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Time of India
4 hours ago
- General
- Time of India
10 strange facts about Earth that sound like sci-fi stories
Source: Wikipedia Earth is full of surprising secrets that sometimes seem like they belong in science fiction stories. From strange natural events to hidden places deep underground or in the oceans, many facts about our planet are hard to believe. These mysteries show how incredible and unusual Earth really is. Some of these secrets are so strange they almost sound made up but scientists have discovered they are true. According to a report by Listverse, here are the 10 amazing and hidden facts about Earth that feel like they come from a sci-fi movie but are actually real. 10 hidden Earth facts that you might not know Strange hidden blobs inside Earth from an ancient planet created moon Earth is incredibly old and about a third as old as the universe itself. Over its long history, it has gone through some huge events including a giant collision with another planet-sized object. About 4.5 billion years ago, a Mars-sized body called Theia crashed into the early Earth. This smash-up created the Moon when the broken pieces of rock came together in orbit. Scientists believe that parts of Theia didn't become the Moon but stayed inside Earth as two large blobs deep beneath the surface. Today they are known because they change how earthquake waves move through the planet. Bright auroras covered Earth 41,000 years back Imagine being an early human 41,000 years ago, just going about your day hunting or gathering food. Maybe you had just caught a giant sloth or picked some berries when suddenly the whole sky started glowing. This wasn't a story from a sci-fi movie but it really happened because Earth's magnetic field had weakened a lot. During this time, our planet's magnetic shield was only about 10 percent as strong as it is now that was causing bright auroras to light up the sky all the way from the poles to the equator. While this made for an amazing light show, it also meant higher radiation from the Sun and space. Those ancient people faced stronger radiation every night and if something like this happened today then it could seriously damage our communication systems. A new core formed within Earth Earth actually has two cores which are a liquid outer core and a solid inner core. This setup is really important because the movement of the liquid iron in the outer core creates Earth's magnetic field which protects us from harmful radiation from the Sun. But this magnetic field wasn't always strong. About 565 million years ago, it weakened by around 90 percent. Then, in just a short time by geological standards, it regained its strength. Scientists believe this happened because the solid inner core started forming about 550 million years ago that has helped to power up the outer core again. This change may have played a key role in allowing complex life to develop and keeping Earth from becoming like Mars. How Earth's molten core influenced early human travel Earth is like a giant ball with a molten or melted center and this hot interior has influenced life in many surprising ways. Scientists now believe that the swirling molten rock deep inside Earth helped our ancient ancestors move to new places. Around 50 to 60 million years ago, a huge plume of molten rock pushed upward and broke through the crust. This created a land bridge between Africa and Asia about 20 million years ago, passing through areas like the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. This land bridge allowed many animals including early humans to migrate to new regions. It also helped reshape the oceans by ending one large sea and forming the Mediterranean and Arabian seas. This event ended Africa's long period of being separated from other continents. Ancient crystals are 4 billion years old It's always interesting when archaeologists find something as old as a 100-year-old can of peas but some discoveries go way further back in time. Zircon is very strong and has survived almost the entire history of our planet. By studying its chemical makeup, scientists learn about Earth's earliest days including the Hadean eon when Earth was a hot molten ball hit by giant space rocks. But the zircon shows that water existed on Earth as early as 4.3 billion years ago that helped in creating wet environments that may have helped life begin. There used to be an ocean in Mongolia One of nature's coolest features is how much it changes over time. Places that are dry land today might have been covered by oceans long ago and the opposite can happen too. A great example is Mongolia. Today it's mostly dry grassland but about 400 million years ago, it was covered by a vast ocean. This happened when a big molten rock bubble rose up from deep inside the Earth by creating the Mongolian Ocean that lasted for around 115 million years. This was during the Devonian period which is also called the Age of Fishes