planet

Taiwan believes having found the mythical planet 9 of the Solar System. Instead of looking for his light, he has been looking for his heat

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The countless frustrated attempts to find planet 9, a hypothetical giant gas in the confines of our solar system, have aroused the ingenuity of some Taiwanese scientists. Short. For years, astronomers have swept the sky in search of the weak reflection of sunlight that should get to us from planet 9, a demonstratedly ineffective task. Now, a team of researchers has changed the rules of the game with an ingenious idea: instead of looking for it, they have tried to detect their heat. Well, they have found two very promising candidates. Context. Beyond the orbit of Neptune, in an icy and dark region known as the Kuiper belt, the orbits of several objects seem to be grouped in a way that challenges chance. The trajectories of these transneptunian objects (TNos) align as if an invisible hand were guiding them. The most accepted hypothesis to explain this behavior is the existence of an unknown massive planet, the planet 9. Of existing, this distant world would have a mass of between five and ten times that of the earth. The problem is that it would be more than 400 astronomical units, so its light would be incredibly dim. To put it in perspective, Neptune is “only” 30 UA or 4,496 million kilometers. If we can’t see it, maybe we can feel its heat. A team from the National University Tsing Hua in Taiwan believes to have the strongest track in years on the real existence of the most wanted object in our neighborhood. The results of their study are not final, but they reach two promising candidates. Every object with a temperature above absolute zero emits thermal radiation, that is, heat. But while the light decreases with the distance following a relationship of the inverse of the fourth power (1/d4), the heat only decreases with the square of the distance (1/d2). This abysmal difference is the argument used by researchers to focus their search on the heat signature of planet 9. A needle in a haystack. The team resorted to the data of the Akari Space Telescope of Japan. Throwed in 2006, Akari dedicated his useful life to sweeping the full sky in distant infrared light, the perfect range to detect the thermal brightness of the planet 9. And he did it from space, without the interference of the Earth’s atmosphere. Astronomers set out from a list of unprocessed Disssdl detections: more than 5.2 million signals with many false positives. After limiting the search zone, eliminating known objects, filtering sources contaminated by galactic dust clouds and excluding static objects, which seem to be at the same point in observations separated by months, the list was reduced to 393 candidates. Of 393 candidates for two. He touched his hands dirty. The investigators visually inspected the images of the 393 candidates. They ruled out weak detections, artifacts at the edges of the sensor and, above all, the impacts of cosmic rays that can be perceived as a specific source of heat. After this thorough process, there were only two candidates. Two heat points that appeared where planet 9 was expected, had the predicted brightness for the theory and showed the expected movement: they were detected in the same place in a period of 24 hours, but there was no trace of them in the same place six months later. All to demonstrate. The two candidates were baptized as FISSDL J0250422-15011 and FISSDL J0301112-164240. But to verify if these two heat points are really a single object moving in an orbit compatible with planet 9 will need new observations in visible light, with sufficiently powerful telescopes to detect its weak optical brightness and measure its movement with precision. If confirmed, the discovery would not only solve one of the greatest mysteries of modern astronomy, but would revolutionize our understanding about how our own system was formed and evolved. Everything is to be demonstrated, but at least we have a hot trail to continue hunting. Image | ESA, Hubble, M. Kornmesser, CC By 4.0

