One-fifth of Earth’s ocean floor has now been mapped

One-fifth of Earth’s ocean floor has now been mapped

Nearly a fifth of the world’s entire ocean floor has now been mapped, with the new data equating to an area twice the size of Australia.

A group, working to create a full map of Earth’s ocean floor by 2030, has said that nearly one-fifth or 19% of this task has been completed.

In 2017, the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 Project had surveyed  only 6% of the global ocean bottom. Now, the number stands at 19%, up from 15% in just the last year.

The Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, Mr Yohei Sasakawa, recently announced three initiatives that need further collaborative activity in accelerating the mapping of the ocean floor,  these include supporting the mapping of unexplored areas, collecting data through crowdsourcing, and advancing technology for data collection.

The initiative has been helped by 133 contributors, partners and supporters.

Piece of moon that fell on earth has been put for sale at $2.49 million

Piece of moon that fell on earth has been put for sale at $2.49 million

A piece of the moon that fell on earth is for sale at the famed Christie’s auction house. It is one of largest lunar meteorites in existence and has been put up for at $2.49 million.

The lunar meteorite, known as NWA 12691, fell to Earth in a meteor shower and was found two years ago in the Sahara Desert

Sources claim that the moon rock weighs 13.5 kg and was said to be stuck off the surface of the moon by a collision with an asteroid or comet. The piece later fell on the Earth and landed in Sahara and was first found by an anonymous person. The rock had to travel at least 239,000 miles through space before falling to Earth in a fiery meteor shower.

Christie’s head of Science & Natural History, James Hyslop, said, “Weighing over 13.5kg, it is so much larger than anything else that has ever been offered before. The experience of holding a piece of another world in your hands is something you never forget.”

Also, this isn’t the first time that a meteorite has been discovered in the Sahara. Earlier, there have been many similar discoveries of meteorites and rocks.