Earth Wasn't Supposed to Have Life, See Why

the planet races through space its orbit is unstable like a pool ball gliding across the table looking for a Target to collide into only this ball is the size of Mars and it's going nine thousand miles per hour boom it crashes into another planet this mars-sized object was called Thea and what it smashed into was Earth the impact released 100 million times more energy than the asteroid that wiped out the Dinosaurs the planetary collision through tons of solid material from both objects out into space but only one of the body survived Thea was obliterated and then swallowed entirely by early Earth but that debris didn't go flying endlessly into the cosmic void no something crucial happened all those solid chunks gathered into a cloud gravity squished it together pressing more and more and in the end our moon was born so goes the theory at the time of the impact the solar system was just forming and this Rendezvous of Epic Proportions probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for a newly formed Jupiter throwing Thea off its orbit and straight into Earth our young Planet withstood the blow time passed Earth evolved its surface will become unrecognizable over the next 4.5 billion years it's hard for the human mind to understand this vast amount of time so we'll squeeze it all into one day if midnight is when Earth first form from gas and dust that remained after the sun's creation the next four hours show a lifeless planet red hot covered in lava constantly bombarded by asteroids and as you know by now even a whole other planet yet life finds a way the first cells appear it's 4 am on the clock at 208 PM we see the first single cell organisms form it's not until 8 28 PM that sea plants appear 20 minutes later what's this jellyfish after them the planet flourishes with different fish reptiles insects the forests grow at 10 30 PM between 10 56 and 11 40 dinosaurs roam the Earth the giant lizards ruled our planet for less than one hour a minute before the dinosaur's Extinction at 11 39 PM the first mammals begin to run around the planet at 11 58 and 43 seconds humans appear in the cosmic scale of things we've only ruled this planet for one minute and 17 seconds so here's the main question baffling scientists why didn't life on Earth ever stop it had every chance to cease why didn't our planet become like Venus or Mars they both once had an atmosphere in oceans today they're lifeless deserts forget about complex scientific Concepts and theories of the universe's structure our little rock and all its inhabitants are just incredibly lucky officer Toby Tyrell at the University of Southampton used computer programs and climate simulations to solve the puzzle of why asteroid collisions in ice ages didn't turn our little rock into a lifeless Wasteland the research team took not 10 100 or 1 000 virtual planets similar to Earth they used 100 000 for the experiment and every single one of those 100 000 were simulated a hundred times they expose these virtual planets to different phenomena they were bombarded by asteroids Frozen exposed to Epic eruptions of super volcanoes that blackened the skies and block the surface from the sun's Rays just nine percent or eight thousand seven hundred of them were successful one time in 100 simulations of that crew 4 500 planets remain inhabited 10 times only on one planet out of one hundred thousand life didn't stop all 100 times if life is a lottery Earth got extremely lucky in 2009 the unique Kepler Telescope was launched into space its task search one patch of the night sky or 150 000 stars for Rocky earth-like planets over nine years in service it ended up surveying more than 500 000 Stars in all that time with all those observations over nearly a decade Kepler discovered 2 600 possible Earth-like planets the weird thing is most of them are a type you can't find in our own solar system there's something between the size of Earth and Neptune but back to the real Earth if you go far from the city and look up at the sky you'll see an ocean of stars if you're lucky and it's a clear night with an unaided eye you could count a maximum of 2 500 points of light yet there are at least 100 billion stars in the Milky Way some estimates put the numbers of stars in the Milky Way up to 400 billion so where's this giant range coming from well Counting Stars isn't exactly an easy job scientists obviously don't number each one individually one two three and so on you know how long it takes to count just one billion over a hundred years now multiply that by 400. instead they look at small patches of space and use some complex scientific formulas to make educated guesses of how many stars there are in total you can do a similar experiment yourself imagine a bucket filled with 10 pounds of rock sand soil and other items your job understand how many rocks are in that mix will count only those rocks that are visible to us from above get a rough estimate of their volume and weight what percentage of the total we can see and with some calculation you can get a number is it exact nah why because you can't know if the rocks in the bucket are spread evenly throughout or if they're all about the same size throughout what if the ones at the bottom if there are any are bigger or smaller than your sample view they could have completely different weights and volumes that bucket is our Milky Way galaxy and the Rocks you are counting are stars the point scientists can't know for sure how many stars there really are maybe 100 billion or perhaps four times that of those 4 billion are like our sun with our own Galaxy the most accepted estimate for planets that could potentially support life is 300 million though as the tradition of scientific inexactness knows that number could be up to 5 billion or more either way lots of real estate to choose from and that's just the Milky Way but get this it's just one of 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe the most recent research puts that number 10 times higher something like trillions of galaxies in space and we've only studied less than 10 