds, (…) that may have serious repercussions on the aviation sector, as well as cause forest fires.” Carrying the accounts. The OMM is the institution in charge of Register extreme atmospheric events Throughout the world, an archive that has other records protected by great magnitude rays. For examplethe lightest ray registered lasted no less than 17 seconds (17,102 ± 0.002 s, specifically), and was captured in Argentina in June 2020. The direct impact of greater size was recorded in 1975 in Zimbabwe, and cost the lives of 21 people. However, the greatest indirect impact occurred in 1994, in Dronka (Egypt), and resulted in 469 people deceased when causing the fire of oil deposits. In Xataka | Two years ago a cosmic ray hit the earth. No one knows where it came from Image | Pixabay (File image)

manufactures in a week what the earth takes one billion years

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For centuries, diamonds have been synonymous with luxury, shortage and geological time: a jewel that nature carries over one billion years underground. Now China has found a way to reduce times and create the perfect diamond. Made in China. 70% of synthetic diamonds Used in worldwide jewelry they are already manufactured in China, especially in the province of Henan. In a Financial Times report They have explained That companies like Jiaruifu, led by Feng Canjun, have managed to manufacture a three carat diamond – the typical size of a engagement ring – in just a week. But it is synthetic. Yes, but its irruption has meant an unprecedented disruption in the market of precious stones. As explained by Marty Hurwitz, director of the Grown Diamond Trade Organization, to the British environmentthis is “the first really competitive product that the natural diamond has faced.” And he has done it with devastating consequences: the prices of smaller natural diamonds have fallen to minimums of the last decade. According to data from the Tenoris consultantsynthetic diamond already represents 17 % of the volume of the retail market in the US, and more than half in commitment rings, a key category. 60 years of improvement. After the break with the USSR in the 60s, Beijing was forced to develop its own production capacity. As New York Times collectedthe Soviets used diamonds not only as raw material but as a diplomatic and economic weapon. Given that pressure and without relevant natural reservations, China opted for the technological and long -distance path: produce its own laboratory diamonds. What was born as a geopolitical survival strategy has become a globally dominant industry today. The creation process. As have detailed in FTcompanies such as Jiaruifu mainly use two methods: high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the latter most recent and effective for large gems. In addition, efficiency is not just technique. The carving process is subcontracts to India, where labor costs are lower, and transport is carried out through hubs such as Dubai or Antwerp, although on the label of the final product there is no trace of its Chinese origin. There is another differential. China does not stay with crossed ones as soon as it has a fixed goal, we have already observed that its plans are never in the short term, we can observe it in Your plans with oil. As detailed The Huanghe Whirlwind company are also making improvements in the diamond creation process, but they wanted to bet on a more sustainable model. In this project they have managed to integrate solar energy into their manufacturing process. This innovation not only drastically reduces the carbon footprint by quilate, but also positions China as a pioneer in “green” synthetic diamonds. A dramatic turn. The traditional natural diamond industry is in check. In 2024, by Beers – the historical giant of the sector— It accumulated an inventory of non -selling diamonds valued at 2,000 million dollars. Its synthetic diamond division, Lightbox, He closed recently After losing competitiveness in front of Chinese brands. To this is added a cultural change: younger consumers no longer demand natural diamonds, and many prioritize price and sustainability. As He has revealed British designer Fei Liu to the Financial Times, at first he resisted using synthetic stones, but the price “flew his head.” Another conquered sector. Beyond technological and commercial success, synthetic diamond is becoming a new strategic front for China. The Government has not left the market to operate freely: in Henan, the Provincial Administration has promoted the creation of a diamond association with the aim of stabilizing prices and avoiding a destructive career down. As He explained Feng Al Financial Times, a minimum price of $ 15 per caa has been set for the stones between one and ten carats. If a company sells below that threshold, its competitors can report it to the authorities, which will intervene. This policy reminds the strategy adopted in the electric car sector, another field in which China He has led technologicallybut where excess supply and fierce competition also caused price wars. In both cases, Beijing has sought to impose order in sectors considered key to industrial sovereignty and the country’s geopolitical positioning. Compressing times. In that process, the Asian giant has challenged a centenary industry, has democratized luxury and has drawn a new map for the global diamond trade. What was previously a symbol of rarity and eternity, today can be produced in mass, sold at a low cost and with a minimum ecological footprint. The diamond is no longer what it was. And it is very possible that, for most consumers, that is not necessarily a bad. Image | Pexels and Unspash Xataka | Antimony under another flag: the Chinese mineral that continues to enter the US disguised for Thai or Mexican export

