The most interesting facts and questions involving the world and the universe

This will be about the universe in general, including the Earth. I'll discuss some of the most perplexing mysteries to date, as well as give facts about the universe.

1) The mystery of the aligned nebulas

Astronomers have, over the years, discovered something perplexing about planetary nebulas around the Milky Way's interior. Unlike other kinds of nebula, these nebula seem to all point in one direction. This most likely indicates an unknown force located somewhere at the interior of the Milky Way. This force is thought to cause the magnetic fields of the nebulae to change and be attracted in a way as to cause all the nebulae to point in a single direction. Of course, the other question that remains is, why doesn't the force also effect other kinds of nebulae? Could this be the force responsible for the black hole at the Milky Way center?

2) Dark matter?

This is the theory that came up, perhaps as result of astronomers observing the phenomena of light bending. If light bends around objects, then what is to blame for this phenomena? It happens that dark matter is Dark energy's enemy, just as matter is the enemy of antimatter. Perhaps studying dark matter & energy will help unlock the mystery to number 5.

3) The most recent signal from space

In 2010, researchers at SETI came upon a strange new signal coming from nearby a star. This signal hasn't made any major news for some reason. However, the signal was deemed strange, as the rhythm that it produced doesn't match anything natural. Since this event, astronomers have continued listening to the area of sky from which the signal originates. This way, they still have a chance of figuring if the signal is natural or not.

4) Likelihood of ET

The existence of ET is unimaginably difficult to predict, for two main reasons. 1) There is an unimaginably enormous amount of exoplanets in our nearby galactic neighborhood alone, and

2) There is also a great amount of variables to consider in the search for life. Perhaps one of the most intriguing mysteries of ET is this- What if the life found a planet breathes, say, hydrogen, instead of oxygen or carbon? What would the biological system of this life be like? When exploring whether there is advanced life on other planets, there are a couple of main questions to be addressed, ones that are perplexing in their own right.

1) How long would it take an ET society to advance to our level of intelligence?

2) How many stars in the Milky Way alone? How about other galaxies.?

Alright, first of all, I'm not even going to answer the second question. Why? First of all, we can only give an approx. estimate. And besides, the answer is so large, it's probably pointless to think about, even if we were just thinking about stars in a single galaxy.

The first question is likely several, if not, many times more difficult to answer than one may think. Why? Well, in seeking the answer, this can very easily be oversimplified. The reason is that, there are some serious variables that are more likely than not to be overlooked. Think about life on Earth. On one hand, it may seem unbelievable how intelligent the human species is, considering our current level of technology. Does it still seem so unbelievable, when you consider the fact the humans have existed on Earth for millions of years. So, it took us millions of years to come up with electricity. Without such breakthroughs in technology, a society is more likely than not to just end up living how it initially did. And thinking further upon this, think about what had to take place in order for humans to come about in this world. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for a major disaster, supposedly a meteor impact, that allowed for new species to come about. So next time you think about an earthlike planet, keep this in mind- Our world wasn't made with people on it, and it sure wasn't made in a way that would ensure, or inhibit, future generations to be intelligent. It's just a natural disaster in the past that stands in our way. One that was unimaginably unlikely to start out with. And the same can be said for other planets.

The variety of planets on which ET could exist is enormous. So, does a habitable planet necessarily need to be Earthlike? Think about Mars. Mars was thought to once harbor life. An argument stating that Mars was Earthlike isn't truly far-fetched, yet, what are such chances of this argument being true? When it comes to figuring out how many planets may have intelligent life, however, the science behind this kind of thought gets exponentially more complicated the more one thinks about it. Let's take this question for example- "How likely is it that planet X has a society that's as advanced as we will be in 2000 years?"  or, "How many planets in our galaxy have society that's as advanced as we will be in 2000 years?"  Is far more complicated than asking "How likely is it that planet X is home to a society with modern day technology? Why? Because for the first question, as opposed to the second, you're narrowing down you search. And the more specific an answer you need, the more variables you'd need to take into consideration. So, the first two questions aren't merely twice as difficult as the third. In fact, they are exponentially more difficult, as you need to realize that as a society advances in terms of technology, they are challenged by difficult circumstances. Really the only way to know fully what this means is to either observe society's advancements over time, or study what kinds of challenges could be in the way for society. Of course, intelligence and life overall depends greatly on the planet's environmental conditions, which could vary in numerous different was. These could include incredible heat, frigid temps, extreme wind, extreme radiation (such as on mars), extreme geologic activity (evidence also found on Mars), etc. Conditions such as these wouldn't be all that volatile for bacteria, however. Given this information, you are probably very safe to think that the universe is teeming with life. And bacteria on other worlds isn't a problem, unless of course our civilization ever comes into contact with it. And there you go, just like that, maybe people could take advantage of these otherworldly pathogens for their own mad purposes?

5) Where did the antimatter go?

