As another year draws to a close, it's time once again to sit down, put our hands together, take a deep breath, and look at some of the science headlines we may not have paid attention to before. Scientists are constantly creating some new developments in various fields, such as nanotechnology, gene therapy or quantum physics, and this always opens up new horizons.
The titles of scientific articles are increasingly reminiscent of the titles of short stories from science fiction magazines. Considering what 2017 has brought us, we can only look forward to what the new 2018 will bring.
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Scientists have created temporal crystals, for which the laws of time symmetry do not apply
According to the first law of thermodynamics, it is impossible to create a perpetual motion machine that will work without an additional source of energy. However, at the beginning of this year, physicists managed to create structures called temporal crystals, which cast doubt on this thesis.
Temporal crystals act as the first real examples of a new state of matter called "non-equilibrium", in which atoms have a variable temperature and are never in thermal equilibrium with each other. Time Crystals have an atomic structure that repeats not only in space but also in time, allowing them to maintain constant vibrations without gaining energy. This happens even in the stationary state, which is the lowest energy state, when movement is theoretically impossible because it requires energy.
So do time crystals break the laws of physics? Strictly speaking, no. The law of conservation of energy only works in systems with symmetry in time, which implies that the laws of physics are the same everywhere and always. However, temporal crystals violate the laws of symmetry of time and space. And not only them. Magnets are also sometimes considered natural asymmetric objects because they have north and south poles.
Another reason Time Crystals do not violate the laws of thermodynamics is that they are not completely isolated. Sometimes they need to be "pushed" - that is, to give an external impulse, after which they will already begin to change their states again and again. It is possible that in the future these crystals will find wide application in the field of transmission and storage of information in quantum systems. They can play a crucial role in quantum computing.
"Live" dragonfly wings
The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia states that a wing is a movable feather or membrane appendage used by birds, insects, and bats for flight. It shouldn't be alive, but entomologists at the University of Kiel in Germany have made some startling discoveries that suggest otherwise - at least for some dragonflies.
Insects breathe through the tracheal system. Air enters the body through openings called spiracles. It then passes through a complex network of windpipes that deliver air to all the cells in the body. However, the wings themselves are composed almost entirely of dead tissue, which dries out and becomes translucent or covered with colored patterns. Areas of dead tissue run through the veins and are the only components of the wing that are part of the respiratory system.
However, when entomologist Reiner Guillermo Ferreira looked at the wing of a male Zenithoptera dragonfly through an electron microscope, he saw tiny branched tracheal tubes. This was the first time something like this had been seen in an insect wing. Much research will be required to determine whether this physiological feature is unique to this species, or perhaps occurs in other dragonflies or even other insects. It is even possible that this is a single mutation. The presence of an abundant supply of oxygen may explain the bright, complex blue patterns found on the wings of the dragonfly Zenithoptera, which do not contain blue pigment.
Ancient tick with dinosaur blood inside
Of course, this made people immediately think of the Jurassic Park scenario and the possibility of using blood to recreate dinosaurs. Unfortunately, this will not happen in the near future, because it is impossible to extract DNA samples from the found pieces of amber. The debate about how long a DNA molecule can last is still ongoing, but even according to the most optimistic estimates and under the most optimal conditions, their lifespan is no more than a few million years.
But while the tick, named Deinocrotondraculi ("Terrible Dracula"), didn't help restore the dinosaurs, it still remains a highly unusual find. We now know not only that feathered dinosaurs had ancient mites, but that they even infested dinosaur nests.
Modification of adult human genes
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR, are the pinnacle of gene therapy today. The family of DNA sequences that currently form the basis of CRISPR-Cas9 technology could theoretically change human DNA forever.
In 2017, genetic engineering took a decisive leap forward after a team at the Proteomics Research Center in Beijing announced they had successfully used CRISPR-Cas9 to eliminate disease-causing mutations in viable human embryos. Another team, from the Francis Crick Institute in London, went the opposite way and for the first time used this technology to deliberately create mutations in human embryos. In particular, they "turned off" a gene that promotes the development of embryos into blastocysts.
Studies have shown that CRISPR-Cas9 technology works - and quite successfully. However, this has sparked an active ethical debate about how far one can go in using this technology. Theoretically, this could lead to "designer children" who may have the intellectual, athletic, and physical characteristics in line with those given by the parents.
Ethics aside, research went even further this November when CRISPR-Cas9 was first tested on an adult. Brad Maddu, 44, from California, suffers from Hunter syndrome, an incurable disease that could eventually lead him to a wheelchair. He was injected with billions of copies of the corrective gene. It will be several months before it can be determined whether the procedure has been successful.
What came first - sponge or ctenophores?
