On Monday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX company officially announced that it has postponed the launch of NASA’s planet-hunter spacecraft. According to a statement from the California-based company, the reason for this was a need to check Falcon 9 rocket’s navigation systems. The scheduled date for the launch of this satellite is on Wednesday now. It’s worth noting that the mission of the $337 million spacecraft is to search for any signs of extraterrestrial life by scanning space for Earth-like planets that are also near-by.

The official name for the spacecraft is the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. According to SpaceX, it’s state is excellent and remains ready to launch at any given time. The company announced the reschedule just two hours before the spacecraft was supposed to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. It is the size of a regular washing machine. It also has the purpose to search the brightest and closest start for signs of dimming. This usually means that planets are orbiting them. NASA explained that they are hoping to reveal 20,000 never-before-seen exoplanets, thanks to TESS.

SpaceX has postponed the launch of the TESS mission

If the spacecraft will indeed make these discoveries, they will be further analyzed by telescopes both on ground and space-based. They will search for any indications that life might exist on those planets. Things like rocky terrain, the distance from their sun and the size which should be similar to the Earth’s, are all good indicators.

NASA’s prediction is that TESS can find about 50 planets of the size of our own. Moreover, 500 more planets about twice the size of the Earth. NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope is TESS’s predecessor, which was launched back in 2009. In comparison, the upcoming mission will survey a lot more cosmic terrain with the hope of finding that we are indeed not along in the universe.

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It seems that the Atlantic Ocean, the second largest one on Earth, is slowing down. More precisely, it’s water current is slowing down, according to a recently-published study in the journal Nature. The current in the Atlantic is actually the exchange of warmer water from the north and cold water from the south. This exchange regulates the flux of heat and the global climate. This is the reason why experts call it the conveyor belt of the ocean. However, thanks to this recent study, it seems that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is slowing down.

Actually, it’s worth noting that now it is at its lowest in 1,000 years. Jon Robson, one of the study’s authors, says that the last 100 years were the lowest in terms of speed in comparison with the last few thousands of years. According to Robson, the formation of dense water might be one of the causes of this phenomenon. However, this might not be the answer because the fresh water from the melting ice is not actually too dense. This makes overturning a problem. When it elongates, fresh water can shut down the AMOC completely.

Atlantic Ocean current, the slowest in 1,000 years

This got scientists worried because is the exact same scenarios as that of the movie The Day After Tomorrow, from 2004. Still, if that were to indeed happen, it would not be as catastrophic as in the movie. Actually, Robson says that such an event took place during the last ice age. This means that it can happen in the future too.

In order to reach their results, the team of experts analyzed the ocean floor sediments and how they are shifted by the AMOC. In a separate study, another team used some computer models and found out that the AMOC has slowed down by 15% over the past century. Now, the team is searching for the moment when the AMOC will slow down quickly and possibly cause catastrophic events, like another ice age.

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While conducting a survey for supernovas, which are the explosions that end a star’s life, scientists discovered a series of 72 mysterious cosmic flashes of light. Their brightness was similar to that of a supernova, but they evolved a lot quicker, making their nature a mystery for experts too. These flashes reportedly appeared in the Dark Energy Survey Supernova Program, which uses a very large camera on a telescope, located at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in the Chilean Andes.

The program has the aim to help reveal the nature of dark energy by making measurements of the expansion of the universe. It surveys the sky and captures images of static or changing events such as supernovas. After that, scientists analyze the results and come up with theories. According to lead author Miika Pursiainen, this survey exists only to make experts understand where dark energy comes from. However, it can also reveal certain unexpected events, like the 72 cosmic flashes that are so mysterious. Recently, the team presented their discovery at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science conference in the United Kingdom.

The mysterious 72 cosmic flashes of light

The new phenomena that the experts spotted has a maximum brightness that is similar to different types of supernovae. However, they can be seen for shorter periods of time, from a week to a month. These 72 flashes of light are very hot, from 18,000 to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit. They are also very big, up to 9.3 billion miles in width.

When it comes to astronomers, they are still uncertain about how these episodes actually occur. There is a theory. Certain stars shed some material before exploding into supernovas. In some cases, parts of that material envelop exploding stars. The energy from the supernova then heats the surrounding material making experts see only the illuminated envelope, and not the star. However, the team needs to conduct further research to confirm that this is indeed the case.

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According to geologists, Africa might eventually split into two separate continents, even if it will take tens of millions of years. It’s not like experts were not aware that this would eventually happen, but things became even clearer when a large rift, stretching over a few miles, appeared in southwestern Kenya after a heavy rain. What’s even more worrying is that the huge tear keeps on growing and even collapsed a part of a highway. Moreover, seismic activity reportedly accompanied its appearance in that area.