when many sea creatures started moving onto land. These molten rock movements are part of a cycle that breaks continents apart and opens new oceans like what happened with the Atlantic Ocean. Is a Supernova blast behind the deep sea anomaly Scientists found an unusual amount of a rare metal called beryllium deep in the Pacific Ocean. This might be because Earth was hit by material from a nearby exploding star called a supernova. Normally, to date old things, scientists use carbon dating but that only works up to about 50,000 years. For older events, they study how beryllium was created when cosmic rays hit Earth's atmosphere and break down over time. The extra beryllium could be from a supernova that exploded near Earth around 10 million years ago, sending radiation and star dust our way and leaving this strange mark in the ocean. A crater that is 3.47 billion years Old Most craters on Earth don't last long because weather and erosion wear them away. But the oldest known crater has managed to survive through almost all of Earth's history. The Pilbara Crater in northwest Australia is about 3.47 billion years old which makes it a billion years older than the previous oldest crater which is also in Australia. When it formed, it was over 60 miles wide. The impact left a raised dome in the crater's center about 22 miles wide because big impacts create these dome-like features. The collision also sent molten droplets raining down across the planet, among which some possibly reaching as far as South Africa. This event may have been as devastating as the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Oceans were green for millions of years Our oceans today are a beautiful blue and have inspired many for generations. But a recent study shows that long ago, Earth's seas were actually green. Researchers in Japan created computer models that looked at things like the chemistry of the seas and atmosphere billions of years ago. Back then, the air had more water vapor and carbon dioxide which caused more iron to wash into the oceans. Because this iron was charged, it made the ocean absorb all colors except green so the seas appeared green. The oceans were also bigger back then which helped in making Earth look like a green marble. This pale green dot lasted from about 3 billion to 600 million years ago. Over time, tiny lifeforms called cyanobacteria produced oxygen which reacted with the iron and turned the oceans blue like they are now. North America is slowly sinking North America is slowly sinking, not into water but into the Earth itself. New research from the University of Texas at Austin shows that the bottom part of the continent is actually dripping down through a process called 'cratonic thinning.' Cratons are large and very old and stable pieces of rock that make up the core of continents and usually last for billions of years. But sometimes, parts of them start to sink. Scientists think this is happening because an old tectonic plate is sliding deeper beneath the surface. As it sinks, the land beneath the U.S. Midwest is also slowly moving down with it. Thankfully, this is a very slow process and should stop once the plate sinks far enough. Also read: Can science revive dead rhinos? The answer may shock you
Time of India
4 days ago
- Science
- Time of India
‘Gold arrived on our planet as Earth was forming 4.5 billion years ago — it holds an extraordinary history'
Jun Korenaga Jun Korenaga is Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Yale University . He tells Srijana Mitra Das at TE about how gold got to Earth: It's a little surprising to connect to Jun Korenaga , not least because the scientist is sitting against the backdrop of a planetary surface that could be — but doesn't have to be — Mars. Speaking with purple rock and feathery clouds in a sunless sky behind him, Korenaga explains the origins of gold — and Earth. 'My work focuses on estimating early Earth's history. In the last few years, I've worked on the Hadean Eon which was about 4.5 billion years ago — this is the most mysterious part of our planet's history because we don't have a rock record for it. I work on the theoretical side and try to reconstruct what early Earth looked like.' Gold is part of early Earth's story, although in unexpected ways. A symbol of stability now, gold had quite a dramatic past. Supernovae or cataclysmic stellar explosions and star collisions occurred in the universe. The extreme pressure of such imploding stars was so high, subatomic protons and electrons got pushed into their core — these formed neutrons. Rapid neutron capture by iron then created heavy elements like uranium, lead, silver and gold. Interestingly, this process occurred very, very swiftly — and then, these elements were expelled into space. