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Join us on this journey through Earth's cosmic challenges.
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00:00Solar eclipses are amazing to witness because the moon and the sun seem to overlap perfectly in our sky,
00:07even though the sun is way bigger, about 400 times.
00:11The trick is, the moon is also about 400 times closer to our planet,
00:16so they end up looking the same size to us.
00:19Sadly, at some point during our planet's history, solar eclipses won't happen anymore.
00:24You see, the moon is actually drifting away from Earth, sliding away about 1.5 inches every year.
00:32Because of this movement, the moon will no longer completely block out the sun.
00:37Experts at NASA went on to calculate when the last solar eclipse will happen.
00:42They say it's still going to take about 600 million years, so it's safe to say none of us will
00:49be here to see it.
00:51Speaking of things we won't see in our lifetime, we might need to add stars blowing up to that list.
00:57We know what stars look like when they fade away because of telescopes,
01:01but we've never seen one with the naked eye popping up above us.
01:06Betelgeuse might not sound like a familiar name,
01:08but know that it's a red supergiant star located about 1,000 light years from us.
01:13What's special about it is that it might explode and put on a spectacle that's never been seen from down
01:20here on Earth.
01:21This star has always been a bit of a mystery in terms of when it's going to pop.
01:26What we do know is that Betelgeuse is in the late stages of core carbon burning,
01:31and this carbon burning phase typically lasts around 1,000 years.
01:36Chances are, we won't be seeing any stars collapsing anytime soon.
01:40But since this event will most likely be harmless for our planet,
01:44it's something exciting for future generations to look forward to.
01:48Also, if you're curious to spot Betelgeuse in the night sky,
01:52it's usually visible in January and February evenings,
01:55and by early August, you can catch it before sunrise.
01:58It's got this unique muted orange-red hue,
02:02perfect for showing skeptics that stars do indeed come in colors.
02:07Our planet will also suffer a lot of changes in the future.
02:11If we could travel some millions of years ahead,
02:13we might not recognize our planet's maps at all.
02:17Currently, Earth has seven continents,
02:19but it hasn't always been that way,
02:21and it will most likely change in the future too.
02:24About 310 million years ago,
02:27Earth had this mega-continent called Pangaea.
02:30Around 180 million years ago,
02:33it started to break apart.
02:35Now, scientists think that in the next 200 or so million years,
02:39we might see another large continent forming.
02:43In fact, we might be right in the middle
02:45of this whole supercontinent formation.
02:47There are four main scenarios of how this new land could come to be,
02:52each with its own twist.
02:53They all link back to how Pangaea split up
02:57and how our continents are still shuffling.
03:00Our day, the 24-hour cycle we live by,
03:03is slowly stretching out too.
03:05This sneaky gradual change will eventually lead to days
03:09that are 25 hours long.
03:11And here's why it's happening.
03:13Earth's rotation, that spinning we do each day,
03:16is getting a bit slower each year.
03:18And it's all thanks to the Moon.
03:20That's because our satellite is sort of stealing
03:23some of Earth's energy.
03:24We know this is happening because of a cool gadget called
03:28the Laser Ranging Retro Reflector.
03:31It shoots laser beams up at the Moon,
03:33and when those beams bounce back to Earth,
03:36it takes a tiny bit longer for them to return.
03:39This little delay is a clue that our days are stretching.
03:43So, how much longer until we get one extra hour each day
03:47to finish up our to-do lists?
03:49Well, experts over at NASA did some calculations.
03:52Over the last century, our days got about 1.4 milliseconds longer.
03:57And if we zoom out and look past the 2,000 years,
04:02using historical records of solar eclipses,
04:05our day has stretched by an average of 2.5 milliseconds every century.
04:11Tedious calculations aside,
04:13we'll need about 50,000 years for a single extra second
04:17to be added to our day.
04:18That means it will take 180 million years
04:22for a day here on Earth to have 25 hours.
04:25That is, of course,
04:27if nothing else happens to our planet's rotation in the meantime.
04:31The Milky Way and one of its closest neighbors,
04:34Andromeda,
04:34are planning to merge somewhere in the future too.
04:37We won't be here to experience this interaction,
04:40but it probably won't feel like much of a change
04:43from down here on Earth.
04:45Galaxies colliding may seem a bit unusual,
04:48especially since we know the universe is expanding.
04:52If galaxies are moving further and further apart,
04:55how come they still get to meet with each other?
04:57Well, galaxies that are close don't just float around.
05:01They each have an effect on the other,
05:03thanks to gravity.
