The most interesting thing in science is not what we already know, but what we don't know yet. In the end, if science knows everything, then its development would have stopped a long time ago. Some riddles go unanswered, waiting for the right technology, a new genius, or just a lucky coincidence to find the answer. And over time, these answers are found, so it is not surprising that we are now solving mysteries that have puzzled science for many years before.
The origin of the Falkland wolf
The Falkland wolves, which lived on the islands of the same name until 1876, were the only mammals on the islands when they were discovered in the 17th century. Unfortunately, they were exterminated by people by the end of the 19th century.
These animals were distinguished by their soft nature - they were practically tame. But their presence in the islands was the subject of much controversy and discussion, because the islands are very remote from the mainland.
A recent study, which was published in Nature, solved this mystery. Previously, scientists believed that these wolves parted with their mainland relatives about 330 thousand years ago. But DNA analysis of an extinct relative showed that this happened about 160 thousand years ago during the ice age. It was then that it was possible to cross the ice between the islands and the continent.
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One of the crustacean species without an adult form
Cerataspis monstrosa is the name of this crustacean species that was discovered 180 years ago. Only its larvae were always found in the intestines of fish. Not a single adult has ever been identified, for obvious reasons, scientists are interested in such an unusual crustacean. Again, DNA analysis was the key to solving this mystery.
Professor Keith Crandall conducted a DNA analysis of this mysterious creature, which was named "monster larva" for its extraordinary appearance. He discovered that in reality the mysterious creature turned out to be the larval form of a completely different animal species - Plesiopenaeus Armatus. Scientists missed this connection, because the adult of this species is a shrimp that lives deep under water and looks completely different from itself at a young age.
Shrimp specimens were also difficult to find, as adults live deep underwater. Professor Crandall believes he was able to solve this nearly 200-year-old mystery through luck in finding the right specimens, and new research methods have emerged in the past 10 years. This combination allowed him to make such a discovery.
The likelihood of cannibalism in the Susquehanna tribe
Saskuehanna is an Indian tribe that had a very bad reputation among the European settlers. It is believed that these were cruel cannibals, they were also accused of the massacres of their neighbors, representatives of the Shanks Ferry culture. April Beissau, an anthropologist from Vassar, suggested that such "fame" had been wrong and unfair for the past few centuries, so she decided to check if these massacres actually happened.
With the help of two masters, she went to investigate all possible evidence. She examined over 2,000 different exhibits and documents in many museums, and found absolutely no evidence that violence of any kind took place between the tribes. This myth most likely served as a useful cover for the settlers who themselves destroyed the Saskuehanna tribe. April hopes that with her research she will be able to "rewrite history"
Where were the teeth of a shark whose jaw is twisted into a spiral?
In 1897, a fossil in the form of teeth twisted into a spiral was found in the Perm province. The find surprised scientists very much. Scientists have made many assumptions about where this spiral was located on the body of the creature, starting from its upper and lower jaw and ending with its tail.
Photo: Helicopryon dental spiral
Scientists gave the name to the creature that had such a spiral of teeth - helicopryon. If you look for images of helicopryon, almost all of the images you find show the spiral of the teeth as being curled downward, like a circular saw.
This is how many scientists represented this fish
Helicopryon is a type of bizarre shark-like fish with a characteristic spiral jaw.
Using the X-Ray CT scanner for high-resolution imaging, the scientists produced a 3-D model of the helicopryon skull. They found that the coil was located entirely inside the mouth, acting as a "dental bar" and not sticking out. Although the mystery has now been revealed, 100 years of delusion has given us a large number of different amazing illustrations of a creature that could be considered one of the most comical in nature.
Why do corals pulsate?
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was among the first scientists to study coral. One of the mysteries that has come down to our days since those times is why some of them pulsate? This movement, in which their flower-like heads open and close, requires a lot of energy, therefore there must be very good reasons for this.
