Photo: Ralf Britz/Senckenberg

A recent study discovered that a transparent fish native to Myanmar called Danionella cerebrum is capable of making sounds that exceed 140 decibels, which rivals the sound of a firecracker, an elephant blowing its trunk, or an airplane taking off approximately 330 feet away. Producing noise of that volume would be an accomplishment for any creature, but it becomes even more impressive upon learning that the fish is no more than half an inch (13.5 millimeters) long.

How is the Danionella cerebrum capable of making such loud noises? The answer, according to scientists, lies within their swim bladders. According to the report, a special muscle pulls a fish's rib close to a ridged piece of cartilage. When the muscle is relaxed, the rib collides with the swim bladder, which results in a loud drumming noise.

Interestingly, only male members of the species can produce this drumming sound. Scientists still don't know why this is the case, as males have harder ribs than females. And while they also aren't sure why these tiny fish make such loud noises, there are a few theories. Researchers believe that it could either be a way to help them navigate cloudy water or a defense mechanism to deter potential predators.

“We assume that competition between males in this visually restricted environment contributed to the development of the special mechanism for acoustic communication,” shares Dr. Ralf Britz, lead author of this study and head of section ichthyology of the Senckenberg Natural History Collections in Dresden. (He was also part of the team that discovered the species in 2021.)

The Danionella cerebrum is far from the only sea creature with the ability to create incredible sounds, however. The snapping shrimp, for instance, is able to create popping sounds with their claws that can measure up to 218 decibels. This sound is so loud that it can create a shockwave strong enough to kill its prey instantaneously.

For an example of the sound that the Danionella cerebrum creates, check out the video below.

A recent study revealed that a tiny fish is capable of making a sound louder than a jet engine taking off.

h/t: [CNN]

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READ: Tiny Fish the Size of a Fingernail Can Produce Noises as Loud as an Elephant

Photo: Nuncius 39, 1 (2024)

An 11th-century astrolabe inscribed with Arabic, Hebrew, and Western numbers shows a strong collaboration between different religions and cultures. In a new report, Dr. Federica Gigante of the University of Cambridge discusses this scientific instrument, which she discovered thanks to a photo uploaded to a museum in Verona, Italy.

Dr. Gigante, an expert on Islamic astrolabes, contacted the museum, which didn't know much about the astrolabe and thought it could be a fake. When she had the chance to examine it in person, she knew that she had something special on her hands. “When I visited the museum and studied the astrolabe up close,” she shares, “I noticed that not only was it covered in beautifully engraved Arabic inscriptions but that I could see faint inscriptions in Hebrew.”

Astrolabes were incredibly important in history, allowing people to make astronomical measurements and navigate successfully. They can tell local time, help set up a calendar, provide positioning in latitude, as well as many other functions. This particular astrolabe appears to have had multiple owners, with Hebrew and Latin added to the instrument over time. After examining the style of the engraving and the arrangement of scales on the back of the astrolabe, Dr. Gigante determined that it is Andalusian. Specifically, she traced it to Al–Andalus, the Muslim-ruled area of Spain, and the instruments that were created there in the 11th century. Due to the inscriptions, she believes that it was made in Toledo. At the time, the city was a cradle of culture for Muslims, Jews, and Christians, so it seems quite appropriate that the astrolabe be manufactured there.

The instrument has several interesting features, including the inscription of Muslim prayer lines and names. Placed at specific times, these features demonstrate how the astrolabe also helped users track when to recite their daily prayers. There is also a second plate with common North African latitudes that suggests the astrolabe was used in Morocco or Egypt at one point.

The Hebrew inscriptions, which were added by more than one hand, give evidence of the astrolabe exchanging hands. “These Hebrew additions and translations suggest that at a certain point, the object left Spain or North Africa and circulated amongst the Jewish diaspora community in Italy, where Arabic was not understood, and Hebrew was used instead,” explains Gigante. Verona had a substantial Jewish community in the 12th century, and it appears that it made its way there. Eventually, it landed in the collection of Veronese nobleman Ludovico Moscardo before passing into the Miniscalchi family through marriage. This is how it ended up in Verona's Fondazione Museo Miniscalchi-Erizzo, which preserves the family's collection.

