Our Lives Are Very Short

British spelling

Someone once said to me that our lifespan is a mere flicker in the darkness.

It's estimated that the total number of people (Homo sapiens) to be born on our planet is 117 billion.

Around 8 billion people are alive at this time.

It's scary to think that nearly all of those 8 billion people won't exist in 100 years, but a few centenarians will be holding on to the last years of their lives.

Medical science may discover how to extend the human lifespan, but I'm not sure if that will be good or bad.

I believe our time on this magical world is all we get but many believe in an afterlife.

Sadly, far too many people just waste their precious time.

Enjoy your life. The odds against your existence are astronomical.

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We can only imagine what our early ancestors were thinking as they gazed up at the night sky.

Did they wonder what the heavens had to hide?

Now it is very different as we have developed sophisticated telescopes and other specialized scientific instruments that are helping to reveal some of the secrets the Universe holds.

Simple life forms were living on our planet over 3.5 billion years ago, billions of animal and plant species have existed in the past, and millions of species are still alive today.

The evolutionary path for life has been long but at last, we have arrived. Our highly developed brain has given us intelligence and curiosity, now we can try and make sense of our existence.

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What was causing the loud noise coming from the trees?

I was on holiday in Turkey in July. The loud buzzing noise emanating from the trees hits you whenever you go outside.

I decided to find out what kind of insects were causing the sound. 

The deafening noise is made by male cicadas, and they do it to attract a mate. These insects live underground for most of their lives as nymphs, and their life cycles can vary from one year to 20 years in some species. 

Imagine what it must feel like at their adult stage when they emerge from the cool, dark soil and move up into the trees with all the warmth and brightness of the sun. 

Their adult lives are short—just a few weeks in some species.

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Surprisingly, rainbows are full circles.

Look at the image above; we can’t see the rainbow as a full circle because some of it is below the horizon.

A semicircle is simply a shape that we can see from our viewpoint on the ground. To be lucky enough to view a rainbow as a full circle, you would have to be in an aircraft flying at a high altitude.

Rainbows form when light shines through water droplets in the atmosphere, leading to the formation of colours.

Water droplets act like tiny prisms, splitting the light into the seven familiar colours.

Nature is amazing.

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How Important Is Water?

Water is extremely important.

Water is a transparent, odourless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, and rivers. Its liquid form is a requirement for all living species here on Earth.

Water covers just over 70% of the Earth's surface; it also makes up 60% of the human body, so you can see how important water is to us and all other life.

The total volume of water contained on and around the Earth is approximately 1,386,000,000 cubic kilometres; freshwater accounts for only 10,530,000 cubic kilometres.

At any one time, there could be as much as 13,000 cubic kilometres of water in the atmosphere.

If our planet was a smooth sphere, there would be no dry land, and the depth of the water all around the globe would be roughly 2.7 kilometres.

If that were reality, then we land-dwellers would not exist.

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Someone asked me, how far is 40 light-years?

The vast distances in space can be unfathomable.

Light travels at 300,000 kilometres per second, which equates to 1,080 million kilometres per hour.

To find the answer to the question, multiply 1,080 million kilometres by the number of hours in a year, then multiply the answer by 40.

It works out at just over 378 trillion kilometres.

A trillion is 1 followed by 12 zeros.

The distance to the centre of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is 26,000 light-years, or almost 246,000 trillion kilometres.

But, considering the size of the universe, that number is minuscule.

The end.

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You may find my easy-to-understand stories about the universe and life interesting and educational.

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