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Get ready to have your mind blown with these incredible facts that are sure to leave you speechless.
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00:01photosynthesis can save millions of human lives wait how what is the connection here plants create
00:09energy out of sunlight water and carbon dioxide duh we've known it for ages turns out that
00:15understanding this process in detail could help find a cure for cancer so for a long time scientists
00:22have been trying to figure out how plants start the process of turning sunlight into sugar through
00:26photosynthesis but now some researchers have finally decoded those tricky signals that plants
00:32send to themselves for many years botanists have known that the nucleus in a plant cell is like the
00:38boss sending out commands to other parts of the cell it does so by creating proteins that tell
00:44the other parts what to do and if those proteins aren't there the plant won't be able to grow or
00:49turn green but there are hundreds of different proteins in the nucleus and figuring out which
00:55ones tell the plant to start photosynthesis has been a huge challenge it's been like trying to
00:59find a needle in a haystack but now the botany professor meng chen and his team managed to find
01:06four of those proteins and documented the entire process in simple words chen and his team found
01:11four new proteins that help plants start the process of photosynthesis which turns sunlight into energy for
01:17growth these proteins are part of a complex process that happens in two different rooms in the cell
01:24and they help the different parts of the plant talk to each other so they can work together to make
01:29energy chen compares this process to a symphony where the proteins in the nucleus act as the
01:35conductors who start the music these conductors are called photoreceptors which implies that they
01:41respond to light and activate genes that kick off photosynthesis however they need to communicate
01:47with other parts of the cell which are far away like musicians playing in different rooms this is where
01:53the four newly discovered proteins come in they help the conductors send messages to the other parts
01:58of the cell this research was funded by the national institutes of health which hopes that it could help
02:05find a cure for cancer this is because the chloroplasts which are plant cell parts responsible for
02:12photosynthesis and mitochondria that generate chemical energy in human cells have some similarities
02:17both are important for generating energy for growth and they also contain genetic material
02:24scientists have been studying internal communication processes inside the cell they found out that when
02:29something goes wrong with the little organs inside a cell called organelles they will send a message
02:34to the nucleus which acts as the headquarters of the cell however we don't know much about how the
02:41nucleus sends messages back to the organelles chen thinks that the way the nucleus communicates with
02:46the organelles in plants is similar to how it works in animals by studying how the nucleus communicates
02:52the chloroplasts we can learn how it also controls the mitochondrial genes dysfunction of these genes may
02:58lead to dangerous diseases like cancer so we could learn to control these processes and thus maybe find
03:04ways to reverse cancer processes it's important to understand how photosynthesis is controlled
03:10because it may be used beyond just studying diseases for example if we ever live on another planet
03:16we will need to grow food indoors and create a way to make sure the plants get enough light to
03:20grow
03:21also climate change is making it harder for farmers to grow crops by understanding how plants grow
03:27we can find ways to help them survive and keep us fed the reason we can survive on this planet
03:32is
03:33because plants can do photosynthesis without them there are no animals including humans said chen
03:38so if we understand how to manipulate plant growth we can also control the quantity of food we produce
03:43which could definitely solve lots of our problems in the future 2022 and 2023 have been landmark years
03:50for discovering new fascinating worlds last year nasa surpassed 5000 confirmed exoplanets the list is
03:58incredibly diverse it includes rocky super earths gas giants like jupiter ice giants like neptune and so
04:06on and this is just the beginning there might be more than a trillion exoplanets in our galaxy alone
04:12but the most important question is how many of them are habitable you know for us are there any
04:18planets on this list that could have life on them or that could be a future home for us of
04:24course there
04:24are and in 2022 2023 we found as many as five of them so buckle up and hang on for
04:33a wild ride beyond
04:34our solar system the first planet on our list is wolf 1069b a boring and stodgy designation so i'll simply
04:44nickname it wolfie because hey who's gonna stop me nasa a new study conducted by 50 starry-eyed
04:51astronomers confirmed something awesome this exoplanet wolfie which is located just 31 light years away
04:58from us could potentially be a rocky world in other words theoretically it's a habitable planet the team
05:05behind this discovery used a technique called radial velocity to detect the exoplanet this is a way
05:12scientists study the movements of stars and planets it's as if when you're playing catch with a friend
05:17as they throw the ball to you you can see it coming closer and closer it's kind of like radial
05:23velocity
05:24when a planet is moving towards us it makes the star it orbits appear to be coming closer to us
