14 DAY TRIAL // That’s right, another week has gone by, be it in the blink of an eye for those of us who are luckier, or at a pace that would make a snail go insane for those less fortunate.
As per usual, scientists have been pretty busy, what with their knack for digging deep into the mysteries of the world that surrounds us. For those who missed them, here are the 10 most important scientific announcements and achievements of the week.
10. Melting of the Arctic found to fuel global warming
By now, pretty much everybody knows that, as global warming progresses, the Arctic’s ice coverage keeps getting smaller. What’s interesting is that, according to one team of researchers, this link between the melting of the Arctic and global warming is not a one-way street.
On the contrary, it appears that sea ice serves as a sink for carbon dioxide, meaning that it removes it from the atmosphere and stocks it. This means that, the less ice the Arctic accommodates for, the more carbon dioxide will be floating about in our atmosphere.
Since this compound is a greenhouse gas, it can be argued that the melting of the Arctic contributes to climate change and global warming. It’s all kind of ironic, if you ask me.
9. Science finally explained the floating arm trick
First off, here’s a synopsis: the floating arm trick boils down to standing in a doorway and pushing against the frame with the back of your hands. If you keep this position for about a minute or two, your hands will rise pretty much on their own accord once you step away from the frame.
By the looks of it, this happens because, following the voluntary contraction of the muscles in your arms, your body produces an involuntary one. This second contraction is the one that makes your arms go up.
Interestingly enough, brain scans indicate that, in the case of people who manage to keep their limbs in place, the brain does not send two signals, i.e. one to lift the arms, one to keep them in place, of which the stronger overrides the weaker. Thus, the human brain can simply pull the plug on the involuntary contraction.
8. Long lost amphibian was able to regrow missing limbs
If you think salamanders are cool little fellows, what with their ability to grow back body parts they lose as a result of one accident or another, just wait until you hear about their daddy, an amphibian that walked the Earth about 300 million years ago.
Fossilized remains left behind by one such creature indicate that, contrary to what some might think, the ability to regrow missing limbs isn’t something new in the animal kingdom. On the contrary, this long lost species, whose official name is Micromelerpeton credneri, did it too, and it did it quite well.
Now for the absolute coolest part about this piece of news: scientists aren’t studying the ability to regrow missing limbs in salamanders and their ancestors simply because they are utterly and completely fascinated with these creatures (although I’m pretty sure they are), but because they want to give us humans the same power.
7. Gas chambers built by the Nazis discovered in Poland Admittedly, this one piece of news might ruin your otherwise perfect weekend mood, but I feel that you should know and that it’s up to me to tell you. In a nutshell, several gas chambers have been unearthed at the site of an extermination camp operated by the Nazis in Germany-occupied Poland.
The death camp in question was named Sobibor, and it was destroyed by the Nazis in 1943, in the aftermath of a prisoners’ uprising. Archaeologists first started excavating this site about 8 years ago, and have since come across thousands of bones and personal belongings left behind by the people killed here.
As if simply mentioning Nazi gas chambers were not enough to upset folks, it turns out that a wedding band was found lying close to one such death room. “Behold, you are consecrated unto me,” this wedding band read in Hebrew.
6. Volcanic eruption said to be making Iceland bigger
If you have been paying attention to the news, you probably know that a volcanic eruption is ongoing in Iceland. The entire conundrum started towards the end of August with a series of earthquakes. Eventually, the ground cracked and lava came pouring out.
According to specialist Rikke Pedersen, the lava now fountaining from the ground is spilling between the Eurasian Plate and the North American Plate, essentially making Iceland grow bigger. Since this eruption is estimated to continue for at least another year, chances are Iceland will look very different when it finally ends.
5. Odd brain cells found to behave nothing like their siblings
Brain cells have been shown to pass information according to one very well established pattern: signals are picked up by dendrites, passed to the body, processed, and then sent on their way via the axon. Apparently, mice brains have some weird neurons that don’t stick to this pattern.
Long story short, these wacky brain cells in mice have an axon connected directly to a dendrite. Hence the fact that the signals headed their way from nearby neurons do not make it to the cell body, but instead bypass it. Scientists are still trying to figure out what purposes these peculiar neurons could possibly serve.
4. Tonsils found capable to treat liver damage
Let’s face it, nobody is a big fan of tonsils. Still, it looks like they deserve way more respect than people are ready and willing to show them. This is because, according to a team of scientists, they can be used to treat liver damage resulting either from alcohol consumption or various conditions.
The idea is to obtain stem cells from tonsils and then compel them to turn into liver cells. Interestingly enough, researchers have managed to do just this. That’s right, they took some tonsils and then used them to grow fully functional liver cells.
On the downside, it will be quite a while until toying with people’s tonsils becomes a valid treatment option for liver damage. Then again, seeing how easy to come by tonsils are, it’s a good thing that scientists are working on finding a better use for them.
3. Indian spacecraft reached Mars
This week, a spacecraft launched by the Indian Space Research Organization back in November 2013 finally reached Mars. The probe, dubbed Mangalyaan, is the first spacecraft an Asian nation had until now managed to send to the Red Planet.
Shortly after reaching its destination, the spacecraft placed itself on Mars’ orbit, and is now busy circling it and snapping pictures of its surface. At times, the probe will sit at distances of about 49,710 miles (80,000 kilometers) from the Red Planet. However it will occasionally get as close as 227 miles (365 kilometers).
The spacecraft is expected to use the 5 instruments it is fitted with to study Mars’ makeup and appearance. It is understood that, should things go as planned, the probe will also have a look at the Red Planet’s atmosphere and try to make head and tail of the elements that comprise it.
2. Earth’s water found to be older than the Sun
According to a new paper, evidence at hand indicates that the water we drink, we use to shower or flush our toilets with is older than the Sun. Interestingly enough, the same is true for pretty much all the water in our Solar System, scientists claim.
What researchers mean when they say that the water on Earth is older than the Sun is that it originates from interstellar space. Thus, it comes from ice that was left behind when the Sun formed from a ginormous cloud of molecular gas and that was incorporated into the solar nebula that eventually birthed Earth and the other planets in the Solar System.
1. State of a photon teleported over 25 kilometers (15.5 miles)
This week, researchers announced to the world that they had successfully teleported the quantum state of a photon to a crystal over a distance of 25 kilometers (15.5 miles). To carry out this experiment, the researchers used two photons entangled in a quantum state.
Such photons are inextricably linked to one another, and respond to outside influences just like joined twins. Of these photons, one was propelled along optical fiber, and the other was put in a crystal.
When a third photon was added to the mix and made to collide with the one in the optical fiber, the information in it was not destroyed but sent to the crystal.
By means of this experiment, researchers showed that it is possible to transit information from light to matter, and that the state of a particle can be maintained in very different environments.
As explained by researcher Félix Bussières, “The quantum state of the two elements of light, these two entangled photons which are like two Siamese twins, is a channel that empowers the teleportation from light into matter.”
These are the 10 absolute best science discoveries and announcements of the week. Tune in next Sunday to have a look at the weekly round-up for September 29 – October 5.