Mitosis vs Meiosis: what are main differences and similarities?
Both being vital for cell division in eukaryotes, mitosis and meiosis are however fundamentally different in their functions and outcomes ⬆️.
✅ Similarities
Both mitosis and meiosis:
📍 begin with a single parent cell;
📍 have an interphase stage where DNA replication occurs;
📍 have similar fundamental stages such as prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
🆚 Differences
📍 Meiosis ensures genetic diversity and the continuity of species through sexual reproduction, while mitosis facilitates growth, repair, and maintenance of an organism.
📍 Both mitosis and meiosis start out with DNA replication, but with different ultimate goals.
Mitosis has one round of cell division, while meiosis has two rounds.
📍 While mitosis yields two daughter cells that are genetically identical (2n) to the parent cell, meiosis produces four haploid (n) cells that are genetically different from the parent cell.
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Both being vital for cell division in eukaryotes, mitosis and meiosis are however fundamentally different in their functions and outcomes ⬆️.
✅ Similarities
Both mitosis and meiosis:
📍 begin with a single parent cell;
📍 have an interphase stage where DNA replication occurs;
📍 have similar fundamental stages such as prophase, metaphase, anaphase, and telophase.
🆚 Differences
📍 Meiosis ensures genetic diversity and the continuity of species through sexual reproduction, while mitosis facilitates growth, repair, and maintenance of an organism.
📍 Both mitosis and meiosis start out with DNA replication, but with different ultimate goals.
Mitosis has one round of cell division, while meiosis has two rounds.
📍 While mitosis yields two daughter cells that are genetically identical (2n) to the parent cell, meiosis produces four haploid (n) cells that are genetically different from the parent cell.
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What cells have the unique ability to develop into other cell types?
Our body is made up of many different types of cells, most of which are ‘specialized’ – with different functions. E.g., red blood cells are specialized to carry oxygen in the blood, while some gut cells are specialized to absorb nutrients from food.
However, there are also stem cells that have the unique ability to develop into other specialized cell types.
Stem cells are different from other cells in several ways:
✔️ They can divide and renew themselves over a long time
✔️ They are unspecialized, so they cannot do specific functions in the body
✔️ In a developing embryo, they can develop into any type of cell.
✔️ Once the body is grown, they can develop into specific cell types, to replace old or damaged cells.
ℹ️ The concept of a stem cell was first proposed by researchers working on embryonic development in the nineteenth century. They saw such cells as the starting point for biological processes.
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Our body is made up of many different types of cells, most of which are ‘specialized’ – with different functions. E.g., red blood cells are specialized to carry oxygen in the blood, while some gut cells are specialized to absorb nutrients from food.
However, there are also stem cells that have the unique ability to develop into other specialized cell types.
Stem cells are different from other cells in several ways:
✔️ They can divide and renew themselves over a long time
✔️ They are unspecialized, so they cannot do specific functions in the body
✔️ In a developing embryo, they can develop into any type of cell.
✔️ Once the body is grown, they can develop into specific cell types, to replace old or damaged cells.
ℹ️ The concept of a stem cell was first proposed by researchers working on embryonic development in the nineteenth century. They saw such cells as the starting point for biological processes.
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Ask Me
What cells have the unique ability to develop into other cell types? Our body is made up of many different types of cells, most of which are ‘specialized’ – with different functions. E.g., red blood cells are specialized to carry oxygen in the blood, while…
How many types of stem cells are there?
Today, researchers classify three types of stem cells (SC).
The two types of SC ⬆️ are ‘natural’:
1️⃣Embryonic SC supply new cells for an embryo as it grows and develops into a baby. Being ‘pluripotent’, they can change into any cell in the body.
2️⃣ Adult SC replace old or damaged cells as an organism grows. Being ‘multipotent’, they can only change into some cells in the body – not all cell types, because they have already started to specialize, so can only develop further into a specific type of cell.
The third type ⬆️ is ‘artificial’.
3️⃣ Induced pluripotent SC (or ‘iPS cells’) are made in the laboratory. Normal adult cells (often skin cells) can be reprogrammed to become stem cells. This is called ‘inducing’ the stem cells. iPS cells are pluripotent so can, theoretically, like Embryonic SC, develop into any cell type.
ℹ️ In medicine, stem cells are used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to diseases.
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Today, researchers classify three types of stem cells (SC).
The two types of SC ⬆️ are ‘natural’:
1️⃣Embryonic SC supply new cells for an embryo as it grows and develops into a baby. Being ‘pluripotent’, they can change into any cell in the body.
2️⃣ Adult SC replace old or damaged cells as an organism grows. Being ‘multipotent’, they can only change into some cells in the body – not all cell types, because they have already started to specialize, so can only develop further into a specific type of cell.
