Cosmic fortress
Why do we exist at all? Why does life flourish on this tiny blue planet suspended in vastness of space? According to a video by the science channel Cosmoknowledge, our existence is not just a random miracle - it is protected and sustained by a remarkable set of cosmic forces quietly working in harmony.The video says that the first of these is the Moon. It orchestrates the tides, influencing life in our oceans. And it silently takes the blow for us, bearing the brunt of countless asteroid strikes that might otherwise have threatened life here.
Further out in the Solar System sits Jupiter, our planetary bodyguard. Massive and majestic, Jupiter's powerful gravity acts as a shield, drawing in or deflecting space debris and rogue asteroids. Without it, Earth could face up to 10,000 times more collisions - any one of which might wipe out life in a heartbeat. Then there is the Sun, the life-giver. Beyond its warmth and light, it generates the heliosphere - a vast, invisible bubble that extends well past Pluto. This bubble deflects deadly cosmic radiation, protecting not just Earth but the entire Solar System. We are wrapped in its embrace, sheltered from the galaxy's harshest energies.Closer still, Earth itself is doing its part. Our magnetic field, always in motion, shields us from solar radiation that could strip away the atmosphere. The ozone layer, too, guards us against ultraviolet rays.Each of these layers - lunar, planetary, solar, magnetic and atmospheric - functions like a rung in a cosmic ladder, holding life aloft. If any one of them were missing or failed in their purpose, we might not be here to contemplate their presence.
The ancient seers taught us to look not just outward but inward - to see the universe as not separate from us but intimately woven into our very existence. We are not alone; we are part of a delicate, celestial balance - living in a fortress of light, motion and grace.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.) Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Worrying cracks hiding behind MG Motor's own 'house of Windsor'
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Economic Times
8 hours ago
- Economic Times
Cosmic fortress
Why do we exist at all? Why does life flourish on this tiny blue planet suspended in vastness of space? According to a video by the science channel Cosmoknowledge, our existence is not just a random miracle - it is protected and sustained by a remarkable set of cosmic forces quietly working in video says that the first of these is the Moon. It orchestrates the tides, influencing life in our oceans. And it silently takes the blow for us, bearing the brunt of countless asteroid strikes that might otherwise have threatened life here. Further out in the Solar System sits Jupiter, our planetary bodyguard. Massive and majestic, Jupiter's powerful gravity acts as a shield, drawing in or deflecting space debris and rogue asteroids. Without it, Earth could face up to 10,000 times more collisions - any one of which might wipe out life in a heartbeat. Then there is the Sun, the life-giver. Beyond its warmth and light, it generates the heliosphere - a vast, invisible bubble that extends well past Pluto. This bubble deflects deadly cosmic radiation, protecting not just Earth but the entire Solar System. We are wrapped in its embrace, sheltered from the galaxy's harshest still, Earth itself is doing its part. Our magnetic field, always in motion, shields us from solar radiation that could strip away the atmosphere. The ozone layer, too, guards us against ultraviolet of these layers - lunar, planetary, solar, magnetic and atmospheric - functions like a rung in a cosmic ladder, holding life aloft. If any one of them were missing or failed in their purpose, we might not be here to contemplate their presence. The ancient seers taught us to look not just outward but inward - to see the universe as not separate from us but intimately woven into our very existence. We are not alone; we are part of a delicate, celestial balance - living in a fortress of light, motion and grace. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Worrying cracks hiding behind MG Motor's own 'house of Windsor' Is India ready to hit the aspirational 8% growth mark? INR1,300 crore loans for INR100? Stamp duty notice to ArcelorMittal, banks. Why failed small businessmen die by suicide when those behind big blow-ups bounce back? Stock Radar: Falling trendline breakout on daily and weekly charts likely to push stock to record highs; check target & stop loss Handle volatility in conventional & unconventional ways: Capital gains & dividend yield. 6 stocks with dividend yield of 4-8%; return of over 22% Keys to wealth creation: Strong balance sheet & patience. 5 large-cap stocks from different sectors with upside potential of up to 38% Defence stocks: Black & white, and many shades of grey. 10 stocks with an upside potential of up to 30%
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Time of India
How two satellites are mimicking total solar eclipses in space
