2014 in Science

Retrospective science in 2014. West Africa’s Ebola epidemic captured the attention of both the scientific world and the world at large in 2014, placing it first among the Top 25 stories of the year. Other big news included the rise and fall of a claimed detection of gravitational waves, new findings about the history of early humans from analyses of DNA and the spectacular landing of the Rosetta spacecraft’s robotic explorer Philae on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko.

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Discovered "oldest" piece of our planet

Small zircon crystal found in Australia is officially the oldest piece of our planet, after scientists using two methods found that it is 4.4 billion years old.

In a paper published in the journal " Nature Geoscience " , a team of researchers said that their findings suggest that the Earth's crust formed relatively quickly after forming the planet .
" The early Earth was not so cruel place as previously thought ," said team leader John Velly , a professor at the University of Wisconsin .
British "Guardian " specifies that our planet formed 4.5 billion years ago , and that this finding means that the crust got pretty quickly - " only " 100 million years later . Age crystals means that the crust occurred only 160 million years after the formation of our solar system .
The discovery supports the theory of " cold sores Earth " where temperatures were low enough that there are oceans and possibly life in them , earlier than previously thought .
" We very interested in the issue when the country became a place suitable for life ? When cool enough to make life could emerge. Age of crystals suggests that our planet might be able to support life at the micro level before 4.3 billion years ," says Velly .
He points out that there is no evidence that life actually existed then , but that there is no evidence to indicate that definitely did not exist.
" There is no reason to say that before 4.3 billion years life could not exist ," he adds .
Officially the oldest fossil that scientists have found a star is about 3.4 billion years ago.
Zircon that could change the view of the history of our planet was found on a sheep farm in the area of ​​Jack Hils in Australia and it is very small . Dimension is about 200x400 microns , twice larger in diameter than a human hair .
" Zircons know they are big and very nice , but those with whom we work are small and not too attractive, except for geologists . When you hold it in your palm , you can see very well , you might be able to encounter a means of quality loupes " says Velly .

Kilogram must on a diet

Changes in the international prototype of the basic unit of mass can ruin science experiments that are very accurate measurements needed.

Kilogram may need to diet, since the cylindrical piece of metal that defines the basic unit of weight "stout" for a few tens of milligrams due to external contamination, according to a study just published in the American magazine "Metrology", reports Fox News.

Because of this situation, any state that has a copy of this standard weight, or international prototype kilograms (MPC), has a slightly different definition of weight, which can spoil the scientific experiments that require very precise measurements.

The consequences, as studies indicate U.S. magazine, I felt in international trade cases and in the case of goods which are very strict traffic restrictions based on weight - such as radioactive materials.

However, the "surplus" could be removed without damage to the ICC using ozone and ultraviolet radiation, according to the January issue of "Metrology".

This cleaning technology could be widely adopted as a standard way to measure the basic unit maintains consistent.

According to Richard Davis, metrologists-consultant to the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Paris, it is a practical technique that does not require too much money and investing, what is the potential for wide acceptance. But Davis was not involved in the study, according to Fox News.

Kilo has become an international standard 1875th , and then made ​​cylindrical piece of ground or MPC. It consists of an alloy of platinum and iridium, height and diameter of 39 millimeters, which is kept at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.

Official copies are available prototype of the kilogram as a national prototype, with Parisian kilogram, known as a kilogram, compared to about every 10 years.

In the eighties of the 19th century made ​​the 40 pounds of prototypes that were handed Metre Convention signatory countries. Even then, however, scientists found that the pound could be "put on weight" due to the deposition of dust and various other substances on its surface.

To reduce the risk of surface deposition, made ​​the MPC in the form of cylinders and put them in the laboratory with filtered air, constant temperature and pressure, but there was no way to completely avoid contamination, said British metrologist Peter Kampson the University of Newcastle. Cleaning is currently carried out by well-trained technicians erased cylinders antilops piece of leather soaked in alcohol.

However, as each country clean your MPK in a different way in a different time, prototypes do not significantly differ in weight.

Scientists want to get rid of defining long-term weight over the piece of metal, and Kampson believes that "the definition be changed in the next five to 10 years." According to him, one way would be to use an electromagnetic device that consistently produces the same amount of power that could then be calculated by weight.