05:04That's the reason why the Milky Way and Andromeda
05:07are moving closer at about 186 miles per second.
05:12If we do the math,
05:13it means their collision won't happen
05:14for another 4.5 billion years,
05:18and chances are,
05:19they're going to gently pass through each other
05:21without visible changes being felt
05:23from within our solar system.
05:26There will come a time in the distant future
05:28when Saturn's stunning icy rings
05:31won't be here anymore either,
05:32at least according to some new research.
05:35NASA's Cassini mission,
05:37which spent its time orbiting Saturn
05:39between 2004 and 2017,
05:42gathered some new information about these rings
05:45and when they might disappear.
05:47You see,
05:48scientists have been debating for a while
05:50how old Saturn's rings are.
05:53Some thought they must be pretty young
05:55because they're still so bright and icy.
05:57They figured that over billions of years,
06:00they should have been worn down
06:02and darkened by all the space objects
06:04crashing into them.
06:05In fact,
06:06it's possible that these rings
06:07were still taking shape
06:08when the dinosaurs were roaming the Earth.
06:11When foreign space objects
06:13sneak into the rings,
06:14they shove material from the innermost circle
06:16towards Saturn
06:17at a pretty fast pace.
06:19As a result,
06:21Cassini saw the rings losing tons of mass
06:23every second.
06:24That means these rings
06:25aren't going to be visible
06:26for too much longer,
06:28in cosmic terms at least.
06:30They're estimated to last
06:31maybe a few hundred million years
06:33at most.
06:35We might also miss
06:37this next cosmic event,
06:39but barely.
06:40That's because according to some estimations,
06:42it might happen in just a hundred years.
06:45The Earth's magnetic field
06:46might collapse,
06:47flipping its north and south poles.
06:50Researchers claim
06:51that for the past 3,000 years,
06:53our planet's magnetic field
06:55has been on a steady decline.
06:57And if this trend continues,
06:59we might hit a critical point
07:01in less than a thousand years.
07:03For the planet's poles to switch,
07:05the magnetic field
07:06needs to weaken by about 90%,
07:08and this can take thousands of years.
07:11During this vulnerable phase,
07:14our planet loses
07:15its protective magnetic shield,
07:17letting in more cosmic rays from space.
07:20The last time this pole flip happened
07:23was almost 800,000 years ago.
07:25Problem is,
07:26we're currently in one of those riskiest phases.
07:29The field's getting weaker,
07:30but there's a chance
07:32it might regain its strength.
07:34At this rate of its decline, though,
07:36it could nosedive to nearly zero
07:38in just a few centuries,
07:39or a millennium.
07:41And we're already witnessing
07:42the effects of our weakening magnetic field
07:44on our satellites.
07:45In the vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean,
07:48between South America and Africa,
07:50there's a region where Earth's magnetic field
07:52is three times weaker than at the poles.
07:55Scientists call it the South Atlantic anomaly.
07:59Satellites passing through this zone
08:00consistently face electronic problems.
08:03No one knows why this weak field region
08:05appeared in the first place,
08:07and predicting its future moves
08:08has been pretty inconclusive.
08:11One theory is that a massive swirling whirlpool
08:13in Earth's liquid metal outer core
08:15might be responsible,
08:17pushing the magnetic field
08:18away from the South Atlantic.
08:21Another thought is that
08:22the magnetic field in this region
08:24is pointing in the wrong direction,
08:26like a mini-pole flip.
08:29Now, don't get all upset,
08:31but the moon is shrinking
08:33and getting wrinkled,
08:34pretty much like a grape
08:35turning into a raisin.
08:37That happens because
08:38our natural satellite
08:39has been retaining its inner heat
08:41for over 4 billion years.
08:42But its core is gradually cooling down
08:45and becoming more dense,
08:47like me.
08:48Unlike a grape's flexible skin,
08:50the moon's surface is pretty brittle.
08:52This brittleness causes faults to form
08:54where different sections of the crust
08:56push up against each other,
08:57leading to what scientists call moonquakes.
09:02So far, our satellite has shrunk
09:04by around 150 feet in circumference.
09:07It's such a tiny change
09:08that it won't affect the look of eclipses
09:10or the phases of the moon.
09:11Even tidal cycles won't be affected
09:14since the moon's mass
09:15hasn't really changed.
09:18The shrinking process
09:19won't directly affect us down here,
09:21but that doesn't mean
09:22that all humans are safe.
09:26Moonquakes caused by the shrinking process
09:29have been a concern for years.
