Achievements in science. Augmented reality device from Garmin. Multicellular life is the result of genetic mutation
Scientific discoveries 2016 really shocked the world. From a pair of colliding black holes a billion light-years from Earth, to the Zika virus wreaking havoc in South America, forcing the World Health Organization to declare an emergency.
Of course, the fact that our planet continues to warm up, breaking records of temperature and reduction of Arctic ice. And medical breakthroughs in research have allowed us to take a fresh look at human evolution. Now let's take a closer look at some of the the best scientific discoveries of 2016:
The first random pulsations are determined
A hundred years later, Einstein predicted their existence. Called gravitational waves, these ripples are created by some of the most violent events in the universe - in this case, the merger of two black holes caught in a spiraling dance of death. Despite their extreme origins, gravitational waves have been elusive for so long because their impact on the observable universe is so small.
Even better, the labs months later, confirming that the signal was not random. Astronomers are very excited about the achievement because gravitational waves can act as new way see invisible objects in the universe, such as direct measurement of the properties of mysterious black holes.
1. Einstein's theory of gravitational waves has finally been confirmed
Einstein's theory of gravity was published in 1916 and predicted the existence of elusive ripples in the fabric of space known as gravitational waves. It became possible to confirm this theory thanks to the project LIGO(gravitational wave observatory). The object began collecting data in 2002, and in February 2016, scientists announced that the LIGO detector had picked up a fleeting gravitational wave signal released by a pair of colliding black holes. And it wasn't a one-time achievement: just four months later, scientists detected another burst of gravitational waves from another pair of black holes.
Dinosaur tail caught in amber
Woolly feathers adorn the tail of a dinosaur found in amber. Dating 99 million years ago, the tail was initially mistaken for some plant material. But a closer examination showed that in fact these are bones and soft tissues covered with delicate feathers.
Careful analysis revealed that the tail once belonged to a young coelurosaur, a family of dinosaurs that included tyrannosaurs and modern birds. This discovery not only allows scientists to directly match feather types to dinosaurs, but also hints at remarkable finds pending in amber deposits.
Astronomers and physicists were seventh heaven from such big opening. After all, this was a long-awaited confirmation of Einstein's theory, known as theory of relativity. Scientists believe that this achievement will usher in a new era in gravitational wave astronomy.
Possibly a habitable planet nearby
Just 24 light-years away, Proxima Centauri has long fascinated astronomers and science fiction writers, inspiring dreams of a star system large enough for humans to connect within a single lifetime.
Treasure trails of ancient human footprints
Tanzania has been an invaluable source of information about our earliest days, bringing back bones, tools and other paraphernalia from several kinds of relatives.Giant Saltwater Crocodile Discovered
Based on a fossil skull and other bones found in Tunisia, it appears that the fantastic beast could grow over 30 feet in length and weigh about three tons. Dubbed Mahimosaurus rex, the 120 millionth animal offers important clues to a possible mass extinction at the end of the Jurassic, about 145 million years ago. Until now, paleontologists believed that if such an event occurred, it wiped out the telesosaurids, the group that includes Mahimosaurus. The discovery of fossilized crocot bones after this period suggests that not only did some marine reptiles survive, but the extinction event may have been a more drawn-out affair than previously thought.
2. Was found " new earth"(Looks like...)
Discovery of the planet Proxima Centauri B(hereinafter referred to as Proxima B) was hailed as a landmark. Part of the excitement comes from the fact that Proxima Centauri- closest to the sun star system. Proxima B itself is located at a distance of about 4.22 light years. The planet is about the same size as the Earth. More importantly, its orbit lies within the "habitable zone" of its star, which means that all the necessary conditions exist for the formation of water on the planet's surface. And this makes it possible that life can exist there.
The composite image shows the strong auroras that occur around Jupiter's north pole. Spaceship with solar battery designed to study the giant planet's structure and intense magnetic field, possibly paving the way for a mission to Jupiter's icy moon in Europe in the coming decades.
But first, Juno had to survive her long cruise through space, and then the harrowing journey through the planet's floating radiation belts. In the weeks that followed, he sent back updates on the data that astronomers who make their own wheels already have.
But the question remains open: is not it Proxima B does it look like earth? It is difficult to confirm this. Since our planet orbits much closer to its star than the Earth does in relation to the Sun, it is also possible that the forces of the tides "block" the planet, forcing it to keep one side constantly under the sun, creating a temperature contrast between the two hemispheres. Also due to its low orbit, Proxima B can be constantly exposed to lethal radiation and stellar winds (very hot plasma ejected from the surface of stars). This is possibly blowing away the atmosphere, if there ever was one on the planet. However, the planet remains an exciting area for further exploration.