The third type ⬆️ is ‘artificial’.
3️⃣ Induced pluripotent SC (or ‘iPS cells’) are made in the laboratory. Normal adult cells (often skin cells) can be reprogrammed to become stem cells. This is called ‘inducing’ the stem cells. iPS cells are pluripotent so can, theoretically, like Embryonic SC, develop into any cell type.
ℹ️ In medicine, stem cells are used to replace cells and tissues that have been damaged or lost due to diseases.
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How does the Vangunu giant rat look like?
🐀🏝🇸🇧 The Vangunu giant rat (Uromys vika or U. vika) from the South Pacific island of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands was first described ⬆️ in 2017, when one representative of the species was found dead after loggers took out a section of forest.
✍️ It was the first new species of rodent described in the Solomon Islands in more than 80 years.
⚠️ Due to logging of its lowland forest habitat this one of the world’s rarest giant rodent was considered critically endangered and researchers long feared that it had gone extinct.
❎ For several years, periodic efforts to scientifically identify and document this species were fruitless.
✅ Recently, researchers finally captured images of four of these creatures ⬆️.
🐀🥥🏝 The Vangunu giant rats are about twice the size of common rats, and can chew through coconuts.
🙏🌳🌴 According to scientists, the future of the species relies on the preservation of Zaira primary forests.
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🐀🏝🇸🇧 The Vangunu giant rat (Uromys vika or U. vika) from the South Pacific island of Vangunu in the Solomon Islands was first described ⬆️ in 2017, when one representative of the species was found dead after loggers took out a section of forest.
✍️ It was the first new species of rodent described in the Solomon Islands in more than 80 years.
⚠️ Due to logging of its lowland forest habitat this one of the world’s rarest giant rodent was considered critically endangered and researchers long feared that it had gone extinct.
❎ For several years, periodic efforts to scientifically identify and document this species were fruitless.
✅ Recently, researchers finally captured images of four of these creatures ⬆️.
🐀🥥🏝 The Vangunu giant rats are about twice the size of common rats, and can chew through coconuts.
🙏🌳🌴 According to scientists, the future of the species relies on the preservation of Zaira primary forests.
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What is Peto’s Paradox?
In a multicellular organism, cells must go through a cell cycle that includes growth and division.
Every time a cell divide, it must copy its millions/billion base pairs of DNA, and it inevitably makes some mistakes. These mistakes are called somatic mutations.
If every cell division carries a certain chance that a cancer-causing somatic mutation could occur, then the risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism.
However, multiple studies showed that gigantic animals do not only get more cancer than humans, but actually even get less, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto’s Paradox ⬆️.
Peto’s Paradox is named after a British epidemiologist Richard Peto (1943-), who noted the relationship between time and cancer when he was studying how tumors form in mice.
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In a multicellular organism, cells must go through a cell cycle that includes growth and division.
Every time a cell divide, it must copy its millions/billion base pairs of DNA, and it inevitably makes some mistakes. These mistakes are called somatic mutations.
If every cell division carries a certain chance that a cancer-causing somatic mutation could occur, then the risk of developing cancer should theoretically increase with both the number of cells and the lifespan of an organism.
However, multiple studies showed that gigantic animals do not only get more cancer than humans, but actually even get less, suggesting that super-human cancer suppression has evolved numerous times across the tree of life. This is the essence and promise of Peto’s Paradox ⬆️.
Peto’s Paradox is named after a British epidemiologist Richard Peto (1943-), who noted the relationship between time and cancer when he was studying how tumors form in mice.
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How the longest-lived mammals resist cancer?
Massive creatures like whales have roughly 1,000 times the number of cells humans do, but their rates of cancer are much lower. This inconsistency, called Peto’s paradox, has long puzzled scientists.
Bowhead whales ⬆️ are the longest-lived mammals on Earth, with a life span that can exceed 200 years. In 2023, researchers may have discovered one of the keys to their longevity.
In the study, researchers severed both strands of the DNA molecule in cells from humans, cows, mice and bowhead whales. This kind of damage, called a “double-strand break,” is known to increase cancer risk.
The research showed the whales’ ability to repair DNA. Proteins called CIRBP and RPA2 were much more common in bowhead whales and may play a role in this gene repair.
Scientists say, this one of the most important biological discoveries of 2023 can help fight cancer.
ℹ️The bowhead is also the second-largest animal on Earth, reaching over 80,000 kg.
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Massive creatures like whales have roughly 1,000 times the number of cells humans do, but their rates of cancer are much lower. This inconsistency, called Peto’s paradox, has long puzzled scientists.