His response was the largest underground nuclear base on the planet

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Talking about the cold war is talking about espionage, secret bases, Advanced weapons to win the opponent in a potential armed conflict and, above all, the Atomic Arsenal Explosion And constant fear of Nuclear Apocalypse. And this implies talking about Russia and the US as protagonists, leaving us in the inkwell to other actors in the conflict. China was another proper name during the Cold War, getting fully into the nuclear race. And they did it big. With the world’s largest nuclear military plant, the mysterious nuclear military plant 816. Bad crumbs with the USSR. The cold war was a tremendously complicated conflict that was played three bands part of time. The US and the USSR were two of the legs, but China entered Liza when the Sino-Soviet conflict. Simplifying history, the Soviet Union And China competed for being the champions of communism and, at a time of 1969, the Soviet Union even considered bombing China with nuclear bombs, including Beijing. However, United States “intervened“, Turning the conflict and relations with China. The position of both approached the subsequent years, but before that, and with a China smelling that the USSR could threaten with its nuclear arsenal, began to build the Nuclear Military Plant 816. Great Nuclear Wall. Zhou enlaiChinese prime minister at that time, he responded to the Sino-Soviet rupture giving the Output gun to a military base in the Chongqing region that would be much more than a bunker: it would become the Nuclear underground installation most important in the country. The goal? Produce plutonium that could be installed in arms, creating nuclear missiles without Soviet help. The works began in 1966 and in process more than 60,000 soldiers of the popular liberation army participated. The objective of the installation was that he was armored against missile attacks, but also against earthquakes of magnitude 8. In addition, he had a great natural wall around him: the Jinzi mountain and his granite. Colossal. Secretism was a constant when building the complex. This is something common and logical in this type of facilities, reaching the extreme that the workers of the workers did not know what their relatives were working or where. In the official records it is indicated that 76 people died during some works that extended over 17 years, but there are sources They point out that the figure would be much greater. Apart, the nuclear military plant 816 has an area of ​​more than 104,000 m² and is the largest tunnel system excavated by the human being. Its 130 galleries total more than 20 kilometers long over 18 United Artificial Cuevas, has more than 13 levels and the height to the deepest point is almost 80 meters, similar to a 25 -story building. In addition, to go from some sites to others inside the plant, cars that circulated on underground roads could be used. That is … it’s huge The control table The reactor room Reverse. During the years of construction, China made Advances in its nuclear program. Although it has been more recent when they officially reached The 500 headsthe first public nuclear test in the country was in 1964, but the complex of the 816 Pedish served little. The reason? After 17 years building that colossal cavernary system and with the advances at 85%, they decided to cancel it. The changes in international relations and the dimensioning tension of the cold war led to a brake on the project. The reactor was never operational and the program was classified in 1984. In 2002, however, it came to light and we could know all these details, even knowing that part of the plant was recycled to become In a fertilizer factory. Tourists, welcome. But with all that excavated, it would be nonsense to have it closed to lime and song. Something like that must have thought of authorities, since, in 2010, they decided open part of the base to the public. Thanks to this we can see photographs like those that accompany these lines and know How would the conditions of a base destined to manufacture nuclear missiles in China 60 years ago. And, in addition to serving as a museum, it is a memorial for the human sacrifices of those who participated in the project, they were official … or those that do not appear in the records. Images | 重庆轨交 18, Iswzo, Lastrik, Pierre Marshall In Xataka | Satellite images leave no doubt: the US has restored the base of the Pacific that launched atomic bombardment over Japan

