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Earth's technosphere weighs 30 trillion tons

11.12.2016

Scientists from the University of Leicester in the UK have calculated what is the approximate mass of all objects and structures created by man. The result was a figure of 30 trillion tons, which is an order of magnitude more than the approximate mass of all living beings on the planet.

The technosphere includes all objects created by man - buildings, roads, tools, cars, countless small objects, such as smartphones and televisions. The authors of the study calculated the area occupied by the territory transformed by man, estimated the density and thickness of the processed materials based on geophysical and archaeological research data. As a result, they managed to obtain an approximate mass of the entire technosphere and show that for every square meter of the planet's surface there are 50 kilograms of artificial objects.

In addition, the authors of the work presented the first classification of technosphere objects in science with an approximate volume occupied by each type of object. These are areas with urban development, areas with rural development, pastures, crop areas, fishing grounds, roads, railways, water tanks and others.

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How to find alien bacteria 31.12.2014

A microsensor has been invented that is able to distinguish a living microorganism from other organic matter. It is possible that it will help to discover unknown life forms on other planets.

How did life originate on Earth? Whether our planet represents a unique case or living matter is a typical phenomenon in the universe - modern science has not yet given an answer to this question. There are projects to search for extraterrestrial civilizations, such as SETI. By analyzing radio emission from space, researchers are trying to isolate the signals that a highly developed civilization could leave.

Another approach is to look for traces of organic matter on planets and other space bodies. Probes that are sent outside the Earth are equipped with various detectors that can detect whether there are certain organic molecules in the area under study. If traces of amino acids are found in samples taken, for example, from the Martian soil, this will serve as very strong evidence of the existence of life on the planet.

And what to do when the task is to detect not just organic molecules, but to find unknown living organisms? Taking a photo of a green man would certainly be a great success, but what about not so high life forms?

Researchers from universities in Belgium and Switzerland have come up with a new way to distinguish living from non-living, even if it is very, very small. The idea is that any living object, no matter from which planet, must move, and therefore create certain vibrations. Recall the famous shots from the movie "Jurassic Park", when the ripples of water in a glass warned of the approach of a large dinosaur. The heavy steps of the predator caused vibrations in the soil, which were transmitted by the surrounding object. It turns out that if instead of a dinosaur there is only a single-celled bacterium, then it is still possible to hear its "steps".

The inventors took the idea of ​​such a microsensor from atomic force microscopy, a method of studying the surface of materials that allows you to see even individual atoms. The principle of the method is similar to the reproduction of sound from a gramophone record, where the needle moves along the sound track and oscillates in accordance with its profile. A special sensitive probe (cantilever) is placed in a space where there may be living organisms. If a bacterium gets on the probe, then the biological processes of this organism will be displayed as an increase in the oscillation of the probe. In order for the device to understand whether it "felt" a living object, about half an hour of work in air or in a microscopic volume of liquid is enough.

The developers tested their device on various soil and water samples taken near the campus. Comparing the probe signal with live microorganisms with the signal after their destruction with an antibiotic, we managed to see a clear difference in the nature of probe oscillations.

So far, the main application of such a device is seen in the pharmaceutical industry - for the rapid evaluation of the effectiveness of drugs. If the probe with bacteria attached to it stopped detecting vibrations, then the drug worked, and the original cells died.

This approach can significantly speed up analyzes compared to the methods used today. And whether such an idea will take root for the study of alien life - time will tell.

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