Bowhead whales ⬆️ are the longest-lived mammals on Earth, with a life span that can exceed 200 years. In 2023, researchers may have discovered one of the keys to their longevity.
In the study, researchers severed both strands of the DNA molecule in cells from humans, cows, mice and bowhead whales. This kind of damage, called a “double-strand break,” is known to increase cancer risk.
The research showed the whales’ ability to repair DNA. Proteins called CIRBP and RPA2 were much more common in bowhead whales and may play a role in this gene repair.
Scientists say, this one of the most important biological discoveries of 2023 can help fight cancer.
ℹ️The bowhead is also the second-largest animal on Earth, reaching over 80,000 kg.
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When were the first books made?
This papyrus fragment ⬆️, unearthed at the Egyptian site of El Hibeh in 1902, began as a bound document dating to 260 B.C. that recorded taxation rates for beer and oil scrawled in Greek letters using black ink.
Having used modern microscopic and multispectral imaging, researchers now believe that it is part of the world’s first book. And, like many of the ancient volumes, it has had many lives.
According to scientists, this sheet of papyrus was first bound within an ancient manunoscript. It was then removed from its binding and sent as a letter to a creditor or a debtor before being transformed once again and reused as wrapping for a mummy during the Ptolemaic period (304–30 B.C.).
The oldest book previously known being from the first or second century A.D., the discovery pushes the origins of bookbinding back by about 400 years and shows that the structure of the book, as opposed to a scroll, existed well before researchers thought.
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This papyrus fragment ⬆️, unearthed at the Egyptian site of El Hibeh in 1902, began as a bound document dating to 260 B.C. that recorded taxation rates for beer and oil scrawled in Greek letters using black ink.
Having used modern microscopic and multispectral imaging, researchers now believe that it is part of the world’s first book. And, like many of the ancient volumes, it has had many lives.
According to scientists, this sheet of papyrus was first bound within an ancient manunoscript. It was then removed from its binding and sent as a letter to a creditor or a debtor before being transformed once again and reused as wrapping for a mummy during the Ptolemaic period (304–30 B.C.).
The oldest book previously known being from the first or second century A.D., the discovery pushes the origins of bookbinding back by about 400 years and shows that the structure of the book, as opposed to a scroll, existed well before researchers thought.
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Why is February 15 important for science?
📌 February 15 is important for modern science as it is Galileo Galilei’s birthday.
📌 Galileo (1564-1642) ⬆️ was an Italian natural philosopher who made several major contributions to scientific progress.
📌 Before Galileo, science was not considered a profession. Typically, people who did ‘science’ were considered natural philosophers and held positions as medical doctors, mathematicians or priests with extra time on their hands.
📌 Galileo was one of the first to express the belief that the basic laws of science could be broken down into mathematics.
📌 🔭 He studied speed and gravity to predict paths of projectile motion. He was among the first to take a closer look at the skies above with a telescope.
📌 His life is generally used as the beginning point of the history of modern science.
📌 His philosophy of observing first, explain second and then observe some more would become the foundation of the modern scientific method.
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📌 February 15 is important for modern science as it is Galileo Galilei’s birthday.
📌 Galileo (1564-1642) ⬆️ was an Italian natural philosopher who made several major contributions to scientific progress.
📌 Before Galileo, science was not considered a profession. Typically, people who did ‘science’ were considered natural philosophers and held positions as medical doctors, mathematicians or priests with extra time on their hands.
📌 Galileo was one of the first to express the belief that the basic laws of science could be broken down into mathematics.
📌 🔭 He studied speed and gravity to predict paths of projectile motion. He was among the first to take a closer look at the skies above with a telescope.
📌 His life is generally used as the beginning point of the history of modern science.
📌 His philosophy of observing first, explain second and then observe some more would become the foundation of the modern scientific method.
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Is Pollen always yellow?
🟨 Pollen is the fertilization agent of plants and the essential element for the survival of many plant species. It is responsible for the formation of seeds, fruit.
🟨 Pollen is a botanical term that referred to "the fertilizing element of flowers" and was first used as long ago as 1760 by Carl Linnaeus. it has come to be known as "fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores."
🟨🟥🟪🟫 Though pollen is associated with the color yellow, pollen can come in many vibrant colors, including red, purple, white, and brown ⬆️.
🟨 Since insect pollinators such as bees, can't see red, plants produce yellow (or sometimes blue) pollen to attract them. This is why most plants have yellow pollen, but there are some exceptions. For instance, birds and butterflies are attracted to red colors, so some plants produce red pollen to attract these organisms.
ℹ️ The scientific study of living and fossilized pollen grains is known as palynology.
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🟨 Pollen is the fertilization agent of plants and the essential element for the survival of many plant species. It is responsible for the formation of seeds, fruit.