A new scientific report, which was published in 2017, should put an end to the long-standing debate about the origin of animals once and for all. According to the study, sponges are the "sisters" of all animals in the world. This is due to the fact that sponges were the first group that separated in the process of evolution from the primitive common ancestor of all animals. This happened about 750 million years ago.
There has been a heated debate in the past, which boiled down to two main candidates: the aforementioned sponges and marine invertebrates called ctenophores. While sponges are the simplest creatures that sit at the bottom of the ocean and feed by passing and filtering water through their bodies, ctenophores are more complex. They resemble a jellyfish, are able to move in water, can create patterns of light, and have a simple nervous system. The question of which of them was first is the question of what our common ancestor looked like. This is considered the most important moment in tracing the history of our evolution.
While the results of the study boldly proclaim that the issue is settled, just a few months earlier, another study was published that said that our evolutionary "sisters" are ctenophores. Therefore, it is still too early to say that the latest results can be considered reliable enough to quell any doubts.
Raccoons pass ancient intelligence test
In the sixth century BC, the ancient Greek writer Aesop wrote or collected many fables, which in our time are known as "Aesop's Fables". Among them was a fable called "The Crow and the Jug", which describes how a thirsty crow threw stones into a jug to raise the water level and finally get drunk.
Several thousand years later, scientists realized that this fable describes a good way to test the intelligence of animals. Experiments showed that the experimental animals understood cause and effect. Ravens, like their relatives, rooks and jays, confirmed the truth of the fable. Monkeys also passed this test, and raccoons have also been added to the list this year.
During the Aesop's fable test, eight raccoons were given containers of water with marshmallows floating on top. The water level was too low to reach. Two of the subjects successfully threw rocks into the tank to raise the water level and get what they wanted.
Other test subjects found their own creative solutions, which the researchers did not expect. One of the raccoons, instead of throwing stones into the container, climbed onto the container and began to swing on it from side to side until it overturned. In another test, using floating and sinking balls instead of stones, the experts hoped the raccoons would use sinking balls and discard the floating ones. Instead, some animals began to repeatedly dip the floating ball into the water until the rising wave nailed the pieces of marshmallow to the board, which facilitated their extraction.
Physicists have created the first topological laser
Physicists at the University of California at San Diego claim to have created a new type of laser - a "topological" laser whose beam can take on any complex shape without light scattering. The device works on the basis of the concept of topological insulators (materials that are insulators inside their volume, but conduct current on the surface), which received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2016.
Typically, lasers use ring resonators to amplify light. They are more efficient than sharp-angled resonators. However, this time the research team has created a topological cavity using a photonic crystal as a mirror. In particular, two photonic crystals with different topologies were used, one of which was a star-shaped cell in a square lattice, and the other was a triangular lattice with cylindrical air holes. Team member Boubacar Kante compared them to a bagel and a pretzel: although they are both breads with holes, the different number of holes make them different.
As soon as the crystals hit the right place, the beam takes on the desired shape. This system is controlled by a magnetic field. It allows you to change the direction in which the light is emitted, thereby creating a luminous flux. The direct practical application of this is able to increase the speed of optical communication. However, in the future, this is seen as a step forward in the creation of optical computers.
Scientists discover excitonium
Physicists around the world were very enthusiastic about the discovery of a new form of matter called excitonium. This form is a condensate of quasiparticles, excitons, which are the bound state of a free electron and an electron hole, which is formed as a result of the molecule losing an electron. Moreover, Harvard theoretical physicist Bert Halperin predicted the existence of excitonium back in the 1960s, and scientists have been trying to prove him right (or wrong) ever since.
Like many major scientific discoveries, there was a fair amount of chance in this discovery. The team of researchers at the University of Illinois that discovered excitonium was actually mastering a new technology called electron beam energy loss spectroscopy (M-EELS) - designed specifically to identify excitons. However, the discovery took place when the researchers were only doing calibration tests. One team member entered the room while everyone else was watching the screens. They said they had detected a "light plasmon", a precursor to exciton condensation.
Study leader Professor Peter Abbamont compared the discovery to the Higgs boson - it won't be of immediate use in real life, but shows that our current understanding of quantum mechanics is on the right track.
Scientists have created nanorobots that kill cancer
Researchers at the University of Durham claim to have created nanorobots that can detect cancer cells and kill them in just 60 seconds. In a successful university trial, it took the tiny robots one to three minutes to penetrate the outer membrane into a prostate cancer cell and immediately destroy it.
Nanorobots are 50,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. They are activated by light and rotate at a speed of two to three million revolutions per second in order to be able to penetrate the cell membrane. When they reach their target, they can either destroy it or inject it with a useful therapeutic agent.
Until now, nanorobots have only been tested on individual cells, but the encouraging results have prompted scientists to move on to experiments on microorganisms and small fish. The next goal is to move on to rodents, and then to humans.
