[Music]
welcome to lab360 for all the news and
videos from the world of astronomy
recently our planet has had many
surprise visitors in the form of
asteroids and comets don't you think
it's about time we visited one
a perfect opportunity has risen as a
large asteroid is hurtling towards earth
because of its size and the proximity of
its potential visit to earth the
stadium-sized asteroid apophis has been
one of the most concerning space rocks
on earth's radar
with the recent announcement by nasa
that the asteroid bumping spacecraft
osiris-rex will pay it a visit we'll
learn a lot more about it
osiris-rex is already well known for its
daring mission to collect a sample from
the asteroid bennu in 2020
the spaceship is in route back to earth
where it will drop off the sample for
scientists to examine
it will then embark on an extended
mission to apophis once that assignment
is completed
the benue sample will be delivered in
september 2023
apophis has a diameter of around 1 200
feet and will pass within 20 000 miles
of earth in 2029
that'll be a close but safe shave
nasa also ruled out the possibility of
an asteroid colliding with earth in 2068
which had been a source of anxiety the
spacecraft is one of eight nasa-funded
planetary scientific projects to receive
extensions
a number of mars missions are included
in this group including the curiosity
rover and the mars reconnaissance
orbiter
osiris-rex will get up close and
personal with its prospective asteroid
target around the time the space rock
makes a very close approach to earth in
2029
reflecting on its new mission osiris-rex
will be renamed osiris apex in light of
its new aim
instead of taking a sample from apophis
osiris apex will snuggle up to it and
fire its thrusters at the surface
exposing the stuff beneath
it's possible that osiris apex isn't the
only spacecraft that will approach
apophis
scientists from south korea also hope to
launch a mission
the asteroid's imminent close approach
will provide a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to obtain a close look at a
possibly dangerous asteroid
the more we know the better prepared we
will be for future threats
what do you guys think
drop in your comments below and don't
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the news and videos from the world of
astronomy
the sun is the ultimate source of energy
on earth
this bright burning star radiates heat
and light which makes our world
habitable
but every good thing comes with an
asterisk mark multiple solar storms
triggered by the sun have hit earth in
the recent weeks
what has caused the rapid increase in
the frequency and intensity of solar
activity
is this trend likely to continue
nearly every day of the previous week
u.s agencies nasa and the national
oceanic and atmospheric administration
noaa issued warnings about solar storms
striking earth
this wasn't a one-week event either
solar storms also known as geomagnetic
storms have become more common in recent
months
due to a violent solar storm in february
spacex lost 40 starlink satellites
in the month of april we saw at least
three separate occasions where solar
activity caused radio blackouts in
various parts of the world
not only is this development alarming
but there is also the larger question of
whether the sun's roth will worsen in
the future
solar cycles help us to understand a lot
of the current high levels of solar
activity
a solar cycle also known as a solar
magnetic activity cycle is an 11-year
period in which the sun's activity is
monitored by changes in the number of
sunspots visible on its surface
the 11-year period is marked by two
extreme moments known as solar maximum
and solar minimum which correspond to
the highest and lowest levels of
activity respectively
we are in the 25th solar cycle which
will begin in december of this year
this cycle will reach its solar maximum
in april 2024 according to numerous
models and predictions by scientists
when the sun has the most sunspots
active areas of solar flares it is said
to be at its solar maximum
these sunspots cause the earth to be
bombarded by violent solar storms based
on current trends the sun is expected to
contain roughly 125 active sunspots at
its peak
for comparison there were 115 sunspots
visible during the apex of cycle 24. if
these projections are to be believed it
appears that earth's situation will be
worse this time around
the intensity and frequency of solar
activities are likely to rise as we get
closer to april 2024
while it is impossible to say for sure
but by 2024 solar flares may become
common and even the terrifying g5 class
solar storms may be a possibility
however there is one way to escape the
tumultuous solar event
sunspots can be found all over the sun
