planet

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

It was an abandoned nuclear power plant. Now he has a second life as the most silent acoustic laboratory on the planet

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Two gigantic cooling towers of almost 150 meters high flank what clearly seems to be a nuclear power plant in a rural Washington area. It is actually the acoustic laboratory NWAA Labs, one of the most silent buildings on the planet. An abandoned nuclear power plant. The laboratory was built on the vestiges of a pharaonic project that never saw the light, the nuclear washington Projects of Elma. Plants 3 and 5, part of what was intended to be the largest nuclear energy complex in the United States, were abandoned in the 80s without fissting a single atom. Designed to resist all kinds of impacts and earthquakes, the structures would have been extremely expensive to demolish, so the NWAA Labs adapted to them. The reactor is the reverberation chamber, the turbine room is the anecoic chamber and the old reactor control room is the laboratory control room. The facilities, still marked, remain a “disturbing” maze. The ideal facilities. The NWAA Labs is a project by Ron Sauro, an electrical and mechanical engineer formed in Stanford that combined its beginnings in NASA with being the keyboardist of the group The Rivieras, authors of a gold record in 1963. After a life designing sound systems, Sauro saw the unique potential of this nuclear power plant abandoned to bombing proof. The outer structure, with walls of 1.5 meters thick and eight layers of reinforcement bars, is designed to support an earthquake of magnitude 10 and the direct impact of an explosion of 10 megatons on its roof. The interior structure is isolated from the surrounding terrain by a ditch that minimizes the transmission of vibrations and noise. In another ditch within this, a circular and steel circular container is erected, originally intended for the nuclear reactor. The entire installation rests on a sandstone layer of more than 3,000 meters thick. An almost absolute silence. Thanks to these structures, the NWAA Labs presumes to have the two largest reverberation cameras in the world. Salas where the sound bounces up to 28 seconds without absorbent material, which allows to measure the sound power of a source or the absorption capacity of a material. In addition to the reverberation cameras, the laboratory has anechoic cameras designed to absorb sound and simulate a space without reflections. In these rooms, silence is almost absolute. The background noise is -43 dB (below the human hearing threshold). In the old turbine room, 198 meters long by 106 wide by 24 high, the reflections take so long to arrive (more than 160 ms) that do not interfere with some measurements. Who uses this laboratory. The NWAA Labs performs tests for the audio industry. The speakers are 20% of their business: over here more than 3,000 speakers of some 300 professional brands and high fidelity have passed. But it is also offered to other industries, which prove construction materials, acoustic insulation here, and even noisy washing machines or aircraft cabins. The laboratory also attracts musicians, video game and filmmakers, fascinated by their acoustics and post-apocalyptic aesthetics. Image | Walter Siegmund (CC By 2.5)

