Every year there would be thousands of findings in the field of Science which fascinates the enthusiasts of the subject ranging from small children to expert scientists, as science discoveries are an indicator of the progress of modern society. The discoveries given below are some of the best ones that grabbed the attention of everyone, owing to their stellar significance and have been discussed worldwide for the impact it would have in future.
Ranging from climate change to super wheat to dark matter, the below are the best findings in the field of science of the year 2016:
New Ninth Planet in the Solar System?
That’s it, and it is not Pluto again. Reports have come from the California Institute of Technology Astrophysicists, regarding the proof of a huge cold planet has been hiding its traces in the darkness to be brought into light that is in proximity to the orbit of Pluto.
How did they get to know it? Well, the proof has come from the rare pattern of an orbit of the neighboring objects close to the Kuiper Belt. Doing the maths, astrophysicists who belong to the Physics domain of science have the opinion that this planet compared to ours would be larger by five to ten times. Let us welcome this new member to the Solar System.
Second New Moon (tiny) for Earth
In the words of the NASA, our planet would not be a one with a single moon anymore. Interestingly, there is a tiny asteroid named 2016 HO3 that has got into our planet’s orbit and that too in an unexpected manner. It would sound like a small affair and not substantial to some but for people working at NASA, it would be in orbit for quite some time.
There are ten times more Galaxies in the Cosmos - Whether You Know it or Not!
You heard it? That’s correct. The numbers of galaxies that are in the universe are restricted to the technological capacity of the telescopes. Recently, however the latest mathematical models and analysis points has helped scientists to reach the inference that there could be more galaxies beyond the scope of our vision. The Hubble space telescope has been there for our rescue as it has shown beyond doubt that the above observation is 100 percent correct all just owing to the fact that the universe is expanding constantly.
Planet Venus could have been habitable at some point in the past
For most of us, it is of no surprise that Mars used to contain water and was suitable for growth of living things, report findings have stated same was the case with Planet Venus unlike what most of us had thought earlier. As per the latest discoveries of NASA viz. for a period of years in the history of the formation of Venus, the planet is assumed to have oceans with shallow liquid water and temperature of the surface much cooler than the present temperature of 864 degrees.
Carbon Dioxide Turns into Stone once it is pushed beneath Earth
As most of us are aware of the fact that climate control is the hottest topic of discussion across the globe, scientists everywhere are trying to figure a solution for the same. Recent reports have shown that scientists have discovered a new way to keep the carbon dioxide locked beneath the ground. Interestingly, CO2 could be captured from power plants and kept underground by fusing it into the volcanic rocks. This would trigger reactions that would turn the CO2 into new carbonate materials where the process would take two years minimum to finish. Though this technology is a bit expensive, corporations everywhere have signaled their interest to take part in this venture which obviously is a positive indicator for countering climate change.
Stem cells aids healing of stroke patients
This could be one of the remarkable discoveries in the field of medicine for patients suffering from brain strokes, as researchers were able to use stem cells about which we would have studied in our NCERT Textbooks being helpful to improve the condition of patients. Earlier, the patients who used to have motor damages of brain, like inability to walk and so on were able to heal convincingly after the treatment with stem cells. This has made the brain researchers to rethink of brain damage being a permanent thing.
Super wheat to revolutionize food production
The latest finding termed by scientists called super wheat might turn out to be the solution for the food crisis the world is facing currently as this new form of wheat carries out photosynthesis which is a hot topic in Biology way better than the typical wheat plant. The resultant crop would provide a yield 40 percent than the normal output and thus would be the right solution for the impending food crisis in future. These interesting discoveries of the year 2017 may soon be available in various magazines, and syllabus books, be it NCERT, or any other.
From the above point, you would have realized that these discoveries stood out from other trivial ones all due to the impact they are going to have in the future of scientific findings. Let us hope that the coming year would bring even greater and better discoveries that would have a positive impact on the lives of mankind.
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