Now that its significance has been revealed, it's become a treasured part of the collection for its history and what it represents. Dr. Gigante says, “This isn’t just an incredibly rare object. It’s a powerful record of scientific exchange between Arabs, Jews, and Christians over hundreds of years.”

A researcher from the University of Cambridge discovered a fascinating astrolabe in a Verona museum's collection.

Photo: Nuncius 39, 1 (2024)

Dating to the 11th century, the scientific instrument has inscriptions in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin.

Photo: Nuncius 39, 1 (2024)

“This isn’t just an incredibly rare object. It’s a powerful record of scientific exchange between Arabs, Jews, and Christians over hundreds of years.”

Photo: Nuncius 39, 1 (2024)

h/t: [Good News Network]

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READ: Scholar Discovers 11th-Century Astrolabe With Inscriptions in Arabic, Hebrew, and Latin

 

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Una publicación compartida por ТОРАКАЛЬНИЙ ХІРУРГ️ОНКОЛОГ️ОДЕСА (@dr.severgin)

A young woman named Shreya Siddanagowder tragically lost her hands in a bus accident in 2016. The then 18-year-old engineering student was in a crash, which resulted in amputation from the elbow. Not willing to give up on her dreams, she became the subject of the first upper arm double-hand transplant performed in Asia. Now, her new limbs have had a very positive development. Siddanagowder reports that her hands, originally from a male donor, have become more feminine and their color is now closer to her own skin tone.

Speaking of her tragic plight, Siddanagowder told Times of India, “I had lost my hands, but not my spirit and the will to leave. I trained my toes to operate my phone, laptop, TV remote, and Kindle.” At one point, she gave prosthetic hands a try, but wasn't happy with them. That's when she decided to go for the bilateral hand transplant. After registering as a potential hand recipient in August 2017, she found a matching donor—a 21-year-old man named Sachin. And so, Siddanagowder underwent Asia's first intergender hand transplant, a 13-hour endeavor.

While Siddanagowder has to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of her life, like all transplant recipients do, the new hands have worked wonderfully for her. In a development that has surprised her doctors, the limbs, which were hairier and darker, are now lighter and resemble the rest of her body more.

Siddanagowder's doctors suspect that this has to do with her body producing less melanin (the pigment that gives skin its color) than her donor's did, leading to the lightening of her new limbs. Still, Dr. Uday Khopkar, head of dermatology at King Edward Memorial Hospital in Mumbai, told The Indian Express that more research is required to confirm the cause. “The nerve begins to send signals—it is called reinnervation—and the muscles function according to body needs,” says physiotherapist Ketaki Doke, who worked with Siddanagowder. “The muscles in her hand may have started adapting to a female body.”

Siddanagowder is one of the more than 130 people who have successfully received hand transplants, per Johns Hopkins Medicine. Now, the 25-year-old is due to graduate from IIM-Calcutta next year. Not only does she get to perform daily chores like dressing up, eating, and maintaining personal hygiene, but she also has been able to write again—and her handwriting even matches her penmanship from before the accident.

In 2016, a young woman named Shreya Siddanagowder tragically lost her hands in a bus accident.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Embracing the World (@embracingtheworld.official)

Not willing to give up on her dreams, she became the subject of the first bilateral above elbow hand transplant performed in Asia.

 

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Una publicación compartida por CNC (@centraldenoticiasdocurado)

Now, her new limbs have had a very positive development. Siddanagowder reports that her hands, originally from a male donor, have become more feminine and their color is closer to her skin tone.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Emm Zein – أم زين (@ferialhassan)

h/t: [LiveScience]

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READ: Woman Gets Hand Transplants From Male Donor But They’re Becoming More Feminine Over Time

 

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Una publicación compartida por Norwich City FC (@norwichcityfc)

According to a study by Priory Group, a provider of mental health care facilities, 40% of men in the UK have never spoken to anyone about their mental health. Aware of how important it is for people to check in on their loved ones, soccer team Norwich City FC released a poignant video for World Mental Health Day. The clip aims to help spot any signs of concern, challenging our conceptions of what depression may look like.