9 kilometers of water keep the planet in suspense

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The tension climbing Between Iran and the US it has had a peculiar effect: it has led to half the world (and the other medium too) to look at a tiny navigable channel located in the Middle East, the Ormuz narrow. In view of the satellite it does not seem much, a narrow sea language that connects the Persian and Oman Gulf, but in practice it is a strategic artery for the world’s fuel traffic. Every day dozens of metaneros and oil companies navigate. Now Tehran considers to close it as punishment to US attack against its nuclear baseswhat would put Above up The oil market. What is the Ormuz Strait? A strategic channel for global hydrocarbons transport. A “critical point of oil strangulation “. And a tiny corner of the Map of the Middle East who today look carefully at the economists and leaders of half everyone. Ormuz is a narrow navigable between Oman and Iran that joins the Persian and Oman golves, which in practice makes him an artery for traffic with the Arabic sea. A Fast look The map arrives to understand two characteristics of Ormuz, both interrelated. The first is its narrow geography. At its closest point the channel measures only 33 km wide, although the navigation zone is even smaller: the two reservations for the passage of oil companies barely reach Three kilometers Each one and are separated by a damping zone with a similar width. Hence The Wall Street Journal point out that world markets are really pending a strip of nine kilometers. Why is it important? Because dozens of huge ships loaded with crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) that drives the economies of world world powers, including China, are going through these routes, including China, including China, including China, including China, including China, The biggest buyer of Iranian oil. The data speak for themselves. The Vortexa firm Calculate That between the beginning of 2022 and last month every day they flowed through the narrow millions of barrels of oil (between 17.8 and 20.8) of different types, which means that the Ormuz Strait channels the fifth part of the world consumption of crude oil. And that is just oil. There are those who calculate that Something more than 20% From the metaneros ships that navigate the world pass through that narrow channel that Iran and Oman separates. The firm Lloys List has thrown accounts and calculates that every day they transit about 15 million barrels of crude oil, 2.5 million barrels of products, 20% of liquefied natural gas and one third of Liquefied oil gas. AND It is then distributed by the world, with a special impact on Asian economies. The AEI assures that 84% of crude and 83% of the LNG that passed last year through the Ormuz Strait ended in Asia markets. Why is it news? Because the stability of the channel is on the tightrope. After Washington Atacase the weekend Three Nuclear Bases of Iran, the world now expects Tehran’s response and among its possible movements is the blockade of the Ormuz Strait, which would submit to the fuel market (and by extension to the global economy) to strong pressure. How is probable? That is the million -dollar question: will they really go to close the Strait? Although there are analysts who doubt that Tehran will adopt a measure that would damage their own economy and that of its neighbors, Like Saudi Arabiathe Iranian government has already shown that the idea is on the table. On Saturday the Islamic Advisory Assembly recommended The closure of the channel, although the final decision is not in its hands, but in those of Ali Jamenei. For now, the government has made it clear that they do not rule out taking a step that would tighten the markets and would probably have its reflection in prices. Yesterday the Commander of the Revolutionary Guard insisted in that the closure of Ormuz “is being considered”, and warned: “Iran will make the best decision.” The channel blockade is only one of the options that Tehran would have to respond to US attacks. The analysts They speculate With other options, such as direct attacks on US forces, hitting diplomatic missions or cyber attacks. How would the Strait close? It is not the first time that they will love with tensioning the markets. He did it Already in 2018, in full strip and loosen with Washington for the sanctions to Tehran. TWSJ appointment Naval analysts and operators of the oil sector who remember that the Iranian Navy has been expanding its power in the area thanks to different resources, such as the use of boats capable of attacking objectives. They also talk about the possible use of mines or even the assault of ships from helicopter with the purpose of “retaining them for long periods.” A few years ago, In July 2019the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran already assaulted a British oil tanker in the Ormuz Strait and kept it blocked for months in response to the arrest of one of its ships in Gibraltar. Washington could answer with their war ships, but there are experts, such as Antony Gurnee, former director of the oil sector, who warn that clearing the Strait would take time … with its consequences for the international market, as verified Not long ago In the Red Sea with Hutis attacks. What effects would the closure have? The first would be evident. Qatar, Baréin, Arab Emirates or Kuwait would face serious problems to export their crude. Saudi Arabia could continue to supply a part to the market thanks to its East-West pipelinebut its global export capacity would be strongly affected. Iranian oil would also be harmed, since it uses the same river access road, and would affect one of its great world buyers: China. The threat for Beijing is so serious that Washington already He asked him that intermediate to remove Tehran from the head the possibility of closing Ormuz. Sable noise and … Read more

Something weird is happening with the clouds of the planet. Something that will bring not very pleasant consequences

