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Explore the intense reality of living on a high-gravity planet and the mystery behind sudden bursts of blue light detected by scientists in space. Dive into these two extraordinary phenomena and their potential impact on our understanding of the universe.
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00:00Imagine a planet like Earth, but way heavier.
00:03We know that gravity gets stronger as mass increases.
00:06That's why giants like Jupiter in our solar system have super strong gravity.
00:11Jupiter's gravity is around 81 feet per second squared, which is 2.4 times higher than Earth's.
00:18It's so powerful that Jupiter attracts hundreds of asteroids to itself,
00:23which, without Jupiter's presence, would have fallen directly to Earth.
00:27However, Jupiter is a gas giant, which means it doesn't have a solid surface like Earth does.
00:33It's literally a ball of gases and winds with a dense core somewhere deep inside.
00:39If you tried to stand on Jupiter, you would sink until you reached it.
00:45But what would happen if we were standing on an Earth-like planet with a very strong gravity?
00:50First of all, it'd be a lot bigger than our Earth, and pretty massive as well.
00:55Well, that's a big deal, because it would affect its size and how it loses heat.
01:00Think of it like this.
01:01As things get bigger, they lose heat more slowly, like a big pot of soup simmering on the stove.
01:08Now I'm hungry.
01:09This means that the surface there will be quite hot.
01:12You can imagine a desert or savanna planet.
01:16The landscape would be different in general.
01:18You'd have shorter mountains and shallow oceans.
01:21And the planet would be pretty flat overall.
01:24The heavy gravity would make the insides molten, causing lots of geological action and making the surface even flatter.
01:32The air on this hefty planet would be super thick, because there's a stronger force pulling it down.
01:38Breathing would feel like inhaling soup, however weird that sounds.
01:42Also, winds and waves would be wild and powerful.
01:46And as for flying around, well, it would be tough on high-gravity planets.
01:51If we land our spaceship on it, it would be quite a headache to leave later.
01:57On the bright side, because the air is thick, the sky would have stunning colors.
02:03The sunsets and sunrises would be breathtaking.
02:05And when it comes to volcanoes, they'd stay quiet until the pressure reaches epic levels.
02:12That means volcanic eruptions would be rare, but crazy when they happen.
02:17After landing, of course, you would feel an incredible heaviness.
02:21It would feel like you're being squished down.
02:24Every step would be a workout, and even lifting things would be a challenge.
02:29And forget about jumping high or doing fancy flips.
02:32On this planet, your jumps would barely exist.
02:36Even breathing itself would be tough for us.
02:39So, if we wanted to live there, we'd have to adapt all our sports and games a lot.
02:44And climbing one of those short mountains would feel like climbing a never-ending staircase.
02:50Buildings would have to be short and sturdy as well, like squat little towers.
02:55Tall structures might easily collapse under the gravity's weight.
02:58And on a planet like that, even a little tumble could spell disaster.
03:03So, the inhabitants would be mostly sturdy, four-legged creatures, ensuring they stay steady and close to the ground.
03:13So, any creatures living here would have to be built tough.
03:17The best example is the Elcor from Mass Effect.
03:20They're a species native to the high-gravity world Dakuna.
03:23When it comes to walking around, these creatures would have to choose between stability and saving energy.
03:30Fewer legs would be great for saving energy.
03:33In that case, they would move like a swinging pendulum.
03:36But they wouldn't be super stable.
03:38More legs have the opposite effects.
03:41These folks would also need beefy lungs to breathe, mighty hearts to pump blood against the gravity, and super-dense
03:49bones.
03:49Their veins might even have muscles, like our arteries.
03:53And with so much oxygen around because of the thick atmosphere, these creatures could grow really big.
03:59In other words, if we lived on such a planet, we would all look like bodybuilders.
04:04The good news is, with all the extra effort, you'd get to enjoy more tasty food.
04:10You'd need the extra calories to keep up with a new lifestyle.
04:14That's what it would be like to live on a high-gravity planet.
04:17Now, what about the opposite, a planet with super-low gravity?
04:22Instead of feeling grounded and heavy, you'd feel noticeably light and buoyant.
04:27To get a sense of how low gravity might feel, think about the sensation of jumping on a trampoline.
04:33When you leap into the air, you experience a brief moment of weightlessness before gravity pulls you back down.
04:40Now, imagine if that feeling of weightlessness never really went away.
04:45You'd feel incredibly agile.
04:48Every step would be a bit like walking on the moon, where you can leap great distances with little effort.
04:54One of the biggest differences on such a planet would be the climate and temperatures.
04:59Unlike the previous one, this lighter world might not be as effective at trapping heat.
05:04This could result in milder and more stable temperatures compared to Earth.
05:08Picture a world where every day feels like a pleasant spring day.
05:13Seasons might still exist, but the extremes of scorching summers and freezing winters would be much less pronounced.
05:20So, outdoor activities would be a joy throughout the year.
05:24The landscape on a low-gravity planet would be a sight to behold.
05:29Mountains would rise to towering heights, their peaks seemingly brushing against the sky.
05:34These majestic landforms could reach far above the cloud layers.