05:29when the planet is moving away from us it also makes the star look more distant scientists can use this
05:36information to figure out what the planet is doing and how big it is and that's how they found wolfie
05:41this exoplanet is estimated to be the earth's size and about one and a third times the mass of our
05:48planet
05:48it's orbiting a red dwarf star who i'll call wolfie's mama but here's the real kicker wolfie orbits within
05:56its star's habitable zone which means it's a prime candidate for liquid water to exist on its surface
06:02that's like hitting the exoplanetary jackpot ooh wish i had a ticket the study estimates that if
06:09wolfie does have an earth-like atmosphere temperatures could rise as high as 55 degrees fahrenheit which
06:15would mean liquid water could pool on the planet's day side but here's the catch the exoplanet is tidally
06:22locked to its star meaning that the same side always faces the star just imagine one side of the planet
06:29is always best in the warmth of its star while the other is in eternal darkness like middle school
06:35just kidding the team behind the discovery believes it's a prime candidate for further studies
06:41but we'll probably have to wait another 10 years for answers until then we'll just have to keep
06:47searching the skies with our telescopes and crossed fingers our next planet is toy 700e hmm what's a good
06:55nickname nasa has just discovered a new planet that's set to take the galaxies by storm or shall
07:02we say by orbit i'll nickname it toys were us it's almost the size of earth most likely has liquid
07:09water
07:10on its surface and it's only 100 light years away we're not talking about a road trip of course but
07:15this is close enough in the grand scheme of things toys were us is the fourth planet in its system
07:22and it's got a bit of a short orbit just 28 days to circle its star well at least you
07:28would have a
07:28birthday every month hooray this time the discovery was made using the transit method planets themselves
07:35are incredibly small and hard to detect but when a planet is in front of its star it blocks some
07:42of
07:42the light coming from it making it look a little bit dimmer as soon as the planet moves away the
07:47star
07:47gets brighter again so to find the planet scientists watch very carefully to see if the star's brightness
07:54changes if it does that means there's probably a planet playing hide and seek with us and that's how
08:00they discovered toys were us the test mission discovered it it discovered 66 new exoplanets
08:07and 2 100 more candidates waiting to be confirmed test has been very busy creating imaging for 75 of the
08:15sky talk about efficiency toys were us is located in the optimistic habitable zone between planets c and d
08:23but it may be tidally locked just like wolfie so we might have to settle for a one-sided water
08:29world
08:30the discovery of toys were us is a promising prospect for future follow-up observations and it demonstrates
08:36the potential for tests to find even smaller exoplanets in the future who knows it may find a new home
08:42for
08:43humanity among the stars one day or at least a new vacation spot
08:49next we have twins gj 1002 b and gj 1002 c the galaxy just got a little bit closer to
08:59us with the
09:00discovery of two exoplanets which i'll nickname hansel and gretel that are just a stone's throw
09:06away from our solar system that's right these two earth-like planets are located less than 16
09:12light years away which is just a hop skip and a jump in space terms for comparison proxima centauri
09:19b is the closest earth mass exoplanet at 4.2 light years away so these two new neighbors are among
09:26the
09:26closest to us they both orbit a red dwarf star with barely one-eighth the mass of the sun it's
09:32quite cool
09:33and faint but that's okay since both planets are very close to it hansel takes 10 days to orbit its
09:40star while gretel takes just over 21 days even more birthdays i guess the discovery was made by an
09:47international scientific team and was no small feat the team had to work together with two instruments
09:53espresso and carminis the result a coffee latte yeah what they got were measurements so accurate you could
10:01practically count the number of craters on the planet's surfaces the big deal is the planets are
10:06located in the habitable zone of their star and are just the right signs making them excellent
10:12candidates for future atmospheric studies the lead author says nature seems bent on showing us that
10:18earth-like planets are very common with these two we now know seven in planetary systems quite near to
10:25the sun who knew our neighbors could be so friendly in conclusion the discovery of hansel and gretel is a
10:32giant leap for humankind so let's all raise a glass of h2o or whatever they drink on exoplanets and celebrate
10:40it the last planet on our list is lp 890-9c which i'll call bob this super earth located about
10:5098 light
10:51years away is roughly 40 percent larger than our home planet moreover it has a twin which i'll
10:57nickname ray which is up to 75 percent larger than earth more space is always good right the two planets
11:05orbit around the red dwarf star unfortunately ray is quite hot to the touch with an estimated temperature
11:11of 253 degrees fahrenheit so don't touch its sibling bob is located in the habitable zone of its star
11:19making it a prime candidate for the potential of life but let's remember that the actual
11:25temperature of the planets depends on their atmospheres it's possible that bob being the
11:30outermost planet has a runaway greenhouse effect making it more like venus than earth so it might
11:37be too hot to be habitable at all but let's not lose hope yet the james webb space telescope launched