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Where are the clouds born? The answer to that question can become much more complex than it seems. Because yes, the clouds are formed in the sky, or in the atmosphere, but the layer of gases that surrounds our planet is vast and in it intermingle predictable factors with chaos. Complex and changing. Trying to answer this question, some scientists have encountered an additional problem: the place where the clouds are born It is changing. The area of ​​the earth’s surface in which these clusters arise has moved and has shrunk what has important implications in the climate and weather of the planet. They are the results of two studies published in recent years, The first In August 2024 in the magazine Climate Dynamicsand The second In May of this year in Geophysical Research Letters. Three cloud stripes. The first of the studies observed how the cloud areas located on the oceans of both hemispheres have moved and contracted throughout the last 35 years. The study focused on three zones: one, called Interopical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) located near Ecuador Earth; and the other two located in average latitudes, approximately between parallel and 60 north and south. Through observations of instruments such as the modis (Moderate Resolution Imptotroadiometer) On board the Aqua satellite, the team was able to map the areas of greatest cloudiness as well as their evolution over time. Interpreting the data. According to The US Space Agency explainsNASA, the tormentous clouds that run through our planet are usually forming in the vertices of large -scale atmospheric circulation areas, such as hagley cells, polar and hard -latter cells or average latitude cells. More specifically in the areas where the currents associated with these cells converge and make warm and humid air ascend. In contrast, the convergence areas where currents carry cold and dry air from upper layers of the atmosphere to lower altitudes correspond to the areas where the heavens tend to be more clear. Change in the trend. The study of the clouds gives us clues about the dynamics of these torments of the planet. The responsible team calculated for example that the area contracted between 1.5% and 3% per decade In recent years. As NASA details, the ITCZ ​​narrowed and the tormented areas in average latitudes moved to their respective poles at the same time that they also contracted. In contrast, the subtopics clear areas expanded. More than a matter of color. The most recent of the studies addresses the climatic implications of change in the cloud patterns of the planet. And it is that the climate our “blue marble” depends a lot on the clouds that overshadow the atmosphere and dye it occasionally in white since this layer of clouds depends on the amount of solar energy that reaches us due to the albedo. The clouds reflect the light and therefore the solar energy that reaches the surface of the Earth, so less clouds implies more energy and more heat. According to study estimates, change implies that oceans absorb 0.37 watts per square meter more per decade due to these changes. And climate change? We could fall into the error of assuming that this change explains the tendency towards global warming that we associate with anthropogenic climate change but the truth is that climatic models already incorporate these changes into them. In fact, a previous estimate made by the instruments of Ceres (Clouds and The Earth’s Radiant Energy System) estimated at 0.47 watts per square meter and for decade the increase in solar radiation that the planet receives as a whole. These changes contribute to the “energy imbalance” that implies heating, but they do not explain it for themselves. “These new findings suggest that the loss of oceanic tormented clouds is a key factor in the imbalance,” He explained George Tseliudis to NASAmember of the team responsible for the studies. According to the expert, these changes could also Help explain The anomalo oceanic warming seen a couple of years ago and that caused the North Atlantic to beat numerous temperature records. In Xataka | The clouds are each time a more scarce resource. And some countries are already “to war” for them Image | Michala Garrison, Modis Atmosphere Science Team / Tseliudis et al (2024), Dscovr Epic

This is how the creator of the most complex machine on the planet supports the US pressure

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In 2022 sales of ASML In China they amounted to 2.9 billion euros, which represented 13.8% of its annual sales. At that time Taiwan was a more important market for this company than China. In fact, in 2023 the clients of the island bought this manufacturer lithography equipment For a total value of 8,100 million euros, while its Chinese clients disbursed 7.3 billion euros. And, curiously, in 2024 China consolidated as the largest market for ASML with total sales of 10.2 billion euros. This company of the Netherlands cannot sell its most advanced equipment to its Chinese clients, such as the machines of extreme ultraviolet lithography (UVE) or deep ultraviolet (UVP), but at the moment you can give them the solutions that allow producing chips with mature integration technologies. These are the semiconductors that are mostly used in cars, appliances or electronic devices, among other products, and usually occur in nodes of 28 nm or less advanced. ASML needs China. And China still needs Asml Christophe Fouquet, the general director of ASML, has a huge challenge ahead. Like his predecessor at the head of this Dutch company, Peter Wennink, he has the obligation to defend the interests of his company. And currently the tension held by the US and China does not make it easy. The sanctions that They have deployed US and the Netherlands They prevent Asml selling Your most advanced lithography teams To its Chinese clients. And neither can some maintenance and after -sales services services provide. In the Netherlands 2024 will be remembered as the year in which the strap between ASML and the Dutch government reached its maximum expression. Christophe Fouquet He is convinced about what US will continue to put pressure on its partners to even more harden the sanctions that seek to stop the development of the Chinese industry of the integrated circuits. In fact, according to the British weekly The Economistthis executive argues that European politicians and regulators should do more to help their company. In 2024 China was consolidated as the largest Asml market with total sales of 10.2 billion euros Anyway, one of the figures in which we have repaired a few lines above gives us a very accurate clue about how ASML is dealing with prohibitions from the US and endorsed by the Netherlands government that could greatly degrade their business. As we have seen, in 2024 China was consolidated as its largest market with total sales of 10,200 million euros. This success is because Chinese manufacturers of integrated circuits have bought A ASML many suitable photolithography equipment to produce mature semiconductors. This Dutch company has much more advanced chips manufacturing machines, such as the UVE and UVP lithography equipment that I have mentioned a few lines above. And also The very complex High Opening Machine which has been designed to optimize the production of integrated circuits Below the 2 nm. As we have seen, ASML cannot deliver these teams to its Chinese clients, but, and this is a very important fact, has the effective monopoly of Uve and Uve Machines of Haute Opening. No other company has the necessary resources to produce such complex equipment. Currently TSMC, Intel, Samsung, Globalfoundries, Micron Technology and Sk Hynix are well building new chips manufacturing plants, they are well expanding some of those they have in operation. In any case, they all have something in common: they are buying the UVE and UVP equipment of ASML. And, in addition, TSMC, Intel and Samsung presumably will acquire for the next three years a large number of UVE Machines of Haute Opening. It is evident that even in the complicated current situation it is difficult to lie to ASML. For now Your business in China enduresand will continue to do it at least until the moment when Chinese lithography manufacturers have their own UVE machines. And outside China Asml has no competition if we stick to its Porpholio of UVE machines. This is your true strength. Image | ASML More information | The New York Times In Xataka | Japan wants to recover leadership as a manufacturer of lithography equipment. And he has a plan to end the Asml monopoly