09:31During the famous Apollo missions,
09:34NASA astronauts left seismometers
09:36at different points on the moon.
09:38Those are devices capable
09:39of identifying seismic activity
09:41on the lunar surface
09:42with exceptional precision.
09:44The equipment was operational
09:46for several years,
09:47and it managed to capture
09:48over 12,000 moonquakes,
09:50ranging in magnitudes
09:52from 2 to 5.
09:54Up until 1977,
09:57the team was able to identify
09:58four distinct types of quakes.
10:01Some tremors,
10:02like those caused by meteorite impacts,
10:04were relatively easy to identify.
10:07But the cause of the so-called
10:09shallow moonquakes
10:11remains a mystery to scientists,
10:12and that can be an obstacle
10:14to future missions on lunar soil.
10:17As the name suggests,
10:19shallow moonquakes occur
10:20relatively close to the surface,
10:22typically between 30 to 135 miles
10:25beneath the surface.
10:28Recent research suggests
10:29that these tremors are triggered
10:31by the compression
10:32of the moon's surface,
10:34leading to the formation
10:35of thrust faults,
10:36where one surface layer
10:37is pushed up over another.
10:40This study also discovered
10:42where the epicenters
10:43of the strongest ones were.
10:45It all started
10:46in the South Pole region,
10:47precisely where we want
10:49to settle down.
10:50Interest in the lunar South Pole
10:52peaked in 2023,
10:54when India's Chandran mission
10:56successfully landed
10:57and deployed a rover
10:58to explore the area.
11:00NASA also has plans
11:01for the same spot.
11:03And their ambitious goal
11:05is to take astronauts there
11:06for the very first time.
11:08The Artemis III mission,
11:09scheduled for 2026,
11:11currently has 13 potential
11:13landing spots at the South Pole,
11:15represented by the blue squares here.
11:17One of the options
11:18is situated within
11:19a geological feature
11:21called De Gerlach Rim 2,
11:23which is a strategic area
11:24for exploration.
11:25It might have ice,
11:27because parts of it
11:28are completely in the dark.
11:29But it's close enough
11:30to areas that do have sunlight,
11:32which is crucial
11:33as a source of power.
11:35Now, take a look
11:36at the pink dots
11:37on that same map.
11:38They represent
11:39possible epicenters
11:40of the strongest moonquakes
11:41recorded by the Apollo missions.
11:44That means that
11:45thrust faults in the area
11:46could be relatively young
11:48and potentially active,
11:49representing a real danger
11:51to the Artemis III crew.
11:53These astronauts
11:54will journey to lunar orbit
11:56over the course of 30 days.
11:57and two crew members
11:59will descend to the surface,
12:00spending about a week
12:01at the South Pole.
12:03Their moonwalk
12:04will be particularly challenging,
12:06given the extreme temperatures
12:07of these permanently shadowed regions.
12:10The presence of moonquakes
12:12and possible landslides
12:13only adds more danger
12:15to this mission,
12:15as this phenomenon
12:17is far more frightening
12:18than earthquakes.
12:21The strongest moonquake
12:23ever recorded
12:24had a magnitude of 5.7.
12:26You might think
12:27that's not a big deal,
12:29considering that countries
12:30like Chile,
12:31Colombia,
12:32and Papua New Guinea
12:34experienced earthquakes
12:35of similar magnitude
12:37in 2023
12:38without significant damage.
12:40But the gravitational pull
12:42on the moon
12:42is relatively weaker
12:44than on Earth.
12:45So what feels
12:46like a gentle tremor
12:47on our planet
12:48might be a real
12:49ground-shaking event up there.
12:51This happens because
12:52you're not as firmly connected
12:54to the surface of the moon
12:55as you are on Earth,
12:56meaning that seismic waves
12:57can cause the surface
12:59to move more freely.
13:02There's also a huge difference
13:03in duration.
13:05Earthquakes typically last
13:07between 10 and 30 seconds,
13:09with some lasting
13:10up to 2 minutes.
13:11A moonquake can persist
13:13much, much longer than that.
13:15Our satellite is essentially
13:17a solid, rigid, and dry sphere.
13:19So when a tremor shakes
13:21the moon's surface,
13:22it resonates powerfully
13:23without any natural means
13:25of dissipation.
13:26Moonquakes can last
13:27for a good 10 minutes
13:29or even longer,
13:30with little tremors
13:31sticking around
13:31for hours afterwards.
13:34Now these new findings
13:36about shallow moonquakes
13:37won't actually change
13:38the potential landing sites
13:39for Artemis 3.