This image shows the Sun's corona captured by the Proba-3 pair of spacecraft in the visible light spectrum, with the hair-like structures revealed using a specialized image processing algorithm (Image credit: AP) A pair of European satellites have created the first artificial solar eclipses by flying in precise and fancy formation, providing hours of on-demand totality for scientists. The European Space Agency released the eclipse pictures at the Paris Air Show on Monday. Launched late last year, the orbiting duo have churned out simulated solar eclipses since March while zooming tens of thousands of miles (kilometres) above Earth. Flying 492 feet (150 metres) apart, one satellite blocks the sun like the moon does during a natural total solar eclipse as the other aims its telescope at the corona, the sun's outer atmosphere that forms a crown or halo of light. It's an intricate, prolonged dance requiring extreme precision by the cube-shaped spacecraft, less than 5 feet (1.5 meters) in size. Their flying accuracy needs to be within a mere millimetre, the thickness of a fingernail. This meticulous positioning is achieved autonomously through GPS navigation, star trackers, lasers and radio links. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Memperdagangkan CFD Emas dengan salah satu spread terendah? IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Dubbed Proba-3, the $210 million mission has generated 10 successful solar eclipses so far during the ongoing checkout phase. The longest eclipse lasted five hours, said the Royal Observatory of Belgium's Andrei Zhukov, the lead scientist for the orbiting corona-observing telescope. He and his team are aiming for a wondrous six hours of totality per eclipse once scientific observations begin in July. Scientists already are thrilled by the preliminary results that show the corona without the need for any special image processing, said Zhukov. "We almost couldn't believe our eyes," Zhukov said in an email. "This was the first try, and it worked. It was so incredible." Zhukov anticipates an average of two solar eclipses per week being produced for a total of nearly 200 during the two-year mission, yielding more than 1,000 hours of totality. That will be a scientific bonanza since full solar eclipses produce just a few minutes of totality when the moon lines up perfectly between Earth and the sun - on average just once every 18 months. The sun continues to mystify scientists, especially its corona, which is hotter than the solar surface. Coronal mass ejections result in billions of tons of plasma and magnetic fields being hurled out into space. Geomagnetic storms can result, disrupting power and communication while lighting up the night sky with auroras in unexpected locales. While previous satellites have generated imitation solar eclipses - including the European Space Agency and Nasa 's Solar Orbiter and Soho observatory - the sun-blocking disk was always on the same spacecraft as the corona-observing telescope. What makes this mission unique, Zhukov said, is that the sun-shrouding disk and telescope are on two different satellites and therefore far apart. The distance between these two satellites will give scientists a better look at the part of the corona closest to the limb of the sun. "We are extremely satisfied by the quality of these images, and again this is really thanks to formation flying" with unprecedented accuracy, ESA's mission manager Damien Galano said from the Paris Air Show.
NDTV
a day ago
- NDTV
Scientists Baffled By Mysterious Radio Waves Coming From Under Antarctica Ice
Scientists have been left perplexed after they found strange radio waves coming from beneath the ice in Antarctica. A group of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania detected the mysterious signals that "defy the current understanding of particle physics". As per the study results published in the journal Physical Review Letters, the mysterious radio waves were discovered by the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA). As per the researchers, the anomalous signal had to travel through thousands of kilometres of rock before reaching the detector. In typical circumstances, the distance and the distortions alone would have rendered the radio signal undetectable, but somehow it managed to reach the scientists. "The radio waves that we detected were at really steep angles, like 30 degrees below the surface of the ice," said Stephanie Wissel, associate professor of physics, astronomy and astrophysics, who worked on the ANITA team. The scientists discovered the radio waves accidentally while searching for neutrinos -- a type of particle with no charge, having the smallest mass of all subatomic particles. They are usually emitted by high-energy sources like the Sun or major cosmic events like supernovas or even the Big Bang. "It's an interesting problem because we still don't actually have an explanation for what those anomalies are, but what we do know is that they're most likely not representing neutrinos," said Ms Wissel. Mystery of anomalous particle Ms Wissel added that you could have a billion neutrinos passing through you at any moment, but they don't interact with you. "My guess is that some interesting radio propagation effect occurs near ice and also near the horizon that I don't fully understand, but we certainly explored several of those, and we haven't been able to find any of those yet either," she theorised. "So, right now, it's one of these long-standing mysteries." Though the Penn State team does not have any answers about the anomalous signal currently, Ms Wissel is hopeful that the new detector, called PUEO, better at detecting neutrino signals, might solve the mystery. "I'm excited that when we fly PUEO, we'll have better sensitivity. In principle, we should pick up more anomalies, and maybe we'll actually understand what they are."
