Over the past 10 years, many amazing discoveries and achievements have occurred in the world of science. Surely many of you who read our site have heard about most of the points presented in today's list. However, their importance is so high that it would be a crime to fail to recall them even briefly. They need to be remembered at least for the next decade, until new, even more amazing scientific achievements are made on the basis of these discoveries.
Stem cell reprogramming
Stem cells are amazing. They perform the same cellular functions as the rest of the cells of your body, but, unlike the latter, they have one amazing property - if necessary, they are able to change and acquire the function of absolutely any cells. This means that stem cells can be converted, for example, into erythrocytes (red blood cells) if your body lacks the latter. Or white blood cells (leukocytes). Or muscle cells. Or neurocytes. Or … in general, you get the idea - in almost all types of cells.
Despite the fact that the general public has known about stem cells since 1981 (although they were discovered much earlier, at the beginning of the 20th century), until 2006 science had no idea that any cells of a living organism could be reprogrammed and transformed into stem cells. Moreover, the method of such transformation turned out to be relatively simple. The first person to figure out this possibility was the Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who transformed skin cells into stem cells by adding four specific genes to them. Within two to three weeks from the moment when skin cells turned into stem cells, they could be further transformed into any other type of cells in our body. For regenerative medicine, as you understand, this discovery is one of the most important in recent history,as this sphere now has an almost limitless source of cells needed to heal the damage your body has suffered.
The largest black hole discovered
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In 2009, a group of astronomers decided to find out the mass of the black hole S5 0014 + 81, which at that time was just discovered. Imagine their surprise when scientists learned that its mass is 10,000 times the mass of the supermassive black hole located in the center of our Milky Way, which actually made it the largest known black hole in the known universe.
"Blot" in the center - our solar system
This ultramassive black hole has a mass of 40 billion suns (that is, if you take the mass of the sun and multiply it by 40 billion, you get the mass of a black hole). No less interesting is the fact that this black hole, according to scientists, was formed during the earliest period in the history of the Universe - just 1.6 billion years after the Big Bang. The discovery of this black hole contributed to the understanding that holes of this size and mass can increase these rates incredibly quickly.
Memory manipulation
It already sounds like a seed to some Nolanian "Beginning", but in 2014 scientists Steve Ramirez and Xu Liu manipulated the memory of a laboratory mouse, replacing negative memories with positive ones and vice versa. The researchers implanted special light-sensitive proteins into the mouse's brain and, as you might have guessed, simply shone it into the eyes.
As a result of the experiment, positive memories were completely replaced with negative ones, which were firmly entrenched in her brain. This discovery opens the door to new treatments for those who suffer from PTSD or are unable to cope with the emotions of the loss of loved ones. In the near future, this discovery promises to lead to even more surprising results.
A computer chip that mimics the work of the human brain
A few years ago, this was considered as something fantastic, but in 2014, IBM introduced the world to a computer chip that works on the principle of the human brain. With 5.4 billion transistors and using 10,000 times less electricity to operate than conventional computer chips, SyNAPSE is able to simulate your brain's synapse. 256 synapses, to be precise. They can be programmed to perform any computational task, which can make them extremely useful for use in supercomputers and various kinds of distributed sensors.
Thanks to its unique architecture, the SyNAPSE chip's performance goes beyond the performance that we are used to evaluating in conventional computers. It only comes into operation when necessary, which allows significant energy savings and maintains operating temperatures. This revolutionary technology has the potential to truly change the entire computer industry over time.
One step closer to robot dominance
In the same 2014, 1,024 tiny robots "kilobots" were tasked with uniting in the shape of a star. Without any additional instructions, the robots independently and together began to complete the task. Slowly, hesitantly, colliding with each other several times, but they nevertheless completed the task assigned to them. If one of the robots got stuck or "lost", not knowing how to become, neighboring robots would come to the rescue, helping the "lost" to navigate.
What is the achievement? Everything is very simple. Now imagine that the same robots, only a thousand times smaller, are introduced into your circulatory system and unite to fight some serious disease that has lodged in your body. Larger robots, also uniting, are sent on some kind of search and rescue operation, and even larger ones are used for fantastically fast construction of new buildings. Here, of course, you can recall some scenario for a summer blockbuster, but why push it?
Dark matter confirmation
According to scientists, this mysterious matter may contain answers that explain many as yet unexplained astronomical phenomena. Here's one of them as an example: let's say, before us is a galaxy with the mass of thousands of planets. If we compare the actual mass of these planets and the mass of the entire galaxy, the numbers will not converge. Why? Because the answer goes much deeper than simply calculating the mass of matter that we can see. There is also matter that we are not able to see. It is precisely called “dark matter”.
In 2009, several American laboratories announced the detection of dark matter using sensors submerged in an iron mine to a depth of about 1 kilometer. Scientists were able to determine the presence of two particles, whose characteristics correspond to the previously proposed description of dark matter. There are many rechecks to be done, but all indications are that these particles are actually particles of dark matter. This may be one of the most amazing and significant discoveries in physics over the past century.
Is there life on Mars?
Maybe. In 2015, NASA published photographs of the Martian mountains with dark stripes at their feet (photo above). They appear and disappear depending on the season. The fact is that these stripes are irrefutable proof of the presence of liquid water on Mars. Scientists cannot say with absolute certainty whether the planet had such features in the past, but the presence of water on the planet now opens up many prospects.
For example, the availability of water on the planet can be of great help when humanity finally assembles a manned mission to Mars (sometime after 2024, according to the most optimistic forecasts). Astronauts in this case will have to carry much less resources with them, since everything they need is already available on the Martian surface.
Reusable rockets
Private aerospace company SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, was able, after several attempts, to soft-land a spent rocket onto a remotely controlled floating barge in the ocean.
Everything went so smoothly that the landing of spent rockets for SpaceX is now considered a routine task. It also saves the company billions of dollars in missile production, as they can now be simply re-fueled, refueled, and reused (and more than once, in theory), rather than simply being drowned somewhere in the Pacific. Thanks to these rockets, mankind has become at once several steps closer to manned flights to Mars.
Gravitational waves
Gravitational waves are ripples of space and time moving at the speed of light. They were predicted by Albert Einstein in his general theory of relativity, according to which mass is capable of bending space and time. Gravitational waves can be created by black holes, and in 2016 they were able to detect them using high-tech equipment of the laser interferometric gravitational-wave observatory, or simply LIGO, thereby confirming Einstein's century-old theory.
This is indeed a very important discovery for astronomy, as it proves much of Einstein's general theory of relativity and allows, with the help of instruments such as LIGO, to determine and track events of huge cosmic scales in the future.
TRAPPIST system
TRAPPIST-1 is a star system located approximately 39 light years from our solar system. What makes it special? Not much, if you do not take into account its star, which has 12 times less mass compared to our Sun, as well as at least 7 planets orbiting around it and located in the so-called Goldilocks zone, where life could potentially exist.
Around this discovery, as expected, there is now heated debate. It even comes to statements that the system may not be suitable for life at all and its planets look more like unsightly traveling space boulders than our future interplanetary resorts. Nevertheless, the system deserves absolutely all the attention that is now riveted on it. First, it is not so far from us - just some 39 light years from the solar system. On the scale of space - around the corner. Secondly, it has three earth-like planets in the habitable zone and are, perhaps, the best targets for the search for extraterrestrial life today. Third, all seven planets may have liquid water - the key to life. But the likelihood of having this is highest on three planets that are closer to the star. Fourth,if there really is life there, then we can confirm this without even sending a space expedition there. Telescopes like JWST, which is set to launch next year, will help address this issue.
NIKOLAY KHIZHNYAK