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like News For Jack Nicholson, 87, He Has Been Confirmed To Be... Reportingly Undo (Photos: Getty images) Thus, metals like gold and platinum arrived on Earth while our planet was still forming. Korenaga explains, 'About 4.5 billion years ago, Earth was hit by a Mars-sized rock and the moon formed as the debris from this collision went into an Earth-orbiting disk. More bombardment followed — there were plenty of leftover rocks orbiting the sun as well and several fell on young Earth. The landing of these objects is known as 'late accretion', comprising about the last 1% of planetary growth. In this period, some of the rocks which fell on Earth had metallic components like gold.' Importantly, gold and platinum are among highly siderophile elements (HSEs) — these are metals with an extremely strong affinity for iron. Korenaga smiles slightly and says, 'Now, if Earth was created with no funny twists in its story, we actually wouldn't have any gold on our planet's surface because, sticking to iron, this was heavy and should have gone straight down into the core which we cannot access. But we do have gold on the surface, which shows that part of Earth's mantle can retain metallic components.' Korenaga's research, conducted with Simone Marchi , posits the notion that there is a thin or 'transient' part of the mantle where shallow areas melt away and a deeper region stays solid. This part could hold falling metallic components and reach them to the mantle. In the simulations the scientists conducted, as a rock crashed onto Earth, it hit a localised liquid magma ocean where heavy metals sank to the bottom. As these reached the partially molten area underneath, the metal would start sinking further down — then, the molten mantle solidified, capturing the metal there. But how did this re-emerge to the part of Earth's surface humans could access? As Korenaga says, 'The part of the mantle which contains this metallic component is heavier and more chemically dense than the rest — to bring it up, you have to offset that density by being hotter than normal as hotter materials usually have lower density. Thus, thermal currents from Earth's core outweighed that compositional density and made these materials move up from the solid mantle to Earth's surface.' This process is called 'mantle convection', when hot mantle material rises as colder material sinks. Earth's mantle is almost totally solid — yet, over long geologic periods, it acts like a pliable material which can mix and move things within it. Those include the HSEs — like gold — which came to Earth from massive collisions billions of years ago and then reached the planet's surface through these enormous, yet intricate internal processes. Is gold found on other planets as well? Korenaga says, 'Gold is found on the moon — but its abundance there is much lower than on Earth. It is found on Mars too. Of course, we don't have direct samples from Mars but we have so-called Martian meteorites. These are found on Earth but because of their isotopic features, they are traced back to Mars. Analysing these rocks shows us the presence of highly siderophile elements there — again though, the abundance of these, like gold and platinum, is much lower than on Earth.' Do siderophiles contain a larger story of the formation of our solar system — and universe? Korenaga comments, 'We understand planetary formation in terms of silicate rocks and iron which makes up most of the core. Iron is a major element while silicate rocks are made of silicon, oxygen, magnesium, iron, etc. Highly siderophile elements exist in very small abundances — their presence by itself doesn't drive any major planetary formation processes but they stick with iron and by measuring such trace elements, we can study more details of planetary formation.' These abundances thus help us decipher the paths planets once took. The Golden Moon: This too has gold on it THE GOLDEN MOON: This too has gold on it Given its incredible history — arriving on Earth 4.5 billion years ago, seeping deep into its mantle, pushed to the top by extraordinary forces operating from within our planet — how should we think of gold the next time we see it? Korenaga replies, 'Gold is, of course, widely available as jewellery and other items from shops but when we look at it, we should actually think about its extraordinary origins — we shouldn't take gold for granted. Its presence helps us understand crucial details of the very existence of this metallic Earth and the formation of its unique atmosphere which is 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen — why did our planet develop in this way? A simple everyday item like gold can hold big answers to that.' Korenaga concludes by remarking, 'Of course, my work explains why Earth's mantle has some amount of gold or platinum at the surface level but for humans to access pure gold, you need a concentrated form in a mine,' He adds, with a scientist's exactness, 'It is extremely inefficient otherwise to extract gold from rocks — but to understand the formation of gold mines, you need deeper knowledge about very local processes. And that is another story.'
