Extraterrestrial forecasts

Ever wished it rained diamonds? On Neptune and Uranus, it’s no joke!

Image: Viktor Mindt

Weather on Earth might be wild, but compared to other planets, it’s downright boring. Across our solar system—and beyond—insane storms, metallic rain, and atmosphere-shredding winds violently shape alien worlds. Here are 10 of the weirdest and most extreme weather events ever observed in space.

Image: Bas van den Eijkhof

Location: Neptune & Uranus

In the atmospheres of these ice giants, intense pressure crushes methane into solid carbon, forming diamonds that fall like hail.

Estimates suggest that billions of carats worth of diamonds may exist in the deep interiors of these planets, possibly forming layered structures similar to geological strata.

Image: NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Location: HD 189733b

This exoplanet is bombarded by winds blowing at over 5,400 mph—about seven times faster than the speed of sound.

Fortunately, all of this is happening far from Earth—HD 189733b is a 'hot Jupiter' located 63 light-years away. Its atmosphere endures extreme heat on one side and frigid cold on the other, fueling violent winds that circle the planet.

Image: Planet Volumes

Location: Venus

Venus has clouds of sulfuric acid that rain—but the droplets evaporate before they hit the surface.

Temperatures on Venus reach 870°F, hot enough to melt lead. Acid droplets form high in the atmosphere but vaporize at lower altitudes, creating a corrosive "rain cycle."

Image: NASA Hubble Space Telescope

Location: Jupiter

A storm larger than Earth has been raging on Jupiter for over 350 years.

First observed in the 1600s, the Great Red Spot is a massive anticyclone with wind speeds exceeding 400 mph. It’s so large that it could easily swallow our planet whole.

Image: Planet Volumes

Location: Saturn

A massive six-sided jet stream spins around Saturn’s north pole. NASA’s Cassini mission captured this bizarre atmospheric pattern, which spans nearly 20,000 miles.

Surprisingly, it's a persistent weather feature—not a surface structure.

Image: Daniele Colucci

Location: Mars

Mars is famous for its massive, planet-wide dust storms. These weather events can last for weeks and obscure the entire planet from view.

NASA’s Opportunity rover went silent during one of these dust storms in 2018 and never recovered. The catch? Mars doesn’t have enough atmosphere for the winds to be truly dangerous—sorry, The Martian.

Image: Andy Holmes

Location: Boomerang Nebula

The coldest known natural place in the universe is the outer cloud of a dying star. The Boomerang Nebula, located 5,000 light-years away, reaches temperatures near 1 Kelvin—colder than the cosmic background.

This happens because the star’s gas expands so rapidly that it chills below the temperature of empty space itself.

Image: Morteza Mohammadi

Location: WASP-76b

On this ultra-hot exoplanet, iron vaporizes on the dayside and rains down as molten metal on the nightside.

These extreme temperatures are reached because WASP-76b is tidally locked, with day-side temperatures over 4,000°F.

Image: Javid Naderi

Location: The Sun

The Sun hosts giant tornadoes made of superheated plasma. These solar events can be up to 10,000 miles tall and spin at thousands of miles per hour.

They’re driven by magnetic fields and can feed into solar flares and coronal mass ejections—fiery explosions that can even impact Earth.

Image: NASA

Location: The Moon

The Moon may experience electrostatic dust storms during lunar dawn and dusk. When the Sun hits the lunar surface, it creates an electric field that lifts tiny dust particles off the ground.

This phenomenon was first suspected during the Apollo missions and has been confirmed through recent satellite observations.

IN GOOD SPIRITS

Do You Know The Origin Of These 10 Alcoholic Beverages?

Image: Adam Wilson

You probably know many alcoholic beverages that you enjoy drinking alone or combined in different cocktails, but do you know where their names come from? From whiskey and gin to rum and absinthe, the origins of spirits have fascinating stories to tell. Are you ready to explore them? You will surely learn some curious facts to share at your next party!

Image: emkanicepic

Whiskey is one of the most consumed alcoholic beverages in the world. It is produced by distilling malt fermented with cereals such as wheat, barley, corn, and rye, and the resulting spirit is subsequently aged in white oak barrels.

In the Middle Ages, alcoholic beverages were classified into two main groups: "aqua ardens" (burning water) and "aqua vitae" (water of life). Whiskey falls into the category of "aqua vitae." The Latin term was translated into Middle Irish as usque beatha, which in turn derived into usquebaugh, pronounced: "wiskyba," giving rise to "whisky" (Scotland) and "whiskey" (Ireland and the United States).

Image: Timothé Durand

The word brandy is an abbreviation of brandywine, an English term dating from the early 17th century. It comes from the Dutch brandewijn, meaning "burnt wine" or "burning wine," referring to the distillation process.