The oldest star in the universe
The workshop was organized by a special planning committee to discuss current trends in synthetic biology, including international scientific and technological developments in synthetic biology; possible risks and benefits associated with these events; and legal, regulatory and policy issues. This collection of summaries of this work highlights the presentation of the event.
This was the second meeting of the Academies held at the request of the US Government Advisory Committee. Science, Technology and Law Committee. This report also calls for the department to adopt a broader whole-of-society approach to fulfilling its responsibilities at home and abroad - beyond traditional interagency coordination and a narrow band of current external partners, including foundations, universities, research centers, and other groups that are expanding their international coverage.
3. Children can now be born from three parents
In late 2016, the government agency that regulates fertility treatments in the UK gave the green light to a clinic applying for a license to perform the procedure. mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT) . It will be offered to women whose DNA is at risk of passing on genetic diseases to their children. The technique involves replacing defective mitochondria in the mother's egg with healthy mitochondria from a donor. The child will still inherit the full set of 46 chromosomes from the mother and father, but will also have donor mitochondria.
SpaceX unveils plan to colonize Mars
This report is a report of the presentations and discussions of the meeting. The theme of this international symposium is to promote the exchange of scientific data for research and wider development, especially in developing countries. This is an extremely important topic. I had the opportunity to promote and help create an open course program at MIT. In countries where basic broadband is not available, we sent it to hard disks and CDs.
4. The first people and their migrations
We know that our kind Homo sapiens originated in Africa and then spread throughout the world. But restoring the details of such migrations is actually very difficult. Last year, a few more new facts were added to this puzzle. Analysis of stone tools on the territory India suggests that early members of the genus Homo sapiens reached Asia around 2.6 million years ago, 500,000 years earlier than previously thought. Also, studies of the role of climate change in some migrations were carried out in more detail. Research has uncovered evidence that Neanderthals conducted mourning rituals which included the use of fire, animal bones and horns.
Oxygen in space
Its impact was worldwide, but it undoubtedly had the greatest impact on the developing world. The culture of science has been international and has been open for centuries. Indeed, a scientific enterprise can only work when all information is open and accessible, because science works through critical analysis and replication of results. In recent years, as some scientific data, and especially technological data, have increased in economic value, often cause us to be less open with information than we need business and free enterprise.
Also, humanity is one step closer to unraveling the origin of Homo floresiensis, which is often called "hobbit" . For a long time it remained a mystery how exactly these tiny people, who lived on the Indonesian island of Flores tens of thousands of years ago, got to this place and from whom they even descended. But a new analysis of teeth and bones at the original dig site shows that "hobbits" were a dwarfed form of humans. erectus (Homo erectus) .
Indeed, the global shift towards what is called open innovation is intensifying every day. For all these reasons, the international exchange of scientific data is one of the topics of great interest to national academies and has been the subject of many of our past reports. The Case for International Sharing of Scientific Data: Focus on developing countries: materials of the symposium summarize the symposium. Digital technologies and networks are now part of everyday work in the sciences and greatly increase access to and use of scientific data, information and literature.
5. Outskirts solar system revealed their secrets
Not a single person has yet dared to fly further than the moon, but we are gradually learning more and more information about our planets. solar system. Last year, astronomers using a telescope Hubble discovered huge geysers of salt water erupting upwards from the surface Europa
(one of the moons of Jupiter). And in July 2016, after a five-year journey, Juno ( spacecraft NASA) finally reached Jupiter, where he began to study the atmosphere of a giant planet. 
They offer a promise to accelerate the discovery and transfer of knowledge both within the scientific community and the wider society as scientific data and information become open on the Internet. The focus of this project was on computer-mediated or computational exploration of scientific knowledge, widely used as any research process enabled by digital computing technologies. Such technologies may include data mining, information search and extraction, artificial intelligence, distributed grid computing, and others.
NASA Automatic Interplanetary Station "New Horizons" (New Horizons), launched in 2006 as part of the New Frontiers program, was designed to study Pluto and his natural satellite charon, has already allowed us to know that on the surface of this planet, giant mountains float like icebergs in a sea of nitrogen. And even dwarf planets have pleased humanity with several interesting facts. For example, Ceres has ice volcanoes and possibly even a thin layer of atmosphere.