🟨 Pollen is a botanical term that referred to "the fertilizing element of flowers" and was first used as long ago as 1760 by Carl Linnaeus. it has come to be known as "fine, powdery, yellowish grains or spores."
🟨🟥🟪🟫 Though pollen is associated with the color yellow, pollen can come in many vibrant colors, including red, purple, white, and brown ⬆️.
🟨 Since insect pollinators such as bees, can't see red, plants produce yellow (or sometimes blue) pollen to attract them. This is why most plants have yellow pollen, but there are some exceptions. For instance, birds and butterflies are attracted to red colors, so some plants produce red pollen to attract these organisms.
ℹ️ The scientific study of living and fossilized pollen grains is known as palynology.
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Ask Me
Is Pollen always yellow? 🟨 Pollen is the fertilization agent of plants and the essential element for the survival of many plant species. It is responsible for the formation of seeds, fruit. 🟨 Pollen is a botanical term that referred to "the fertilizing…
What are some fascinating facts about pollen?
🟡 Not All Pollen Types Trigger Allergies
Pollen is an allergen and plants that release it into the air, such as ragweed, oaks, elms, maple trees, and grasses, are most often responsible for triggering allergy in humans, having a hypersensitivity to this type of pollen. However, because most plants that flower transfer pollen via insects and not via the wind, flowering plants are not typically the cause of allergic reactions.
🔴 Plants Use Trickery to Spread Pollen
Flowers that have white or other light colors are more easily seen in the dark by nocturnal insects like moths. Plants that are lower to the ground attract bugs that can't fly, such as ants or beetles. Some plants also cater to insects' sense of smell by producing a rotten smell to attract flies. Still, other plants have flowers that resemble the females of certain insects to lure males of the species.
🟠 Plant Pollinators Can Be Large or Small
When we think of pollinators, we usually think of bees. However, a number of insects such as butterflies, ants, beetles, and flies and animals such as hummingbirds and bats also transfer pollen. Two of the smallest natural plant pollinators are the fig wasp and the panurgine bee. The female fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes, is only about 1.55mm ( in length. One of the largest natural pollinators happens to be the black and white ruffed lemur from Madagascar.
🟤 Pollen is the Primary Source of Protein for Bees
The protein content of pollen varies between 2.5% and 61%, depending on the plant species. For context, beef is approximately 26% protein.
🟣 Pollen Contains the Male Sex Cells in Plants
Pollen is the male sperm producing gametophyte of a plant. A pollen grain contains both non-reproductive cells, known as vegetative cells and a reproductive or generative cell. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in the anther of the flower stamen. In conifers, pollen is produced in the pollen cone.
⚪️ Pollen Grains Must Create a Tunnel for Pollination to Occur
In order for pollination to occur, the pollen grain must germinate in the female portion (carpel) of the same plant or another plant of the same species. In flowering plants, the stigma portion of the carpel collects the pollen. The vegetative cells in the pollen grain create a pollen tube to tunnel down from the stigma, through the long style of the carpel, to the ovary. Division of the generative cell produces two sperm cells, which travel down the pollen tube into the ovule. This journey usually takes up to two days, but some sperm cells can take months to reach the ovary.
🟢 Pollen Is Required for Both Self-Pollination and Cross-Pollination
In flowers that have both stamens (male parts) and carpels (female parts), both self-pollination and cross-pollination can occur. In self-pollination, sperm cells fuse with the ovule from the female part of the same plant. In cross-pollination, pollen is transferred from the male portion of one plant to the female portion of another genetically similar plant. This helps in the development of new species of plants and increases the adaptability of plants.
🔵 Some Plants Use Toxins to Prevent Self-Pollination
Some flowering plants have molecular self-recognition systems that help prevent self-fertilization by rejecting pollen produced by the same plant. Once pollen has been identified as "self", it is blocked from germination. In some plants, a toxin called S-RNase poisons the pollen tube if the pollen and pistil (female reproductive part or carpel) are too closely related, thus preventing inbreeding.
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🟡 Not All Pollen Types Trigger Allergies
Pollen is an allergen and plants that release it into the air, such as ragweed, oaks, elms, maple trees, and grasses, are most often responsible for triggering allergy in humans, having a hypersensitivity to this type of pollen. However, because most plants that flower transfer pollen via insects and not via the wind, flowering plants are not typically the cause of allergic reactions.
🔴 Plants Use Trickery to Spread Pollen
Flowers that have white or other light colors are more easily seen in the dark by nocturnal insects like moths. Plants that are lower to the ground attract bugs that can't fly, such as ants or beetles. Some plants also cater to insects' sense of smell by producing a rotten smell to attract flies. Still, other plants have flowers that resemble the females of certain insects to lure males of the species.