The largest piece on Mars on Earth has just sold for 5.3 million dollars

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A Roca from Mars which was found in the Sahara desert in November 2023 has sprayed all records in an auction in New York. A 25 -kilogram meteorite. The largest piece of Mars found on Earth already owns, and is an anonymous buyer who won the Sotheby’s auction After a bid of 4.3 million dollars. Will pay 5.3 millionif we add taxes and fees, the highest price ever paid by a meteorite. The rock, baptized as NWA 16788, weighs no less than 24.67 kilograms. With its almost 38 centimeters long, it is 70% larger than the previous largest Martian meteor. From Mars to an anonymous collector. NWA 16788 had traveled 225 million kilometers when a meteorit hunter took him in the remote region of Agadez, in Niger. It did not gently detach from Mars. He was torn from his surface due to the impact of such a violent asteroid that liquefied part of his minerals and catapulted him to space. From there, he undertook a trip of about 225 million kilometers before the earthly gravity attracted him. Its reddish cortex and depressions on its surface are the scars of its entrance through our atmosphere. It is now officially a luxury object that shows that it is possible to speculate with Martian soil. The extraterrestrial market is booming. This sale is not an isolated event, but the confirmation of an upward trend. The meteorit market is an active niche where the rarity, size and history of rocks trigger prices, but none has reached a price as high as NWA 16788. The one that was closest was the Fukang meteoritefamous for its embedded Olivino gems. In 2008, the Bonhams house tried to sell it for 2 million dollars. Pujadores preferred to invest their money in the fossilized manure of a dinosaur that was 130 million years old. In 2021, the Christie’s house sold a Martian meteorite for $ 200,000. Who knows if we will see it in a museum. The sale of such a singular meteor has revived, as expected, an old controversy in the scientific community. Many regret that a piece of incalculable value for science and dissemination can end up in a private battleship chamber. Being anonymous, the buyer’s intentions are unknown Fortunately, not all meteorite is lost to science. A reference sample has been preserved at the Purple Mountain Observatory, in China to analyze it. Image | Sotheby’s In Xataka | The largest piece of Mars on Earth is not in a museum, or a laboratory: it is in a auction house

Some astronomers analyzed the “Big Bang sound.” Now they believe that the Earth is in a vacuum of 2,000 million light years

