- 6 days ago
Explore the mysteries of our solar system with this video that delves into the transformation of Venus into Earth's evil twin and fascinating facts about the country closest to the Moon. Learn about the similarities and differences between these celestial bodies and uncover the secrets of our neighboring planets.
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00:00So, Venus and Earth are so different that a foolish question like,
00:04what's longer, a day or a year, that makes absolutely no sense on Earth,
00:09totally makes sense on Venus.
00:11A day on Venus is indeed longer than a year.
00:14If we put it into Earth's perspective, a day on Venus would equal 243 Earth days,
00:20while a year would only last 225 days.
00:24So it's like, your birthday is every day.
00:27Venus is often nicknamed Earth's evil twin.
00:31Their differences are so stark, you'd think they're from different galaxies altogether.
00:35Just to give you an idea of how far apart they are,
00:39if the day-to-year ratio wasn't enough, the Earth rises in the west on Venus but sets in the
00:45east.
00:45These days, one of the very few similarities between these two is their size.
00:50But try to imagine a time when Venus and Earth were like peas in a pod,
00:55besties since the beginning of the solar system.
00:58Venus used to be the life of the party.
01:00NASA scientists think Venus might have even hosted a liquid water ocean
01:05and surface temperatures that could have welcomed life for up to 2 billion years.
01:09But modern-day Venus is a different story.
01:12We're talking extreme temperatures and a thick carbon dioxide atmosphere.
01:17So, what led to this cosmic makeover?
01:21Size, location, and attitude.
01:23I mean that the distance from the sun and internal heat
01:26played a huge role in shaping Venus and Earth's destinies.
01:30By the way, there used to be three siblings that could have hosted life,
01:34Venus, Earth, and Mars.
01:36Now, imagine three cupcakes in an oven.
01:39Once they were fully baked, they were taken out of the oven.
01:42One of them was put in front of an open window in the middle of winter.
01:45Another was carefully placed on a table and covered with a nice clean kitchen towel.
01:51And the last one was accidentally forgotten and left in the oven.
01:55Oops.
01:55Mars, Earth, and Venus are like those cupcakes.
01:58Mars got too cold and not welcoming.
02:01Earth is still nice and warm and well-protected from all the unpleasant things,
02:05just like the towel protects that lucky cupcake.
02:08And Venus got scorching hot and impossible to consume.
02:12In terms of development, Earth took the slow and steady route,
02:16maintaining its oceans, stable atmosphere, and biodiversity.
02:20Venus, on the other hand, cranked up the temperature,
02:23evaporated its oceans, and went all-in with greenhouse gases.
02:28As a result, we have a planet where you'll melt faster than a snowman in July.
02:33Mars, on the contrary, will turn you into an ice popsicle within seconds.
02:37But, chances are, it might have been pretty hospitable at some point.
02:42Some scientists believe that Mars used to be covered with flowing rivers and lakes
02:46and had no water shortages.
02:49Even today, Mars still has an ocean called Oceanus Borealis,
02:53or rather, the remains of what once used to be an ocean.
02:56It lost nearly all its water over time.
02:59Now, the sources of water on Mars include polar ice caps and minerals and rocks.
03:05According to estimates, only 1% of all that water evaporated,
03:10while 99% is still locked in the Red Planet.
03:13Ice polar caps are pretty simple to understand, as we have the same thing on Earth.
03:18But rocks containing water?
03:20Simple.
03:21There are at least four types of hydrous minerals on Mars.
03:25There are hydrous clays made of silicon oxygen.
03:28And the cool thing about them is that they can even contain magnesium and iron,
03:33which are sulfur-based hydrous sulfates.
03:36Now, don't you?
03:37I know you thought of the smell of rotten eggs.
03:40But it's typical of hydrogen sulfur, and not just sulfur.
03:43These minerals have water incorporated right into their chemical formulas.
03:47There's also hydrosilica, which has water locked in its formula, too.
