Lots of new things are being discovered all the time. Due to this, I think it would be nice to shine a light on some of the most surprising and revolutionary. So, here are three breakthroughs in science. 

To start, our first topic is dark matter and neutrinos. For a long time, we have been searching for a way to prove the existence of dark matter. Some scientists thought they might have found where and what it really is. Neutrinos have a property called handedness, which means they can be either right- or left-handed, and they exhibit different properties depending on their handedness. This is important since neutrinos are ludicrously hard to detect; the ratio of detected to undetected is 1:10^10. Despite this low rate, a hundred trillion neutrinos pass through your body per second. So, despite their relative abundance, we have only ever detected left-handed neutrinos. This leads scientists to believe that dark matter could be composed of these particles. This is because neutrinos only interact with the weak force and gravity; however, right-handed particles don’t feel the weak force, so gravity is the only medium. These neutrinos take on the name sterile neutrinos. Despite this new data from the Firmilab MicroBOONE, a large 170-ton liquid-argon time projection chamber, experiments suggest that these sterile neutrinos don’t exist, leaving us to find another explanation for dark matter.

Gene editing is a controversial topic, but it is a useful tool, especially when considering medical applications. For a long time, CRISPR has been the only useful tool in this area, but now it seems like we might have found an even better way to edit our genomes. When CRISPR removes a gene, it actually removes several genes, and it isn’t quite as accurate as it seems. This can cause problems, because we don’t know what some genes do and what will happen if they’re gone. Although TIGR doesn’t have this issue, it can remove genes one at a time, solving this issue. That said, making it is hard since it comes from some viruses and single-celled organisms. With this, we can more safely utilize gene editing tools on humans without (most of) the backlash. This is great for biomedical enthusiasts and doctors worldwide.

For the first time, a new substance has been made: Hexanitrogen. Its makeup consists of 6 atoms, all of which are nitrogen. Hexanitrogen is incredibly energy-dense and theoretically stable. In practice, however, it is only stable at temperatures of -196 degrees Celsius. When at room temperature, it rapidly decomposes, shedding its energy in the form of heat with two times the force of TNT. Because Hexanitrogen is only made of nitrogen, it only releases this harmless substance upon use. Because of this, research is being poured into creating a more stable version for chemical energy storage. The practical application of this is incredible; anything from batteries to rocket fuel could become environmentally friendly, but as it stands now, it is still too hazardous. 

When it comes to answering the big questions, like whether consciousness is emergent, it can help to take a look at simpler things. Now we’ve gone over dark matter conspiracies, gene-altering tech, and explosives. All of which are very important to understanding our universe and how it works. 

Take a look at my other articles in the Science and Tech category, and as my friend said, “if it’s under the sink, take a drink.”