The video stars two Norwich City fans who attend several matches together. While one is quiet and aloof, the other is cheerful and outgoing. “At times, it can be obvious when someone is struggling to cope,” writes the soccer team in the caption. “But sometimes the signs are harder to spot. Check in on those around you.”

Titled “You Are Not Alone,” the short film was produced in close consultation with suicide prevention charity Samaritans. “Campaigns like #YouAreNotAlone can have a real long-lasting effect when it comes to reducing the stigma around suicide and we can't praise Norwich City's efforts enough,” said Annabel Davis, assistant director of external communications at Samaritans.

The campaign has been praised by other mental health providers, such as Mind and Heads Together, for offering a resource to increase mental health awareness.

“This is a stunningly powerful thing to watch; I would encourage any organization large or small, private or public—and indeed any individual to utilize this however they see fit to help others spread the message on the importance of checking in on the mental health of those around us,” said actor Stephen Fry, president of Mind. “The challenges faced by so many can seem like mountains, but there is truly no better message to hear than that ‘no matter how you might feel, you are not alone.'”

Since the video was released, Norwich City has received many requests to use the video to boost conversations in professional, educational, and administrative settings. Inspired by this, the club has made the video available to everyone. Those interested can send an email to youarenotalone@canaries.co.uk, and a staff member will reply with a download link and information on supporting resources.

If you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts, please reach out for help. You can find a helpline in your area, by visiting the International Association for Suicide Prevention helpline. If you're in the United States, you can dial 988 to speak with a mental health professional, 24/7, in English or in Spanish. The lifeline also uses Language Line Solutions to provide translation services in over 250 additional languages.

Aware of how important it is for people to check in on their loved ones, soccer team Norwich City FC released a poignant video for World Mental Health Day.

 

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The clip aims to help spot any signs of concern, challenging our conceptions of what depression may look like. You can watch it below.

Norwich City FC: Website | Instagram

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READ: Poignant Video From Soccer Club Reminds Men To Check in on Their Friends’ Mental Health

Photo: OLEGTROINO/Depositphotos

Life expectancy has increased over time, due in large part to modern medicine and access to healthcare. People in the developed world have a much better chance of making it to their elderly years compared to our ancestors 100 years ago or more. A new study, by researchers from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) and published in The Lancet, has announced an increase of global life expectancy by 6.2 years since 1990, despite the massive loss of life during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Life expectancy is still skewed by race and class. It also varies heavily by area of the world. Some regions are under resourced and may be more prone to certain diseases based on climate. That being said, there's an overall positive result reported by the study. Sub-saharan African life expectancy jumped 10.7 years. There was an 8.3 year increase in Southeast Asia, East Asia, and Oceania. South Asia saw 7.8 years added, largely due to reduced mortality from diarrheal diseases. Of course, no assessment of mortality is complete without detailed consideration of the massive loss of life cause by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study authors found the pandemic most negatively affected Latin America, the Caribbean, and sub-Saharan Africa in terms of life expectancy.

According to a statement from the IHME, “[t]he leading causes of age-standardized deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardized cause of death.” Some diseases like diarrhea and malaria are very geographically concentrated. This knowledge of global life expectancies can inform policy. The researchers suggest, “Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies.”

Global life expectancy is up by 6.2 years since 1990, even in the face of the massive loss of ilife caused by COVID-19.

Photo: WLAD_MUS/Depositphotos

h/t: [Good News Network]

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READ: Global Life Expectancy Is 6.2 Years Longer Than Before

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, who produced the first ever image of our Milky Way black hole released in 2022, has captured a new view of the massive object at the center of our Galaxy: how it looks in polarized light. This is the first time astronomers have been able to measure polarization, a signature of magnetic fields, this close to the edge of Sagittarius A*. This image shows the polarized view of the Milky Way black hole. The lines mark the orientation of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole. Image (Photo: EHT Collaboration, CC BY-NC-SA)

Black holes are points in space where gravity is so strong that nothing can escape, not even light. They are intriguing mysteries to astronomers and science-fiction fans alike. Thanks to the work of an international collaboration, we're one step closer to better understanding exactly how black holes work. And the more we know about them, the more we can unravel about the history of our own little galaxy, the Milky Way.