🟠 Plant Pollinators Can Be Large or Small
When we think of pollinators, we usually think of bees. However, a number of insects such as butterflies, ants, beetles, and flies and animals such as hummingbirds and bats also transfer pollen. Two of the smallest natural plant pollinators are the fig wasp and the panurgine bee. The female fig wasp, Blastophaga psenes, is only about 1.55mm ( in length. One of the largest natural pollinators happens to be the black and white ruffed lemur from Madagascar.
🟤 Pollen is the Primary Source of Protein for Bees
The protein content of pollen varies between 2.5% and 61%, depending on the plant species. For context, beef is approximately 26% protein.
🟣 Pollen Contains the Male Sex Cells in Plants
Pollen is the male sperm producing gametophyte of a plant. A pollen grain contains both non-reproductive cells, known as vegetative cells and a reproductive or generative cell. In flowering plants, pollen is produced in the anther of the flower stamen. In conifers, pollen is produced in the pollen cone.
⚪️ Pollen Grains Must Create a Tunnel for Pollination to Occur
In order for pollination to occur, the pollen grain must germinate in the female portion (carpel) of the same plant or another plant of the same species. In flowering plants, the stigma portion of the carpel collects the pollen. The vegetative cells in the pollen grain create a pollen tube to tunnel down from the stigma, through the long style of the carpel, to the ovary. Division of the generative cell produces two sperm cells, which travel down the pollen tube into the ovule. This journey usually takes up to two days, but some sperm cells can take months to reach the ovary.
🟢 Pollen Is Required for Both Self-Pollination and Cross-Pollination
In flowers that have both stamens (male parts) and carpels (female parts), both self-pollination and cross-pollination can occur. In self-pollination, sperm cells fuse with the ovule from the female part of the same plant. In cross-pollination, pollen is transferred from the male portion of one plant to the female portion of another genetically similar plant. This helps in the development of new species of plants and increases the adaptability of plants.
🔵 Some Plants Use Toxins to Prevent Self-Pollination
Some flowering plants have molecular self-recognition systems that help prevent self-fertilization by rejecting pollen produced by the same plant. Once pollen has been identified as "self", it is blocked from germination. In some plants, a toxin called S-RNase poisons the pollen tube if the pollen and pistil (female reproductive part or carpel) are too closely related, thus preventing inbreeding.
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How bananas may be used to fight the plastic waste crisis?
🛍 Plastic bags take up to 20 years to decompose. With very little plastic being recycled, most end up in landfills or littered in the greater environment, creating serious environmental consequences. Finding a plastic-like alternative that will decompose relatively quickly would go a long way in fighting the ongoing plastic waste crisis.
🍌ℹ️ Bananas are the fourth most grown crop in the world, trailing only rice, wheat and corn, and almost 36 million tons of banana peels are produced yearly.
🍌➡️🛍 According to a new study, banana peels may be utilized to create biodegradable films and one day replace plastic as the dominant food packaging material.
✅ A produced film was strong, transparent, and more importantly, biodegradable within 30 days at 21% soil moisture content ⬆️.
✔️ Further research will look to improve the film's flexibility and investigate the scalability and commercialization of this preparation process.
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🛍 Plastic bags take up to 20 years to decompose. With very little plastic being recycled, most end up in landfills or littered in the greater environment, creating serious environmental consequences. Finding a plastic-like alternative that will decompose relatively quickly would go a long way in fighting the ongoing plastic waste crisis.
🍌ℹ️ Bananas are the fourth most grown crop in the world, trailing only rice, wheat and corn, and almost 36 million tons of banana peels are produced yearly.
🍌➡️🛍 According to a new study, banana peels may be utilized to create biodegradable films and one day replace plastic as the dominant food packaging material.
✅ A produced film was strong, transparent, and more importantly, biodegradable within 30 days at 21% soil moisture content ⬆️.
✔️ Further research will look to improve the film's flexibility and investigate the scalability and commercialization of this preparation process.
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What is Earth made of?
🌐 Earth is made up of several layers.
🌏 Earth's layers can be assigned according to chemical composition (what they're made of) or mechanical properties (rock strength and elasticity) ⬆️.
🌍 According to chemical composition Earth's layers are
☑️ the core
☑️mantle, the largest and thickest layer, making up 84% of the planet's total volume
☑️ crust
🌎 According to mechanical properties, Earth's layers are
☑️ the lithosphere, divided into oceanic crust (primarily composed of dark basalt rocks rich in elements such as silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (made of light-colored granite rocks containing oxygen and silicon)
☑️ asthenosphere
☑️ lower mantle (also known as mesospheric mantle),
☑️ outer core
☑️ inner core
ℹ️ The term lithosphere is derived from the Greek words "lithos," meaning stone, and "sphaira," meaning globe or ball.