The largest military base on the planet

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During The cold warthe Soviet Union prepared for “the worst” building a large number of Underground bases and bunkersresistant structures that could face nuclear attacks. In Germany also tell with a large number of these vestiges of war conflicts of the past. In China, since 1980 there is a group in charge in the creation of deep shelters capable of resisting the most powerful western bombs. The team has silently lifting an unpublished work: the largest military bunker on the planet. A vitamin “pentagon. I told it in exclusive the Financial Times through satellite images. China is developing a military complex of monumental proportions on the Western outskirts of Beijing, one that according to American intelligence would work as a War Command Center Designed to house the High Command of the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) in case of conflict, including a eventual nuclear war. The site, informally nicknamed by analysts as “Beijing Military City”it covers about 1,500 hectares (ten times bigger that the Pentagon) and is approximately 30 kilometers from the center of the capital. Satellite images, analyzed by US agencies, show deep excavations and intense construction activity, suggesting the creation of a network of underground facilities strongly reinforced and connected by tunnels, capable of resisting attacks, even with nuclear weapons. Xi Jinping’s plans. The beginning of the works, detected in mid -2024coincides with the EPL preparations for the centenary of its foundation in 2027, date for which President Xi Jinping has ordered that the armed forces develop sufficient capacity to take Taiwan. The Nuclear Arsenal Expansionthe improvement in the integration between EPL branches and the impulse of new weapons systems are part of this modernization strategy. In fact, experts Like Dennis Wilderformer head of analysis of China in the CIA, interpret the new bunker as a clear sign of China’s intentions, not only to consolidate a conventional first level force, but also to strengthen their abilities for a nuclear war. Colosal bunker, absolute secretism. The FT had that more than 100 cranes operate simultaneously in an area of ​​five square kilometers, and according to the Former Image Analyst Renny Babiarzthe infrastructure includes underground facilities connected by hidden passages. The site completely lacks common elements in civil real estate projects, such as exhibition rooms or official mentions on the Internet, which further evidences its military character. In fact, and although there is no visible military presence, there are multiple signs that They prohibit the use of drones or photography, access controls with guards and restrictions to pass through nearby tourist areas, which have been declared “Military Areas” by local residents. Start of excavations in 2024 Echoes of the Cold War. We said it at the beginning. The characteristics of the site remind the Soviet underground bases of the Cold War, and reflect the influence of engineers Like Qian Qihupioneer in the development of resistant structures to nuclear attacks after their training at the former Military Engineering Academy of Kuybyshev in the USSR. Counted on Asian Times That at least since the 1980s, Qian and his team have worked on the creation of deep shelters capable of resisting extremely powerful bombs, such as the American GBU-57A/B.capable of crossing up to 200 meters. Strategic ambition. For their part, US officials point out that the new complex would replace the current center EPL command in the Western hillsbuilt during the Cold War and already considered obsolete for contemporary security standards. The new installation would not only increase the protection of the high command against American penetration weapons, but also allow Integrate advanced communications and have space for future military capabilities. In other words, the dimensions of the complex and its partially buried characteristics point to a unique purpose: to be the main operations center China strategic in case of war. Power symbol. Researchers and analysts also agree that the project presents all the typical signals of a highly sensitive military installation, such as the Use of reinforced concrete and one Network of tunnels deep. In this regard, a Chinese researcher accessed that his size, leaving the Pentagon in “tiny” XI JINPING ambitions for overcoming the United States in strategic capacity. Plus: construction coincides with a transformation process Urbanistic of the surroundings of Beijing, in which homes have demolished in areas such as Qinglonghu, feeding speculation about the nature of the project in Chinese social networks. Precedents China already has military underground facilities, such as Command Center in Xishansouthwest of Beijing, located 100 meters deep, from where EPL maneuvers are directed since 2013. In 2018, researchers identified A karst cave In Xishan’s forest park, with an estimated depth of 2,000 meters and its own water source, an enclave with the potential for the location of a nuclear bunker. That cave is considered comparable in depth to the famous Krubera in Georgiawhich suggests that, in addition to the monumental work, the EPL is exploring reinforced natural locations for future strategic facilities. Background: Taiwan. Impossible to ignore the island. Sources close to the Taiwan Ministry of Defense They have suggested to FT That the EPL is building a new command center, although some experts question the suitability of the ground for underground bunkers. Thus, given the size of the site, it is speculated that it could also house a high -level administrative installation or a large -scale training base. HSU YEN-CHI, INVESTIGIC AND WARGAMING STUDIES IN TAIPÉI, researcher on Talegic and Wargaming, He underlined that the land far exceeds the dimensions of an ordinary military base, which reinforces the hypothesis that the site has a strategic purpose much greater. Official silence. What seems clear about the images is that we are facing a pharaonic work in times of war. Officially, neither the Office of the United States National Intelligence Director nor the Chinese Embassy in Washington offered more comments on the project to the Financial Times. And while Washington carefully observes the progress of the works, Beijing is limited to insisting on its commitment to a defensive policy and peaceful development. However, the scale, secrecy … Read more

Astronauts have become very different from space after a long period outside the planet