03:53Scientists have experimented with growing plants using Martian-like conditions,
03:57and found success with alfalfa.
04:00Harvesting alfalfa also helped improve the growth of other crops, like turnips and lettuce.
04:06While water may be available on the Red Planet, the air on Mars is mostly carbon dioxide.
04:11On the bright side, and we are, the Mars Oxygen-in-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment,
04:18the Mars Oxy, can produce oxygen on Mars, which could be crucial for future missions.
04:24As for energy sources on Mars, solar, wind, and geothermal energy are a few promising options.
04:31Solar power is less effective on Mars due to weaker sunlight and dust storms.
04:36But wind power and geothermal energy could serve as reliable alternatives.
04:40With these sources in place, humans could potentially sustain life on Mars.
04:46But let's get back to comparing our sibling planets.
04:49While both Mars and Earth have moons, and Mars even has two of them,
04:54Venus has zero, just like Mercury.
04:57Due to its proximity to the Sun and the star's gravitational pull,
05:01Mercury lacks the ability to retain its own moon.
05:04The likelihood of any moon orbiting Mercury either colliding with the planet
05:09or being drawn into the orbit of the Sun is high.
05:12That's all clear and understandable.
05:14But the absence of moons around Venus remains an unsolved puzzle for scientists.
05:19Despite Venus's scorching hot temperatures,
05:22scientists think that even today, it might not be as hostile to life as we once thought.
05:28A recent MIT study found 19 amino acids surviving in a Venus-like solution for the whole month.
05:35Yep, some like it hot.
05:37Also, Rocket Lab and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are teaming up to send an uncrewed spacecraft,
05:45Venus Lifefinder, on a mission to Venus.
05:48This spacecraft will search for signs of life in the Venusian atmosphere
05:51using a special instrument called an autofluorescing nephelometer.
05:56And no, I didn't make that up.
05:57Originally set to launch in 2023, the mission is now pushed back to December 2024
06:04with arrival at Venus in May 2025.
06:08The goal of the mission is to discover organic compounds in Venus's atmosphere,
06:12which could point to the possibility of habitable conditions in the cloud layer.
06:17The spacecraft is designed with a Photon Explorer cruise stage
06:21and a compact atmospheric probe equipped with that nephelometer thingy.
06:25The small probe will descend through the Venusian atmosphere,
06:29collecting data on cloud particles and organic compounds.
06:32In 2020, scientists made a big announcement about finding phosphine on Venus,
06:38a compound that could be linked to life.
06:40While they're still working on confirming this,
06:43using information from telescopes or even past missions,
06:46there might be evidence hidden in old NASA data received from Venus
06:50that could shed more light on the discovery.
06:53The potential presence of phosphine on Venus
06:56has stirred excitement and caution among scientists
06:59to make sure they need more data from telescopes or new space missions.
07:04If they find this gas,
07:06it might mean there is some form of life producing it in the planet's clouds.
07:10This discovery would be a huge step toward understanding Venus better.
07:15Some experts think that sending probes to Venus to directly detect phosphine
07:19would be the most effective way to confirm its presence.
07:22An 80s NASA mission may have already detected phosphine,
07:27but scientists back then didn't realize it.
07:29Now this data is being re-evaluated to uncover any overlooked evidence
07:34of the presence of the gas.
07:36This could also suggest that the compound has been in Venus's atmosphere for decades,
07:41raising questions about its source.
07:43But not everyone is convinced of this interpretation,
07:47which evokes a debate among scientists about the true nature of the detected gases.
07:52Old data from other missions may also hold clues about phosphate on Venus.
07:57While new spacecraft are going to explore the planet,
08:00it's possible that the key to unlocking this mystery lies in decades-old mission records.
08:05In total, there have been 46 space missions to Venus,
08:10including some flybys where gravity lent a helping hand.
08:14The last time we successfully landed a spacecraft on Venus
08:17was way back in June 1985 as part of the Vega 2 mission.