While black holes were predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity in 1915, our first images of black holes only came to be this century. In 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration published an image that was made from direct observations of the Messier 87 galaxy's black hole, M 87*, made in 2017. In 2022, they released their first images of our local black hole Sagittarius A* (aka Sgr A*, which is read as Sagittarius A star). Those images were both produced by observing radio waves around the edge, or event horizon, of the black holes. However, each year brings technological advances to the EHT Collaboration. Last month, the first polarized image of our black hole was released in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, revealing a mesmerizing magnetic field that appears to spiral out.

Observing the polarized light waves of Sgr A* lets scientists chart the magnetic fields close to the black hole. This step forward unlocks new understanding of how black holes work. Astronomers happened upon a surprise because this polarized image is similar to an earlier polarized image of the M 87* black hole. Both black holes appear to have magnetic fields that are similarly organized and have comparable behaviors. This is telling, because M 87* and Sgr A* are very different black holes in term of size and surroundings. While Sgr A* is 4.3 million times as big as our Sun, M 87* is 6.5 billion times as big. This size difference is part of the reason why it was much harder to capture an image of Sgr A* despite it being only 27,000 light-years away from Earth, compared to M 87* which is 53.5 million light-years away. While particles on their edges move at similar speeds, it take exponentially longer for particles to finish whipping around M 87*. Also notable, M 87* is surrounded by more gas and dust.

Despite these differences, the similar magnetic fields suggest that all black holes are governed by the same physical processes. It also suggests that the Milky Way's black hole contains a jet, which is a powerful outflow of energy. A jet is the most energetic mechanism in the entire universe, and its clearing out of gas and dust helps give way to stars and galaxies. Indeed, learning that Sgr A* likely has a jet alters scientists' understanding of how the Milky Way came to be.

Of course, there is still much more to learn about our home galaxy and the universe itself. Each year, technological advances help the EHT Collaboration deepen their understanding of black holes. For the EHT Collaboration—an international consortium of astronomy programs and telescopes ranging from the Atacama desert to the South Pole—each telescope contributes to their “very long baseline interferometry.” This interferometry uses data taken from across the planet at different angles and times to create a fuller image and essentially act as an Earth-sized telescope. Each year, the Collaboration is adding telescopes and bandwidth, providing astronomers with more data. It will once again be observing Sgr A* this month.

In the decade to come, there are hopes  to have multicolored views of event horizons, as well as high-fidelity footage. There is even potential to add telescopes in outer space to add to the EHT data. It is fitting that we can only understand our place in the universe by coming together as a planet. After all, even national borders cannot escape a black hole.

New images of the magnetic fields of the Milky Way's black hole, Sagittarius A* were released by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration.

Seen here in polarized light, this side-by-side image of the supermassive black holes M87* and Sagittarius A* indicates to scientists that these beasts have similar magnetic field structures. This is significant because it suggests that the physical processes that govern how a black hole feeds and launches a jet may be universal features amongst supermassive black holes. (Photo: EHT Collaboration, CC BY-NC-SA)

The image demonstrates that Sagittarius A*  acts similarly to a much bigger black hole, the M87*.

