Good morning. I’ve been working on a new version of The Big Ideas Network blog using Notion… I’ll be able to share 100’s of pages of new content like Earth, The Drake Equation, and Speculations on Alien Life. Here’s an extract from Earth:

“Here we are with our eyes and our minds and our curiosity, six [now seven] billion passengers aboard a tiny blue boat, bobbing and wheeling our way around one vast Catherine wheel among many.”

At the first glance of an alien observer, the Earth would appear to be a small, ordinary rock orbiting an average and unremarkable star.

It has a thin layer of gasses enveloping the planet called an ‘atmosphere’, which is good to have, but by itself isn’t anything particularly remarkable.

The exact chemical makeup of the planet is certainly unique, but in the same way that any random assortment of letters is unique.

What makes the planet interesting is how they’re put together…

Keep reading…

Here’s what’s been happening this week:

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Cosmos news

A quick look at news from the big picture

Scientists have journeyed to the bottom of the third deepest trench in the ocean 10,000 meters (33,000 ft) beneath the surface. They found a pair of pants, a shirt, a teddy bear, packaging, and a lot of plastic bags. It’s a stark reminder that our pollution now engulfs the planet. 🔗 Link

There was a glitch on NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. It uses its underside camera to estimate how high it should be flying, but the sequence of photos was disrupted by a software bug. Luckily (and thanks to great engineering) it made a safe landing. 🔗 Link 
 
The world’s tiniest pig (at 10 inches tall), once thought to be extinct, have been successfully reintroduced to the wild. It is particularly fortunate as it’s a keystone species of the Terai grasslands of India, where it supports populations of tigers, and indirectly supports elephants and rhinos. 🔗 Link


Weekly wonders
🐠 Underwater Life This incredible variety of sea slugs found around Misaki, Japan
Posted by discover_bot

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🐠 Underwater Life This is just so pure
Posted by d3333p7

 

🦋 Insects This moth has the ability to look like a leaf
Posted by grettaaa

 

🦁 Animals Chimp parents’ first moments with their newborn baby
Posted by d3333p7