I'm starting something new! Every week I am going to be bringing you crazy, fun, interesting science and tech news. I'll be doing a video as often as possible but every week I will be doing a blog post. Science, health and technology are some of the most important things that we can all learn about. It can open your eyes to the incredible and vast universe around us. Knowledge is power :)
That being said-- I want your input on my posts and videos too. Also, if I post a story and I miss something important, provide wrong info, or if you have questions --let me know! I want to hear from you!
This year has been an incredible one, scientifically speaking. Lets look at Jupiters moon, Europa, for example. NASA has been toying around with the idea of sending a mission to Jupiters moon for some time but, because of budget constrictions, has yet to be able to fund a mission. Europa, for those of you who might not know, shows signs of having liquid, possibly flowing, water under it's icy outer crust. It also shows signs of having active plate tectonics, which would make it one of the only other places outside of earth that we've seen this happen. These factors make it one of the most likely to find life on. The big news? At the beginning of the month, jets of water could be seen exploding from the surface, reaching over 200 Kilometers in height!!! Why is this huge news? Because this shows that there IS liquid (not frozen like the crust) water! Also, the water jets could be caused by movements in the plates on the Europa proving the plate tectonic theory. It ISN'T proven by this but it's definitely a possibility! This ALSO means that if there is life, whether bacterial or something more advanced, the jutting water could bring it up to the surface, which we could later study whenever we get the appropriate funding. Come on world!! Let's get to Europa!
Do you like coffee? I prefer tea.. but, mmmm...caffeine. It seems stem cells are also fond of the stimulant. This year scientists were able to successfully clone embryonic cells by making a small change to how stem cells were cloned in 1996. They dunked them in caffeine. It has previously proven difficult to clone the embryonic cell, which is able to transform into ANY type of cell in the body, because previously the only way to clone the cell was to grab them from embryos left over from in vitro fertilization. This discovery will open up other ways to complete cloning, without scientist having to go through the steps of obtaining them in any other fashion.
Forget, "when pigs can fly," how about 'when pigs glow like a jellyfish!" Or rather not, because now the latter is reality. Chinese scientists at the South China Agricultural University have successfully created 10 piggies that glow florescent green under black lights. Injecting the pig embryos with DNA from jellyfish, that's right, the amazing Jellyfish, has allowed the team to create the first ever glowing pigs. (This was done with rabbits successfully in Turkey earlier in 2013.)
The experiment was conducted not so that missing piglets can be found in the dark, but to see if the genetic material injected would, in fact, incorporate into the genetic makeup of the animal. The success of the procedure will lead scientists to be able to experiment with adding other genes to see if the animals will accept it. Dr Stefan Moisyadi, from the University of Hawaii said that the pigs life span will not be affected. I've heard of scientists experimenting with the bioluminescence of jellyfish to try and create a variety of different applications, like lighting and security for the military and a flurry of medical research but didn't think I'd be seeing them turn animals glow-in-the-dark.
YAY! Science! :)
If you have any questions about anything I've written about, have anything to add, or have articles for me to check out for the future-- let me know!
Until next week!
Vee
Where I found my info for this article:
Europa info, thanks to
Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/plate-tectonics-on-europa/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/europa-water-plumes/
National geographic: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/08/nasa-ponders-life-seeking-mission-to-europa-moon/
NASA: http://science.jpl.nasa.gov/projects/Europa%20Clipper/
Stem Cells:
Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/year-review-caffeine-triggers-cloning-advance
Pigs!
Stuff.com.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9560054/Glow-in-the-dark-pigs-all-for-science
That being said-- I want your input on my posts and videos too. Also, if I post a story and I miss something important, provide wrong info, or if you have questions --let me know! I want to hear from you!
This year has been an incredible one, scientifically speaking. Lets look at Jupiters moon, Europa, for example. NASA has been toying around with the idea of sending a mission to Jupiters moon for some time but, because of budget constrictions, has yet to be able to fund a mission. Europa, for those of you who might not know, shows signs of having liquid, possibly flowing, water under it's icy outer crust. It also shows signs of having active plate tectonics, which would make it one of the only other places outside of earth that we've seen this happen. These factors make it one of the most likely to find life on. The big news? At the beginning of the month, jets of water could be seen exploding from the surface, reaching over 200 Kilometers in height!!! Why is this huge news? Because this shows that there IS liquid (not frozen like the crust) water! Also, the water jets could be caused by movements in the plates on the Europa proving the plate tectonic theory. It ISN'T proven by this but it's definitely a possibility! This ALSO means that if there is life, whether bacterial or something more advanced, the jutting water could bring it up to the surface, which we could later study whenever we get the appropriate funding. Come on world!! Let's get to Europa!
Forget, "when pigs can fly," how about 'when pigs glow like a jellyfish!" Or rather not, because now the latter is reality. Chinese scientists at the South China Agricultural University have successfully created 10 piggies that glow florescent green under black lights. Injecting the pig embryos with DNA from jellyfish, that's right, the amazing Jellyfish, has allowed the team to create the first ever glowing pigs. (This was done with rabbits successfully in Turkey earlier in 2013.)
The experiment was conducted not so that missing piglets can be found in the dark, but to see if the genetic material injected would, in fact, incorporate into the genetic makeup of the animal. The success of the procedure will lead scientists to be able to experiment with adding other genes to see if the animals will accept it. Dr Stefan Moisyadi, from the University of Hawaii said that the pigs life span will not be affected. I've heard of scientists experimenting with the bioluminescence of jellyfish to try and create a variety of different applications, like lighting and security for the military and a flurry of medical research but didn't think I'd be seeing them turn animals glow-in-the-dark.
YAY! Science! :)
If you have any questions about anything I've written about, have anything to add, or have articles for me to check out for the future-- let me know!
Until next week!
Vee
Where I found my info for this article:
Europa info, thanks to
Wired: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/plate-tectonics-on-europa/
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2013/12/europa-water-plumes/
National geographic: http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/08/nasa-ponders-life-seeking-mission-to-europa-moon/
NASA: http://science.jpl.nasa.gov/projects/Europa%20Clipper/
Stem Cells:
Science News: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/year-review-caffeine-triggers-cloning-advance
Pigs!
Stuff.com.nz: http://www.stuff.co.nz/science/9560054/Glow-in-the-dark-pigs-all-for-science