Antimatter is among the strangest mysteries of the universe. Antimatter may sound like science fiction, and it actually exists. One of the most perplexing facts is that antimatter particles have been confirmed to exist near the ISS. These high energy particles are called neutrinos, interestingly enough. The question that practically all physicists are asking themselves is, why does the universe end up with an excess amount of matter, as opposed to antimatter. Personally, I think that answering question probably takes a better understanding of the phenomena itself. Although we've known about it since at least the mid 60's, there's still a huge amount of information to be known about antimatter. Scientists have successfully produced these exotic particles in a lab. Such particles have an extremely volatile nature associated with themselves. They behave exactly as one would expect ozone to behave with CFC. One particle of antimatter can destroy greatly vast amounts of ordinary matter. This makes antimatter a potential future source of energy, especially for space travel. The implications might be staggering. A bomb made up of one gram of antimatter could very likely be equivalent to the energy of a thermonuclear weapon, many times over. But these particles would be as difficult to make into fuel as they are powerful, meaning that in the near future we surely shouldn't look to them as a potential energy source. 

6) Quantum mechanics 

This field of science is perhaps the most mysterious topic of all. Why? Because it presents a world that is both extremely strange and real at the same time. Quantum motion is basically totally different than anything we notice in our day to day reality. Subatomic particles seem to disappear and reappear at random. Two particles may be related to each,  meaning that they're dependent. What one does may effect what the other one does, no matter how far apart they are. This is what's known famously as nonlocality. The quantum world is much like what one may find in a fantasy world, except at a scale many times smaller. The main reason for the strangeness is that basically the laws of physics

breaks down at such scales. Studying these kinds of phenomena, however, has led to some truly astonishing ideas, such as quantum computing, and it may also lead to new breakthroughs in technology. In what maybe the most remarkable experiment of all, a particle has been successfully suspended, or "frozen" in an attempt to replicate what's known as absolute zero. This has been done using multiple lasers, pointing at a single particle. What makes this so remarkable is the fact that, this does essentially go against the laws of physics. One of the questions that has come to my attention about this experiment is, what happens to other particles that come into contact with this frozen particle? Also, I've been wondering awhile about whether gravity somehow influences the behavior of particles.

What happens to atoms if they're put under ever increasing heat or pressure? Well, they break down into their particles, such as ions. This is the reason for why neutron stars are so astonishingly dense. In fact, if a handful of neutrons from a neutron star were somehow put in your hand, they'd go right through. Remarkably, it 's theorized that neutron stars may not be the densest stars in the universe! There are also the theoretical quark stars, made up of particles many times smaller.

Neutrinos

Neutrinos pack immense power. As they enter the Earth's atmosphere as cosmic rays, they do something which other powerful radiation mostly fails to do. They reach the surface of the Earth! In fact, neutrinos are so powerful they may even have the ability to penetrate the Earth! It's thought that every second, at least three billion or so of these particles go through a person. Other forms of high energy such as Gamma rays are also known to be extremely powerful. However, these cannot fully penetrate the Earth's atmosphere. The reason is that they are made up of small frequencies, which more readily disperse in air. Virtually all high energy radiation that tries to reach Earth get trapped in a region of the atmosphere called the Ionosphere. This is where the aurora originates. It's also far hotter than any other place in the atmosphere, even though the heat is widely dispersed.

7) Are we close to global destruction?

It isn't always far fetched to think that the world will be destroyed "soon". By "soon", I mean the close future, or about 100 to 1000 years from now. Of course, when it comes to global catastrophe, many people's first thought is that we will destroy the world. Instead, let's talk about a couple natural disasters which have the force to destroy probably most of the world, and let's talk about them soon (you can laugh about that later). Taking things seriously though... One of the main natural threats to society is a supervolcano. These volcanoes are so large, in fact, that they can implode upon eruption. This doesn't always mean, however, that they aren't still active. One of the most potent volcanoes in the world is definitely Yellowstone. Upon examining it's past eruptions, it's eruption cycle indicates one eruption approx. every 70,000 years. There is something startling and intriguing about this particular time span. Because it's also the same time that's passed since it's last eruption! Supposedly, there is a massive supervolcano hidden underwater somewhere off the coast of China. It's thought by geologists that this specific volcano might be the largest on Earth. One thing is certain about such a volcano; were it to erupt, a new, enormous landmass could emerge simultaneously. This wouldn't be your average volcano however. It is perhaps possible that a volcano like this could cause significant water pollution, and it would similar effects as a land-based volcano would have. If the volcano erupted relatively close to the water's surface, where large amounts of light can still penetrate, it would be more than likely that we could see sea temperatures drop dramatically. How would ocean temperatures then compare to that of a land-based eruption? Only time will tell.