The most powerful telescope in Europe has seen something rare while observing two brown dwarfs: a perpendicular planet

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Today, in things that we did not know that there were in other star systems: a planet that orbits perpendicular to its two stars. It is as strange as it sounds. A different planet. We have seen everything in the exotic exoplanet gallery that the observable universe offers us, but a new surprise has forced astronomers to readjust their expectations. Using the Vary Large Telescope del Southern European Observatory (ESO) In Chile, astronomers have found the first exoplanet known in a polar orbit around a binary system of stars: two young brown dwarfs. Orbiting at 90 degrees. Baptized as 2m1510 (AB) B, this world has two Tatooine style soles, something extremely common when it comes to more massive stars, but not so much in the case of brown dwarfs. However, what is common is that orbits its two host stars in a way that until now had only theorized: turning perpendicular to them, in a polar orbit of 90 degrees. We sensed that they could exist. Astronomers had already detected planetary training discs in polar orbite and theory suggested that They could form stable planetsBut finding them was another story. 2M1510 (AB) B is the first credible test that this configuration exists. And the most curious thing is that the team was not actively looking for this type of planet, they found it while refining the orbital and physical parameters of the two brown dwarfs, seeing that the path of the two stars was being pushed and pull in unusual ways. It is not a usual system. The planet is not the only rare in this neighborhood, taking into account the host stars. Brown dwarfs are larger than giant giant planets, but too small to maintain nuclear fusion which characterizes the stars “really”. But the rarity does not end there. These brown dwarfs form an eclipsest binary, which means that from Earth we can see how they hide each other. 2M1510 (AB) is an incredibly infrequent system: the second pair of eclipsessing brown dwarfs known to date. With more than 5,800 exoplanets confirmed to date, only about 16 orbit around two stars. That one of them does precisely around a system as atypical as a binary of eclipsessing brown dwarfs, and with a polar orbit, it is a real cosmic jewel. Image | THAT In Xataka | These real images were unthinkable before the Webb Telescope: they are planets orbiting other stars to 130 light years

Paradoxes to save the planet from a private jet or a squeeze of 500 million dollars