Interstellar asteroid could be alien spacecraft
It's only been a couple of months since astronomers gleefully announced the discovery of the first interstellar object to fly through the solar system, an asteroid called 'Oumuamua. Since then, they have observed many strange things happening with this celestial body. Sometimes it behaved so unusually that scientists believe that the object may be an alien spacecraft.
First of all, its form is alarming. 'Oumuamua is shaped like a cigar with a length to diameter ratio of ten to one, something that has never been seen in any of the observed asteroids. At first, scientists thought it was a comet, but then realized it wasn't because the object didn't leave a tail as it approached the Sun. Moreover, some experts argue that the speed of the object's rotation should have broken up any normal asteroid. One gets the impression that it was specially created for interstellar travel.
But if it is created artificially, then what could it be? Some say it's an alien probe, others think it could be a spacecraft whose engines have failed and are now floating through space. In any case, participants in programs such as SETI and BreakthroughListen believe that 'Oumuamua requires further study, so they aim their telescopes at it and listen for any radio signals.
While the hypothesis of aliens has not been confirmed in any way, the initial observations of SETI have led nowhere. Many researchers are still pessimistic about the chances that the object could be created by aliens, but in any case, research will continue.
You probably think that all significant scientific discoveries happened quite a long time ago, but in fact it is not. Every year, many scientific discoveries are made in the world, which once again proves how little we know about our world.
10. Item 117
If you are not a doctor of science, then most likely you do not remember even half of all the chemical elements that you studied in school. As a reminder, elements are distinguished by the number of protons, so an atom with 8 protons will always be an oxygen atom. The heaviest element ever found in nature is number 92, uranium. All the elements that are after it are the work of human hands. In 2010, a team of researchers successfully created element number 117 by filling in the empty space between elements 116 and 118. Temporarily named ununseptium, this element was quite a challenge for researchers. It took not only a huge amount of energy to create it, but it also took a long time to find the necessary combination of elements from which an atom with 117 protons would be obtained. In addition, heavy elements usually have extremely short half-lives, often only a few milliseconds, which complicates things.
9. Mass of an electron
Electrons are negatively charged particles that revolve around the nucleus of an atom. They are so small that accurately measuring their mass is quite a challenge. For many years, scientists have used the agreement on the technological recommended value of its mass, adopted in 2006. More recently, scientists still managed to measure its mass, which amounted to +0.000548579909067 atomic mass unit, which is equal to 9.1 x 10-31 kilograms. And although the difference between the actual mass of the electron and that which was accepted in the agreement is minimal, nevertheless, it is of great importance in such areas of science as particle physics.
8. From skin to liver
For years, scientists have experimented with transforming skin cells into cells from other organs. Until now, these studies have not borne fruit, until recently, scientists were able to discover that adult liver cells can be restored from skin cells. The experiment ended in success when liver cells grown from skin cells took root after being transplanted into laboratory rats. And although the cells were not 100% mature, the success of this experiment showed that the study has a future.
7. Nuclear fusion
After many decades of waiting, we are finally closer to achieving an unlimited source of energy that would not pollute the environment with exhaust gases and radioactive waste. Such a source of energy lies in the nuclear fusion that occurs in stars. The process of obtaining energy occurs when atoms combine with each other. The more atoms fuse, the more energy is released. Scientists believe that it will be many more years before nuclear fusion can be applied on an industrial scale. Nevertheless, success in this industry serves as a guarantor of the future energy supply of mankind.
6. Breast Cancer Research
Breast cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world, affecting hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. Recently, researchers have discovered a link between blood cholesterol levels and breast cancer. The study found that women with higher cholesterol levels have a higher risk of contracting breast cancer. This study helped advance the search for a drug that could save people not only from high cholesterol, but also from cancer. Such a drug has been successfully tested on mice, and may soon be available to humans.
5. Weaknesses of Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Humanity is facing an ever-increasing problem of the emergence of more and more antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a huge threat to human health. On their own, antibiotics have been the key to allowing us to live longer and not suffer from painful diseases. Unfortunately, some bacteria have adapted to create their own barriers that are resistant to antibiotics. More recently, scientists have been able to detect vulnerabilities in such bacteria. To defeat them, it is enough to destroy this very barrier, and then the bacterium will again be defenseless.
4. New forms of life
Previously, all living organisms were divided into prokaryotes (single-celled) and eukaryotes (multicellular). Prokaryotes were divided into bacteria and archaebacteria. For many years, scientists believed that all living organisms on our planet can be classified based on these three categories. That all changed when scientists discovered two viruses in Chile and Australia that were larger than any others discovered up to that point. Pandoraviruses are so alien to us that only 7% of their genes match all hitherto known genes. Fortunately, these viruses are harmless to humans, but their discovery showed how little we still know about the world around us.