percent of them as for how many stars there are in the universe scientists put it at one septillion as one followed by 24 zeros again it's all estimates because we can't know for sure so far one thing is clear our Earth is the only place in the universe that we know of where there's life and this planet has done everything it can to change that over the past 540 million years more than 20 major Extinction events have occurred the last one was 66 million years ago yep it was the one that took out the dinosaurs and 75 percent of all life on this planet for that matter an object seven miles across in diameter smashed into our planet it was going 120 times faster than the fastest car today over 900 000 miles all around the impact site everything caught fire a huge tsunami swept across the world's oceans billions of tons of dust and sulfur Rose into the sky and blocked the Sun's Warm Rays a global cooling came to Earth a little over 200 million years ago there was a lesser known Extinction event that wiped out half of all life on the planet most likely volcanoes or an asteroid strike are to blame other theories say the movement of tectonic plates triggered another Ice Age at that time huge crocodiles Ruled the Earth they disappeared and new animals entered the arena of History dinosaurs this planet has ever seen was the Permian Triassic event about 250 million years ago 80 percent of marine life seventy percent of land animals and plants all gone volcano spewed out a colossal amount of lava where modern-day Siberia is but it affected the entire planet around 445 million years ago the dominant life form on our planet was Marine invertebrates there was only one continent gondawana and plants were just starting to flourish on land but something happened that took out 75 to 85 percent of all living organisms it could have been an Ice Age Rising temperatures or a more daring Theory something it could have been a huge star exploding 6 000 light years from Earth it launched a jet-like gamma-ray birch that ripped across space and poor little Earth happened to be in its path it burned off the ozone layer instantly yeah we kind of need that thing to protect us case in point no matter how much this planet or even the universe tries to wipe out life on Earth which is here in the first place from unbelievable odds life always finds a way it's a clear night and you're outside looking at the stars the Milky Way alone seems overwhelmingly huge you check on your phone and discover that the Galaxy you're in at this exact moment is one hundred thousand light years wide for scale one light year is already a very long distance for example it takes 4.2 light years to go from Earth to Proxima Centauri which is the closest star to our planet other than the Sun so one hundred thousand light years is way more than we normal humans can fathom and that's just one Galaxy there's a whole lot more out there now looking at this data it seems pretty unlikely that we're the only life form out there doesn't it but how come we've never found anything else so far let's get one thing out of the way extraterrestrial life doesn't necessarily mean we're talking about little green people it can also mean microorganisms bacteria and plants that can be found on other planets the truth is there's a big spectrum of possibilities for life on another planet and taking into consideration that there are up to 50 billion planets in the Milky Way it's very unlikely that we're alone in this big white universe and what does life on other planets look like this is what we've spent years trying to figure out go ahead think with me a planet may be lifeless today but it could have traces of organic matter or fossils meaning that some life form was able to thrive there once and it could also be that there are planets out there containing life with complex biochemistry meaning they could have fauna just like we have on Earth although probably not the same NASA created a special science that is dedicated to studying life forms outside of Earth it's called astrobiology ever since the space agency was created back in 1958 it didn't take long for it to start looking for extraterrestrial life they quickly built an action plan first they needed to understand how life on earth was formed and secondly how it could have formed on other planets the first time NASA tried to look for life in outer space was in 1976 the Viking Lander blasted into space headed towards Mars there were high expectations that Humanity would find the first proof of extraterrestrial life unfortunately the Lander came back with images of a planet that looked Barren and Bleak and scientists were extremely disappointed scientific conclusions on whether life could be detected over there were confusing but hey you need to know what you're looking for to find it right the failure of the Viking Mission served to heat up debates amongst NASA scientists to Define what life actually meant and it also served to call their attention to a small but very important detail spacecrafts departing from Earth usually transport Earthling microorganisms and bacteria unintentionally as they remain attached to the vehicle it turned out that these bacteria could contaminate scientists samples so they needed to consider this all of this made Mars Expeditions take a back burn on NASA's short-term plans there appeared a new priority first question what are the types and stages of life that space programs can hope to identify scientists might have encountered life on other planets but they weren't able to identify it as life that is why NASA began to study our own Planet better they studied everything from ancient life forms that lived billions of years ago to living creatures that roam the planet today they understood that the search needed to happen inwards as well as outwards let's take a look at the development of Earth's life from its Inception imagine that this development can be represented as a ladder or stairs and each developmental stage is a flight of the bigger staircase first we would see basic chemistry a soup of loose chemical elements like the ones we see in the