Lightning Bolts Could Have Delivered The Spark That Started Life on Earth
16 MARCH 2021
The question of how life on Earth got started has long intrigued us, and new research suggests that primordial lightning strikes – perhaps over the course of a billion years – could have played a crucial role in sparking life on this planet.
Central to the idea is the way that lightning bolts create special glasses called fulgurites when they hit the ground. Fulgurites contain phosphorus, one of the key basic ingredients for the formation of life; this ingredient is often locked away inside insoluble rocks.
The early Earth may well have experienced enough lightning strikes over a long-enough period to release the necessary amount of reactive phosphorus for life to begin, researchers now think. In fact, the same process could be happening on other planets too.
Lunar Ark Could Safeguard Millions of Species DNA on The Moon
HARRY BAKER, LIVE SCIENCE
14 MARCH 2021
A lunar ark hidden inside the Moon s lava tubes could preserve the sperm, eggs and seeds of millions of Earth s species, a group of scientists has proposed.
The ark, or gene bank, would be safely hidden in these hollowed-out tunnels and caves sculpted by lava more than 3 billion years ago and would be powered by solar panels above. It would hold the cryogenically preserved genetic material of all 6.7 million known species of plants, animals and fungi on Earth, which would require at least 250 rocket launches to transport to the Moon, according to the researchers.
(Ecofin Agency) - In recent months, the government of Gabon has been bringing in some young blood. Noureddin Bongo Valentin, a youth not more than 30 years, has been appointed as the General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs. A man who shines by his performances, he applies to public management some private management techniques: reporting, auditing, return on investment. I belong to a generation to whom efficiency is crucial, he said.
Ecofin Agency: What does the position of General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs in Gabon entail? Some believe this title is somewhat that of vice-president.
Noureddin Bongo Valentin: This position feeds many fantasies (laughs). Wrongly so. In truth, the reality is much more prosaic. The General Coordinator of Presidential Affairs is an executor who serves the head of state. According to the title’s attributes, the coordinator has
Giant Space Telescope Submerged Thousands of Feet Below World s Deepest Lake
AFP
15 MARCH 2021
Russian scientists on Saturday launched one of the world s biggest underwater space telescopes to peer deep into the Universe from the pristine waters of Lake Baikal.
The deep underwater telescope, which has been under construction since 2015, is designed to observe neutrinos, the smallest particles currently known.
Dubbed Baikal-GVD, the telescope was submerged to a depth of 750-1,300 meters (2,500-4,300 feet), around four kilometers from the lake s shore.
Baikal-GVD being lowered into the water. (Kirill Shipitsin/Sputnik Kirill Shipitsin/Sputnik/AFP)
Neutrinos are very hard to detect and water is an effective medium for doing so.
It s no secret that the world s largest tropical rainforest, the Amazon, is under immense pressure, nearing an ecological tipping point and at risk of collapsing.