05:39Valleys and canyons would be deep and sprawling.
05:44Breathing there would be a breeze, literally.
05:48With a thinner atmosphere, you'd find it much easier to inhale.
05:51Winds would be much gentler than on our planet.
05:55Storms would still occur, but they wouldn't be anything like what we have on Earth.
05:59Life on a low-gravity planet would be different as well.
06:02Plants could grow tall and slender, reaching for the skies.
06:07Trees might stretch to incredible heights.
06:10Animals would be tall and graceful, with long limbs and slender bodies.
06:14They'd move with elegance.
06:16Wings might be a common feature among them.
06:19They also could have developed specialized adaptations, like gas-filled sacks.
06:26If we were born on a planet like this, we would also be taller, slender, with quite fragile bones and
06:33very thin muscles.
06:34Like that stretched boy from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
06:38As you can guess, this planet could be a paradise for sports lovers.
06:43Traditional games like basketball, soccer, and volleyball could become incredibly popular here, and much more fun.
06:50People would be able to jump super high, do backflips in the air, and all sorts of cool moves.
06:56And activities like hiking, rock climbing, and even yoga would take on new dimensions.
07:02Performing acrobatics would be as natural as walking.
07:05And all the hard, everyday tasks that require lifting and carrying would feel effortless.
07:13Architects and engineers would have a field day, designing buildings in this world.
07:18They would be able to build very tall and elegant structures, reaching the skyline.
07:23Our cities would be filled with towering skyscrapers and large windows.
07:27Flying and taking off the surface would be much easier.
07:31On Earth, launching a spacecraft into orbit requires a tremendous amount of energy.
07:36But on a low-gravity planet, escaping the atmosphere would be far less demanding.
07:42Which means that humans would be able to travel more, and exploring space would become much easier and cheaper.
07:49Of course, all that means that transportation would also benefit from the low gravity.
07:54Air travel would be incredibly efficient, with aircraft gliding effortlessly through the thin atmosphere.
08:02Elevators in tall planets would operate with minimal energy consumption.
08:06And in general, since the planet is probably smaller than Earth, traveling there would be much faster.
08:14There might be some challenges, though, like fragile bodies and health problems.
08:19Also, we would probably get tired faster, because of all of the muscle atrophy and other things.
08:25And perhaps the ecosystem wouldn't be as diverse as it is on Earth.
08:30But still, it looks like living on a low-gravity planet is much better than on a high-gravity one.
08:36Moreover, it sounds like it might even be better than Earth.
08:40So, maybe someday, we'll find a planet that will be like a paradise for humans.
08:45Until then, let's take care of our beautiful Earth.
08:50Strange explosions in vibrant blue colors are popping up around the universe and keeping astronomers intrigued.
08:57This rare and incredibly powerful event has a fancy name.
09:02Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient.
09:05This phenomenon doesn't behave like anything else we know of.
09:09And things got even stranger when the most recent one happened in a spot it shouldn't have.
09:15To really understand what happened last year, we need to go back a bit.
09:20This type of strange explosion was spotted first in June 2018.
09:25The blue blast happened about 200 million light-years from Earth and got the nickname the cow.
09:32No, this happening didn't resemble a cow at all, but it did have an unusual format.
09:37Back then, this blast was the most asymmetrical explosion ever seen by astronomers.
09:44It burst into space in a flattened pancake-like shape, not in a typical sphere as they would expect.
09:51This phenomenon was similar to a supernova, which is the most common type of cosmic explosion that happens when a
09:59star exhausts its nuclear fuel and collapses under its own gravity.
10:03However, scientists also noted three crucial differences.
10:08Number one, this phenomenon is more powerful than a typical supernova.
10:13When it happens, the blue burst emits more energy than an entire galaxy of hundreds of billions of stars like
10:20the Sun.
10:21Number two, it's much faster.
10:23The explosion reaches its peak brightness and fades away within a matter of days, while a supernova can take weeks
10:31or even months to completely dissipate.
10:33And the last difference, these blue bursts can also be much, much brighter.
10:39These mysterious objects are considered the brightest known optical phenomenon in the universe.
10:45But unlike a regular supernova, it's believed that there are no radioactive elements to power this brightness.
10:52So, that means the power must come from somewhere else.
10:56The question is, from where?
10:58This is just one of the mysteries that the scientists are trying to figure out.
11:03There have been some heavy investigations since the event was first observed,
11:07and 15 telescopes around the world are constantly looking for it.
11:12Since 2018, these extreme explosions have been spotted about once a year.
11:17So, while they're rare, they're not incredibly uncommon.
11:22There are several possible explanations for the existence of these fast optical transients.
11:28Perhaps the most acceptable one is that it is a stellar corpse.
11:33I mean, what is left behind when a star calls it quits.
11:37So, we're looking at two prime suspects here.
11:40They could be a neutron star or a black hole, producing emissions close to the speed of light.
11:46The theory goes like this.
11:48There is a massive star, much larger than those that produce regular supernovas.
11:53Then, it starts to collapse.
11:56Such an event would certainly be expected to leave a black hole behind.