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In June 2024, NASA Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams arrived at the International Space Station for a mission of 8 to 10 days. However, the Starlliner ship problems They delayed their return Until March 2025286 days later. What began as a short stay became more than nine months of microgravity, which It can have deep effects In the body of astronauts: muscle atrophy, loss of bone density, cardiovascular alterations, vision and stress problems. This was its appearance before being thrown into the space in the Starliner ship: And this is its appearance when returning in the Crew Dragon ship that rescued them: Decades of aging Both NASA Like ESA They have studied in depth the effects of exposure to space and microgravity on the human body. One of the most common is the loss of muscle and bone mass. In the International Space Station there is no severity that forces the muscles and bones to work to sustain the body, so the tissues begin to weaken due to disuse. Astronauts lose about 1% bone mineral density for each month that pass in space. Their muscles, especially those of the legs and back, end up atrophy, hence they have trouble standing after landing on earth. To mitigate this effect, the ISS crew are subjected to railway routines: two hours a day on the running tape, static bicycle or resistance exercises. But it is not enough: a study published in Scientific Reports revealed that a stay of more than six months in space can cause bone losses equivalent to decades of aging on Earth. It is common for astronauts to have a greater risk of fractures due to the lower resistance of their bones, as if they were elderly. For Butch and Suni, with an expected bone loss of 9-10%, NASA has established An intensive 45 -day physical rehabilitation program. Even so, for many astronauts the recovery is incomplete even one year after returning. It is lacking two to four years for the muscles of a person to fully recover their original strength after a prolonged mission. Effects of microgravity Upon floating, body fluids are redistributed to the upper body, since gravity does not throw them towards the feet. This causes the swollen face feature seen in astronauts aboard the ISS. But it also has internal consequences: the body interprets that there is excess fluid and reduces total blood volume. With less blood volume and without the need to pump against gravity, the cardiovascular system relaxes. The heart can lose weight of its muscle walls and blood pressure tends to fall. Upon returning to the ground, this adjustment sometimes cause dizziness or even fainting (orthostatic hypotension), since gravity takes the blood again to the legs, and the bodyIt takes time to fall. Astronauts often use special compression suits or increase fluid and salt intake before the reentry to minimize these symptoms. Even so, it is common for them to remain seated, as happened with Butch and Suni when you get off the Crew Dragon, waiting for your body to be rebuilt. Another important physical effect discovered in the last decades of space exploration It is the so-called neuro-ocular syndrome associated with space flights (Sans). Without gravitational attraction, the displacement of fluids to the head can increase intracranial pressure, which in turn slightly deforms eye balloons and compresses the optic nerve. Many astronauts in prolonged stays report changes in their visual acuity: they can develop temporary farsightedness (difficulty seeing closely), which means that their eyes change under internal pressure. In long -term missions, More than 70% of astronauts They have come to suffer Sans. NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly, who spent a year in space and then be compared to his twin brother Markdeveloped an edema of the optic nerve and changes in the retina. Prolonged ungrampidity and the closed environment of the ISS also They affect the immune system of astronautscausing changes in the distribution of white blood cells and in the Expression of certain immune genes In response to the extreme environment. Paradoxically, living in the sterilized environment of ISS can weaken the immune response over time: by not exposing yourself to so many everyday pathogens, the immune system lowers the guard. Cutaneous eruptions, allergies and even reactivation of latent viruses (such as herpes) have been observed due to the decrease in defenses. Radiation and nine months of stress At the same time, prolonged missions astronauts accumulate significant exposure to Solar radiation and cosmic raysnot having the atmosphere as a protective shield. However, a nine -month stay is within the acceptable limits of NASA, since the ISS orbit the Earth only 400 km of altitude. Cell damage It will be a much greater problem In future long -term space flights to the moon and Mars. More worrying are the Psychological effects of prolonged confinement in a space station that orbits the earth 16 times a day. The schedules are not a problem because the ISS follows a strict time routine with the time of the Greenwich meridian. But the lack of natural cycles of light and dark can alter biological rhythms, cause sleep deprivation or reduce cognitive performance. In the end, what can happen more invoice is the psychological experience of being working in a confined environment, far from the family and with a handful of classmates from different countries. In the case of Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, this situation was aggravated by uncertainty: its mission was extended due to technical problems, for a long time without a clear return date. Hence Wilmore’s daughter will mention stress Like a problem. The good news is that most body changes in space are not permanent. Approximately 95% of physiological alterations return to normal in the weeks after return. Astronauts typically recover their balance and ability to walk in a few days, fluid distribution is rapidly normalized and sleep disorders tend to improve by reestablishing terrestrial cycles. As for psychological sequelae, career astronauts are chosen for their predisposition to be rendered under … Read more

We thought we were 8,000 million people throughout the planet. Until some researchers began to make numbers