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Cosmology has a huge problem. It is known as hubble tension and suggests that the nearby universe is expanding faster than the distant and primitive universe He is telling us. Something does not fit. Now, a disturbing study offers a solution. The big problem of cosmology. Hubble tension is One of the biggest headaches of modern physics. On the one hand, we have the measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the oldest light in the universe. When applying the standard cosmological model (LBDACDM), these observations show a 67.4 km/s/mpc hubble constant. On the other hand, when The expansion of the universe is measured Using nearby objects such as standard candles (a type of supernova), a significantly higher value is obtained: about 73 km/s/mpc. This difference, that the most recent data places in a tension of more than 5Sigma (a level that in particle physics is considered a discovery), refuses to disappear. A disturbing explanation. A new study Prepublished in Arxiv proposes a solution as elegant as depressing. That the discrepancy is not in our measurements, but in our location. According to Indranil Cosmologists Banik and Vasileios Kalaitzidis, we could be living in the center of a gigantic cosmic vacuum, a “bubble” of 2,000 million light years in diameter with a density 20% lower than the universal average. The test, they affirm, It is in the “Big Bang sound”. A local vacuum. The idea of the local vacuum is not new: it is known as the empty KBC (Keenan-Barger-Cowie, in honor of the astronomers who proposed the idea based on the galaxies count). If our galaxy, the Milky Way, were in a region with less matter than normal, the severity of the surrounding, densest areas, would “throw away” out. This effect, added to the general expansion of the universe, would cause nearby galaxies to move away from us faster than normal. “This would give the appearance of a faster local expansion rate,” explains Indranil Banik, of the New Research. The Hubble tension problem would thus become a local phenomenon, without the need to revolutionize the entire cosmological model. The sound of the Big Bang as proof. What the new study of Banik and Kalaitzidis contributes is a much more fundamental test based on barionic acoustic oscillations. Although we call them “the sound of the Big Bang”, they are not sound waves that we can hear. They are the traces that left the pressure waves that spread through the superdense plasma of the primitive universe. These waves were “frozen” about 380,000 years after the Big Bang and created A characteristic pattern in the distribution of matter. This pattern works as a cosmic rule of about 500 million light years in length, which astronomers use to measure the expansion of the universe to different eras. The results. The team analyzed 20 years of measurements and compared them with two scenarios: on the one hand, the homogeneous standard model, without emptiness; and on the other, the model that includes the empty KBC. The results, presented at the National Astronomy Meeting 2025 of the Astronomical Society Royal, are blunt. According to the statistical analysis of the study, the model with a local vacuum conforms to the data in a spectacularly better way. While the standard model has a 3.3sigma voltage with observations, vacuum models reduce it to only 1.1sigma –1.4sigma. Calmly. The researchers consider “demonstrated” that A vacuum model is about 100 million times more likely than a model without emptiness. However, it is a preliminary study, which has not yet gone through the pairs review. Previous studies set very strict limits to the existence of such an influential vacuum, concluding that it is not enough to explain the entire Hubble tension. They also propose early dark energy as a solution. But Banik’s work offers one of the strongest evidence to date that the Earth could be in a very lonely region of the universe. Image | Greg Rakozy (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | The James Webb and Hubble telescope coincide in the expansion of the universe. And physics fails to explain why

Stress for not running out of rare earth is dominating technological ones. Apple has just spent 500 million

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Apple has signed An agreement with MP Materialsa US mining company, to ensure the supply of magnets made of rare earths over the next few years. The company led by Tim Cook will invest 500 million dollars In this company with the purpose of eliminating its current dependence on Rare earth from China. However, the supply of rare land magnets of American origin will begin in 2027. This strategic decision is Apple’s response to two needs. The most obvious is that those of Cupertino need to have access to rare earth magnets without being conditioned by The iron control that China currently exercises on the global supply chain of these chemical elements. In addition, its investment in MP Materials has been very well received by the administration of Donald Trump as part of the commitment acquired by Apple at the end of last February. And is that on the 24th of that month the Cupertino announced that will invest 500,000 million dollars During the next four years in the US and will create 20,000 new jobs. In any case, this scenario invites us to ask us two questions. On the one hand it is important to identify why rare earth magnets are so important for Apple and other technology companies. And it is also crucial that we know how China has achieved dominate in such a forceful way the global supply chain of rare earths. Rare earths are essential to make advanced technology “Rare earth materials are fundamental to producing advanced technology, and our association with MP Materials will help strengthen the supply of these vital elements here, in the United States,” has declared Tim Cookthe Director General of Apple. Permanent magnets made with rare earths, such as neodymium or samarium-colto, are very attractive for electronic devices manufacturers because they have high magnetic force, great resistance to demagnetization and high thermal stability, among other remarkable qualities. In fact, they are not essential only for the electronics industry; They also have a leading role in the sector that is dedicated to the manufacture of electric cars, in the aeronautical and in the advanced armament production industry. The problem for the US and its allies is that currently the rare earth supply chain It is almost completely controlled by China. This Asian country produces 70% of rare earths and controls 90% of the processing industry of these chemical elements. Rare earth magnets are very attractive due to their high magnetic force, great resistance to demagnetization and high thermal stability On April 4, just 24 hours after Donald Trump announced the taxes that he was going to apply to the importation of most products from abroad, The administration led by Xi Jinping responded. And he did it forcefully. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: the Scandio and the Disposio. These chemical elements are probably less known than metals prohibited by China previously, such as Gallium or Germanio, but are at least as important as the latter because They have a fundamental role In the industries of integrated circuits, telecommunications and the manufacture of storage devices. The ability to put pressure from China had not yet been extinguished. Just ten days later, on April 14, the Administration did not hesitate take another step forward With the purpose of putting in check, in addition to the industries that I just mentioned, those of electric cars, aeronautics and advanced armament. To achieve this, it effectively suspended, in addition to the export of the most valuable rare earths, that of high -power magnets that have a critical role in the industries that I have cited in this same paragraph. This is the context in which MP Materials has erected as a crucial actor for the US. And this mining company is the owner of the only site in this country that contains some of the rare earths necessary to manufacture high -power industrial magnets. This is the reason why it has become A very valuable strategic resource For the country led by Donald Trump. The US plan pursues Develop your own supply chain of rare earths with the purpose of eliminating any dependence on the global market of these chemical elements. Image | Daniel L. Lu More information | Reuters In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