Brandy is made from the distillate of wine or fermented fruit pulp, primarily grape skins. There are different types of brandy. Perhaps one of the best known is cognac, a high-quality wine distillate, named after the city in France where it is produced.

Image: John Fornander

Gin is a distilled drink made from juniper berries, among other ingredients. The term gin is an abbreviation of the Old English word genever, which in turn derives from the Dutch jenever and the French genièvre. Moreover, all these words trace back to the Latin word for juniper, juniperus.

This drink emerged among European monks during the Middle Ages as a medicinal liquor. Then, in the 17th century, gin gained popularity in England and transitioned into the modern drink we know and love. Nowadays, gin is used to prepare different cocktails, including Tom Collins, Negroni, and the popular Gin & Tonic.

Image: C D-X

The first references to this drink date back to the mid-17th century in Barbados, a small Caribbean island with sugar plantations that was under British rule for several centuries. When rum began to be produced on a large scale in the colonies, the English imported it to Europe and popularized it throughout the continent.

There are many theories about the origin of the word rum. The most accepted one suggests that it comes from the English slang word rumbullion which means "great tumult." This term might have originated in the Devonshire area on the southwest coast of England. From rumbullion, it became known as rum in English, rhum in French, and ron in Spanish.

Image: Deeliver

Vodka is an emblematic drink of Eastern European countries and is used to prepare a multitude of cocktails, including the Martini Vesper, Moscow Mule, White Russian, Cosmopolitan, and Bloody Mary, among others. The word vodka comes from the Russian word voda, which means "water." The ending -ka makes it diminutive, translating to "little water."

Vodka is a distillate that comes from the fermentation of potatoes, wheat, barley, grapes, beets, or any plant rich in starch. Originally, the aim was to obtain a simple, alcoholic liquid composed of ethanol and water, with no pretensions in terms of aroma or flavor. It also needed to have a high alcohol content to cope with the harsh Russian winters. Traditionally it has a graduation around 40º, although there are vodkas that reach 80º and up to 96º. It is hard to believe that it’s simply called water!

Image: Ryan Parker

This distillate made mainly from corn, was first introduced in the United States in the 18th century. The first known producer was Reverend Elijah Craig, a Baptist minister. Legend has it that the clergyman established the first distillery in Fayette County, Kentucky, with the help of a Southern farmer who provided surplus corn from his harvest.

Although it was born in Fayette, this variety of whiskey was named after another nearby county, Bourbon County, where the spirit began to be produced on a large scale. The names of both Kentucky counties have their origin in the same historical figure: Gilbert du Motier, the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat related to the House of Bourbon.

Image: Giorgio Trovato

The word vermouth comes from the German word wermut, which means "wormwood," one of the main herbs used to make this beverage. This fortified wine, flavored with different botanicals (flowers, herbs, roots, and spices), has been used since ancient times for medicinal purposes. However, the modern version we know today was first introduced in Turin, Italy, in the 18th century.

In the 19th century, vermouth became a global trend thanks to the rise of bars and cocktails, as it was —and still is— an essential ingredient to prepare classic drinks such as Martinis, Negronis, and Manhattans.

Image: Deeliver

Tequila is, without a doubt, a staple of Mexican culture and a famous drink around the world. In ancient times, it was considered a gift from the gods. Today it’s served as an aperitif or combined with other beverages and ingredients to prepare cocktails.

This spirit is produced from the distillation of fermented juice obtained from the heart of a plant known as "blue agave." Its name comes from the Nahuatl word Tekilan, which means "place of the workers."

Image: alandiaspirits

This popular anise-flavored spirit, made from wormwood oil and other herbs, has a high alcohol concentration. With a bitter taste, absinthe’s color is usually pale green. Its name derives from the Latin absinthium, which in turn comes from the Greek apsínthion, meaning "wormwood."

The use of wormwood to make alcoholic beverages dates back to the 1st century, but it was not until the end of the 18th century, in French-speaking Switzerland, that the drink we know today was created. At the end of the 19th century, absinthe, often called "Green Fairy," was the most popular spirit in Europe, enjoyed by all social classes, especially artists and bohemians. However, years later its consumption was limited because it could cause hallucinations, which gave birth to the term absinthism.

Image: eKokki

Peru and Chile, neighboring South American countries, share many things: the Andes mountain range, common ancestors, customs, and, notably, the debate over the origin of pisco. The true birthplace of this spirit has long been questioned, with both countries claiming it as their own. What we do know is that the name pisco may derive from the Quechua word Pisku, meaning "bird."

Peruvian and Chilean pisco are different varieties but have in common that they are grape distillations, made similarly to brandy and cognac. Despite the ongoing controversy, no one should miss trying a good pisco sour!