Medusa is the only other creature that pulsates in the same way as coral. But she uses such movements to move and hunt for prey, and corals do not.
Scientists, armed with infrared cameras, found that corals pulsate constantly, resting only half an hour a day. Scientists have found that the ripple of corals prevents the water from stagnating around them, and the oxygen level in the water near the corals is kept low, forcing the algae that corals feed on to grow better.
Can women blush in the dark
"The question of whether young women blush in the dark is very difficult," wrote the 18th century German scientist Georg Lichtenberg. At first glance, this question may seem rather simple, but it was impossible to answer it definitely. In those days, for some reason, this question was very interesting to some people.
Darkness is darkness because it is impossible to visually observe whether a person is blushing or not blushing. By turning on the light, the darkness disappears and the experiment will be canceled.
But modern technology has come to the aid of researchers in Germany and the Netherlands to address this burning question. In a joint experiment in which they used a thermosensitive camera, they asked a woman to blush in a dark room. When she said she blushed (they chose one that can blush of her own accord), the warmth from her cheek increased, which means that the blood rushed to the surface of her skin. It turns out that women can still blush in the dark. Vivat, science!
Darwin's dilemma
Darwin's dilemma, aka the secret of the Cambrian explosion, is associated with a period of about 500 million years ago, when suddenly many animals appear in the fossil record. Darwin considered this phenomenon "inexplicable", but hoped that future scientists would be able to figure it out.
Creationists often use this point as proof of the fallacy of the theory of evolution. However, a study by Australian scientists has shown that there is an explanation for the "Big Evolutionary Bang". Scientists used modern mathematical modeling tools and performed detailed analysis of the fossils. They concluded that evolution occurs at different rates, accelerating significantly in some periods. This explains the sudden appearance (sudden, from a geological point of view - more than tens of millions of years) of animal diversity on our planet. The obtained result of the study does not refute Darwin's theory, but is in full agreement with it.
The fungus that caused the potato famine in Ireland
In 1845, the Potato Famine devastated Ireland. 750 thousand died from hunger. people, and 2 million left Ireland. The strain of the fungus responsible for the destroyed crop remained unknown until recently. Scientists assumed that it was the US-1 strain, but a recent study showed that the cause was a fungus that was still alive several decades ago, now it is no longer preserved.
Scientists analyzed DNA fragments from dried plants between the ages of 120 and 170. They very much hope that this study will improve knowledge about the process of emergence of plant pathogens, which, ultimately, may prevent future crop failures.
Rhode Island founder's secret code
Roger Williams, who is the founder of Rhode Island, has managed to give many scientists an interesting problem. In the last years of his life, he came up with his own set of symbols with which he encrypted his soaps. Surprisingly, for more than 300 years the secret of its cipher has not been solved, although many of the greatest scientists have tried to find the answer.
The task of decoding these notes was given to the students, who conducted an in-depth systematic analysis of the cryptic symbols. The analysis was unsuccessful in the first couples, but one student found that Williams had invented his cipher based on the forensic shorthand technique used in England. This conjecture became the key to understanding the mysterious cipher and led to the complete deciphering of Williams' records, which apparently cover historical geography, medicine, and infant baptism.
How the Earth Spins
Edmond Halley, the discoverer of the comet of the same name, in 1692, was the first to prove the rotation of the Earth's magnetic field. Halley concluded that our planet must have two cores that must rotate at different speeds, but there was no explanation for this. Scientists later proved that the Earth has an inner and outer core.
The inner core of the planet consists of solid iron (it is comparable to the size of the moon). It rotates eastward and the outer core is liquid. It is also made of iron and rotates in the opposite direction, but more slowly. But the connection between them remained a mystery.
Scientists at the University of Leeds have used a super-powerful computer to model the movement of Earth's cores more accurately, 100 times more accurately than ever before. As a result, they saw that such a difference could be explained in terms of Newton's third law of motion. The magnetic field pushes the outer core to one side and the inner core to the other, thus causing movement in different directions.