The Pentagon gets fully into the Rare Earth War with China. Has invested 400 million in the most promising US mine

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The US Department of Defense is about to establish itself as the largest shareholder of MP Materials. A few hours ago has announced who will buy shares of this mining company for A value of 400 million dollars. And, in addition, it will provide additional 150 million to help this company Extract and process rare earths which contains its Mountain Pass site, which is in California, although it resides very close to the border with the Nevada state. This mine is the only US site that contains some of the rare earths that are necessary to manufacture high -power industrial magnets, so it has become a very valuable strategic resource for the country led by Donald Trump. The US plan pursues Develop your own supply chain of rare earths with the purpose of eliminating any dependence on the global market of these chemical elements, which is controlled by China. The entry of the Department of Defense in the MP Materials shareholders reflects with absolute how important this mine for the US is from the point of view of national security. What is not yet clear is if it contains the rare earth range and in the right amount to meet the needs of US companies. In any case, with its investment the Pentagon intends to ensure the supply of rare earths to manufacture High power magnets for military applications For at least ten years. Why are rare earths so important to the US and its allies On April 4, just 24 hours after Donald Trump announced the taxes that he was going to apply to the importation of most products from abroad, The administration led by Xi Jinping responded. And he did it forcefully. In early December 2024 He chose to prohibit The export of some critical minerals to the US, among which were three essential metals for the chips industry: Gallium, Germanio and Antimony. Shortly after the Chinese government added two more critical metals to its list of export restrictions: the Scandio and the Disposio. These chemical elements are probably less known than metals prohibited by China previously, such as Gallium or Germanio, but are at least as important as the latter because They have a fundamental role In the industries of integrated circuits, telecommunications and the manufacture of storage devices. Chinese authorities are retaining in ports throughout the country not only rare earths, but also high -power magnets The ability to put pressure from China had not yet been extinguished. Just ten days later, on April 14, the Administration did not hesitate take another step forward With the purpose of putting in check, in addition to the industries that I just mentioned, those of electric cars, aeronautics and advanced armament. To achieve this, it effectively suspended, in addition to the export of the most valuable rare earths, that of high -power magnets that have a critical role in the industries that I have cited in this same paragraph. The Chinese authorities are retaining in the ports throughout the country not only the rare earths, but also the high -power magnets acquired by the electric cars manufacturers of the entire planet, the aerospace companies, the chip factories and Armament companies. Many of these organizations have high -power magnet reserves made with rare earths, but possibly only allow them to subsist a few months. Europe in particular is in an extremely delicate position. China’s export controls are directed mainly to the US, but the old continent It does not remain unscathed. At least for the moment. In fact, in Germany, which as we all know is the heart of the European car industry, There are already experts who assure that if China continues to retain rare earths and electric motors some essential parts of the electric cars production chain will stop in a few weeks. For the European car industry this blow would be very difficult to fit. European companies that are dedicated to the manufacture of semiconductors are also in a very compromised situation. According to Reuters Many European chip production lines They will stop very soon Due to the shortage of crucial supplies, which has led the European Chamber of Commerce to meet with officials of the Ministry of Commerce of China to ask them to allow rare earth supply to European companies that are dedicated to the production of integrated circuits. Image | The Pentagon More information | The Washington Post In Xataka | The US will not be able to contain the technological development of China. Experts from the chips industry forecast it