08:22So, let's see what Venus's life finder will discover.
08:29So, you want to get as close to the moon as possible without leaving Earth?
08:34Easy!
08:35Hop on a plane to Ecuador and climb Mount Chimborazo.
08:39I know, it may sound weird, but hear me out.
08:42Now, Everest is the tallest mountain when you're measuring from sea level.
08:46But Chimborazo's peak is actually the closest spot on Earth to the moon.
08:50Here's the physics behind it.
08:53Mount Everest is over 29,000 feet tall, and Chimborazo is only around 20,000 feet.
09:00But the secret lies in how far they are from the Earth's core.
09:03You see, Earth is not a perfect sphere.
09:06It's chubby in the middle, and slightly squished at the top and the bottom.
09:10The chubby part in the middle is called the equator.
09:14FYI, the country Ecuador actually translates to equator in Spanish.
09:18Now you know.
09:19The mountain we're talking about, Chimborazo, is located a few degrees from the equator line.
09:25So, since the squishy sphere is chubbier in the middle part,
09:29Chimborazo's peak sticks out farther into space.
09:32This means that if you hike all the way up to this mountain's peak,
09:35you'll be a smidge closer to the moon than if you hike all the way up Mount Everest.
09:42In the North Sea, off the coast of England, there's a tiny platform bobbing around, roughly the size of two
09:48tennis courts.
09:49You might think it's an oil platform, but this is Sealand, the world's tiniest country.
09:55The roughs tower platform was built during the first half of the 20th century as a fort to protect English
10:01ships.
10:02Jumped to the 1960s when a guy named Paddy Roy Bates decided to claim this old fort as his own
10:08country,
10:09naming it the Principality of Sealand.
10:12Paddy gave his country everything it deserved.
10:14A national flag, currency, a constitution, stamps, and a hoisting swing system.
10:21That's how you get into the country, by the way.
10:24Hoist it all the way up to the upper part of the platform.
10:27Today, this micro-nation is headed by ruling monarch Michael Bates,
10:32who is a member of the country's self-proclaimed royalty.
10:35I know, right? Why wait in line for the British throne?
10:38The nation has its own fan club, who cheer for the country's national soccer club.
10:43Their team competes in international tournaments, where they usually play with other tiny nations.
10:49Although Sealand only has one official resident, as of right now,
10:53players from other countries join to help out their soccer team.
10:57One of the country's supporters also placed a Sealand flag on top of Mount Everest.
11:04Having your kitchen in one country and your living room in another,
11:07well, this is the daily reality for some locals in Barla.
11:11In this town, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands doesn't just run along streets,
11:16it slices right through buildings.
11:19So, to navigate this setup, a rule was made that a house's nationality is determined where its front door is
11:25located.
11:26But this solution created its own problems.
11:28There's a house where the front door is exactly on the border, giving it two addresses,
11:33one in Belgium and one in the Netherlands.
11:35The owners of this house were given a unique opportunity.
11:39They could choose which country they'd like to get their utilities from, like gas and water.
11:44And you guessed it, they picked the country where the stuff was cheaper.
11:47In this case, Belgium.
11:51Down in Senegal, Africa, there's a lake that looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.
11:57About 18 miles north of the capital, Dakar, you'll find Lake Rhettpa, also known as La Rosa.
12:04This lake is famous for its bright pink water.
12:07Yes, it really is pink.
12:09And you can even take a swim if you're up for it.
12:11But be prepared.
12:13The water is super salty.
12:15One of the saltiest lakes in the world, with salt levels over 40%.
12:20The pink color comes from a species of tiny algae.
12:24These algae produce red pigments that reflect sunlight, giving the lake its unique shade.
12:29If you want to see the lake at its brightest pink, visit during the dry season from November to June.
12:35The rainwater during other times of the year can wash away some of the color.
12:39Oh, by the way, there are other pink lakes around the world,
12:43like Lake Hillier in Western Australia and Lake Nitron in Tanzania.