The prototype kilogram "won" 50 micrograms in 100 years

By scientific definition, the error in the actual weight of the basic unit of mass is zero. However, in practice, it is said that two micrograms error.

The international prototype of the kilogram appears to have "won" about 50 micrograms in 100 years. The observed variation is the prototype has stimulated the search for a new definition of kilogram.

It is true that for any object in the universe (except as provided for in France), which had a mass of one kilogram of 100 years ago and that has not changed since then, now be considered to have a mass of more than 50 micrograms per kilogram.

This perspective eliminates the purposes of standard units of mass, because the standard does not need to change over time.  

Here's why IQ does not measure real intelligence!

Every ten years, the average IQ increase by about 3 points, but does that mean that we are becoming more intelligent and the trend points to something else?

Psychologist James Flynn for years is higher than average IQ. As he puts it, every ten years, average IQ countries grow about three points, but that does not mean that people are getting smarter, and that trend has got him by name Flin effect, according to io9.

Flynn says that people are often confused, so comparing one's mind with IQ, but it is not. Intelligence measures, says Flynn, learned abilities, not innate ones. Education of children in schools is changing as time goes on and they perform better on standardized tests, including the IQ tests.

The Flin attitude contrasts with many other theories that IQ measures innate mental abilities that education, culture, the environment in which the individual lives can not influence. But two new studies substantiate the theory Flin.

The first study is a broad collapsed to popular theory that cultural and educational elements can not affect one's abstract thinking. It turned out that the abstract thinking and the applicable Flin effect. "Improvement of performance on IQ tests does not mean that we become more intelligent. This means that more people today are learning to think abstractly. Example, children in school today are learning algebra much earlier," said Mitchum Ejnsli author of the study.

But if IQ largely the result of environmental factors, what does that say about the intelligence at all? Are not some people are born with more gifts of intelligence than others? Probably not, says Professor Mitchum. Adults and do not differ too much in neuro-pathological level. Certainly, those who have survived a brain injury or have had difficulties in the development and have different mental abilities, but others have more or less the same abilities.

So IQ tests really tell us about the impact of the environment and of experience, but that does not mean that they are unnecessary. What's more, they give us great insight into the changes in our culture.

Hybrid silkworms spin stronger spider silk

Research was published this week showing that silk produced by transgenically engineered silkworms in the laboratory of Malcolm Fraser Jr., professor of biological sciences at University of Notre Dame, exhibits the highly sought-after strength and elasticity of spider silk. This stronger silk could possibly be used to make sutures, artificial limbs and parachutes.

The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and highlighted for their breakthrough in the long search for silk with such mechanical properties. The manuscript was published after an in-depth peer review process, and was deemed by the publishers as a newsworthy article of the issue in which it appears, further indicating its relative importance to science and technology.

"It's something nobody has done before," Fraser says. The project, which used Fraser's piggyBac vectors to create transgenic silkworms with both silkworm and spider silk proteins, was a collaboration of his laboratory with Donald Jarvis and Randolph Lewis at the University of Wyoming. Jarvis' lab made the transgene plasmids, while Fraser's lab made the transgenic silkworms and Lewis' lab analyzed the fiber from the silkworms. Results showed that the fibers were tougher than typical silkworm silk and as tough as dragline silk fibers produced by spiders, demonstrating that silkworms can be engineered to produce such improved fibers.

Commercial production of spider silk from spiders is impractical because spiders are too cannibalistic and territorial for farming. Researchers have experimented with producing the stronger material in other organisms, including bacteria, insects, mammals and plants, but those proteins require mechanical spinning -- a task the silkworms perform naturally. The stronger fiber could find application in sutures, where some natural silkworm silk is used, as well as wound dressings, artificial ligaments, tendons, tissue scaffolds, microcapsules, cosmetics and textiles.

This work is the culmination of a research effort begun more than 10 years ago with an internal award from Notre Dame to Fraser to develop silkworm transgenics capabilities; a two-year NIH R21 grant awarded to Jarvis, Lewis and Fraser; and several years of supplemental funding from Kraig BioCraft Laboratories. The success of this research would have been impossible without the ability to carry out silkworm transgenesis, mastered by Bong-hee Sohn and Young-soo Kim in the Fraser lab at Notre Dame.