“Even in a nuclear apocalypse, the earth would be a paradise compared to Mars”

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Elon Musk wants to turn humanity into a multi -purpose species, with Mars as a second home and our “lifeboat”, in the event that a catastrophe occurs on earth. Musk’s vision is the engine after the Starship program, which mobilizes billions of dollars with the aim of building a rocket capable of taking us to the red planet. Adam Becker’s three scenarios Some scientists still do not see clear Elon Musk’s ambition to colonize Mars. And not because the Starship has exploded four times in a row. After all, it is an experimental rocket. “There are many reasons why it is a bad idea,” says astrophysicist Adam Becker. “I do not mean that ‘we will never have the technology to live on Mars’. What I say is that the earth will always be a better option, what happens to the earth.” In a blunt Interview with Rolling StoneBecker doubts some of the “messianic fantasies” of technological oligarchs, starting with Elon Musk’s Martian dream. His argument is as simple as devastating: no matter how bad things are put on our planet, the earth will always be a paradise compared to the icy hell that is Mars. In Becker’s words, Musk’s idea is “one of the most stupid things someone could say.” To illustrate his point, the astrophysicist raises three apocalyptic scenarios: 1) The impact of an asteroid the size of the dipes extinguished. 2) The detonation of all the nuclear weapons of the planet. And 3) the worst possible climate change scenario. “Even then,” he says, “the Earth would remain more habitable. A superficial examination of Mars makes it very clear.” Devastated land vs. Mars as it is Let’s put the data on the table to understand the abysmal difference between a devastated earth planet and the Mars we know today. In order for an environment to be “habitable” for humans without a perfect and autonomous life support technology, basic conditions that we often take for granted are needed. The atmosphere of the Earth would be contaminated, but it would remain dense, rich in nitrogen and oxygen, and with a pressure at the sea of ​​1 bar. On the current Mars, The atmosphere is extremely thin (0.6% that of the Earth) and is composed of 95% by carbon dioxide. It is disappointed and has a pressure on the surface of 0.006 bars, so that liquid water boils instantly (or rather it is sublimated, passing from solid to gas). The Earth’s magnetic field would continue intact, diverting most of the cosmic and solar radiation. The atmosphere, even contaminated, would offer an additional layer. Mars lacks a global magnetic field. Its surface is constantly bombarded with a dose of radiation that becomes lethal for a long -term human. On Mars, the average temperature is -63 ° C. All water is frozen in polar or underground caps. On earth, a nuclear winter or the impact of an asteroid would drastically cool the planet, but the oceans would act as a gigantic thermal regulator. The 1.4 billion cubic kilometers of water would continue here. Contaminated and partially frozen, but accessible and treatable, assuming we had access to some technology. The biosphere would be seriously damaged after a catastrophe, but the land of the earth would contain organic matter and the basic components for life. In addition, there would be geothermal and oceanic shelters, where microbial life would persist although other life forms would have disappeared. Martian soil is toxic. It contains high concentrations of perchlorates, dangerous chemical compounds for human health that complicate agriculture. Can Mars be terraft? Although Spacex renders show a gigantic pressurized base under the surface of Mars, Elon Musk has always fought his vision to the possibility of terrafting the red planet. So we already talk about transport millions of tons of load To build a city inhabited on Martian soil, but of a much more great project. There are many (and very diverse) Ideas to terraphormate Mars, but engineering to Megaescala that would mean any of them presents not a few obstacles. The first step would be to raise the temperature of Mars. The proposals van From nuclear bombs to install gigantic orbital mirrors that concentrate sunlight at the poles. By heating polar caps, water ice and carbon dioxide would sublimize, swelling the atmosphere. In theory, a densest atmosphere would catch more heat, which in turn would release more gas and soil gas. This positive feedback cycle would increase pressure and temperature until water could exist in a liquid state on the Martian surface. However, studies They doubt that Mars has sufficient CO2 To achieve this effect. Even if we could release the entire CO2 accessible in polar caps and trapped in surface minerals, the atmospheric pressure of Mars would only increase to 7% of the thickness of the Earth’s atmosphere. In this context, the affirmation of the astrophysicist Adam Becker charges even more strength. If transforming Mars into a habitable planet is practically impossible, living there would require a Total artificial habitat dependence incredibly complex and vulnerable. The logic dictates that any effort and resource would be better invested in preserving and, if necessary, repair the only life support system that we have and that works perfectly: the planet Earth. In spite of everything, and seeing how the world is going, perhaps a plan B would not be bad, even if it were only for the children of the children of whom they would voluntarily live on a worse planet could return. Images | Spacex In Xataka | An American physicist has found a shortcut to get to Mars in 90 days. It is key to surviving radiation In Xataka | China has just solved two problems for the conquest of Mars: you already know how to turn CO2 into electricity and batteries

