Five Most Ground Breaking Scientific Discoveries of the 21st Century The 21st century hasalready seen a hostof huge scientific breakthroughs. Some discoveries have been anticipated for decades, but others startled theworld to attention. Below are the five most groundbreaking discoveries of the 21st century so far.Proof of the Existence of Dark Matter: Scientists had been seeking to prove or disprove the existence of dark matter for a long time when they confirmed it in 2006. Althoughscientists still don’t know exactly what dark matter is, they concludedthat it is real by weighing gas and stars located in the Bullet Cluster. This finding gave astronomers more information on the behavior of dark matter that will boost future research. Combining of Man with Machine: New research involving the implantation of electrodes into the brains of monkeys is speeding the quest to improve life for paralyzed patients and amputees. A few isolated cases have also seen amputees control robotic limbs using their minds. Although the technology isn’t mainstream yet, the future looks promising for people in need as well as those whohope for cyborg abilities one day . Unearthing of Older Human Ancestors: Until this millennium, the oldest human ancestor found by scientists was believed to walk the earth about 3.2 millions of years ago. Named Lucy, this early human has been replaced by six to seven-million-year-old Toumai and 4.4-million-year-old Ardi, found in 2002 and 2009, respectively. Scientists don’t know whether Toumai walked upright, but Ardi could walk on two legs, was good at climbing and may be the earliest known common ancestor between chimps and humans. Signs of Water Seen on Mars: In 2000, the Mars Global Surveyor saw apparent gullies on the barren landscape of Mars. Eight years later,the Mars Phoenix explored the planet’s surface in search of water. As it dug for samples, it found a white powder that was analyzed anddetermined to be frozen water. Now, NASA scientists hope that they will be able to uncover microbial life on Mars at some point. Mapping of the Human Genome: 10 years of worldwide cooperation between genetic researchers resulted in a rough picture of the entirehuman genomein 2000. By 2003, there was a completed version of the genome. As this information is mapped, it will help scientists learn more about every aspect of the human body, from normal functions to rare diseases. Meanwhile, genomes of other animals and plants have been mapped and promise to help researchers enhance life on this planet in many ways.Author Bio: Annette Hazard is a blogger that is promoting microscopes,
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 16:33:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015