What is Generation Alpha? And what will Generation Alpha be like? Baby boomers, Millennials, Generation Z… and now, Generation Alpha, aka the iGeneration. Born from 2010 to 2025, the iGen will soon be a two-billion crowd. What makes them different? Many of them were born the same year as iPad and Instagram. 90% of the iGen kids learn to handle a tablet by the age of 2.

They expect the world to be tailored to their needs and interests. They consume tons of information every day. To cope with this flow, their brains have to filter it. It only takes the new generation several seconds to decide if the content is worth paying attention to. They have great critical thinking skills and don't waste time on the less important stuff.

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Think about it. If everything started with a Big Bang, what was before that? How big is our universe if it keeps expanding? Will it ever stop? There’s so little we know about the endlessness of space… but scientists do have some incredible theories! A mere hundred years ago, though, people believed the cosmos consists entirely of one galaxy — our own Milky Way. Scientists didn’t know the age of the universe or that we live in just one tiny piece of it.

The first person to notice that our galaxy has friends — countless other galaxies and interstellar clouds — was Edwin Hubble. He found that some objects are too far away to be in our Milky Way. He later discovered that the greater the distance from Earth, the faster a galaxy moves away from us! It means our universe is constantly expanding. But where did this expansion start?

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From the formation of the Solar System until today, Earth’s story from stardust to the vibrant world is both extremely long and very exciting. And one of the most fascinating things that ever happened on its surface was the appearance of life. The origins of life on Earth are still not 100% proven to this day. Two sources of doubt are the tar paradox and the water paradox.

Btw, did you know that the early planet Earth was a water world, with land making up only 2 to 3 percent of its surface? The planet also lacked oxygen, which is very important for creating and sustaining new bacteria. But another planet had just enough oxygen and water to make the necessary chemical reactions possible. And at that time there was more oxygen than on Earth...

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Why does your phone keep turning off by itself? And why is it so slow? Are there any ways to speed your smartphone up? Well, smartphones get sick just like people do. Really. Only, your phone won’t ask you for a Kleenex and some hot tea. But it will act sluggish, refuse to go to work, and even shut down unexpectedly on you! So, let’s diagnose what the ailment could be and what you can do to cure it!

Of course, the simplest and most harmless reason is that the developers released new software in test mode, and the shutdown problem applies to many people, not just you. They will probably release a bug fix update soon, so don’t panic. But your phone may randomly shut itself off automatically because of an internal program or operating system failure. Or it there might be some hardware issues. Let's figure out!

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Can two planets collide? There are around 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and an equal number of planets. Lots of those planets probably have moons. So there must be billions of worlds in our galaxy alone. Of course, the distances between them are huge. But imagine for a moment that you could observe their movements over billions of years. Some of those planets would bump into each other a few times – it's just inevitable. 

Planetary collisions occur in several ways. The gravity of one planet can alter the orbit of another over time. Stable planetary orbits around a star can cross over. Sometimes, several things combine to throw planets out of their star system entirely. There’s a small chance that in 3 billion years Mercury’s orbit will become unstable and disrupt the entire inner Solar System!

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When Kawah Ijen volcano in Indonesia erupts, it looks like it’s spitting out bright blue and purple lava. In Racetrack Playa, California, rocks about as heavy as a horse are moving around on their own and leaving trails behind. Once a year, just for a few moments, a waterfall in Yosemite turns into a firefall. There are underwater lakes and rivers in the ocean. 

Isn’t that amazing? We’re mired in our daily lives and don’t even realize how many astonishing things happen around us every day. What were 60,000 jellyfish doing in space? When and why was Niagara Falls dry? Where can you see a green sunset and a flowering desert? Let’s dig into some of the Earth’s mysteries and look at some extraordinary things that ever happened on our planet!

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Ever wondered how many times a minute you blink? Or how big your brain would be if you removed all those wrinkles? Or how long of a line you'd get if you stretched all of your veins in one line? Our bodies are such fine mechanisms, that it's always really interesting to find out what makes those systems work so well. 

For example, did you know that not all of us experience goosebumps? Some scientists have suggested that goosebumps are an evolutionary holdover from our early ancestors who kept themselves warm through the heat they managed to retain beneath their hairs of skin. Your body is many things in one: it's a walking chemistry set, a sustainable life form, a complex biological phenomenon. So there'll always be something to learn about the body, always something to find out about its marvels. 

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You can travel around the world without spending too much money. The time of day matters. It’ll normally cost you less to take off early in the morning or late at night.

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How can we breathe on an airplane? How is this air breathable? How do airplanes get a supply of oxygen? Air travel is so common that we rarely think about how we're able to breathe safely and how are airplanes able to fill the cabin with fresh oxygen. This is what we're gonna talk about!

By the way, believe it or not, this air that comes from the engines is probably cleaner than what’s in your house! Even though it’s clean to start with, it goes through a filtration system before it even touches your lungs. Who controls all this? The pilots, of course! They have some help from a computer but sometimes they have to control the cabin pressure manually.

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Have you always dreamt of going to space? Well, today you're going to visit different planets of our Solar System and try to run on each of them! Let's figure out where you can run the fastest and where you can barely walk. Depending on how strong gravity is on the planet you visit, it'll influence your weight. And don't forget about extreme weather conditions on most planets - it looks like a tricky mission, but I'm sure you'll succeed!

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