At left, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, Sagittarius A*, is seen in polarized light, the visible lines indicating the orientation of polarization, which is related to the magnetic field around the shadow of the black hole. At center, the polarized emission from the center of the Milky Way, as captured by SOFIA. At back right, the Planck Collaboration mapped polarized emission from dust across the Milky Way. (Photo: S. Issaoun/EHT Collaboration, CC BY-NC-SA)

Using polarized light, astronomers now have a better understanding of Sagittarius A* and our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

This is the first image of Sgr A*, the supermassive black hole at the centre of our galaxy, with an added black background to fit wider screens. It’s the first direct visual evidence of the presence of this black hole. It was captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an array which linked together eight existing radio observatories across the planet to form a single “Earth-sized” virtual telescope. The telescope is named after the event horizon, the boundary of the black hole beyond which no light can escape. Although we cannot see the event horizon itself, because it cannot emit light, glowing gas orbiting around the black hole reveals a telltale signature: a dark central region (called a shadow) surrounded by a bright ring-like structure. The new view captures light bent by the powerful gravity of the black hole, which is four million times more massive than our Sun. The image of the Sgr A* black hole is an average of the different images the EHT Collaboration has extracted from its 2017 observations.  In addition to other facilities, the EHT network of radio observatories that made this image possible includes the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX) in the Atacama Desert in Chile, co-owned and co-operated by ESO is a partner on behalf of its member states in Europe. (Photo: EHT collaboration/European Southern Observatory, CC BY-NC-SA)

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration is a worldwide effort made up of telescopes across the entire Earth.

A global map showing the radio observatories that form the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) network used to image the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*. The telescopes highlighted in yellow were part of the EHT network during the observations of Sagittarius A* in 2017. These include the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), the Atacama Pathfinder EXperiment (APEX), IRAM 30-meter telescope, James Clark Maxwell Telescope (JCMT), Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT), Submillimeter Array (SMA), Submillimetere Telescope (SMT) and South Pole Telescope (SPT). Highlighted in blue are the three telescopes added to the EHT Collaboration after 2018: the Greenland Telescope, the NOrthern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) in France, and the UArizona ARO 12-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak. (Photo: M. Kornmesser/European Southern Observatory, CC BY-NC-SA)

h/t: [PetaPixel]

All Images via Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration and European Southern Observatory.

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READ: Mesmerizing Image of Black Hole in the Milky Way Shows Spiraling Magnetic Field

Photo of Jupiter's Moon, Europa. (Photo: Arch88/Depositphotos)

Scientists have long thought that they could detect evidence of extraterrestrial life by examining the ice found on planetary bodies. With signs of ice on Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, this poses many exciting possibilities for researchers. A recent study found that rather than having to extract an ice core from planetary bodies, similar to how scientists study Antarctic ice cores, they would instead only need one grain of ice.

The research paper is specifically concerned with the possibility of finding life signs on Europa or Enceladus, which are moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. Europa contains a vast ocean beneath its surface that researchers have long been fascinated by. Several years ago, NASA's Cassini spacecraft discovered that Enceladus contained molecules holding carbon dioxide and ammonia, both of which are vital for life. Both of these discoveries make these moons perfect for further exploration and scientists plan to test small specks of ice that are ejected into space through their subsurface ocean geysers.

Plans are already in progress to send small, unmanned spacecrafts to Jupiter in the coming years, and scientists hope that they will be able to learn more about these ice particles. The Europa Clipper, which is scheduled to arrive in Jupiter's orbit in April 2030, will be equipped with instruments that have the capabilities to examine the ice worlds of Jupiter, as well as its surrounding moons.

“With suitable instrumentation, such as the SUrface Dust Analyzer [SUDA] on NASA’s Europa Clipper space probe, it might be easier than we thought to find life, or traces of it, on icy moons,” says senior co-author Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary sciences at the Freie Universität Berlin.

In the study, researchers simulated the types of droplets that would be found on Europa. What they discovered was that instruments like Europa Clipper's SUDA can detect cellular material in one out of hundreds of thousands of ice grains. In their simulation, the researchers used a single-celled bacteria, Sphingopyxis alaskensis, which is found off the waters of Alaska. This bacteria is the perfect choice due to its small size and the fact that it can live in cold water with very few nutrients. It's expected that the icy environments on Saturn and Jupiter's moons could contain analogous organisms.

“For the first time, we have shown that even a tiny fraction of cellular material could be identified by a mass spectrometer onboard a spacecraft,” says lead author Fabian Klenner, a University of Washington postdoctoral researcher in Earth and Space Sciences. “Our results give us more confidence that using upcoming instruments, we will be able to detect lifeforms similar to those on Earth, which we increasingly believe could be present on ocean-bearing moons.”

