According to the researchers, all of the planets in our galaxy could be formed from the same constituent elements, water.
Recent research suggests that our galaxy is filled with millions of planets with oceans and continents, which would have important implications for searching for extraterrestrial life.
For a planet to be able to accommodate life, it must have liquid water. While this element was believed to appear due to a chance collision with an icy comet or asteroid, recent work by researchers at the University of Copenhagen and published in the journal Science Advances suggests that the water could be present during the initial formation of the planets. The team claiming, in particular, to have identified Evidence of such a scenario for Earth, Venus and Mars.
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“OUR DATA SUGGESTS THAT WATER WAS A PART OF THE EARTH’S COMPONENT ELEMENTS”
“Our data suggest that water was one of the building blocks of the Earth. Since the H2O molecule is ubiquitous in our galaxy, there is a reasonable probability that this applies to all the planets of the Milky Way,” says Professor Anders Johansen, lead author of the study. “The necessary condition for liquid water presence is the distance between the planet and its star. “
A computer model was used to identify the planets’ building blocks and estimate the speed at which they formed. The results suggested they were made up of millimeter-long particles of ice dust and carbon, known to orbit all young stars in the Milky Way. According to the team, these particles developed 4.5 billion years ago and then agglomerated to form the Earth.
Proposed initially ten years ago by Johansen, this theory is known as “pebble accretion”.
PLANETS FORMED BY “RIBBON ACCRETION”
“Our planet has grown by capturing masses of pebbles filled with ice and carbon to reach 1% of its current mass,” Johansen said. “She then grew faster and faster, reaching her maximum size after five million years. Along the way, the temperature on its surface has dramatically increased, causing the ice to evaporate. Today only 0.1% of the Earth is water, although 70% of its surface is covered. “
“All of the planets in the Milky Way could be formed from the same building blocks. Meaning that worlds with the same amount of water and carbon as Earth – and therefore likely to harbor life – would be common ground.” other stars in our galaxy, provided the temperature is suitable,” says Johansen.
“According to our model, all the planets receive the same amount of water, many of them could have not only the same amount of oceans but also the same proportion of continents as the Earth” his side Martin Bizzarro, co-author of the study. “It offers good opportunities for the emergence of life.
If the amount of water present on the planets were, on the contrary random, their appearance would be extremely variable, with some worlds too arid for life to develop there and others wholly covered with water. According to the team, a planet-ocean would prove ideal for the development of marine life forms but would offer much less favorable conditions for the emergence of civilizations capable of observing the universe.
A NEW GENERATION OF TELESCOPES TO SEE IT CLEARER
Researchers are eagerly awaiting the next generation of space telescopes, which will provide better possibilities for observing exoplanets.
“The new telescopes are powerful,” says Johansen. “They use spectroscopy, which means that by observing what kind of light is blocked by planets as they pass their star, you can determine how much water vapor is present and how many oceans they are. are likely to harbor. “
The recently unearthed dedicated beer-making infrastructure in Abydos, one of the oldest cities in ancient Egypt, does not date back to such distant times but offers a good insight into the region’s natural production. The area at that time. The site has initially been discovered over a century ago, in 1912. Archaeologists identified what appeared to be a set of eight-grain ovens during these excavations, arranged in an orderly row, among others. tombs and structures in the area dating from 3100 to 2700 BC.
PRODUCTION CAPACITIES MUCH GREATER THAN THOSE OF OTHER FACILITIES OF THE ERA
Artifacts from other sites in the region have indicated that these ovens were used to produce beer. The archaeologists, therefore, returned to the original site and continued their excavations to unveil the full extent of this brewing activity and collect samples for dating and analysis.
Some of the ovens used to produce beer in ancient Abydos.
According to archaeologists, the infrastructure would have been able to manufacture more than 22,000 liters of beer at a time, a production scale far more significant than other facilities existing at that time in ancient Egypt. Set in a sacred wilderness that was exclusively the domain of the first kings of Egypt, the team says the facility served as a significant part of royal expression during a critical period in the nation’s history.
“This brewery was probably built at this specific location to support the royal rituals taking place inside the burial facilities,” the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement. “Evidence of the use of beer in sacrificial rites was also found during excavations. “