however if the solar disk facing the
earth contains fewer or weaker sunspots
the earth may not be able to feel the
full brunt of the sun's anger
what do you guys think
it was a bright and beautiful day 65
million years ago from today the most
dominant species the majestic dinosaurs
roamed the earth comfortably as beings
at the top of the food chain
and things would have stayed like that
for many more years to come had
something tragic not happened
but as we all know every 26 million
years there is a mass extinction event
and our planet resets itself to new
beginnings
that day a mighty asteroid was
approaching our planet and the dinosaurs
had absolutely no clue
the asteroid which was 10 to 15
kilometers wide was cruising towards
earth at a speed of 30 kilometers per
second
and then
around 75 of earth's animals including
dinosaurs suddenly died out at the same
point in time
the asteroid hit at high velocity and
effectively vaporized making a huge
crater an enormous blast wave and heat
wave went out and it threw vast amounts
of material up into the atmosphere
it sent soot traveling all around the
world
it didn't completely block out the sun
but it reduced the amount of light that
reached the earth's surface
so it had an impact on plant growth as
well and like dominoes this trailed up
the food chain causing the ecosystem to
collapse the earth had successfully
initiated a reboot
dinosaurs would be a thing of the past
but it did pave way for new beginnings
if you want to understand this timeline
from a simpler point of view let's
consider all of earth's time from the
very beginning of the dinosaurs till
today to be 365 days
that way the dinosaurs appeared on
january 1st and became extinct for third
week of september
using the same scale homo sapiens have
been on earth only since december 31st
yes that's how long the dinosaurs have
dominated the earth
but what if they never went extinct
what if the asteroid flew right past
earth without ever entering its
atmosphere
65 million years might not be a long
time from the universe's perspective but
it is a lot for earthlings
if dinosaurs were around today it would
be correct to assume that they would
evolve to look very different
we might still recognize them though
and with mammals beginning to evolve and
gain more territory some of the
dinosaurs would seek shelter in the
oceans just like whales and mentees did
what a spectacular sight that would have
been to see these reptiles underwater
for mammals however only the smaller
ones such as rodents bats and primates
would thrive the bigger ones like
elephants mammoths giant relatives of
rhinos and sloths and perhaps even
horses and giraffes probably couldn't
have evolved if large dinosaurs had
remained to occupy the niches they came
to fill but the question here is could
we have lived and thrived along with the
dinosaurs
here is the thing about us humans we are
the most dangerous species on this
planet and it would have been that way
even with the dinosaurs around
we evolved in ecosystems that had large
and dangerous predators because we are
pretty good at surviving
and in order to survive we can do
anything
we have a special skill for killing off
animals large or small
perhaps the biggest dinosaurs would have
gone the way of the mammoth and the dodo
are tools
hunting climate change or habitat
destruction
pick one and the dinosaurs in the 21st
century would probably have reduced
populations and faced the threat of
extinction
also some of them like the sauropods are
so big and would require so much food
that we would not have been able to set
aside enough wide spaces for them to
thrive
in fact it is not us that would have had
to adapt to live with the dinosaurs
it is them
and the ones that learned to live and
thrive along with people would make it
to the modern era
small omnivorous or predatory theropods
would perhaps have been lurking around
garbage cans and some domesticated to
exploit for meat and eggs or
agricultural labor and we would very
likely have taken them into our homes as
pets
but could humans have evolved to a point
where we are today in a world filled
with dinosaurs
yes and no
you see the asteroid was one of those
dominoes that set in motion a chain of
events that led to us
without the dinosaurs disappearing
mammals would not have had the same
opportunity
we might have still existed but mostly
as marginal shadowy little creatures and
have had to wait for thousands if not
millions of years longer to evolve to
where we are today
what do you think
is there a parallel universe out there
where the asteroid did not hit the earth
and dinosaurs are alive and roaming
exactly where you are watching the video
right now
let us know your thoughts