Scientists recently discovered that they may be able to find traces of extraterrestrial life in ice grains on Jupiter and Saturn's icy moons.

Photo of Saturn's moon, Enceladus. (Photo: Mode-list/Depositphotos)

h/t: [Gizmodo]

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READ: Scientists Prove They Can Detect Traces of Life in Grains of Extraterrestrial Ice

Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

Total solar eclipses provide a once-in-a-life-time spectacle. Turning the sky into a deep-twilight blue, the Moon covers the Sun, only leaving its bright corona visible as some stars come out. As breathtaking as it is on the ground, an eclipse also offers fascinating sights from up above—although they are quite different. Images of the 2024 total solar eclipse from space, shared by NASA Earth Observatory and other institutions, reveal how this event looked from up above.

Some of the most compelling footage was captured by Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-16), part of a collaboration between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA. Using its advanced baseline imager, the satellite captured the Moon’s shadow moving across North America between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. CEST, looking like a chunky brown-black mass moving in a southwest-northeast motion.

NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) imager on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite had an even more insightful shot, capturing the entirety of the eclipse from its earliest stages over the Pacific Ocean through its end on the east coast of Canada, covering the continent in a dark shade. Meanwhile, the NOAA-20 weather satellite's vantage point in Earth’s orbit offered a striking side-by-side comparison. The satellite imagery shows the difference between the eclipsed portion of North America and how it looks most of the time. For an easier examination, they marked the path of totality and the state lines.

Additional to satellite imagery, some lucky people experienced the eclipse with their own eyes. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station shared their view of the eclipse 261 miles above ground. The image shows the Moon’s shadow as it covers portions of Maine and the Canadian provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick.

Hoping to make the most out of it, others chased the eclipse as long as they could, like NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. Flying aboard a T38 jet at 39,000 feet, Meir saw the eclipse cross over north Texas. “We saw the darkness approaching us from behind,” she wrote. “Soon it caught up with us and we had several minutes in totality as we chased along its path. Then we were back in the light once again. Not a bad day in the office.”

Scroll down to explore footage of the eclipse from space and the sky.

As breathtaking as it was on the ground, the eclipse also offered fascinating sights from space.

Photo: NASA Earth Observatory

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station shared their view of the eclipse 261 miles above ground.

Photo: ISS / NASA

Meanwhile, the GOES-16 satellite captured the Moon's shadow traveling across North America.

Watch a replay of the moon's shadow traveling across the path of totality, seen from @NOAA’s #GOESEast satellite.#TotalEclipse #Eclipse #Eclipse2024, #TotalEclipse2024 #NOAATotalEclipse2024, #2024Eclipse pic.twitter.com/eNaRb6qoKH

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) April 8, 2024

Watch a replay of the moon's shadow traveling across the path of totality, seen from @NOAA’s #GOESEast satellite.#TotalEclipse #Eclipse #Eclipse2024, #TotalEclipse2024 #NOAATotalEclipse2024, #2024Eclipse pic.twitter.com/eNaRb6qoKH

— NOAA Satellites (@NOAASatellites) April 8, 2024

Flying aboard a T38 jet at 39,000 feet, astronaut Jessica Meir saw the eclipse cross over north Texas.

 

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Una publicación compartida por Jessica Meir (@astro_jessica)

h/t: [IFL Science]

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READ: Images of the Eclipse Taken From Space Show How the Moon’s Shadow Looked From up Above

 

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The big day finally arrived. On April 8, 2024, the Great North American Eclipse cast its shadow over a narrow swath of the United States, as well as parts of Mexico and Canada. Millions of eager onlookers turned out to watch the epic event, which won't occur again for another 20 years. Wearing safety glasses and using special equipment, the public viewed and photographed the eclipse, but they had to be quick. Though the entire event spanned two to three hours, totality—when the Moon completely covers the Sun—only lasted for around four minutes.