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In November 2022, the UN celebrated that we were already 8,000 million humans on earth. They are estimates, of course, but beyond the figure, the really interesting thing is that in 2023 We do not reach the replacement rate and that humanity will reach its peak at the end of the century to, irremediably, Start falling. But … to what extent can we trust those accounts? It is something that takes time on the table, and now a study It arrives to add more spicy when we affirmed that we have been making it counting. So much that we have left several hundred million people along the way. Can we trust the numbers? “Calculating the number of people on the planet is an inaccurate science.” That was the comment of demographer Jakub Bijak a BBC In the middle of last year, just when the Study of world population perspectives. Something scientific is something exact, but the researcher also commented that the only thing that can be sure when predicting population figures is of the lack of certainty. That, eye, does not mean that demographers get the figures out of nowhere. “It is something difficult based on our experience, knowledge and each piece of information we have,” said Toshiko Kanera, an expert in demographic forecasts. The demographers drink from the data and trends of each country since 1950, but … what if it had not been well told? We are missing millions. In a new study published in Natureresearchers from the University of Aalto in Finland show how the data sets that demographers manage to “deep and systematic” the population figures worldwide. The serious thing is that we would be talking about hundreds of millions more people living on earth. Example of the tools that demographers use in their analysis. Each corresponds to a different bias The rural areas. Josias Láng-Rritter is one of the investigators in charge of the study and points to the accounts made in a specific segment: that of the rural population. “For the first time, our study provides evidence that a significant proportion of the rural population could be absent in the data sets of the global population,” he says. As we say, we don’t talk about a few million, but thousands of millions. “Depending on the data set used, rural populations have been underestimated between 53% and 84% in the period studied. The results are notable, since these data sets have been used in thousands of studies and have widely supported decision making, but their precision has not been systematically evaluated,” says the researcher. The map shows the location of the 307 rural areas analyzed in the study. It was found that the populations reported in the graph were underestimated between 53% and 84% | University of Aalto Biases. Attempts to review these data are not new, but previous investigations have focused on specific countries or urban areas. The researchers at the University of Aalto have wanted to take a more global photo when comparing the five most used population data sets worldwide. They have used maps that divide the planet into high resolution grids and have taken as a very concrete reference: the resettlement figures of more than 300 rural dams projects in 35 countries. Why this dam bias? Because When a dam is builtthe population that lives in the area that will be flooded is relocated and precise resettlement data is usually had. When comparing this population data from 1975 to 2010, the researchers found that the 2010 maps were more precise, but still omitted between 32% and 77% of the rural population. Between 2015 and 2020 the data sets were updated, but the demographers continue to consider that the underestimation of the rural population continues to exist and is a problem that persists in all regions of the world. Consequences. And we are talking about a problem whose resolution is complex. According to researchers, no matter how much the data is reviewed, it is a structural problem. Governments do not have the resources to collect precise data in these rural regions, there is a huge discrepancy between the real population and the one reported in the population maps that are used to carry out demographic studies and that influences decision making. Average percentage of rural population estimated down (red and orange) and overestimated (blue) | University of Aalto And it is important. Current estimates place 43% of 8,200 million World inhabitants in rural areas -And 3,526 million people- and if we take into account that it is a percentage that has underestimated between 53% and 84%, we are not talking about little population, precisely. And it is essential to know exactly how many we are for a simple reason: the redistribution of resources. No data. The lack of precise demographic records can affect political decision making. Ritter sets the example of social decisions. “In many countries, there may not be enough available data at the national level, so they depend on the global population maps to support their decisions: do we need an asphalted road or a hospital? How much medicine is needed in a specific area? How many people could be affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes or floods?” Making quick accounts, in the best scenario – the 53% deviation in the rural population – we would talk about 1,869 million people who would not have counted. In the worst case, in the 84% not registered, we would talk about 2,962 million people. In Nature’s study, they put an example Paraguay, which in the 2012 census may have left out a quarter of the population. Reviewing the methods. In the analysis of the team, there are countries that come out better than others. They put Finland as an example of reliable data, even in rural regions, because they began bringing digital records of the population 30 years ago. However, in countries in which this conscientious digital registry has taken longer to be implemented due to crisis of any kind, … Read more

There is a potentially habitable planet only 59 light years from Earth. The IAC has just discovered it from the Canary Islands

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Spain has a lot to say in the search for potentially habitable explanets. On this occasion, an international team led by researchers from the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) has discovered a planet in the habitable zone of its star, just 59 light years from Earth. The finding. The newly discovered planet is called GJ 3998 d. It is a superstierra, which means that it is significantly larger than our planet, in this case with a mass six times greater than land. The important thing about GJ 3998 d is that orbits its star Within the “habitable zone”which means that it could have liquid water on its surface, whenever it is a rocky planet like ours. The habitable area. This new exoplanet orbit the GJ 3998which is a red dwarf. This type of star is much smaller and colder than the sun, so the habitable zone is at a lesser distance. GJ 3998 D completes an orbit around its star in approximately 42 days, a sixth part of what lasts a land year. Despite the proximity to the red dwarf, it only receives 20 % more radiation than the earth, which makes it a candidate to house the necessary conditions for life. Neighbors. Another point in favor of this new extrasolar planet is that it is relatively close to us, 59 light years away, which makes it a perfect candidate for more detailed studies in the future. Scientists plan to investigate whether GJ 3998 D has atmosphere and if there are signs of oxygen, which would be a strong indicator of the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. But for this they will have to wait for the future spectrograph Andes of the Extremely large telescope (Elt) of that, who will be able to analyze the composition of his atmosphere. Or to the telescope Exo Life Finder (ELF), currently in development by the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands. A red dwarf galaxy. Red dwarfs are particularly interesting because they are very common in our galaxy. They constitute almost three quarters of all known stars. In addition, its low mass facilitates the detection of planets that orbit around it. GJ 3998 has three known planets: GJ 3998 B, GJ 3998 Cy the newly discovered GJ 3998 d. This discovery was possible thanks to the Hades project, an international initiative that uses the Nazionale Galileo telescope (TNG) at the Rocque de los Muchachos Observatory, in La Palma, to look for planets around small and near stars. Image | Gabriel Pérez Díaz (SMM, IAC) In Xataka | The Webb Telescope has observed a planet so extreme that the clouds are rock and in the cold night 600 ºC ago

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