3. New state of matter
First, scientists divided substances based on their state into solid, liquid and gaseous, then plasma was added, then Bose-Einstein condensate. Over time, this list has grown more and more. More recently, another state of matter has been discovered, and this was done in the study of our favorite food - chicken. No matter how stupid and strange it may sound, but it was chicken eyes that allowed scientists to discover a state of disordered hyperhomogeneity. The cells found in the chick retina are randomly distributed, yet their distribution remains uniform. Substances in this state exhibit the properties of water and crystals. This discovery can have a strong impact on the development of technologies in the field of light-transmitting devices.
2. Quantum teleportation
The cherished dream of mankind - teleportation, is available so far only on movie screens. And although instant teleportation from the US to Japan is still impossible, scientists have made a number of advances in this area. Physicists from the Netherlands were able to teleport quantum particles that carry information about the spin moment of an electron to a distance of three meters. This breakthrough could prove the existence of "quantum entanglement," meaning that our entire current understanding of quantum mechanics is wrong. This phenomenon will allow the quanta to move at speeds much faster than the speed of light. Quantum teleportation could be the key to quantum computing, holding incredible power.
1. Depths of the ocean
Our planet is overflowing with water, covering 71% of the entire surface of the globe, but the ocean is probably deeper and larger than we imagined. Much of the evidence indicates that most of the water was absorbed by a porous, sponge-like mineral located deep under the mantle. This discovery could help us answer the age-old question: where did the water in our oceans come from? There is a whole theory according to which the movement of the tectonic plates of the earth's crust causes water to circulate from the bowels of the earth to the surface and vice versa.
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2019-07-18 1143 0 Scientific discoveries
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2019-02-26 1152 0 Scientific discoveries
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2019-02-26 1007 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-06-04 23365 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists at the University of Maryland have discovered an exotic YPtBi superconductor, inside which electrons interact with each other to form high-spin quasiparticles. This was reported in the journal Science Advances. Scientists analyzed the electronic structure of a material made from yttrium, platinum..
2018-04-10 7864 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-03-27 6290 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-03-06 7183 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-03-06 7300 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-02-18 5324 0 Scientific discoveries
Scientists at Northwestern University in the US found that terminally ill people suffering from Huntington's chorea have an 80 percent reduced risk of cancer. It turned out that tumor cells are sensitive to a defective form of the huntingtin protein, which also causes the death of nerve cells. It is reported..
2018-02-14 6346 0 Scientific discoveries
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2018-02-05 5720 0 Scientific discoveries
Scientists at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg have deciphered the genome of one of the simplest multicellular life forms, the four-cell green algae Tetrabaena socialis. This made it possible to determine the genetic mechanisms that contributed to the emergence of multicellularity. An article by biologists was published in the journal ..
2018-02-05 5038 0 Scientific discoveries
Hypothetical magnetic monopoles can be produced in heavy ion collisions or in strong magnetic fields of neutron stars. Physicists from Imperial College London theoretically considered these processes and calculated the lower limit for the possible mass of monopoles - it turned out to be slightly less than the mass ..
2017-12-14 4547 0 Scientific discoveries
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2017-12-12 4413 0 Scientific discoveries
Physicists for the first time experimentally measured the force of attraction that acts on individual cesium atoms from a black body. This force turned out to be several times greater than the gravitational force and the pressure force of electromagnetic radiation, write the authors of a paper published in Nature Physics. Effect..
2017-12-11 4128 0 Scientific discoveries
An international team of researchers has proven the existence of a new form of matter - excitonium. It is a condensate of excitons - electrons and "holes" connected to each other. This state of matter was first predicted almost 50 years ago. The scientists' article was published in the journal Science. About it..
2017-12-11 4974 0 Scientific discoveries
An international team of physicists has succeeded in reversing the passage of time for a pair of interconnected particles. Researchers have proven that for quantum interconnected qubits (quantum bits), the second law of thermodynamics is spontaneously violated, according to which in isolated systems all processes go only in the direction of increase.
2017-12-05 3516 0 Scientific discoveries
An extended version of the main physical theory - the Standard Model - predicts that charged particles can polarize vacuum and emit photons. A Brazilian theoretical physicist investigated this effect, known as vacuum Cherenkov radiation, and used it to set limits on certain parameters.
2017-11-30 3627 0 Scientific discoveries
Professor of Nikolai Lobachevsky Nizhny Novgorod State University, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences Yaroslav Sergeev, in an interview with TASS, announced the solution of two Hilbert problems. Research published in the journal of the European Mathematical Society EMS Surveys in Mathematical Sciences. The first problem, about solving..
