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Writer's pictureFiona Davies

13 Major Breakthrough in Science and Technology


Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. – Albert Einstein


Here are 13 astonishing discoveries of the last couple decades in Physics that changed life in a small or a larger means.


Scientific discoveries transpires all the time, often even without our realization it happened. Scientists reassess and swot every day our understanding of the universe and change our views of the world.


1. A Pluto-Sized Planet


Eris, the second-largest dwarf planet in our solar system. It is known to have one moon, Dysnomia. It was discovered by a team led by Mike Brown at Palomar Observatory and its distance from the Sun was roughly three times that of Pluto. So how many planets are there?



2. A Super Earth


K2-155d, a rocky super-Earth is a recently discovered exoplanet by Japanese astronomer Teruyuki Hirano. Analyses from the NASA’s Kepler spacecraft suggests that K2-155d may fall within the habitable zone and may contain liquid water. Does it?




3. Fast Radio Burst


FRB – Fast Radio Burst is an astronomical phenomenon of a high-energy transient radio pulse from an unknown source lasting only a few milliseconds. Some believe that the bursts likely pass through a field of magnetic plasma while speculate that these signals may be of extra-terrestrial origin. May be an Alien signal… Huh!



4. A Computer Chip That Imitates the Human Brain


As we move towards the future, artificial superintelligence could become a reality. In 2014, IBM has released a computer chip SyNAPSE, which simulates the firing of synapses done by a human brian. Let the reign of #AI commence!



5. Thoughts into Action


In the year 2009, Pierpaolo Petruzziello an Italian amputee was able to wiggle the fingers of the robotic hand, make a fist and hold objects, controlling the artificial limb by thinking about it via electrodes attached to the stump of his left arm. Isn’t that wow!



6. Termite-Inspired Robots


In 2014, TERMES robots or termite-inspired #robots demonstrated by Harvard researchers. The team was inspired by the constructing abilities of termites without a proper plan or communication. TERMES robots are equipped with #sensors that allows them to respond to their surroundings and other robots, without the need for human supervision. See how stigmergy termites are?



7. Strong Evidence of Liquid on Mars


As a undergraduate student at University of Arizona in 2010, Lujendra Ojha using images from the MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (#HiRISE) found dark streaks on #Mars which suggests hydrated salts. The dark streaks was found only when the seasonal features were widest.

Where was it from again?



8. TRAPPIST-1


A team of Belgian astronomers using the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (#TRAPPIST) have discovered a dwarf star with 3 Earth-sized planets in 2015 known as TRAPPIST- 1. Later 4 more planets were discovered and a total of 7. Of these planets, 3 planets are considered to be within the habitable zone and may even consist water on its surface. Wait, are we alone???



9. Observation of Gravitational Waves


For the first time researchers were able to confirm the prediction of Albert Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity. In 2015, researchers at the CalTech observed the gravitational waves when two black holes merging to produce a single large black hole. Took nearly a century to prove Einstein’s theory…



10. Recyclable Rockets


The company #SpaceX has found a way to reuse and recycle rockets after them into space and then safely landing them in ocean where they can salvage the parts. The return process involves flipping the booster around, a reentry burn, controlling direction to arrive at the landing site and a landing burn to effect the final low-altitude deceleration and touchdown. A giant leap in Space travel indeed!



11. Higgs Boson – God Particle


The #Higgs Boson is a fundamental particle in the standard model of Particle Physics. On 4 July 2012, the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN's Large Hadron Collider have observed a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson predicted by the Standard Model. This explains why a particles has a definite mass or any mass at all. Rightly, François Englert and Peter Higgs received Nobel prize for their work.



12. Large Hadron Collider


The wold’s largest and most powerful particle collider ever built is the Large Hadron Collider (#LHC). It was built in 2008 by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (#CERN) in collaboration with 10,000 scientists and researchers. The LHC allow physicists to test the predictions of different theories of particle physics, including measuring the properties of the Higgs boson. LHC, a solution to unsolved questions of #physics?



13. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles


A hybrid vehicle uses two or more power sources, switching from one to the other at the proper time. These hybrid vehicles are efficient in terms of energy and fuel. The first generation of the Toyota Prius changed the math on hybrid vehicles, by leveraging electricity without sacrificing the speed or comfort of gas. #Saveenergy #Savefuel #SaveEarth.




For more latest research information in #Science and #Technology, join us at our #Physicsconference in #Frankfurt, Germany.


Theme: A Step into the Future, Recent Progress and Innovations in Physics


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