Throughout the history of mankind, people have been trying to learn as much as possible about the planet on which they have lived, since the scientific world does not get tired of striking them with new discoveries. Sometimes they relate to completely unexpected aspects of life and cause quite justified surprise. For example, who would have thought of measuring the speed of spring movement or asking whether there are islands of soap in the world? These are the odd questions we will try to answer our readers.
The speed of spring and the soapy island in the Aegean
First of all, let’s tell you the speed with which spring moves on Earth. To answer this far from idle question, scientists made observations and plotted the flowering of plants in various regions, because it is known that the appearance of the first flowers is the most convincing evidence of its arrival. It turned out that this value is approximately two miles (3.218 km) per hour, which is significantly lower than the average speed of a pedestrian.
Now, regarding the second question posed at the beginning of the article. Yes, indeed, there are soap islands in the world (and not just soap operas). At least one of them is precisely known and located in the Aegean Sea. This is the Greek island of Kimolos, which is covered with a layer of foam during rains, as its soil consists of natural soap clay, which completely replaces a similar artificial product. Thus, the islanders are spared from spending on the purchase of such an important hygiene product, literally lying under their feet.
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The most freezing and shrinking continent
Often the reason for sensations are reports of scientists related to various measurements taken by them on the surface of the Earth. Thus, as a result of long-term observations, the lowest air temperature ever observed was established. On July 23, 1983, instruments installed at Vostok Antarctic Station recorded -129 ° F, corresponding to approximately -90 ° C.
By the way, some sensational messages are also connected with Antarctica. It turns out that it is rapidly decreasing in size due to the melting of ice and giant icebergs that have come off from it. It is absolutely precisely established that over the past 25 years its ice cover has decreased by three trillion tons. The most significant loss for the sixth continent was the Larsen iceberg that separated from it in 2017, weighing, according to scientists, about 1 trillion tons and in size only slightly inferior to the island of Jamaica.
Where did the Great Pangea disappear?
Since we are talking about mutating continents, it will be appropriate to talk about a theory that has generated a lot of controversy in the scientific world. It consists in the fact that, according to a number of researchers, all six continents washed by the oceans today should merge together after 250 million years, forming a supercontinent, which has already been coined the name New Pangea.
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In this regard, the question arises: why exactly Pangea, and if it is a “new”, then where did the “old” go? It turns out that, according to some hypothesis, which has a lot of supporters, 300 million years ago, the Earth was a single supercontinent, which is commonly called the Great Pangea.
However, during the Jurassic period, this mighty firmament split into two parts, each of which also began to crumble over time. As a result, what we have today is formed — six continents: Eurasia, Africa, North and South America, Australia and Antarctica. At the present time, according to a number of scientists, the reverse process is starting, as a result of which, after 250 million years, everything will return to normal.
Rescue Plate Tectonics
As for the present time, even now the continents do not stay in one place, but are continuously moving at a speed of about 3.9 meters per year. It is curious that even this seemingly inconspicuous movement, called plate tectonics, provides the Earth with hydrogen circulation and saves it from overheating. This message is also among the most popular news.
"Hole" over Antarctica and the Great Shadow
Note that Antarctica is the mainland most often mentioned in the summaries of the most sensational scientific news. Not so long ago, the world spread the news that the so-called ozone hole above it continues to grow threateningly and could cause irreversible natural changes. So, according to scientists, over the period from 2000 to 2015, its size increased by about four million square meters. kilometers.
Among the scientific predictions that have received wide public resonance, one can note the message that in 2034 there will be such a complete lunar eclipse that the Earth will be covered by a truly impenetrable shadow, already called the Great One beforehand. A similar phenomenon, albeit to a lesser extent, occurred in 2016 and was recorded by Himawari, a Japanese meteorological satellite, which removed it from a distance of 21 thousand miles from Earth.
