Strangest Scientific Findings in 2018 – Memory Formation Resembles a Viral Infection
According to two papers published in Cell on January 11, 2018, the making of memories and the processes of learning resemble, of all things, a viral infection. It works like this: The shells that transport information between neurons are assembled by a gene called Arc. Experiments conducted by two research teams revealed that the Arc protein that forms a shell, functions much … Continue reading
Water on Mars – ESA Shares Images of Martian Ice Crater
The European Space Agency has shared an incredible composite image showing a 50-mile wide crater on Mars that is filled with water ice all year long. Budding future colonists hoping for a white Christmas on Mars will be somewhat disappointed as the ESA has confirmed that sitting in the Korolev crater is, in fact, a thick block of water ice, … Continue reading
Farthest Solar System Body Ever Spotted – Second Discovered this Year
In the hunt for Planet nine AKA Planet X scientists are making some record breaking discoveries! via space.com: A newly discovered object is the most-distant body ever observed in the solar system – and the first object ever found orbiting at more than 100 times the distance from Earth to the sun. The discovery team nicknamed the object “Farout,” and … Continue reading
A Weird Anomaly Was Detected by NASA Spacecraft Days Ahead of Ultima Thule Flyby
Aliens? via Sputniknews: Just days ahead of an extra-planetary rendezvous, a NASA spacecraft has detected something very strange about its intended target. Only a week before its expected meeting with Kuiper Belt object (KBO) Ultima Thule on New Year’s Day, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has not been able to detect the predictable and consistent variations in reflectivity — or ‘light … Continue reading
Hope for a Cure for AIDS as Scientists Succeed in Destroying HIV Infected Cells
Teams at the Institut Pasteur in Paris announced on Thursday they had succeeded in their work to destroy cells infected with HIV. Their work, published in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism, offers hope of a cure for AIDS patients. Up to now, there has been no cure for AIDS, but instead, the disease has been treated by antiretrovirals. These drugs … Continue reading
Reverse ‘Pinocchio’ – Lie Detector Analyzes Changes in Your Proboscis
It turns out that Pinocchio was wrong – your nose doesn’t grow when you lie, it actually gets colder and shrinks. First depicted in the 19th-century novel by Italian writer Carlo Collodi and then later in the famous animated Disney movie, the character of Pinocchio has long been associated with the concept of telling lies because his nose would grow … Continue reading
The ‘Christmas Comet’ Passes by for the Holidays
Every 5.4 years, the comet 46P/Wirtanen orbits the Sun, swinging through Earth’s skies on its way. This year, its visit is in December, and we’re going to be able to see it – in fact, it’s visible in the sky now if you have binoculars or a telescope. Usually, 46P/Wirtanen is too far away for us to see, so this is a … Continue reading
Mutant Superbugs Endanger Future Space Station Trips, and Maybe Life on Earth
Researchers found five strains of a multidrug-resistant bacterium similar to hospital-acquired infections on the International Space Station, raising concerns about the organisms’ health implications for future missions. Resembling a bacterium recently discovered infecting newborns and one elderly immunocompromised patient across three hospitals, the Enterobacter bugadensis strains found on the ISS were not infectious to humans in their current form. However, … Continue reading
U.S. Navy to Release Genetically Engineered Organisms into the Ocean for Nefarious Applications
No longer content to tinker with the genetic design of crops and humans, scientists – at the behest of the U.S. Military – are now turning their attention to the world’s oceans. As reported by Defense One, the Pentagon is looking at various ways in which to genetically engineer marine microorganisms into living surveillance equipment capable of detecting enemy submarines, … Continue reading
US Within 10 Years of On-Going Manned Presence on the Moon Says NASA Head
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says the U.S. is within 10 years of having a continuous manned presence on the moon, which will lay the groundwork for expanding space exploration to Mars. “Right now we’re building a space station, we call it ‘Gateway,’ that’s going to be in orbit around the moon – think of it as a reusable command module … Continue reading