Luckily, photographers were well prepared for the event, with many people planning years in advance to be in the right place at the right time. Thanks to these talented people, we can all enjoy the total eclipse even if we weren't able to see it in person. While more and more images will surely go online in the coming weeks, as photographers have a chance to cull and edit their photos, there is still plenty to see now.

We scoured the internet for our favorite photos and videos of the big event. You'll see some familiar names like Andrew McCarthy and Niaz Uddin, as well as NASA's official photographer Keegan Barber. But you'll also see footage from ordinary folks and hobbyists who took advantage of the rare event.

Scroll down to see some of our favorite visuals of the 2024 Great North American Eclipse (so far) and follow the hashtag #eclipse2024 on social media platforms to see more imagery in the coming days and weeks.

Millions turned out to watch the 2024 Great North American Eclipse.

 

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While the event lasted two to three hours, totality occurred for just a few minutes.

 

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The path of totality moved from the coast of Mexico up to Maine and then moved to eastern Canada.

 

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I can’t put into words how amazing it feels to finally have had the chance to cross this shot off my bucket list!!!#Arkansas #Eclipse2024 #Totality pic.twitter.com/J8WZZGOV2m

— Josh Mindemann (@Josh_Mindemann) April 9, 2024

 

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Through video footage, we can get an idea of the magical atmosphere that the eclipse created.

The coolest thing I’ve ever filmed on my drone. The Great American Solar Eclipse, filmed from the Mississippi to Ohio River, at the confluence in Cairo, Illinois. #GreatAmericanEclipse #SolarEclipse2024 #Eclipse pic.twitter.com/o6v03hyTbn

— Tyler Kleeschulte (@T_Dawg93) April 8, 2024

In case you have ever wondered, this is what a total solar #Eclipse look like from an aircraft In-flight.
This has to be one of the most fascinating things I have seen ever. #AvGeek pic.twitter.com/uyTIEH2qOb

— VT-VLO (@Vinamralongani) April 8, 2024

 

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#Eclipse #Eclipse2024 Dayton Ohio USA in 12 seconds by Dr. Kevin Carter pic.twitter.com/sJ8k7ugJYI

— James Carter (@JamesCarterWho) April 8, 2024

The next total eclipse visible from North America won't happen until 2044.

Can’t believe we got to see this today #Eclipse2024 @nateinthewild pic.twitter.com/MO9qPsCXhT

— Autumn Schrock ☾ (@autpops) April 9, 2024

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READ: The Most Spectacular Photos and Videos of the 2024 Great North American Eclipse

Photo: NOAA Climate.gov

The polar vortex above the Arctic is a large ocean current that flows clockwise, with wind speeds of around 155 miles per hour. But due the impacts of climate change, the vortex has been gradually growing faster and faster over the past several years. The most recent change to the trajectory of the vortex occurred on March 4, when it started spinning backwards.

Scientists have long studied this phenomenon and thanks to their research, we know that it is not unusual for polar vortexes to change their trajectory for days, weeks, or even months at a time. This usually happens when temperatures in the stratosphere increase by around 90°F over the course of a couple of days, and this is precisely what happened in early March.

According to NOAA's polar vortex blog, the winds on the vortex are beginning to slow down, indicating that it will probably return to normal soon. In the past, disruptions to the polar vortex have caused widespread weather impacts across the globe. For example, in 2019, a massive cold front hit the Midwestern United States due to the vortex splitting apart into smaller currents.

As climate change continues to get worse, the polar vortex will continue to disrupt, probably at a more frequent rate. Other natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, will also become more frequent and more dangerous. Stories like this emphasize the importance of fighting climate change and limiting the harm that we do to our planet.

In early March, a large polar vortex located above the Arctic changed its trajectory.

Image credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Photo: NOAA Climate.gov

Researchers believe this was caused by a sudden spike in the temperature of the stratosphere and expect it to return to normal soon.

Photo: NOAA Climate.gov

h/t: [Live Science]

This article has been edited and updated. An earlier version mistakenly wrote Antarctic instead of Arctic.

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READ: Arctic Polar Vortex Is Now Spinning in the Wrong Direction and Could Impact Global Weather