13:41And they won't affect
13:42the duration of the mission,
13:43either.
13:44That's because
13:45accurately estimating
13:46how often a specific region
13:48experiences these tremors
13:50is tricky and unpredictable.
13:52What scientists do know
13:54is that these shallow quakes
13:55aren't very common
13:56and pose a low risk
13:58to short-term missions
13:59on the lunar surface.
14:01But that situation
14:02changes completely
14:03if we consider
14:04long-term habitation
14:06on the moon.
14:06And that could happen
14:07sooner than we expect.
14:12The Artemis 3 mission
14:14represents an important
14:15first step
14:15toward space colonization.
14:17China is also
14:18making the first moves
14:19to establish
14:20a permanent lunar base
14:21at the South Pole
14:22by 2040.
14:24Their strategy involves
14:25utilizing 3D printing
14:27and brick production
14:28from lunar soil
14:29for constructing
14:30the moon base.
14:31That definitely
14:32sounds fascinating,
14:33but putting together
14:34a setup like that
14:35comes with a bunch
14:36of challenges,
14:38including dealing
14:39with intense cosmic radiation,
14:41the lack of water,
14:42and, of course,
14:43long-lasting moon quakes.
14:48Over billions of years,
14:49the surface of the moon
14:50has been hit by asteroids
14:51and comets,
14:52causing bits and pieces
14:54to constantly break off
14:55from the impacts.
14:56Because of this,
14:57all the surface material
14:58is pretty loosely packed.
15:00So when there are quakes,
15:02slopes in the same area
15:03can become susceptible
15:05to landslides
15:06or new faults opening up.
15:08Future settlements
15:09located too close
15:10to these unstable slopes
15:11could put everyone
15:13living inside
15:13these lunar bases at risk.
15:15Moon dust adds
15:17another layer of complexity
15:18because,
15:19without erosion or water
15:20to smooth it out,
15:21it can harden
15:22to the point of being
15:23as tough as glass.
15:26If we really want
15:27to understand
15:28how dangerous moon quakes
15:29might be for people
15:30living and working
15:31on the moon in the future,
15:33space agencies
15:34still need to map out
15:35and get new seismic data.
15:37And not just from
15:38the South Pole,
15:39but from the entire satellite.
15:41In 2025,
15:43the Farside Seismic Suite Mission,
15:45or FSS,
15:46plans to deploy
15:47two of the most
15:48high-precision seismometers
15:50ever built
15:50to the Schrodinger crater,
15:52which is located
15:53on the dark side of the moon.
15:55Finding out what's happening
15:56on the ground there
15:57is crucial
15:58for understanding
15:59the complex lunar structure
16:00and its internal dynamics.
16:03I mean,
16:04scientists are still
16:05trying to figure out
16:06whether the lack
16:07of recorded seismic activity
16:09on the far side
16:10of the moon
16:10is due to current instruments
16:12not being capable
16:13of detecting it.
16:15Or if it's due
16:16to some kind of interference
16:18from melted material
16:19in the mantle.
16:20Once they have this answer,
16:21it will be easier
16:22to fully understand
16:23the phenomenon
16:24of shallow moon quakes
16:25and assess their implications
16:27for future neighborhoods
16:28on our natural satellite.
16:31Now,
16:32you may have heard
16:32that Earth
16:33is also shrinking,
16:34but it's a different process.
16:36Basically,
16:37the moon is getting smaller
16:38mainly because its core
16:40is cooling down naturally.
16:42The Earth's core
16:43is cooling too,
16:44but our planet
16:45got its crust
16:46with tectonic plates,
16:47unlike the moon,
16:48which only has one plate.
16:50So the energy
16:52from Earth's core
16:53shifts those plates around
16:54or comes through
16:55volcanic eruptions.
16:57Earth is actually
16:59losing mass overall
17:00due to atmospheric loss.
17:02Our planet loses
17:03about 100 million pounds
17:05of mass per year,
17:06mostly from
17:07a leaky atmosphere.
17:09Earth's gravity
17:10isn't strong enough
17:11to retain
17:11the lightest particles,
17:12like hydrogen and helium,
17:14which escape into space.
17:15But don't worry,
17:17these numbers
17:18aren't cause for alarm,
17:19considering that
17:20our planet's atmosphere
17:21weighs about
17:225 quadrillion tons,
17:24a number I can't even imagine.
17:26So, in other words,
17:27it would take
17:28many, many, many times
17:29the current age
17:30of the universe
17:30for it to completely evaporate.
17:33Well, that makes me
17:34breathe easier.
17:35How about you?
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