12:00Let's say this massive star isn't ready to leave the universe in a quiet way.
12:05Instead, it creates a swirling disk around the black hole, composed of gas, dust, and other matter.
12:13Like it matters.
12:13This disk, called the accretion disk, can shoot out streams of material at incredibly high speeds.
12:21Almost like powerful cosmic jets.
12:23And that could be exactly what we see as those sudden bursts of light.
12:28Again, it's just a theory.
12:30What exactly sets off these blasts remains a mystery.
12:33And much more observation and analysis are needed.
12:37Experts believe that explaining such an oddity is a scientific gold mod.
12:42After all, we're talking about a stellar corpse that isn't just sitting there.
12:46It's actually quite active.
12:49Now, since this event was first spotted,
12:52all similar occurrences that our telescopes have captured happen in the same place.
12:57I mean, the explosions always occurred in the spiral arms of different galaxies.
13:02But last year, things changed.
13:05The Hubble Space Telescope left scientists speechless in April 2023,
13:10when its images caught this same type of weird explosion
13:14happening for the first time in the middle of nowhere.
13:18Well, it didn't happen inside a galaxy, as it was supposed to.
13:22It happened in the space between two of them.
13:25More precisely, about 50,000 light-years from a large spiral galaxy
13:30and about 15,000 light-years from a small one.
13:33This event is known today as the Finch.
13:37Oh, great.
13:38So when we finally get closer to finding some answers,
13:41the unusual location of the Finch phenomenon came to mess it up again.
13:46So, maybe there is another explanation for it.
13:51Speculation began soon after the discovery.
13:54One idea is that it could have been a collision between two neutron stars
13:58traveling far outside their host galaxies.
14:01These two could have been spiraling toward each other for billions of years.
14:06And when they collided,
14:07they produced a flare over 100 times brighter than a normal supernova.
14:12For this hypothesis to be correct,
14:15one of these neutron stars would have to be highly magnetized,
14:19amplifying the explosion.
14:21Another possibility is that the explosion was a star
14:24being torn apart by a black hole
14:27with a mass between 100 and 1,000 times that of the Sun.
14:33Although we still have lots of questions,
14:35one thing is for sure.
14:37The Finch is a luminous, fast-black optical transient.
14:41Except for the weird location where it happened,
14:44it has all the other characteristics to be classified as one.
14:48It's super bright, like me, and super fast.
14:51And its origin is super hard to explain.
14:54Plus, the data from the Gemini South Telescope,
14:58the Chandra X-ray Telescope,
14:59and the Very Large Array Radio Telescope have confirmed it.
15:04Adding this latest information only makes it harder and harder
15:08for researchers to finally find some kind of pattern in this whole event.
15:13The Finch isn't the only peculiar event in this category.
15:16Let's head back to the year before, to 2022.
15:20A blue explosion was spotted in September,
15:23and it got the nickname of Tasmanian Devil.
15:26Just like the previous ones,
15:28this blue burst came up and disappeared very quickly.
15:31Then, something mysterious happened.
15:35Exactly 100 days later,
15:37observers who were still tracking the phenomenon
15:40got an early Christmas gift.
15:42They observed another flare-up,
15:44and it was as bright and fascinating as the original one.
15:48Wait, so we're talking about two similar and strange explosions
15:52that happen at the same spot and close in time?
15:56Well, this was a first.
15:58Quickly, 13 telescopes around the globe
16:01all had eyes turned toward the Tasmanian Devil event,
16:05including one equipped with a high-speed camera.
16:08Over the course of 120 days,
16:11they managed to capture another 14 irregular light pulses.
16:15This was certainly amazing,
16:17because it proved that,
16:19instead of showing up once and fading away as expected,
16:22the Tasmanian Devil continued to explode
16:25with supernova-like energies again and again and again.
16:30Can you imagine such power?
16:32This scenario still intrigues the scientific community,
16:35because it pushes the limits of physics.
16:38Not only because such extreme energy production,
16:41but also because of the short-duration bursts.
16:44By the way,
16:46its flares last from 10 minutes to about 4 hours.
16:49Believe me,
16:50on the scale of the universe,
16:52that's considered super, super quick.
16:55This was the only time
16:57that an extended season of this event was observed.
17:01However, after some thought,
17:03the scientific community split their opinions about it.
17:06On one hand,
17:07the Tasmanian Devil
17:08could have been an utterly unique
17:10and one-of-a-kind event.
17:12On the other hand,
17:13maybe it was just the first time
17:15that our telescopes caught it
17:17from a more face-on angle.
17:19To further understand what's happening,
17:21scientists still need to observe
17:24larger samples of the phenomenon.
17:26All hopes are in the upcoming
17:28Vera C. Rubin Observatory,
17:30which is currently being constructed in Chile.
17:33It will have a 27.5-foot-wide telescope,
17:37coupled with the world's largest digital camera
17:40ever fabricated for this purpose.
17:43According to NASA,
17:44this technology might finally give us some answers
17:47about these blue explosions.
17:49We can expect some exciting times ahead,
17:52as this could be the start of a new chapter
17:54in our understanding of stellar evolution.
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