12:48So, there's a hill that seems to be on fire all the time.
12:52Located in the Arctic region of Canada, the smoking hills are a truly unique sight on Earth.
12:58Some of the minerals found here are so rare that they've only been spotted on Mars.
13:04For at least a couple of hundred years, the ground here has been smoking continuously.
13:09At first, explorers thought this was due to an active volcano.
13:13But it turns out the smoke comes from something else.
13:16The soil in the smoking hills contains sulfur and coal.
13:20And when these materials mix with oxygen, they can spontaneously catch fire and keep on burning.
13:26But don't get any adventurous ideas about visiting.
13:30The environment here is extremely harsh.
13:32There's toxic smoke, and the temperatures can be dangerously high.
13:36So, I'd try Orlando.
13:40New Zealand is famous for its stunning landscapes, but it also has a hidden treasure underground.
13:47Deep in some caves in the country's North Island, you can find a mesmerizing natural wonder.
13:53To see it, you'll need to go down about 150 feet in a series of dark, twisting caves.
13:58As you go deeper, you'll enter complete darkness until you reach the cave ceilings, which are lined with tiny glowing
14:05creatures.
14:06These are New Zealand's native glowworms, which are the larvae of a special type of fungus gnat found only in
14:13this country.
14:14They shine a bright blue light to attract prey.
14:16If you get a chance to tour these caves, it feels like floating through a galaxy,
14:21with thousands of these living stars sparkling above and their glow reflecting in the water beneath your boat.
14:27It's an incredible sight, like stepping into a magical glowing world.
14:33Mexico is home to one of the most amazing caves in the world, called the Cave of Crystals.
14:39If you think you've seen big crystals before, wait until you see these.
14:43In around 1910, miners in the town of Naka Chihuahua, yeah, like the dog, discovered a cave full of clear
14:51selenite crystals.
14:52But it wasn't until 90 years later that they found an even more incredible cave filled with enormous crystals,
14:59some as long as 39 feet and weighing up to 55 tons.
15:04Scientists believe that 26 million years ago, give or take, hot, mineral-rich water filled this cave,
15:11allowing these huge crystals to grow.
15:14The Nika crystals are thought to be the biggest in the world,
15:17making people standing next to them look teeny in comparison.
15:21However, exploring the cave isn't easy.
15:24Inside temperatures reach 136 degrees Fahrenheit.
15:28Even with protection, people can only stay inside for 20 to 30 minutes.
15:32It's an extraordinary place, but not exactly a comfortable one for humans.
15:39Mauritius is famous for its beautiful beaches and clear blue waters.
15:43But it also has a stunning optical illusion at its southwest corner that looks like an underwater waterfall.
15:51Even though it seems like water is flowing down into the ocean,
15:55what you're actually seeing is a trick of the light and the seafloor.
15:59The island is on an ocean shelf that's only about 500 feet deep,
16:04but just beyond the edge, it drops down to 2.5 miles deep.
16:09This drop creates the illusion of a waterfall as currents push sand and particles over the edge,
16:15making it look like water is cascading down.
16:18So, while it's not a real underwater waterfall,
16:21it's definitely a cool sight to see from a boat.
16:26Now, here's a place that might either give you chills or leave you in awe,
16:30depending on when you visit.
16:33Near the small town of Grafino in Poland,
16:36there's a forest of pine trees with a strange twist.
16:39They're all bent at their bases.
16:42During the day, these trees with their sharp 90-degree curves
16:45look fascinating and even a bit whimsical.
16:48You might even find a comfortable spot to sit on if you're having a picnic.
16:53But visit the crooked forest at night,
16:56and it takes on a whole different vibe.
16:58A thin layer of fog hangs around,
17:01making the forest look eerie and a bit spooky.
17:04Plus, scientists still don't know why for sure the trees are bent like this.
17:09So, would you prefer to see it in the bright light of day?
17:13Or the mysterious dark of night?
17:15Ooh.
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