No one has managed to reach the mantle of the earth. China has built a ship to do it and, incidentally, extract energy

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The old aspiration of Julio Verne in ‘Journey to the center of the earth’ is still out of our reach, but the explorations under the seabed are increasingly deep. You just have to see the ship that China has just put into service. Meng Xiang. “Dream” in Chinese. A colossal ocean drilling vessel designed and built entirely In the Asian country to pierce the ocean bed descending up to a record distance of 11,000 meters. The objective: penetrate the earth’s crust and reach the mantle, a geological border that until now has only been able to study indirectly, creating new science while exploring new energy sources. A Boat. With 179.8 meters in length and 42,600 tons of displacement, the Meng Xiang is the new largest scientific research vessel in China, which, which consolidated the country’s position as a maritime superpower. Although it will focus on the South China Sea until 2035, the Meng Xiang could operate in any ocean in the world, supporting superstifones and the most extreme maritime conditions. What makes it unique. The true crown jewel is its drilling system: the world’s first hydraulic drilling tower capable of raising up to 907 tons with a double purpose: Perform oil and gas exploration perforationsand at the same time, take samples of geological nuclei for scientific research. Your ability to pierce 11 kilometers will allow you, for the first time, to obtain direct samples of this transition zone. The goal reminds the historical “Mohole Project” of the United States In the 60s, which although he laid the foundations for oceanic drilling, he never achieved his final objective. The new Chinese ship has the technology to get it. The unexplored border. Since the seismologist Croata Andrija Mohorovičić discovered it in 1909, “Moho discontinuity” It has been one of the most coveted borders by geology. It is the limit where the earthly, lighter cortex gives way to the much densest rocks of the mantle. Until now, our knowledge about this crucial layer comes from seismic data and the analysis of minerals expelled by volcanoes. China intends to kill two birds with an unprecedented scientific mission that, in turn, will expand its extractive capacity. What can find down there? In addition to oil, gas hydrates: a vast source of potential energy trapped in the seabed at great depths and low temperatures. Mastering his extraction could redefine the global energy map, in which China wants to be in the lead. Image | Xinhua In Xataka | In China there are scratching size ships sailing thousands of kilometers from the sea. All thanks to your cranes

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