On another note, the date of the last major meteor impact is also startling. It happens to be about 30,000 years, making it more or less the same time span since the last major impact. In fact, this may have been something more devastating than a meteor- a comet. So, given these two dates, one for Yellowstone's last eruption, and the other for the last major meteor impact, are we approaching a time, somewhere in the near future, when something catastrophic will happen to the Earth? There still is another major threat to the world, though. An event, to be more specific. And this event just happened to occur in the 19th century. If it were to happen today, however, the consequences would be far worse. It's called a radiation, or solar storm. The event was known as the Carrington event. It had to do with a major dose of solar radiation, which crippled power across the entire US. These days, though, the power grid is probably not the most vulnerable thing to these kinds of storms. Instead, the storm would effect Satellites the most. Satellites orbit at such distances from Earth, they would be literally pummeled by radiation. Interestingly, satellites orbit above the ionosphere. Usually when we think of a radiation storm, we think of solar radiation. What we don't think of though, is the phenomena that's known as a gamma ray burst. In my opinion, such phenomena would be fascinating to observe, and probably not healthy to look at though.

Some facts about the universe and our world, and more questions to think about

• The diameter of the Milky way is estimated at about 60,000 light years.
• A flight to Mars using antimatter as fuel is estimated to take only five days.
• The largest stars in the universe compared to our own are like comparing the size of the Sun to the Earth
• The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is over nine million miles
• The sun's outer atmosphere is the hottest part of the sun
• A burst of space radiation may destroy much of the Earth's atmosphere, making us much more vulnerable to solar storms
• The sun can eject solar energy at millions of miles per hour, causing radio blackouts and often times causes low frequency radio disturbances. In addition, solar storms can also cause ground currents, which are not totally uncommon in the arctic.
• The phenomena of Noctilucent clouds is quite a mystery; They are supposedly appearing more and more frequently. Could this be evidence of air pollution?
• The arctic can see some other mysterious phenomena, especially during the spring and fall. During this time, red auroras can be observed, in addition to nacreous clouds.
• In other areas of the world, totally different phenomena can appear. Upper atmospheric lightning, as well as exploding ball lightning, are events that just can't be witness in the arctic. Another even more mysterious event that takes place is similar to ball lightning in that it comes in glowing orbs as well. Unlike lightning, these phenomena appear much more frequently and can be witnessed in deserts. One of the most famous areas for viewing these orbs is Marfa, Texas. Another area where this is supposed to happen, although very rarely is it reported from, is Kilauea National park of Hawaii. A NASA satellite has captured the western half of Australia aglow by unknown lights at night, thought to be related to this phenomena. Some explanations for what the satellite actually observed include forest fires & lightning. However, the lights are much too bright for any of these phenomena. The western half of Australia is probably well too dry for this many storms at one time.
• The size of atoms
• An atom to a nucleus is the same as a football field to a golf ball. The size of a raspberry to the size of the Earth is a good comparison to the size of a hydrogen atom to a grapefruit. The smaller the atoms of a solid, generally the more strong is the solid.

Ever wonder...?

• Will the solar system ever be the "grounds" for a planetary collision?
• Will we ever have the chance to witness two meteors or comets collide?
• How likely is it that comet debris will someday cause catastrophe on Earth? How about other solar system planets?
• Where is the limit of our solar system; where are the farthest reaches of extrasolar planets?
• Why are there straight lines of meteor craters in our solar system?
• Does life exist elsewhere in the solar system, even it is just bacteria?
• If humans came into contact with bacteria of extraterrestrial origin, what kind of antidote would they have to concoct?
• What happens to a nuclear explosion in space?
• How long will SETI keep observing until an ET signal is received; what are the chances of such a signal reaching Earth?
• Will society's advancements some day allow for human existence on planets that are currently deemed uninhabitable?
• If an apocalyptic meteor struck Earth, what life would exist to replace humans?
• Will future space exploration involve sending AI to explore other worlds?
• Will Andromeda actually collide with the Milky Way?; what would this ensue?
• If an ice age happens to coincide with a supervolcanic eruption, is Earth doomed twice over?
• If an ice age, OR super volcanic eruption, were to coincide with that of the sun's Super Giant phase, what would prevail?
• Will Andromeda collide with the Milky Way at the same time that the sun will be a red giant?
• Would a non-rotating world still be a plausible candidate for life?
• What new discoveries will be unveiled the the James Webb Space Telescope?
• Quantum printing for the future of 3d printing? This kind of technology would almost certainly need to be upgraded upon arrival on the market. In terms of speed, that is. What a waste of time it may be if you find out about the new Quantum 3d, and it only prints one million molecule layers each second?
• Will biodegradable, flexible, and/or portable batteries be a thing of the future?
• Will TV ever be foldable?
• Will future technology give people the ability to modify electronics in new ways? Will they be able to quickly and easily design and make their own technology, suited perfectly for their needs?
• Will telepathy sometime be the name of the game for social media?
• Might humans have the ability to some day have an idea immediately and electronically contructed into virtual reality by just merely thinking about it? How about sending that idea to someone telepathically?
• Can ET be something other than biological?
• Will biology and AI merge together to form hybrid tech?
• Will technology enable us to literally manipulate the real world, in every sense of the word?
• In engineering AI, is there actually a clear, defined, line between what will, someday, be AI, and what will otherwise be biological?
• Does AI truly pose a serious threat to society in the future?; Will it help us as much as others can?; Will they replace many jobs?
• I may update this in the future with much more info and questions.