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If we ask you that Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk have in common, the most immediate (and obvious) answer, it would probably be: “Millions of dollars” Hundreds of billions of dollarsin fact. However, these millionaires also stand out for their contributions, direct or indirect, to sustainability and to stop climate change. However, despite all their efforts to protect the planet, these millionaires cannot avoid falling into a large paradox: fighting climate change mounted on private jets and supereyates that They cross oceans just for your wealthy owners to enjoy a weekend. Jeff Bezos: red carpets, awards and teak A few days ago, Jeff Bezos and his fiancee Lauren Sánchez Balearic waters changed To address the French Costa as a previous scale To his appointment in Venice, where the millionaire and the eventual astronaut will marry from June 24 to 27. The reason for that stop in Cannes’ waters could not be more noble: to go to the gala that the beneficial gala of The Global Gift Gala that organized the Spanish Global Gift Foundation. At that gala, Lauren Sánchez collected the award Global Gift Women Empowerment Awarein recognition of his work at the head of the Bezos Earth Fund. As its name indicates, this is a foundation funded by Jeff Bezos and, its main objective is, literally“Solve the great current problems, such as climate change, food security, forest protection, ocean management.” Once the recognition for such a laudable task, the millionaire couple returned to the 500 million dollars. None of this would attract attention, taking into account that Jeff Bezos is the second greatest fortune in the world according to Forbes. Jeff Bezos Koru Silhouette with the candles deployed However, as Louis Pisano stands out in One of his latest articlesis that the couple gathered recognition of work in the preservation of the environment and the fight against climate change to, immediately, upload board of a superyate in which, according to its manufacturer recognized Given justice, illegal teak wood of Myanmar forests had been used. Beyond the materials used in its construction, a study revealed that, despite being the world’s largest private sailboat and using the force of the wind to navigate, the Koru It uses two 12 -cylinder and 1,468 hp MTU diesel engines. According to data from A studyMade by researchers from the University of Indian His base in Florida and the Destinations in the Caribbean either The Mediterranean. Jeff Bezos’s schooner sees how emissions double Navigate next to Abeonathe support yacht of the Koruthat does not relieve its emissions displaying candles, but depends 100% of its engines. Bill Gates does not feel “part of the problem” Jeff Bezos is not the only millionaire who incurs this paradox. Bill Gates supports from its Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation different projects that fight against global warming and for the preservation of natural habitats. Gates also supports different energy solutions from its companies looking for an alternative to the fossil fuel burning and has financed projects to develop technologies that capture CO2 of the atmosphere to store it underground. However, although the millionaire is dedicating all his fortune To that end, the millionaire is aware of His “guilty pleasure“: A Global Express BD-700 Bombardier who uses as a private jet for his displacements. His personal friend Warren Buffet baptized Gates’s private jet as indefensible, precisely because of the paradox that means using one of the most polluting means of transport for his displacements. Gates has never hidden his preference for private jet and in a Interview with the BBC I declared: “I feel comfortable with the idea that, not only am I not part of the problem when paying compensation, but also through the billions that my innovative energy group is spending, I am part of the solution,” arguing that the help you can provide with your work that the damage they cause with the CO2 emissions of your private jet is more valuable. Elon Musk, sustainable only at ground level With its commitment to the electric car and the use of solar energy, Tesla has made a big difference in the reduction of CO2 traffic emissions in cities. However, you can’t say the same as its CEO, Elon Musk. According to 2023 data collected by account @Elonjetnextday That analyzes the movements of the private planes of Elon Musk, the millionaire emits about 107 tons of CO2 to the atmosphere every week of average. Together, the Elon Musk’s private jet displacements generated 5,159 tons of CO2 a year, compared to the 7.7 tons that, on averageeach inhabitant broadcasts a year. Without yacht or private jet, of course. In Xataka | Sub -Saharan Africa has something that all developed countries yearn: Carbon credits Image | Oceanco, Blue Origin, Flickr (India government, World Bank Photo Collection)

Good news, the solar system has a new minor planet. Bad news, it’s so far that appears every 25,000 years

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The International Astronomical Union has added a new celestial body to its Minor planet catalog: The Transneptunian object 2017 of201. The solar system has a new member. 2017 of201 has been officially recognized as a minor planet, but has many ballots to end also cataloged as a dwarf planet. This icy world, which orbits much beyond Neptune, in the dark depths of the solar system, was in file data since 2011, but 19 exhibitions were needed over seven years to be able to analyze and classify it as appropriate. What makes this transneptunian object a fascinating world are two things: its incredibly extensive orbit and its considerable size. The new minor planet takes approximately 25,000 years to take a single round to the sun. A distant and not so dwarf planet. At its closest point to our star (the perihelium of its orbit), it approaches about 44.9 astronomical units, a distance similar to that of Pluto. But at its furthest point (its apelium) it ventures to amazing 1,600 UA. To get an idea, Neptune, the planet known more distant to the sun, orbits about 30 UA of our star. The estimates of astronomer Sihao Cheng and his team of Advanced Studies Institute They suggest that 2017 of201 has a diameter of about 700 kilometers. This would place it in the same league as The Dwarf Planet Ceresthe largest object of the asteroid belt (with about 952 km in diameter). In fact, if we judge it for the light that reflects your body, it is the second largest object known In such a wide orbit and eccentric. What if there were others like him? The existence of 2017 of201 suggests that the region of the solar system beyond the Kuiper belt, which was thought relatively empty, I might not be so much. The transneptunian object is currently 90.5, from us. Since it is only detectable for approximately 0.5% of its orbital time, when it is close to its perihelium, there could be hundreds of similar objects, with orbits and similar sizes, waiting to be discovered. This hidden population could add a total mass close to 1% of the dough of the earth, they estimate Cheng and its team. It takes us away from the planet nine. Many extreme transneptunian objects tend to coincide in their perihelium lengths, a phenomenon that some astronomers want to attribute to the gravitational influence of A mass planet not yet discovered: The planet nine. However, the 2017 of201 perihelium length is 306 degrees, which is significantly diverted from the 60 degree group observed in other objects. This orbital peculiarity Challenge the planet models nine. If the planet nine would exist, it would make 2017 of201 expelled from the solar system in relatively short time scales, of hundreds of millions of years, according to the study of IAS. You just lack a name. Already officially member of the Solar System, 2017 of201 is pending to receive a name with more hook. However, its discovery is already providing clues about the origins of the solar system and the dynamics of its most remote confines. What most excites the scientific community is that its discovery was possible thanks to open data, publicly available through the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (Decals) project of the Víctor M. Blanco telescope and the Canada-France-French telescope (CFHT). Image | NASA/JPL-CALTECH, SIHAO CHENG et al. In Xataka | Planet’s definition is wrong, and Pluto is the great victim of that chaos