These technological possibilities support computer recognition of knowledge, which, according to some, is a new paradigm in the conduct of research. The focus was primarily on digital network data rather than scientific, technical, and medical literature. The meeting also focused on the benefits of discovering knowledge in open networked environments, although some of these disadvantages were raised.
The workshop brought together a group of stakeholders in the field for intensive and structured discussions. The goal was not to make a definitive declaration on the directions to be taken, but to further explore trends in the discovery of computational knowledge in open network environments based on the following questions and challenges.
6. Animals understand a lot more than we thought.
For many years, scientists believed that only humans had the ability to "theories of mind"- the ability to talk about the beliefs of another person. But this year, researchers concluded that three species of monkeys chimpanzee , bonobos and orangutans also have this wonderful ability. Smaller creatures can't get "inside each other's heads," but even mice, it turns out, can experience some level of empathy. The researchers found that if healthy mice are near mice that are sick, healthy mice become more sensitive to pain.
Opportunities and benefits: What are the opportunities over the next 5-10 years related to the use of computer-mediated scientific knowledge in various disciplines in an open online environment? What are the potential benefits for science and society of such methods? Methods and methods for developing and studying computer-based scientific knowledge alerts: what are the methods and methods used in government, academia and industry to study and understand these processes, the validity and reliability of their results, and their impact inside and outside science?
7. Artificial intelligence won again...
ancient chinese tabletop Go game has billions - billions of possible combinations of moves. It is regarded as one of the most serious tests for and artificial intelligence. Despite the fact that computer programs have already mastered games such as chess and checkers quite well, and even won victories over world champions in these disciplines, the high level of intuition and strategic thinking that is required from a player in Go makes it much more complicated than the above games and very difficult to master for a computer.
Mystery of the ninth planet
Barriers: What are the main scientific, technological, institutional, sociological and political barriers to the discovery of computer knowledge in computer environments within the scientific community? What do you need to know and learn about each of these barriers to help achieve opportunities for interdisciplinary science and complex problem solving? Range of options: based on the results obtained in response to points 1-3, identify a range of options that can be used by project sponsors, as well as other similar organizations, to obtain and promote a better understanding of computer science-related processes and mechanisms for open data and information on the Internet in scientific fields.
But the program Alpha Go, developed by a division of Google, by DeepMind, during the competition in this game, it was possible to win a confident victory over the world champion Korean Lee Si Dol with a score of 4: 1. In doing so, the program used neural networks to analyze about 30 million moves made by human experts, as well as applying the combinations that were used when playing against herself.
The purpose of identifying these options is to improve the performance of sponsors and the performance of the researchers they fund externally in this new research area. Council for research data and information. The growth of electronic publishing of literature has given rise to new challenges, such as the need for mechanisms to cite online references in such a way that information can be discovered and retrieved for many years. The growth of online datasets presents related but more complex challenges.
It depends on the ability to reliably identify, locate, access, interpret and verify the version, integrity and provenance of digital datasets. Data citation standards and best practices can form the basis for increased incentives, recognition and rewards for scientific activity data that in many cases is currently missing in many areas of research. The rapidly expanding body of online digital data holds the promise of allowing peer review and review of findings or analyzes based on experimental or observational data, the integration of data into new forms of scientific publication, and the ability for downstream users to create new and unanticipated uses and analyzes of the same data, either alone or combined with other datasets.
8. The expression "bird brains" should no longer be an insult.
Last year, scientists discovered that some species of crows are surprisingly adept at using objects that are intended directly for humans. For example, new caledonian raven , can bend sticks, turning them into hooks. Researchers believe that some species of birds are as smart as monkeys (perhaps because their brain cells are so densely packed). A study was also conducted that revealed that newborn ducklings can understand some abstract concepts.
9. A story told from a dinosaur tail
feathered dinosaur died almost 100 million years ago, but thanks to Cretaceous amber, a small piece of tail plumage has survived the ravages of time and has been preserved in an almost pristine condition. Feather found in Myanmar believed to have belonged to theropod. While the feathers are impressive, researchers aren't entirely sure if this dinosaur could fly. The feathers may have regulated the temperature, or had a decorative function.
10 Babylonian Astronomers Tracked Jupiter
We already knew that Babylonians lived in what is now Iraq. They possessed advanced mathematical and astronomical knowledge. This is confirmed by a new analysis of four ancient tablets dating from 350 to 50 BC. Their decipherment indicates that the inhabitants of Babylon used complex geometric methods to track Jupiter in the night sky. It is noteworthy that European astronomers will begin to do this only after 14 centuries.
These are just a few scientific discoveries 2016, we continue...
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