ℹ️ The term asthenosphere originates from the Greek "asthenes" meaning weak.
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🌐 Earth is made up of several layers.
🌏 Earth's layers can be assigned according to chemical composition (what they're made of) or mechanical properties (rock strength and elasticity) ⬆️.
🌍 According to chemical composition Earth's layers are
☑️ the core
☑️mantle, the largest and thickest layer, making up 84% of the planet's total volume
☑️ crust
🌎 According to mechanical properties, Earth's layers are
☑️ the lithosphere, divided into oceanic crust (primarily composed of dark basalt rocks rich in elements such as silicon and magnesium) and continental crust (made of light-colored granite rocks containing oxygen and silicon)
☑️ asthenosphere
☑️ lower mantle (also known as mesospheric mantle),
☑️ outer core
☑️ inner core
ℹ️ The term lithosphere is derived from the Greek words "lithos," meaning stone, and "sphaira," meaning globe or ball.
ℹ️ The term asthenosphere originates from the Greek "asthenes" meaning weak.
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Ask Me
What is Earth made of? 🌐 Earth is made up of several layers. 🌏 Earth's layers can be assigned according to chemical composition (what they're made of) or mechanical properties (rock strength and elasticity) ⬆️. 🌍 According to chemical composition Earth's…
What are Earth’s layers interesting facts?
🔘 Inner core is at the very center of Earth.
✔️ Radius: 1,221 km (759 miles)
✔️ Temperature: About 5,200 degrees °C (9,392 degrees Fahrenheit)
✔️ Pressure: Nearly 3.6 million atmospheric pressure (atm)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Mostly iron and some nickel
🔁 Inner core rotates in the same direction as the surface of the planet but rotates ever so slightly faster, completing one extra rotation every 1,000 years or so.
⚫️ Outer core is sandwiched between the inner core and the mantle. The boundary between the inner and outer core is known as the Lehman Seismic Discontinuity.
✔️ Thickness: 2,300 km (1,400 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Between 4,500 degrees °C and 5,500 degrees °C (8,132 degrees F and 9,932 degrees F).
✔️ State: Fluid
✔️ Composition: Iron and nickel
🧲 The swirling motion of the outer core generates Earth's magnetic field in a process called geodynamo. Magnetism inside Earth's core is approximately 50 times stronger than it is on the surface. Eventually, the entire core will solidify and Earth's magnetic field will cease to exist. That will be bad news for our planet as the magnetic field protects us from harmful cosmic radiation. We still have a few billions of years of protection left though.
🔴 The mantle can be divided into the upper and lower mantle (also known as the mesospheric mantle), with the upper mantle containing two distinct regions: the asthenosphere and the lower portion of the lithosphere.
✔️ Thickness: Approximately 2,900 km (1,800 miles)
✔️ Temperature: 3,700 degrees °C to 1,000 degrees °C (6,692 degrees F to 1,832 degrees F)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Magnesium, silicon and oxygen
🌡 The immense pressure keeps this layer solid despite the high temperatures capable of softening the rocks. Though geologists are yet to agree on a definitive structure of the lower mantle.
💎 Diamonds are forged within the mantle approximately 150 to 200 km (93 to 124 miles) below the surface.
🟥 The asthenosphere is a 180 km (110 miles) thick layer of the upper mantle that sits between the lower mantle and the lithosphere.
✔️ Temperature: 1,500 degrees °C (2,732 degrees F)
✔️ Thickness: 180 km (110 miles)
🪨 Rocks in the asthenosphere are "on the verge" of melting.
🟫 The lithosphere is the outermost layer of Earth, composed of the crust and the brittle part of the upper mantle.
✔️ Depth: 8 to 32 km (5 to 20 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Range from 0 to 500 degrees °C (32 to 932 degrees F).
↔️ The boundary between the brittle part of the upper mantle and the crust (both oceanic and continental) is known as the Mohorovičić Discontinuity (Moho), which depth varies from about 8 km (5 miles) below oceanic crust to 32 km (20 miles) below continental crust.
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🔘 Inner core is at the very center of Earth.
✔️ Radius: 1,221 km (759 miles)
✔️ Temperature: About 5,200 degrees °C (9,392 degrees Fahrenheit)
✔️ Pressure: Nearly 3.6 million atmospheric pressure (atm)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Mostly iron and some nickel
🔁 Inner core rotates in the same direction as the surface of the planet but rotates ever so slightly faster, completing one extra rotation every 1,000 years or so.