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories Inc., with Fraser, Lewis and Jarvis on its scientific board, is currently evaluating several business opportunities for this first generation fiber for both textile and non-textile use. The researchers ultimately expect to improve on the first-generation product to make even stronger fibers.

Ten epochal inventions in 2011

Drugs that prevent HIV transmission are highest scientific progress in 2011, according to a list of the famous magazine "Science". Each year the magazine makes "top ten" list, and all scientists aspire to be on it.

1. PROTECTION AGAINST HIV

The first place is actually the work of an international study conducted on 1763 respondents, showed that, using new therapies in the early stages, almost completely prevents the transmission of virus from seropositive to their healthy partners.

This study, initiated 30 years after the AIDS epidemic emerged in the world, described as the biggest breakthrough so far in preventing this disease. Because antiretroviral drugs work almost like a condom - prevent the healthy heterosexual partners of infection in 96 percent of cases.

The study, called HPTN 052 was started in 2007. years among couples where one partner is infected. The participants were people from Botswana, Brazil, India, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Thailand, USA and Zimbabwe. In "Sajensovom" commentary says that the tests have "a profound impact on the future response to the AIDS epidemic." For the HIV infection per year worldwide 33 million people, and since it was only in 2009. year 1.8 million people died. Assessed and the results of the HPTN 052 study increases the hope that the AIDS epidemic to be stopped at least in the States, if not worldwide.

In addition to the antiviral therapy, the list of the American Association for the Advancement of Science issued "Sajens" there were nine other scientific discoveries that are, in their court, marked the 2011th year.

 2. EPIC MISSION

JAPANESE spacecraft "Hayabusa" managed to return to Earth after a three-year mission, with many ups and downs. On the way back to burn over Australia, but somehow managed to land the. This is the first mission is to bring an asteroid material for analysis. It is the asteroid Itokava, from which the dust particles flown. The results showed that asteroids change color of the solar wind.

 3. AFRICAN ANCESTORS

Among the ten most important discoveries have been included DNA analysis of distant human ancestors. After studying from 2010. year, which showed that Europeans and Asians are inherited from two to six percent of Neanderthal DNA, a new analysis confirms that the development of the cave man's influence on the immune system of people nowadays. Discovery remains of Australopithecus sedibe in South Africa opened the question of whether he was perhaps the ancestor of our "homo" species.

 4.  PLANT ENERGY

Japanese researchers have discovered two photosynthetic protein fotosistem using plants to split water into hydrogen and oxygen atoms. It is precisely this could lead to major progress in the use of clean energy.

5. BIG BANG

Astronomers have discovered an ancient form of hydrogen that existed in the first few hundred million years after the Big Bang. U.S. astronomers have found two hydrogen clouds that are over two billion years to preserve its original composition from the period just after the Big Bang.

Another team of astronomers found the star, which in itself contains almost no metal, as were the earliest stars of the universe. This suggests that parts of the universe still survive despite the "cosmic violence."

6. BACTERIA CHOOSE

Scientists have managed to discover the unusual features of microbes that "live" in the human stomach. Some of them prefer high protein diet, while others feels good vegetarian food.

7. DRUG AGAINST MALARIA 

Its place on the list of the most significant discoveries found in the world's first malaria vaccine RTS, S, which is still under investigation. First results of clinical studies show that this vaccine managed to almost halve the risk of illness in African children.

 8. SPACE WANDERS

Are also pointed out an unusual discovery in the depths of space, including a system of six large planets orbiting stars called Kepler 11, 2000 light years away from Earth. On that list was the discovery of the giant gaseous bodies that are moving in the opposite direction from the stars of "parents". One of the unusual discovery was the existence of ten planets which move in orbits around stars nonexistent. And there is one planet that makes circles around the two stars.

9. NEW ZEOLITES

INDUSTRIAL chemists have created several new types of artificial zeolite, which can save a lot of money and offers new possibilities in the Gas and oil industry. Valuable material for the purification of air and water, as in the process of cleaning detergents for washing clothes.

10. AGING CELL

Removing old cells that could help improving the quality of life, according to research conducted by scientists in lab mice. They discovered that if you eliminate old cells from the body, we can postpone the creation of cataracts, and muscle weakness.