The Russians have changed their minds and are no longer leaving the International Space Station ● The drought in northern Africa has reached catastrophic proportions ● When did oxygen first appear on Earth?

The Russians have changed their minds and are no longer leaving the International Space Station

Yuriy Borisov, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, officially announced in a televised discussion with Vladimir Putin that Russia will no longer withdraw its astronauts from the International Space Station, as it originally announced.

Last July, Russian officials said they would withdraw from the SSI in 2024 due to deteriorating relations between the Kremlin and the West amid the armed conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, better feelings returned to them, and a new “government decree” changed the date of the Russians’ exit from the DZ. In particular, it should happen in 2028.

The reason would be that Russia “cannot refuse space missions under any circumstances.” In the same spirit, Yuri Borisov said that it is time to resume discussions about the construction of a Russian space station.

While Europe, Canada, Japan, the United States and Russia have agreed to cooperate on the ISS until 2024, US officials want to extend the deal to 2030. Although it seems unlikely that Russia will start the project of its own orbital station. Soon, chosen in the context of the huge costs caused by the war and in the face of international sanctions, experts believe that the construction of the station alone will take at least a decade, and Russia cannot afford to stand on the sidelines of the space race for that long. .

The drought in North Africa has reached catastrophic proportions

Tunisia, one of the North African countries most affected by the drought, has announced that its effects are catastrophic and the country is on the brink of disaster. A situation strongly fueled by the conflict in Ukraine, the resulting inflation and huge grain prices.

Three million tons of grain, mostly wheat and barley, were imported annually by Tunisians, a country where bread is eaten with every meal. For the reasons already stated, the supply of grain is no longer possible. Dramatically, however, Tunisia cannot even rely on its own production, as last year’s drought was devastating and crops were badly affected.

Against the background of the consequences of global warming, Tunisia has practically no water reserves to support agricultural work. The containers are either completely dry or have reached a maximum capacity of 10-16%. Now 80% of water reserves are barely enough to irrigate 8% of agricultural areas.

In this situation, Tunisians are forced to rely on the rains. Rains that never happened. In fact, in December, the month the fields were sown, temperatures were already 3 degrees Celsius above average.

When did oxygen first appear on Earth?

In case you didn’t know, there has recently been a heated debate among experts in the scientific community regarding the origin of oxygen on Earth. On the one hand – Arizona University professor Ariel Anbar, on the other – a group of researchers from Australia, Scotland and even his compatriots.

In short, it is generally accepted that oxygen appeared on Earth approximately 2.4 billion years ago. Basically, then we could see, if we were to travel through time, a blue sky. The hypothesis is supported by geological evidence found across the globe that identifies a major event known as the Great Oxidation.

The increase in oxygen levels was gradual, everyone agrees, and was based on the evolution of cyanobacteria and their ability to produce oxygen through photosynthesis. And the traces I mentioned were left as a result of the oxidation of ores, a phenomenon that occurs in the presence of oxygen.

Well, Anbar claims to have found evidence of oxygen in ocean waters at least 2.5 billion years ago, more than 100 million years earlier than previously thought. These tracks come from rocks collected from an underwater environment that 2.5 billion years ago were part of primordial marine sediments.

Detractors argue that Anbar is wrong, that the rocks he presents are poorly preserved, by implication they are not eloquent, and they do not signal a significant increase in oxygen levels in the oceans. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to what is established. Meanwhile, Anbar says that opponents of his hypothesis have confused apples with pears, that they are based on incomplete data and that they have not taken into account the chemical composition of the rocks he presented.

In general, what will we do here and there? 100 million years at the geological level means a grain of sand. In summary, Earth experienced significant oxygen levels 2.4-2.5 billion years ago. Yes, but cyanobacteria appeared 3.5 billion years ago. And if we have to be scrupulous and go to the first molecules of oxygen that are formed as a result of photosynthesis, that’s when they appear. This is the answer to the question we started with.

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