⚫️ Outer core is sandwiched between the inner core and the mantle. The boundary between the inner and outer core is known as the Lehman Seismic Discontinuity.
✔️ Thickness: 2,300 km (1,400 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Between 4,500 degrees °C and 5,500 degrees °C (8,132 degrees F and 9,932 degrees F).
✔️ State: Fluid
✔️ Composition: Iron and nickel
🧲 The swirling motion of the outer core generates Earth's magnetic field in a process called geodynamo. Magnetism inside Earth's core is approximately 50 times stronger than it is on the surface. Eventually, the entire core will solidify and Earth's magnetic field will cease to exist. That will be bad news for our planet as the magnetic field protects us from harmful cosmic radiation. We still have a few billions of years of protection left though.
🔴 The mantle can be divided into the upper and lower mantle (also known as the mesospheric mantle), with the upper mantle containing two distinct regions: the asthenosphere and the lower portion of the lithosphere.
✔️ Thickness: Approximately 2,900 km (1,800 miles)
✔️ Temperature: 3,700 degrees °C to 1,000 degrees °C (6,692 degrees F to 1,832 degrees F)
✔️ State: Solid
✔️ Composition: Magnesium, silicon and oxygen
🌡 The immense pressure keeps this layer solid despite the high temperatures capable of softening the rocks. Though geologists are yet to agree on a definitive structure of the lower mantle.
💎 Diamonds are forged within the mantle approximately 150 to 200 km (93 to 124 miles) below the surface.
🟥 The asthenosphere is a 180 km (110 miles) thick layer of the upper mantle that sits between the lower mantle and the lithosphere.
✔️ Temperature: 1,500 degrees °C (2,732 degrees F)
✔️ Thickness: 180 km (110 miles)
🪨 Rocks in the asthenosphere are "on the verge" of melting.
🟫 The lithosphere is the outermost layer of Earth, composed of the crust and the brittle part of the upper mantle.
✔️ Depth: 8 to 32 km (5 to 20 miles)
✔️ Temperature: Range from 0 to 500 degrees °C (32 to 932 degrees F).
↔️ The boundary between the brittle part of the upper mantle and the crust (both oceanic and continental) is known as the Mohorovičić Discontinuity (Moho), which depth varies from about 8 km (5 miles) below oceanic crust to 32 km (20 miles) below continental crust.
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Ask Me
What tells us how much heat the object has?
🌡Temperature tells us the degree of hotness or coldness of an object.
🌡It is a measurable physical property like other measurable physical properties such as velocity, mass, and density.
🔬At a microscopic level…
🌡Temperature tells us the degree of hotness or coldness of an object.
🌡It is a measurable physical property like other measurable physical properties such as velocity, mass, and density.
🔬At a microscopic level…
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Why is the Earth an ever-changing landscape?
🔺 The theory of plate tectonics, developed during the mid-20th century, revolutionized scientific understanding of the Earth’s dynamics. It proposes that the Earth’s lithosphere consists of several tectonic plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath.
🔺 There are seven major plates ⬆️⬇️
1️⃣The African Plate
2️⃣The Antarctic Plate
3️⃣The Eurasian Plate
4️⃣The Indo-Australian Plate (sometimes divided into Indian Plate and Australian Plate)
5️⃣The North American Plate
6️⃣The Pacific Plate
7️⃣The South American Plate
There are also smaller plates like the Nazca, Cocos, Scotia, Caribbean, Arabian, and Philippine Sea Plate.
🔺 The largest plates, like the Pacific and Eurasian plates, span thousands of kilometers across. Smaller plates are just a few hundred kilometers across.
🔺 Plates’ size and shape continually change over geological time due to the dynamic nature of plate tectonics.
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🔺 The theory of plate tectonics, developed during the mid-20th century, revolutionized scientific understanding of the Earth’s dynamics. It proposes that the Earth’s lithosphere consists of several tectonic plates that float on the semi-fluid asthenosphere beneath.
🔺 There are seven major plates ⬆️⬇️
1️⃣The African Plate
2️⃣The Antarctic Plate
3️⃣The Eurasian Plate
4️⃣The Indo-Australian Plate (sometimes divided into Indian Plate and Australian Plate)
5️⃣The North American Plate
6️⃣The Pacific Plate
7️⃣The South American Plate
There are also smaller plates like the Nazca, Cocos, Scotia, Caribbean, Arabian, and Philippine Sea Plate.
🔺 The largest plates, like the Pacific and Eurasian plates, span thousands of kilometers across. Smaller plates are just a few hundred kilometers across.
🔺 Plates’ size and shape continually change over geological time due to the dynamic nature of plate tectonics.
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What happens when tectonic plates meet?