periodic table but they need to assemble themselves into more complex structures to be able to self-replicate change and evolve this would happen in the Second Step where we start to see the formation of microscopic organisms third step the SE cells combine to become multicellular beings allowing for more complexity and variety the step above sees species that can evolve big brains enabling the use of tools culture and shared knowledge that's where humanity is located looking at this ladder one might ask so what does it take for a multicellular organism to evolve into fully formed humans this is what is called the Great filter it's a huge evolutionary jump that takes a lot of effort and the perfect environmental conditions for it to happen and given that we haven't heard of any other extraterrestrial civilizations out there it might be that we are the only ones that were able to make this jump after all How likely is it that we'll find life outside of earth that is similar to us that depends on how many planets there are out there in their star's Goldilocks zone the area around a star where water can be liquid and because stars come in all sizes and configurations this zone is different for every star system but that's not the only criteria we know for the existence of life we usually look for three things to detect life liquid water methane and oxygen water is what allows for chemical components to mingle and connect forming multicellular beings methane is produced by the decomposition process made by bacteria and oxygen is the byproduct of plant respiration these are some of the telltale signs that the James Webb Telescope was programmed to search for the James Webb Telescope has ambitious purposes that might revolutionize space science its top priorities are to detect forms of life by studying small galaxies orbiting the Milky Way it will also look for the oldest stars in the universe trying to gather data on the origin of the universe itself that's huge NASA is betting on two variables with this new telescope a thorough scan on the so-called exoplanets AKA planets from outside our solar system and the search for extremophiles a type of life that loves extreme environments extrema files were first discovered on planet Earth back in the 1960s at the bottom of the sea near the Galapagos Islands scientists found microorganisms living next to hydrothermal vents that dot the sea floor over that part of the world thriving in places like these with extreme temperatures over 700 degrees Fahrenheit takes a lot of resistance I mean can you imagine the Heat this discovery was a turning point for the field of astrobiology as scientists understood that life could survive in extremely harsh conditions similar to the atmosphere available in several exoplanets but hey life might turn up in our own neighborhood if we're lucky enough Guided by the Mantra follow the water NASA is launching two important missions inside our solar system that can contribute largely to the search for extraterrestrial life you remember Jupiter right it's the gas giant that has a moon known as Europa a few years ago scientists discovered that Europa had an ocean hidden behind layers of icy crust years even more according to research the water over in Europa is salty much like the water we have on our planet Europa is a big Contender for the detection of life but the Europa Clipper mission is not aimed at trying to identify this rather it will orbit the Moon and gather as much information about its atmospheric conditions as it can the other Moon bound mission is the dragonfly an octocopter that will explore Saturn's moon Titan the launch is programmed for 2027 and will only arrive in Titan's orbit around 2034. it will sample and examine a series of promising sites around Saturn's icy Moon who knows find some new information on ET life let's see what happens but I'd say we've never been closer to a huge Discovery than we are now do you know what the third brightest object in the night sky is if you said the International Space Station you're absolutely right and the coolest thing you can sign up for a special service and you'll get a text every time the ISS is traveling over your location and if it happens at night you can see it with the unaided eye but be quick because the station is very fast it moves at a speed of 5 miles per second and circles our planet every 90 minutes if you move to such a speed you'd be able to make a round trip to the moon within a day at the same time the ISS isn't the fastest human-built object this title belongs to the Parker solar probe that travels around Venus and the Sun at a speed of 430 000 miles per hour on the bright side astronauts on the ISS see a sunrise and sunset 16 times every 24 hours the International Space Station is a true record breaker it's the largest human-made object in space is 357 feet long from end to end which is about the same length as a soccer field it also weighs about 450 tons eight spacecraft can Dock at the ISS at the same time the working and living space of the station is bigger than a six-bedroom house astronauts have six sleeping quarters a gym two bathrooms and a beautiful 360 degree view bay window and now let's imagine what your life would be like if you were an astronaut on the International Space Station now for one thing you'd be able to do some cool things there like throwing boomerangs once an astronaut threw a boomerang inside the International Space Station and it returned to him so just remember as long as there's some air even weightlessness won't stop you from having a bit of fun on the ISS you would never have to deal with disgusting smells there's a specially trained person who smells everything astronauts take with them to space it's done to protect them from unpleasant odors the thing is that you can't really air the room out there if you don't like how it smells inside that's why NASA is very careful about what kinds of smells are allowed to pass through you'd also have to get rid of your clothes instead of washing them after each use to bring a mere one pound of low to the International Space Station costs