11:44in
11:44december 2021 is on the case with its cutting-edge technology and powerful instruments including
11:50spectrographs it can peer into the atmospheres of exoplanets and reveal which ones might be
11:56habitable so let's see what it discovers this planet has been listed as the second most favorable
12:02habitable zone terrestrial planet now it's on the list with seven other earth-like planets all about 40
12:08light years away from us maybe they'll become our new homes in the future maybe we should fix
12:13the home we have but until then enjoy this moment and celebrate all these new discoveries
12:19who knows how many more planets we'll find in the future considering how much technology develops
12:25each year thousands millions meanwhile bob and ray hansel and gretel toys were us
12:31wolfie and her mama will all be out there waiting for us
12:38an hour after people disappear most urban areas will be left empty and quiet perhaps the sound of
12:44wind falling leaves or other natural sounds previously drowned out by city noise and traffic will be heard
12:53the subways of many cities are protected from groundwater by a system of pumps
12:57if there are no people to monitor such systems most subways will flood within 36 hours
13:05due to malfunctions sewage treatment plants will stop working leading to pollution of rivers and lakes with
13:11wastewater the water pipes in detroit will become unusable leading to the flooding of the city
13:22food and refrigerators will spoil raccoons and wolves will inhabit abandoned human homes
13:29water pipes in the water pipes in the water pipes in the water pipes in the water pipes
13:30major airports will be covered in rust and overgrown with ivy
13:35cruise ships in alaska will sink under the weight of ice that accumulates on them
13:39lions from the san diego zoo will gradually escape emboldened by the power outage of the electric
13:45fence around their enclosures more and more black cats will appear on the streets of rome and the vatican
13:53rats and mice will consume all edible reserves and leave the cities
13:59plants will begin to grow in cracks in streets highways sidewalks and buildings
14:06more and more animals will notice the absence of people and flock to the cities
14:13international space station will gradually decrease since no one will correct its orbit the station will
14:18eventually fall to earth and burn up along with it digitized samples of human dna will perish
14:26a large part of the city's territory will be covered with a vegetation of lianas grasses and tree seedlings
14:33the red square in moscow will have a layer of soil and thick grasses growing making the square completely green
14:42despite high levels of radiation animal populations are increasing in abandoned areas
14:47plants have grown in many houses and buildings
14:52seawater will flood cities that were once drained by artificial drainage systems such as london and amsterdam
15:01satellites will begin to fall to earth since no one maintained their speed of movement they slowly
15:07approached earth and eventually fell to the planet's surface
15:13wolves now roam freely around the brandenburg gate in berlin and wild boars will be seen in paris
15:22human speech will be preserved in rare words that parrots have memorized during their years of living
15:27with humans snakes snakes will not only reproduce at incredible rates but also grow much larger in
15:34size their main prey will be rodents that have multiplied in the first years after humans disappeared
15:42many human-made structures will collapse within 100 years primarily those with a large number of steel elements
15:52fruit christmas cakes thanks to their alcohol coating
15:54will not only retain their appearance but also freshness
16:00most buildings will be overtaken by plants and animals and the city will resemble more of a wild nature landscape
16:09the period of nuclear fuel decay will come to an end and as a result dead zones around the ruins
16:15of nuclear power plants
16:16will once again become habitable
16:22the last parrots that spoke human language may go extinct since they memorized human speech
16:27but it is simply not necessary for their survival in the wild
16:33all modern carriers of information that preserve human culture laser discs photographic film paper and the
16:39like will turn to dust
16:44rebar inside concrete buildings which are more durable than steel ones will expand three times due to rust
16:50causing the destruction of concrete structures
16:55most modern cities will be covered by a green blanket and collapsed skyscrapers and buildings will become new hills
17:02manhattan will return to its former state before human settlement with numerous streams and lakes
17:07there will be almost no evidence of the existence of human civilization
17:14only powerful stone buildings that rely solely on the force of gravity will survive such as notre dame de paris
17:25of the products that existed during human civilization
17:28only honey especially in clay pots and oil in wooden barrels will be well preserved
17:36only a few stone structures will survive including the pyramids in giza and the sphinx
17:42almost entirely buried in the sands of the desert and fragments of the great wall of china
17:49by this time a new ice age will begin on earth
17:55it is expected that the keo satellite will enter the atmosphere by this time
17:59various pieces of space debris will collide with it during its descent but this will not destroy the
18:04satellite eventually it will fall into the waters of the world ocean
18:10remnants of spacecraft and satellite debris will float through space as the only reminder of human
18:15of human civilization
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