Japan has found the number of children per woman to avoid demographic extinction. Two thirds of the planet are very far

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A group of researchers in Japan He started studying What number of children by women could be understood as a key to “avoid extinction”, understanding this, not as prevention before a total apocalypse of our civilization, but as the prevention of statistical extinction of the lineages or family lines over time. They found two things: that the number that was presupposed above was very low, and that a large part of the population is late. Beyond the threshold. For decades, the magic number to keep the human population “stable” It has been 2.1: It was believed that, on average, each woman should have just over two children to ensure The generational replacement and avoid population decline. However, a New study warns that this threshold is outdated and insufficient. According to Japanese researchers, the true level of fertility necessary to guarantee the long -term survival of a human population is not 2.1, but of 2.7 children per woman. The reasons? This adjustment is due to the fact that the traditional calculation does not contemplate the Stochastic variability (that is, randomness) in factors such as individual fertility, mortality, sex proportions at birth and the probability that some people simply never have offspring. By incorporating these real fluctuations into population mathematical models (through Galton-Watson Model), The authors concluded that a higher rate is needed for Avoid progressive extinction of family lineages in generations of the future, especially in societies with low sustained birth. Map of when European fertility rates fell below replacement levels Ignored warning. The finding is especially alarming because currently two thirds of the population World Cup lives in countries with fertility rates below the old 2.1 threshold, and well below the new estimated 2.7. Among the most affected, many highly developed, are South Korea (0.87), Italy (1.29), Japan (1.30), Canada (1.47), Germany (1.53), United Kingdom (1.57), France (1.79) or the United States, with a rate of just 1.6 children per woman. These levels, which have remained low for decades, mean that almost all family lines in these countries are intended, statistically, to extinguish at some point in the future. Plus: The study clarifies that A slight bias Towards female births (that is, a slightly greater proportion of girls than boys) could marginally decrease the risk of extinction, increasing the probability of reproduction in future generations. But even that factor, by itself, would not be enough to compensate for a persistently low fertility rate. Map of countries according to global fertility rate Pronatalists Interestingly, this information reinforces the alarms that have sounded from certain sectors concerned about the future demographic. One of the most visible faces of pronatalism contemporary It’s Elon Muskwho has repeatedly warned that the low birth rates “will end civilization” and whose prolific paternity (at least 11 known children) is presented as a deliberate act in this fear. For pronatalists, raising birth rate is a Existential priority. However, this position is not widely shared by the general population. United Nations Population projections by location (the vertical axis is logarithmic and represents millions of people) Social realism. Fortune told that a Population Connection survey carried out at the beginning of the year showed that most people do not consider low birth rate An urgent problem. Only 15% perceived it as one of the main global challenges, while 45% expressed more concern about excessive population growth, given the fear that children are born in poverty conditions or with exhausted natural resources. More perceptions. Another more recent survey, Made by Yahoo News and Yougov revealed that only 8% of Americans were “very concerned” about the fall in the country’s birth rate, and only 32% expressed any degree of concern about it. In the background, another reality that We have been counting: a majority of those who do not have children, or have few, do not do it for apathy towards the future of humanity, but For practical reasons: The lack of institutional support, the loss of life, the high cost of parenting or the perception that the world is not a conducive place to form large families, they are also key. In addition, it generates an increasingly acute contrast between the demographic predictions of experts and the immediate priorities of the population. So? The warning of Japanese researchers seems clear: without a change of course, demographic extinction will be slow but inevitable in many regions of the world. And although the term “extinction” may sound apocalyptic, what is at stake, according to scientists, is not the sudden disappearance of the human species, but the progressive erosion of family and cultural continuity, in a process where future generations will be more scarce, more isolated and, in many cases, non -existent. From that prism, reproducing is more conditioned than ever to social, economic and environmental factors, and the figure of 2.7 children per woman may seem more a demographic utopia than an attainable objective. It does not seem that we are going to extinguish in the short term, at least not through “fertility”, but The study It puts the focus on the population growth to which many regions point out. Image | Pexels, JOHNSONRED, Korakys In Xataka | We thought we were 8,000 million people throughout the planet. Until some researchers began to make numbers In Xataka | In Japan there is no doubt that they live worse than 30 years ago. Literally, houses are getting smaller and smaller