The region where the crack made its appearance is called the East African Rift Valley. It’s more than 50 feet deep and 65 feet across. A rift valley gets its name from the fact that there is usually a lowland region there where tectonic plates move apart or even rift. This valley actually splits the African continent into two unequal parts. The Somali plate is the smaller one while the Nubian plate is much larger in size. At one point in the future, this rift will cause Africa to split into two separate parts, forming two new continents with the smaller one including Somalia and parts of Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Africa will eventually split into two continents

A crack that opened up in Kenya’s Rift Valley, damaging a section of the Narok-Nairobi highway, is still growing… pic.twitter.com/T5YocDauYj

— BBC (@BBC) March 26, 2018

According to geologists, a similar rift once separated Africa and South America from the Atlantic Ocean. There is a very high possibility that the rift in eastern Africa might grow to do the almost same thing with the continent. However, this process happens very slowly and can take up to millions of years until something significant happens.

Usually, dramatic events like huge earthquakes can make this process happen quicker than usual. However, most probably, this new rift will do its job and split Africa without anyone even noticing until it’s done. It will take a while, but eventually, it will happen.

So this will happen in the next 50M yrs. Can’t wait pic.twitter.com/g2uogxK9or

— K!M ??™ (@Nel_kimz) March 20, 2018

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Thanks to a new study which the journal Nature Geoscience recently published, researchers now know a lot more about the area where Antarctica is giving up ground to the ocean. Some of its largest glaciers are slowly eaten away by the warm water underneath which makes them melt. In order to reach this conclusion, researchers used Europe’s Cryosat radar spacecraft and successfully traced the movement of the grounding lines around the continent. These are exactly the places where the part of the glaciers that come from the land begin floating.

According to the new study, there is a seafloor area the size of Greater London that was previously attached to the ice. Now, it is completely free. Dr. Hannes Konrad says that thanks to the Cryosat, the researchers are now able to put the movement of those retreating glaciers in context. This method does require a lot of data. However, researchers are now able to build a service which can monitor the edges of the continent and their state non-stop. It’s more about the process of reaching the end, and not the conclusion itself, which is quite simple.

Researchers now know more about Antarctica’s state

It’s worth noting that seen from above, the grounding lines and their position is not always that obvious. This is because glaciers are extremely thick. To see the precise spot where they begin to float is almost impossible. However, Dr. Konrad and his team have done something else. They gathered these positions and combined the data with what they knew about the rock bed and the changes in the surface of the glaciers.

Thanks to this technique, they now have three times the data they previously covered. Unfortunately, the Thwaites Glacier is not in a very good state, while the Pine Island Glacier is stabilized for now.

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According to a new study which the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently published, early Earth’s climate was not extreme, as previously thought. Instead, it seems that it was almost the same as it is now. This research is interesting because it contradicts the general idea that early Earth’s climate was either extremely cold or extremely hot. According to the researchers from the University of Washington who conducted this study, theories regarding the temperatures during that period can still vary. However, their simulations regarding the temperature of early Earth suggest that back then, the average temperature was the same.

It’s worth noting that many other studies have claimed that during the Archean period, which was 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, the temperature was very low. Almost as low as -25 degrees Celsius or -13 degrees Fahrenheit. What’s even more interesting is that other studies have said that the temperatures were as high as 85 degrees Celsius or 185 degrees Fahrenheit. This means the exact opposite. This new study contradicts both theories.

Early Earth’s climate was not as extreme as previously thought

It seems that the temperatures on the earliest version of our planet were actually more moderate than previously believed. The range of temperatures was reportedly between 0 to 50 degrees Celsius (32 to 122 degrees Fahrenheit). When it comes to the cause of these temperatures, experts think that it was because of the weathering feedbacks. They were the ones keeping the climate habitable.

The team of experts was very surprised about this finding, especially considering what prior studies said. Most importantly, this discovery could help in the search for alien life. It suggests that planets in the habitable zone might have a stabile climate and therefore, support life. As for the weathering feedbacks, they could exist on other planets too, in the same forms.

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Recently, a steam of scientists has discovered that the universe should not even exist. This is extremely shocking, especially considering the fact that, as everyone knows and feels, we do exist. So, what actually happened? Well, the details behind this amazing discovery are indeed fascinating and should make people ask a lot of questions about the nature of reality as we know it. The project called The Majorana Demonstrator is what eventually made experts ask some questions. It all began when they place 65 pounds of germanium, a rare isotope, a mile underground, in an abandoned mine and South Dakota.

The next step was to cool down this isotope at extremely low temperatures. The bottom line is that the Majorana Demonstrator could help us crack the mystery of our existence and establish whether or not the Standard Model of physics is correct. According to the Standard Model, all matter in the universe has an equal amount of antimatter. The problem is that antimatter is yet to be discovered. This is why experts have turned to neutrinos for help. They are created when an atom decays and can pass through an entire planet without slowing down.