Time of India
10-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
UK-based Indian scientist gets rare lunar soil from China
An Indian-origin scientist, based in UK, Professor Mahesh Anand received an ultra-rare sample of lunar soil straight from China chang'e 6 mission, collected from the Moon's far side. This might be a year of wonders as for the first time any nation has returned material from the Moon's far side, a region previously unexplored due to communication challenges. Professor Anand, leads the planetary material group at the open university in Milton keynes and is the UK's only scientists who has been granted access to this precious material. This sample weighs about 60 milligrams, and was transported under tight security and is now housed in a high-security laboratory to prevent contamination. What is the Chang'e 6 mission? This mission is China's groundbreaking mission aimed at collecting lunar soil and rock samples from the far side of the Moon, a region which has never been explored before. Operation Sindoor 'Pakistan army moving its troops in forward areas': Key takeaways from govt briefing 'Pak used drones, long-range weapons, jets to attack India's military sites' 'Attempted malicious misinformation campaign': Govt calls out Pakistan's propaganda Launched by China in 2024, due to this collection, scientists help to study the moon's formation, composition and solar system history. This mission successfully brought back about 1.9 kilograms of lunar material. These samples are being studied and is being distributed to international researchers for analysis. Notably, the lunar soil exhibits distint charecterstsic compared to previous samples. This has shown higher plagioclase and lower olivine content. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like AI guru Andrew Ng recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around in 2025 Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo This lunar soil research aims to offer fundamental responses about the early history of Earth and the formation of the Moon. One of the most accepted concepts is that the Moon formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago from material remaining after a collision between Earth and a Mars-sized planet. Scientists try to get to know this theory better through an examination of the chemical content of these samples, which has elements such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and noble gases. China's commitment to international scientific collaboration in space exploration is exemplified by this collaboration. The involvement of an Indian-born scientist in the UK highlights the extent to which international moon exploration is and how we are all working towards understanding our galactic neighbour. This brings us one step closer to discovering how the formation of moon happened billions of years ago.
NDTV
09-05-2025
- Science
- NDTV
Indian-Origin Scientist In UK Gets World's First Far-Side Moon Dust From China
A UK-based Indian-origin scientist has received a portion of the world's first lunar soil samples collected from the Moon's far side, courtesy of China's Chang'e-6 mission, according to BBC. This historic achievement marks the first time any nation has retrieved material from the Moon's far side, a region previously unexplored due to communication challenges. According to BBC, Professor Mahesh Anand is the only scientist in the UK to have been loaned this extremely rare material, which he describes as "more precious than gold dust". "Nobody in the world had access to China's samples, so this is a great honour and a huge privilege," he says. After grinding and zapping the dust with lasers, Professor Anand's team hopes to answer fundamental questions about how the Moon formed and about the early years of planet Earth. Inside the grains of dust could be evidence to back up scientists' theory that the Moon was made from the debris thrown out when Earth struck a Mars-sized planet 4.5 billion years ago. China collected the rocks on its Chang'e 5 space mission in 2020 when it landed on a volcanic area called Mons Rumker. A robotic arm drilled into the soil to collect 2kg of material, which was brought back to Earth in a capsule which landed in Inner Mongolia, as per BBC report. The Chang'e-6 mission successfully returned approximately 1.9 kilograms of lunar material in June 2024. These samples are being distributed to international researchers for analysis. Notably, the lunar soil exhibits distinct characteristics compared to previous samples, including a more porous structure and differing mineral compositions, such as higher plagioclase and lower olivine content. This collaboration underscores China's commitment to international scientific cooperation in space exploration. The involvement of an Indian-origin scientist in the UK highlights the global nature of lunar research and the shared pursuit of understanding our celestial neighbour.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Moon dust 'rarer than gold' arrives in UK from China
