​A planet that could destroy our entire solar system ● Archaeologists found a comb you wouldn’t want to use ● How big could prehistoric ants grow?

A planet that could destroy our entire solar system

There is an oddity in our solar system that has been observed since the mid-19th century. Namely, there should have been another planet between Mars and Jupiter. And many are still looking for it because, as we’ve seen in other solar systems, these breaks don’t exist. Well, in their place are what experts call “super-earths.”

The fact is that this planet is not here. Only the asteroid belt remained in its place. And to say “thank you” that it is not enough, that would not be good for us!

A recent study by astrophysicists at the University of California and published in the Planetary Science Journal tells us that if such a planet existed, we wouldn’t be talking about it now. And, they explain, Jupiter is a gas planet larger than all the other planets in our solar system combined. Only its mass is 318 times greater than the Earth’s. By default, her gravity is enormous.

If there was a super-Earth in this space, it would destabilize the planet Jupiter and throw the planets Mercury, Venus and Mars out of the solar system. Depending on the mass of this hypothetical planet, even the orbits of the planets Uranus and Neptune could be affected, putting them outside the solar system as well.

Another option, somewhat less cruel but no happier for us, would be for the Earth’s orbit to be altered. In this case, life as we know it would not have appeared. Perhaps he would not have appeared at all, in any form.

Or who knows? Perhaps it is to Jupiter that we owe the fact that we are here. Perhaps it was its enormous gravity that prevented the formation of this planet in ancient times.

Archaeologists have found a comb that you wouldn’t want to use

While excavating on a highway near Cambridge, archaeologists from the University there made an initially trivial discovery – a comb, the age of which was approximately 2043-2750 years. You might say it won’t be a big problem. Well, it’s a really big bummer, as further analysis reveals.

This is because the crest was created from the parietal bone of a person who lived at that time. At the moment, the reasons that led to the creation of such an object are unknown. All that is suspected, given the fact that it shows no signs of use, is that the comb had symbolic value, perhaps even religious. It is possible to somehow honor the memory of the personality of that time.

Although objects made from human bones dating back to that period are found all over the world, only three such combs (including the one mentioned) have been found. And they were all discovered around Cambridge.

This brings us to another hypothesis. Namely, the practice was local. Such a local tradition. However, an even greater wonder is connected with what was discovered in connection with the artifact. In particular, the bones of approximately 8,000 frogs.

There are too many of them to be caused by some accident, some cataclysm, or something like that. It is certain that the frogs were killed there. why Now nobody knows how to explain it. What can we say, what English archaeologists also say. Namely, that perhaps future excavations will enlighten us about the peculiarities and traditions of the population of Britain almost two and a half millennia ago.

How big could prehistoric ants grow?

Much larger than the current ones. It is clear. This was proven by the fossilized remains of a species from about 45-49 million years ago called Formicium giganteum. In their case, the uteri were about 5.5 centimeters thick and were also equipped with wings with a 16 centimeter opening. In addition, they were carnivorous, which would have protected the saint from their attack.

What we wanted to mention today about giant ants is a strangeness that has just been brought to the attention of the specialists of The Canadian Entomologist magazine. In particular, experts already knew that North America had its giant Titanomyrma ants at the same time.

And, based on their size (some close to the size of a hummingbird), as well as the period in which they lived, which was relatively warm, the researchers assumed that it was the mild climate that allowed them to appear and develop in such a state.

The problem arose when a giant ant fossil was discovered in sediment samples from what was once Beringia, the land area that connected North America to East Asia. This is really a problem because, given the elements of the evolutionary equation, these ants should not have lived there. It was just too cold for them.

This, however, raises other questions. Was the newly discovered specimen adapted to cold areas? If so, that means it shrunk to accommodate, and we don’t even want to think about what its relatives looked like in warmer regions. Or, even simpler, the whole picture of their evolution is laid out incorrectly, and scientists have to fill in another one, starting from completely different coordinates.

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