More Interesting News May 29, 2020

NASA has decided to produce oxygen on the moon. It is not going to be created in a big way and will need gold and a Rover to test this process. A Rover is in the process of being created to send to the moon which will contain this system and equipment. While the equipment is being tested on the moon, it is really being developed to use on Mars. I would imagine if the final project is for Mars and has anything to do with colonization, much bigger equipment will be needed to create the oxygen colonists will need to breathe. It might be able to create enough oxygen to supply habitats and if this is the case it means we may not have to send oxygen cylinders to Mars on a regular basis, creating less need for space on our spaceships. The Rover is called Perseverance and is scheduled to be launched to the moon in July, 2020. This is the same Rover which NASA developed to extract the piece of the red planet. The piece which is extracted will be flown back to the earth for examination. Creating oxygen would also allow liquid fuel rockets to get their oxygen from the planet and not have to carry extra oxygen to return to earth.

Researchers are very proud about what they have created. It is an electronic brain which mimics the human brain in its ability to learn. It is said the synapses in the electronic brain mirror the ones in a human brain. One has to wonder how much this will affect robotic devices? Are we on the way to building a cyborg? Another question might be will this allow the device which is placed in it to eventually ignore its programming and have a free will? Lastly, if this does happen, I mean the free will portion, will that be a boon for humanity or a tragedy?

Recently scientists have begun to believe the Milky Way, which is our home galaxy, may be blasting stars out of their positions to the outer reaches of the galaxy. Some scientists believe if we can get to the outer halo of the Milky Way, we will find an archaeological record. Originally scientists assumed galaxies grew over time. Some scientists now believe 40% of all the stars in our galaxy were not put there by the conventional method. The conventional method is galaxies grow because other galaxies crash into them, now this theory may have to be rethought for some of the mass of our galaxy.

A couple of years ago archaeologist decided to do DNA testing on a few Egyptian mummies. The results of the testing surely surprised them. It turns out modern-day Egyptian DNA is not very similar to the DNA from the mummies. Modern day Egyptians are much closer related to Sub- Saharan Africans than to their ancient counterparts. The ancient Egyptians were more closely related to the Levant. The Levant is an area in the Easton Mediterranean region of Weston Asia.

One of the keys to develop cures for maladies is to examine drugs which were previously effective for treating any disease. Scientists found a drug which was over 100 years old which might be effective in treating a type of autism known as autism spectrum disorder or ASD. The drug is named suramin and was previously used in treating African sleeping sickness. It is claimed it can improve effects from ASD, especially in children. Scientists have said not all symptoms of this disease are necessarily permanent if treated properly and this drug would be quite a help.

Recently a fish was brought to the surface which was very strange. The fish was pulled up from Australia’s eastern abyss. What makes the fish so strange is the fact it has no face. The one feature in the front of the fish is his jaw, but that is it. It was brought up by a research group of scientists from the Common Scientific and Industrial Research Organization and the mission lasted a month. One of the scientists said at the extremely deep depths this creature lived at, which could have been at least 2.5 miles deep, it is so dark having eyes would not help these creatures to see.

Are scientists creating miniature black holes? I hope not but an article appeared about the world’s strongest x-ray laser. It stated if you shined the laser at a small molecule, the molecule would be destroyed and because of this, electrons are stripped away from nearby atoms thus creating something which seems to be a tiny black hole. I never liked to hear scientists are creating black holes whether they are using the Large Hadron Collider or by any other means.

CRISPR stands for a method used in gene editing. It was considered safe until a couple of years ago, when it was found hundreds of unintended mutations were appearing in gene edited life forms. While most countries claim they have never used it on humans, Chinese scientists are said to have agreed they already used it on a human being and clinical trials are taking place in many areas in the United States.

A Norwegian billionaire has decided to build the world’s largest yacht and equip it to scoop up plastic waste. The billionaire is Kjell Inge Røkke. He claims he made a huge profit in offshore drilling and he wants to do something to give back and show his gratitude and the ship is the way he is going to do it. His fortune is estimated at $2.6 billion. He also owns 67% of Akre ASA, an offshore drilling company. The yacht he is building is 595 feet long and is a research expedition vehicle. The claim is it will be able to carry sixty scientists, and  have a crew of forty people. In 2018 it was claimed the ship would cost $380,000,000 and Røkke promised another $150,000,000.

Elon Musk and his car company along with his boring company have been busy. It is being said Tesla became frustrated with travel in Los Angeles and decided to form the boring company. His original idea was to build tunnels where cars which sat on trailers could be wised to  different destinations at 125 miles per hour. To aid in this job he had purchased a second boring machine.