The first samples of Moon rock brought back to Earth in nearly 50 years have arrived in the UK - on loan from China. The tiny grains of dust are now locked inside a safe in a high security facility in Milton Keynes - we were given the first look at them. Professor Mahesh Anand is the only scientist in the UK to have been loaned this extremely rare material, which he describes as "more precious than gold dust". "Nobody in the world had access to China's samples, so this is a great honour and a huge privilege," he says. After grinding and zapping the dust with lasers, Prof Anand's team hope to answer fundamental questions about how the Moon formed and about the early years of planet Earth. Inside the grains of dust could be evidence to back up scientists' theory that the Moon was made from the debris thrown out when Earth struck a Mars-sized planet 4.5 billion years ago. China collected the rocks on its Chang'e 5 space mission in 2020 when it landed on a volcanic area called Mons Rümker. A robotic arm drilled into the soil to collect 2kg of material, which was brought back to Earth in a capsule which landed in Inner Mongolia. It was the first successful lunar sampling since a Soviet mission in 1976 and catapulted China into a leading position in the new space race. Now, following a long tradition of global collaboration between space scientists, China has for the first time granted seven international researchers samples to make new discoveries. The tiny vials were handed to Prof Anand at a glamorous ceremony in Beijing last week, where he met colleagues from Russia, Japan, Pakistan and Europe. "It was almost like a parallel universe - and China is so far ahead of us in terms of their investment in space programmes," he said. He returned to the UK with the precious cargo in the safest place he could think of - his hand luggage. At his lab at the Open University in Milton Keynes, we step onto sticky mats to clean our shoes and put on plastic gloves, gowns, hair nets and hoods. The environment inside this high security room must be spotless to prevent contamination. If Earthly material mixes with these extra-terrestrial specs, it could permanently ruin the analysis Prof Anand's team will do. We crouch down on the floor in front of a row of safes. Prof Anand unlocks one and carefully pulls out a ziplock bag with three containers the size of boxes that could keep a necklace. Wedged firmly in each one is a see-through vial with a dusting of dark grey at the bottom. That is the Moon dust. It looks underwhelming, but it is humbling to think of its cosmic journey. And Prof Anand says they don't need any more than this 60mg in total. "Here, the small is mighty. Believe me, it is enough to keep us busy for years to come because we specialise in working on the micro," he adds. In a lab down the corridor, technician Kay Knight will be the first person to actually work on the grains when the vials are opened. She's been cutting and grindings pieces of rocks for 36 years, but this will be the first time she's worked on something straight from the lunar surface. "I'm extremely excited," she says, after showing us how she cuts meteorites using a diamond blade. "But I'm nervous - there's not much of the samples and they can't really go and get more very easily. This is high stakes," she adds. After she prepares the samples, they will go into two more labs. In one, we see a machine with an intricate network of countless tubes, valves and wires. Technician Sasha Verchovskyhas been building it since the early 1990s. He shows us the small cylinder where the specs of dust can be heated to 1400 Celsius. That will help them extract carbon, nitrogen and nobel gases. This is completely unique, and is one of the reasons Prof Anand believes his lab was chosen to receive the rare samples. James Malley, a research technician, operates a machine that can work out how much oxygen is contained within the specs of dust. He shows us a test run of what he will do. "I'm going to hit that grain on the tray with a laser," he says, showing the scene magnified on a computer screen. "It's going to start to glow, and you will see it melt inwards," he says. The team has a year to finish their research. By the end, their search for answers will probably end up destroying the samples. But China has gone further since the Chang'e 5 mission. In 2024 its Chang'e 6 launch brought back the first samples from the far side of the Moon. It's a deeply mysterious place that might have evidence of long-quiet volcanic lava flows. "I very much hope that this is the beginning of a long-term collaboration between China and international scientists," says Prof Anand. "A lot of us built our careers working on samples returned by Apollo missions, and I think this is a fantastic tradition to follow. I hope that other countries will follow suit," he adds. China's Chang'e-5 mission returns Moon samples Who owns the Moon? A new space race means it could be up for grabs