The Curiosity Rover has found its best track so far that Mars was a habitable planet

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NASA’s indefatigable Curiosity Rover has found one of the most forceful evidence until the date of the past habitability of Mars. But also of the fragility of this habitable ecosystem. The finding. Curiosity arrived in Mars on August 6, 2012. Covered with dust and with deteriorated wheelscontinues to put the Gale crater in which he landed. In a stretch of 89 meters of rocky strata, on the slopes of Mount Sharp, a discovery has caught the attention of scientists. According to a study Published in Science magazineX -ray crystallography instruments and Curiosity gas analysis have detected large amounts of siderita, an iron carbonate ore, between sulfate rich rocks. Why it is important. Although I know They had detected carbonates on Marsthis discovery is exceptional for several reasons. First, the abundance of Siderita: it reaches between 4.8 and 10.5% of the weight of three perforated samples, which have been baptized as Tapo Caparo, Ubajara and Sequoia. Second, the purity of the siderita. It is almost pure feco3, with very little magnesium or calcium, which contrasts with other Martian carbonates. Third, its coexistence with highly soluble salts in water: calcium sulfates and magnesium sulfates. All this fits with an ancient evaporation process. What tells us about the old Mars. The formation of this siderite implies that the Martian atmosphere contained sufficient carbon dioxide to dissolve in water and react with the rocks. When precipitating as mineral, the CO2 was kidnapped In the rocks. The Gale crater was a lake that gradually dry out over time, leaving behind these layers of different salts or minerals. The study estimates that recent samples could house between 2.6 and 36 millibars of atmospheric CO2, up to six times the current CO2 pressure on Mars, confirming that There was once an important carbon deposit interacting with surface water, a key requirement for habitability. An incomplete cycle. But the story does not end there. The team found evidence that part of the siderite that formed was subsequently destroyed. A close sample (nicknamed Canaima) lacked a siderite, but contained abundant iron oxyhydroxides. Samples with siderita (tapo caparo, ubajara, sequoia) also contained these oxides in variable quantities. Researchers believe that it is due to a diagenesis process. Subsequent fluids interacted with the rocks, partially dissolving the siderite. This destruction oxidized the iron forming oxihydroxides, and released part of the CO2 previously kidnapped again to the atmosphere. This training cycle (CO2 kidnapping) and partial destruction (CO2 release) constitutes the best evidence so far of a Old carbon cycle on Mars. However, Siderita’s persistence indicates that it was a partial and incomplete cycle: more carbon was kidnapped than was subsequently released, unlike the carbon cycle of planet Earth, which has maintained a greater balance over geological time. A fragile habitability. The discovery reinforces the idea of ​​a habitable primitive Mars with liquid water interacting with a CO2 rich atmosphere until The warm and wet days are over. He tells us that the planet was habitable, but also that habitability is something very fragile. Perhaps a lesson about the climatic stability of our own planet in the face of climate change. Mars, once again, serves as a planetary laboratory to understand the evolution and fragility of the habitable worlds. Image | POT In Xataka | NASA’s Curiosity robot has opened a rock on Mars by accident. A yellow treasure has just revealed

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