Scientists are claiming they have cracked the “Enigma code.” This code is said to be able to read what the two parts of our brain are communicating when they see things. It is hoped the scientists will be able to apply this to a robot which would then be able to have the same type of vision as us. Scientists have known for a while both sides of the brain communicate, but they never knew what they were saying until now. The reason the name “Enigma code” was used harkens back to World War II when the Germans believed no one would ever be able to decode their Enigma code machine. They were proved wrong when Alan Turing using a primitive computer along with other scientists did just that.

As robots keep progressing and get more human like, it will be harder to remember they are only machines and there is a danger these machines will achieve some sort of sentience. This is a topic I have talked about many times. How would we really know if a computer or robot became truly alive? Clever programming may be able to make us think this is true even if it is not. The other side of the coin is if it does happen will we know or think it is clever programming? The idea of computers and robots coming alive and having only one thought in their heads which is to kill all humans is probably wrong. They might feel we are their gods, or feel nothing about us one way or another. I am not sure if being alive always means having feelings, although in higher animals it seems to be true.

We have all heard how our antibiotics are becoming ineffective because germs are becoming more resistant to them. The good news is we have just discovered a new antibiotic. The antibiotic is called teixobactin. It was tried on mice and it killed infections without any resistance. Over 700,000 people are dying every year from antibiotic-resistant infections and these numbers are expected to rise. Scientists think teixobactin will be able to kill MRSA, TB and many other infections. It is yet to be tried on humans however.

Antibiotics many not be the only way to cure diseases. Scientists have discovered and mapped the molecular switches which turn on or off individual genes in our DNA. You will be hearing more about this in the future and we could be entering the decade of epigenomics. Scientists are hoping this will lead to the understanding of countless human diseases. Rather than submit our bodies to chemicals, it could make things a lot easier if doctors could turn off some of our genetic switches which are related to an illness. The road map for the epigenomics program was launched in 2008. Here is the way it will work. If someone has a cancer gene, it can be turned off making it unlikely that person will ever get cancer.

The scale of the universe is truly mind boggling. Our sun is about 330,000 times the mass of earth. This pales in comparison to the size of a supermassive black hole which was discovered in 2015. The black hole is 12 billion times as massive as our sun. It would take one trillion suns to emit the same amount of energy as that coming out of the black hole. Researchers have found black holes have a by-product and it is winds which travel at more than 62,000 miles per second. The winds were a theory, but have been proven true. The theory is black holes pull in matter with their huge gravitational pull, so this must produce winds and it does, X-ray emitting wind gusts are produced.

Many scientists became convinced in 2015 that at least two more planets are part of our solar system, but are so far out we haven’t found them yet. This opinion by astronomers is based on calculations which show unusual orbital behavior of distant space rocks which are called trans-Neptunian objects or ETNOs. When we talk about distances in our solar system, the distance from the earth to the sun is considered one astronomical unit or AU and equals about 93 million miles. Some trans-Neptunian objects are thought to be as far away as 30 IUs. Astronomers think these rocks have strange orbital inclinations, because of the gravitational pull of large planets which are yet undiscovered. An astronomer from Spain said, "This excess of objects with unexpected orbital parameters makes us believe that some invisible forces are altering the distribution." The ALMA telescope in Chile found planets which were very distant from their stars in other solar systems, lending credence to this theory.

A new material called graphene is made from the same material as lead in lead pencils. Sheets of this stuff have been hailed as the greatest discovery in new material this century. Scientists are saying this stuff will revolutionize computing, electronics and medicine, but the problem is it is too expensive to mass produce. Well not anymore. A PHD student has discovered a process which will allow graphene sheets to be produced for 1/1000 the current cost. Not only will the sheets be cheaper, it is claimed they will be better. I could describe the process, but I don’t think anyone would be too interested in that part of the story.

Stem cells are being used in many different ways. It is almost as if we have found a miracle drug. Scientists are telling us they have experimented with some stem cells and were able to use them to grow human hair. The method is said to be superior to hair transplants. Scientists claim the process is not limited by the availability of hair follicles, but on an unlimited source of cells from the patient. The team used neural crest cells. These types of cells can develop in a variety of cells on the head including brain cells. They are coaxed into growing into dermal papillae cells which nourish the skin and regulate follicle growth.

Scientists have created an artificial molecule which acts like an antibody from our immune system. It was injected into monkeys which were then given high doses of HIV. No monkey got the disease. Human trials will start soon.