The edges where tectonic plates meet are known as plate boundaries ⬆️
There are three main types:
1️⃣Convergent Boundaries (Destructive Boundaries/Active Margins): Plates move towards each other, forming either a continental collision or else a subduction zone where one plate moves under the other⬆️. The oceanic plate always subducts beneath the continental plate.
2️⃣Divergent Boundaries (Constructive/Extensional Boundaries): Plates move apart.
3️⃣Transform Boundaries (Conservative/Strike-Slip Boundaries): Plates slide past each other along transform boundaries. The motion of the plates relative to each other is either sinistral (left side toward the observer) or dextral (right side toward the observer).
Sometimes over time it isn’t easy to define just one boundary type.
🗻Mountains form primarily at convergent boundaries.
🌋Volcanoes can occur at both convergent and divergent boundaries.
Plate boundaries also cause earthquakes.
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The edges where tectonic plates meet are known as plate boundaries ⬆️
There are three main types:
1️⃣Convergent Boundaries (Destructive Boundaries/Active Margins): Plates move towards each other, forming either a continental collision or else a subduction zone where one plate moves under the other⬆️. The oceanic plate always subducts beneath the continental plate.
2️⃣Divergent Boundaries (Constructive/Extensional Boundaries): Plates move apart.
3️⃣Transform Boundaries (Conservative/Strike-Slip Boundaries): Plates slide past each other along transform boundaries. The motion of the plates relative to each other is either sinistral (left side toward the observer) or dextral (right side toward the observer).
Sometimes over time it isn’t easy to define just one boundary type.
🗻Mountains form primarily at convergent boundaries.
🌋Volcanoes can occur at both convergent and divergent boundaries.
Plate boundaries also cause earthquakes.
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Why is International Polar Bear Day celebrated on 27 February?
🐻❄️International Polar Bear Day was first initiated in 1994 by Polar Bear International.
📌This non-profit organization founded the day to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens.
🐻❄️Each year, in early January, polar bear females give birth to tiny helpless cubs in a snow den where they spend several months until cubs are big and strong enough for a life in the Arctic.
ℹ️Polar bears, the largest carnivorous land animals, are considered a keystone species in the Arctic ecosystem, playing a crucial role in maintaining the balance of their habitat. However, they are facing numerous threats, primarily due to human activities and climate change.
International Polar Bear also serves
📌as a platform to promote conservation measures that can help to safeguard the future of the Arctic
📌as a reminder of the importance of collective efforts to protect this vulnerable species.
Subscribe- t.me/askmenow
🐻❄️International Polar Bear Day was first initiated in 1994 by Polar Bear International.
📌This non-profit organization founded the day to coincide with the time period when polar bear moms and cubs are snug in their dens.
🐻❄️Each year, in early January, polar bear females give birth to tiny helpless cubs in a snow den where they spend several months until cubs are big and strong enough for a life in the Arctic.
ℹ️Polar bears, the largest carnivorous land animals, are considered a keystone species in the Arctic ecosystem, playing a crucial role in maintaining the balance of their habitat. However, they are facing numerous threats, primarily due to human activities and climate change.
International Polar Bear also serves
📌as a platform to promote conservation measures that can help to safeguard the future of the Arctic
📌as a reminder of the importance of collective efforts to protect this vulnerable species.
Subscribe- t.me/askmenow
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What is the importance of February 28 for India?
🇮🇳🗓 Since 1986, every year in India, National Science Day is observed on February 28.
This date is related to the time period in 1928 when Indian Physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) ⬆️ announced discovery of the Raman Effect, or the Raman scattering.
The Raman Effect is the phenomenon where light gets scattered when passed through a transparent material, leading to changes in wavelength and energy.
CV Raman also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 due to his significant contribution in this field of science.
The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of scientific applications in our daily lives.
The day also aims to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and achievements of scientists in human welfare.
The theme for National Science Day 2024 is - Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat.
💬✍️"Success can come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you." - CV Raman
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🇮🇳🗓 Since 1986, every year in India, National Science Day is observed on February 28.
This date is related to the time period in 1928 when Indian Physicist Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (1888-1970) ⬆️ announced discovery of the Raman Effect, or the Raman scattering.
The Raman Effect is the phenomenon where light gets scattered when passed through a transparent material, leading to changes in wavelength and energy.
CV Raman also received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 due to his significant contribution in this field of science.
The day aims to raise awareness about the importance of scientific applications in our daily lives.
The day also aims to celebrate and acknowledge the efforts and achievements of scientists in human welfare.
The theme for National Science Day 2024 is - Indigenous Technologies for Viksit Bharat.
💬✍️"Success can come to you by courageous devotion to the task lying in front of you." - CV Raman
Subscribe- t.me/askmenow
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