Name: Scientists Discover Evidence of Theia, the Ancient Planet That Crashed Into Earth and Formed the Moon - Techcratic
Brand: techcratic.com
SKU: techcratic-com-14
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Scientists Discover Evidence of Theia, the Ancient Planet That Crashed Into Earth and Formed the Moon - Techcratic

preview

Share the Tech Knowledge!Adrianna Nine2023-11-06 10:00:00www.extremetech.comAn international team of scientists claims to have found possible evidence of the Moon’s protoplanet parent. According to them, remnants of Theia—the celestial body long believed to have crashed into young Earth and created the Moon—might be hiding way, way beneath our feet.&nbsp;&nbsp;In a Nature paper published Wednesday, astronomers and geophysicists in the US, the UK, and China suggest that anomalies in Earth’s lowermost mantle are “relics of Theia mantle material.” These anomalies are large low-velocity provinces (LLVPs), or characteristics of Earth’s mantle identified via seismic tomography. In 3D renderings based on seismic data, LLVPs look like massive blobs. Two blobs in particular have been the subject of scientific scrutiny for quite some time, and while some researchers have guessed they’re clumps of subducted oceanic crust, their roots appear to be more exciting.For years, the giant-impact hypothesis has served as an unconfirmed yet prevailing origin story for the Moon. The hypothesis posits that a budding planet (referred to as Theia) crashed into proto-Earth billions of years ago, throwing large amounts of material into space and giving rise to our Moon.&nbsp;What does that have to do with LLVPs? Well, the two in question here are 2% to 3.5% denser than the rest of Earth’s mantle, leading geophysicist Dr. Qian Yuan to wonder if they were never an original part of Earth. Yuan collaborated with researchers worldwide to run highly detailed models of Theia’s possible Earthly impact and found that contrary to common belief, Theia’s collision might not have melted all of Earth’s mantle. This means remnants of the mysterious protoplanet might have cooled and formed solid structures, which sank and accumulated over Earth’s core instead of becoming incorporated into Earth’s gooey interior.&nbsp;If this isn’t reason enough to suspect otherworldly origins, hints at the LLVPs’ strange composition might be. Ocean-island basalts caused by mantle plumes have revealed traces of primordial noble gasses, challenging the idea that the LLVPs are simply masses of oceanic crust. This, Yuan’s team writes, might explain the similarities between ocean-island basalts and lunar mare basalts that have been noted during previous studies.&nbsp;Still, Yuan notes it’ll be difficult to confirm whether his team’s “idea” should become space canon. One route might involve further research into the Moon’s chemical makeup. If mantle rocks obtained via lunar missions share chemical signatures with basalts from the LLVPs in question, it could mean serious changes to the way we view and study the Moon’s beginnings.Source LinkFAA Denies Space Startup’s Spacecraft Reentry RequestVermont Utility Company Plans to Supplement Energy Grid With Home BatteriesHyte Launches ATX Case With Built-In 14-Inch Touch Screen96-Core AMD Threadripper Pro Slide Leak Shows It Dominating Xeon WorkstationsReport: Nvidia Has Practically Stopped Production of Its 40-Series GPUsMIT Spinoff Plans Liquid Metal Batteries for Power GridAMD's Mitigation for 'Inception' Vulnerability Can Reduce Performance by 54%NASA Begins Testing New Engines for Space Launch SystemShare the Tech Knowledge!

Share the Tech Knowledge!Adrianna Nine2023-11-06 10:00:00www.extremetech.comAn international team of scientists claims to have found possible evidence of the Moon’s protoplanet parent. According to them, remnants of Theia—the celestial body long believed to have crashed into young Earth and created the Moon—might be hiding way, way beneath our feet.&nbsp;&nbsp;In a Nature paper published Wednesday, astronomers and geophysicists in the US, the UK, and China suggest that anomalies in Earth’s lowermost mantle are “relics of Theia mantle material.” These anomalies are large low-velocity...

Scientists Discover Evidence of Theia, the Ancient Planet That Crashed Into Earth and Formed the Moon - Techcratic

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS