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You've only ever seen one side of the moon
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Did you know that the Moon's rotation is locked to its orbit around Earth by a bulge of material under the Moon's surface? This material is denser than the rest of the Moon's surface material, and Earth's gravity pulls on it especially strongly. The side of the Moon containing the bulge always faces Earth. We call it the near side and we call the other side, which we never see from Earth, the far side. People often mistakenly use the term "dark side" when referring to the far side of the Moon, forgetting that the far side is fully illuminated by the Sun whenever we see a new moon from Earth. If we were to look from high above the Earth-Moon system, we would see the Moon rotate once per month with respect to the stars. This is its sidereal ro ...
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14166 |
bio_man |
2 years ago |
Life may have existed on Venus 700 million years ago
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Here's what Venus would look with water, and without its thick CO2 atmosphereWhen we think of Venus, we envision a planet that'd make a great place for hell - fiery red, extremely hot, and toxic. However, a new study makes an argument that Venus may have once been able to support life, until a mysterious resurfacing event took all that away about 700 million years ago. According to planetary scientist Michael Way from NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Venus may have had a stable climate for billions of years. "It is possible that the near-global resurfacing event is responsible for its transformation from an Earth-like climate to the hellish hot-house we see today." The research – presented last week at the EPSC-DPS Joint Meeting 201 ...
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4121 |
bio_man |
5 years ago |
Fruity pebble colored rocks
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Opals (shown above) are is a hydrated amorphous form of silica (SiO 2·nH2O); its water content may range from 3 to 21% by weight, but is usually between 6 and 10%. Because of its amorphous character, it is classed as a mineraloid, unlike crystalline forms of silica, which are classed as minerals. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. Opal is the national gemstone of Australia. The internal structure of precious opal makes it diffract light. Depending on the conditions in which it formed, it can take on many colors. The one pictured on the left is called the "Virgin Rainbow" opal, being the finest ...
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11361 |
duddy |
8 years ago |
One of the world's largest diamonds recovered
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According to the Lucara Diamond Corporation, this diamond is so big (pictured above) that it did not fit into the onsite scanners, and had to be sent to Belgium for assessment. This gem, named the Lucara diamond, weighs in at 1 111 karats and is almost entirely devoid of impurities. Since it was recovered in Botswana (South Central Africa), the country will make a 10% royalty on the diamond, and collect 10% in export taxes when the diamond’s value is decided. As of yet, the company has no idea what the diamond is worth, though some have estimated a value above $65 million. ...
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24972 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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18288 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
Nearly every seabird may be eating plastic by 2050
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There’s so much trash floating in some parts of the ocean that each square kilometer of surface water there holds almost 600,000 pieces of debris. Indeed, because there's so much of it, by 2050 birds of almost every ocean-foraging species may be eating plastic.
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30834 |
duddy |
9 years ago |
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18265 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Deepest hole on the planet
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Where is it found? In Russia! How deep is it? About 12 kilometers! That's deeper than the deepest point of the ocean, and it's the deepest hole humans have ever dug into the Earth. Watch this informative video,
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16607 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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6395 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Loudest sound in Earth's history
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It shattered the eardrums of sailors over 50 kilometres away, sent shock waves around the world several times over, and could be heard by 50 geological locations covering over 10% of the globe. This was the loudest sound in recorded history occurred in 1883. The sound was caused by a record-breaking volcanic eruption that sent smoke up almost 80 kilometres into the air as ash fell into the ocean some 20 kilometres away. Burning hot debris was shot from the mouth of Krakatoa's volcano at speeds of up to 2,575 kilometres per hour, which is more than double the speed of sound. The video below gives you an idea of what an erupting volcano sounds like, but of course, nothing close to what was described above! ...
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8024 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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7677 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
More water on Europa than on Earth
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Europa, a moon of Jupiter, is a prime candidate for life in our solar system beyond Earth. It contains water and is also the only known solar system body to have plate tectonics.
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4591 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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6680 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
Hottest and weirdest place on Earth
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Dallol in Ethiopia is not only the hottest inhabited place on Earth, it's also one of the weirdest. Between 1960 and 1966, the average annual temperature was a toasty 35°C (96°F), but the temperature can regularly creep to over 46°C (115°f). At 48 metres below sea level, Dallol is Earth's lowest land volcano, and its last recorded eruption was in 1926. Its craters contains hot springs that boast a whole range of otherworldly colours - including neon yellow - thanks to the hot magma bubbling below the surface. This magma heats the groundwater that flows into the area from the nearby highlands, and as the heated groundwater moves up towards the surface, it dissolves salt, sulphur, potash and other minerals and deposits them in the Dallol crat ...
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1363 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
What’s your poison?
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This map shows which disease is most likely to kill you depending on where you live.
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6689 |
duddy |
10 years ago |
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