more than ten thousand dollars that's why it costs less to throw your clothes away when they get dirty than to waste water on washing them while sleeping you'd have exceptionally good airflow around you otherwise the carbon dioxide you to Exhale would form a bubble around your head and you get oxygen deprived but what would you do on the ISS most likely it would be space related research and that's on the station not only explore the possibility of future space travel but also conduct all kinds of studies and explore the effect of microgravity on the human body oh and speaking of microgravity people often think that in space you experience zero gravity hence the weightlessness astronauts feel on the International Space Station but that's not exactly true gravity is one of the most important forces that exist in the universe thanks to it the moon can orbit the Earth and the sun doesn't float away from our home Milky Way galaxy but astronauts on the ISS experience not full-fledged but microgravity which means very small gravity Earth's gravity on the International Space Station is only around 10 to 12 percent weaker than the gravity on the planet's surface but astronauts are constantly in free fall the spacecraft the people inside and all the objects aboard keep falling forward not down on but around our planet following a specific orbit and since they're all falling together the crew and the stuff inside seem to be floating that's why astronauts can move things as heavy as hundreds of pounds with their fingertips and even though microgravity is often called zero gravity they're very different things anyway on your way to the International Space Station you'd be wearing a bright orange spacesuit its color is called International Orange and it has the same shade as the paint that coats Tokyo Tower in Japan or the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco but once you reach the vast expansive space you'd swap orange for Snow White see the thing is the orange suit is equipped with the stuff that can help astronauts survive if something goes wrong during the launch or Landing of the spaceship for example a regular pumpkin suit has flares medications survival gear a radio and a parachute as for the white bulky spacesuits those are Eva which stand for extra vehicular activity suits their purpose is totally different from that of the orange suits astronauts put on Eva suits when going on a spacewalk such an outfit can protect them from the unfriendly conditions of outer space with its extreme temperatures and the near vacuum besides the white suit can prevent small debris from hurting space Travelers oh by the way if you needed to scratch your nose while wearing your Eva suit you would use a patch of velcro inside the helmet the lack of gravity also makes sneezing inside a spacesuit a serious problem if you absolutely had to sneeze while on a spacewalk you'd have to bend your head downward and sneeze into your chest otherwise your visor would have to be equipped with tiny windshield wipers now in space you'd often see random flashes of light and those wouldn't be hallucinations cosmic rays hitting your optic nerve would create such an effect you don't see similar flashes here on Earth because the magnetosphere doesn't let cosmic rays reach you before going to space you'd have some underwater training it's supposed to simulate zero gravity but in fact it has nothing in common with being in outer space so the main purpose of this training is to see how future astronauts can deal with extreme environments oh and later during space adaptation you might feel well let's say weird around 50 to 75 percent of astronauts have highly unpleasant symptoms such as vertigo headaches nausea and overall tiredness Luckily everything usually gets back to normal within 72 hours before you we've chosen to fly to space you'd have to get through incredibly tough competition according to NASA they accept only eight applicants out of six thousand on top of that the selection process takes around 18 months now if you felt homesick on a mission and started crying your tears wouldn't flow down your face instead they'd gather into thick Blobs of liquid around your eyes because the water surface tension would hold your tears together you'd have to remember to attach yourself to something before falling asleep otherwise you can easily float away from the spot where you went to bed and bump into a hard surface that's why astronauts usually rest in sleeping bags in a small crew cabin another issue you'd have to deal with would be taking a shower in microgravity conditions and it's not an easy feat astronauts use a shower and an enclosed cylinder which keeps water from floating away they use a no rinse shampoo spray themselves with water to rinse off the soap and finally use a vacuum hose that pulls inside all the water left on their body you'd have to get used to a dramatic change in your diet you'd have three meals a day nothing outstanding here but instead of sitting down to enjoy your lunch you'd float around your meal would consist of some dehydrated and canned food items and it might take a lot of time to finish it since you'd have to be very careful not to let your food get away in the process now imagine needing a haircut after all you'd spend no less than half a year on the ISS to change your image you'd have to use special Clippers with a vacuum attached to them

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE Series

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Keywords: analytical skills, astrology, astronomer, astronomy, beautiful facts about space, black hole, bright side, bright side space facts, bright side videos, brightside, creative thinking, critical thinking, education, facts about solar system, facts about space, facts of life, improve your memory, interesting videos, intriguing videos, mysteries, recent space discoveries, space, strangest planets in space, what if, what other planets look like, earth, bright side series, life on earth

Id: pdHQNUF2l4I

Length: 27min 47sec (1667 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 28 2023