The mystery of antimatter

This is the reason why scientists think that neutrinos might actually be their own antimatter article. The next step is to prove that this is indeed the case. Should that be done, our understanding of physics could be forever changed. Neutrinos are extremely important because they are all over the world as one of the essential ingredients of the universe. This is why experts think that they could be the key to understanding the nature of our existence.

It is still a mystery why these massless particles exist in the first place. The Majorana Demonstrator project could finally provide an answer to this riddle that has been bugging scientists since the beginning of time.

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The recent craze regarding the falling Chinese space station called Tiangong-1 doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. And this is mostly because it is expected to crash back to Earth sometime between March 31 and April 1^st. However, experts are saying that it may fall down on our planet on Easter Sunday. It’s worth mentioning that this target has a 16-hour error range. So, the space station could begin its final dive into the atmosphere anytime between Saturday and Sunday.

But there is still a big problem regarding Tiangong-1. Engineers and scientists are still not sure about the exact landing site of the space station. Part of the reason why this is still a mystery is because the station is the size of a school bus. Also, it is tumbling as it falls. This makes it almost impossible to predict exactly where it will crash on Earth. According to Roger Thompson, a senior engineering specialist with Aerospace Corp., the space station is indeed tumbling but the orientation is still a big mystery. They reportedly used U.S. Air Force radar data and telescope observations in order to confirm this theory.

Tiangong-1 to crash back to Earth on Easter

It’s worth mentioning that Tiangong-1 was launched back in September 2011. Its initial purpose was to test some docking systems. Also, technology that was crucial for the construction of a larger space station sometime in the 2020s. China’s unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft visited it back in November 2011, and other two crewed missions did the same thing in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

However, in March 2016, the space station interrupted any communication with the mission control center in Beijing. After that, the China Manned Space Engineering Office declared its mission over. Since then, Tiangong-1 has been floating through space aimlessly. Now, experts are expecting it to crash somewhere between the border of South Dakota and Nebraska in the north, and Tasmania in the south.

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According to a paper that the journal Nature Communications recently published, a team of archaeologists has discovered some ancient settlements. What’s even more interesting is that it was previously thought that this particular part of the Amazon rainforests was uninhabited. For years, experts have assumed that these ancient communities liked to live near the major rivers. However, this discovery proves that idea wrong. According to the new study, these areas once contained villages that up to one million people called home. Different communities that spoke different languages once lived there.

Thanks to this discovery of settlements away from the water, a huge gap in the Amazon history has now been filled. The rainforest was not untouched but instead, heavily influenced by humans and their activities like building or farming. According to the study’s lead author Jonas Gregorio de Souza, they first found the sites of the settlements through satellite. Deforestation revealed these areas which offered proof of ancient human activity thanks to the earth platforms, earthworks, and sunken roads. It suddenly became crystal clear that people once lived there.

People once roamed the Amazon rainforests

After identifying the settlements, de Souza and his team checked 24 of them. They discovered archaeological sites full of ceramic fragments, fertile earth and stone axes. Those represented even more proof of human presence in the area. One of those sites, Boa Vista,contains a number of 11 earth mounds and a ditch. However, the settlements once were probably full of houses surrounding a central square. The people were also probably growing trees for fruits and beautiful gardens.

Some of the roads in the area most probably connected the villages. According to De Souza, there may be hundreds of undiscovered such settlements in the Amazon rainforest. Communities were thriving there before the Europeans arrived and changed everything forever.

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According to a new study which the journal PLOS ONE recently published, some 13,000-years old human footprints found on an island off the coast of Canada might be the oldest ever discovered in North America. The authors of the paper are saying that the footprints most likely belong to two adults and a child. They were walking barefoot on clay. Today in that area is the Calvert Island beach, northeast of Vancouver Island. During excavation work that lasted between 2014 and 2016, the team discovered 29 different footprints, says lead author Duncan McLaren.

So, according to the new study, it seems that humans were roaming the Pacific coast of British Columbia about 13,000 years ago. And that about 11,700 years ago, before the end of the last ice age, ice did not cover the land. What’s even more interesting is that this new discovery strengthens another hypothesis. The first humans who arrived in North America came from Asia. They walked on a land corridor that was not covered in ice along the coast and finally arrived in the area that is now British Columbia.

Ancient human footprints strengthen a long-debated hypothesis

It’s worth noting that researchers did not have an easy job discovering these footprints. They wanted to prove that the hypothesis is indeed true. That particular area of Canada is not in the best state. It’s completely covered by dense and thick forests and moreover, only accessible by boat. This is why the team of experts focused on a specific area on Calvert Island for excavations.

At the end of the ice age, in that area, the water was about two meters lower than today. Now, the experts are saying that more excavations could lead to the discovery of even more footprints. Future discoveries could shed some more light on this mysterious part of human history.

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