2011 had numerous tech advancements
Feb. 5, 2012
As the new year presses forward,
the pursuit of scientific and technological advancements grows
increasingly pervasive. New theories and insights constantly
shape the future, and in 2011, numerous discoveries yielded the
tools which man uses to contour society's potential.
A few examples of the year's
breakthroughs include:
When faced with the question,
most physicists would hesitate to deny Einstein's legendary
theory of relativity.In this theory, space and time hold
flexibility, and in turn, completely submit to the high speeds
of light.
During the experiment in Geneva,
Switzerland, the European Organization for Nuclear Research
(CERN) carefully measured the speed of a neutrino, an incredibly
small and neutral particle. Astonishingly, the calculations
revealed that the neutrinos arrived one 17-millionth of a second
before light.
But what significance lies in
such an incomprehensibly small fraction of a second?
Plenty. The results test
Einstein's theory and insinuate that the particles have an
imaginary mass and possess the ability to travel backward in
time.
Despite the unexpected findings,
scientists will not discredit the German physicist's foundations
and will continue to look farther into the latent causes that
produced such a stir in the scientific community.
In today's world, technology
evolves with faster speeds and thinner screens.
Electronic engineers, determined
to discover the material which allows for smaller and more
efficient technology, developed silicene, a new form of silicon.
This new material, previously thought impossible to manufacture,
was created using honeycomb-like structures by physicist Antoine
Fleurence and his colleagues at the Japan Advanced Institute of
Science and Technology.
The impressive part?
It acts like its competitor,
graphene, whose conductivity travels 100 times faster than
regular silicon. Researchers hope that silicene will prove
easier to manufacture than graphene, a sheet of carbon atoms,
and be universally implemented for future technology.
Acorrelation between coffee
and cancer. Good news to avid coffee drinkers! Many rumors
surround the effects of this popular drink, but during March of
last year, the Fudan University in Shanghai put research behind
the claims and discovered that an extra cup of coffee a day
reduces a person's risk of broad range cancers by 3 percent.
The Harvard School of Public
Health revealed last May that in a 20-year study of 47,911 men,
those who drank six or more cups daily reduced their risk of
prostate cancer by 18 percent.
If consuming six cups sounds like
too much, the research shows that drinking just one to three
cups decreases the risk of dying from natural causes by 29
percent.
Although the secret ingredient in
coffee that produces the remarkable effects still remains
unknown, the leading reporter and epidemiologist, Kathryn
Wilson, rules out caffeine, which contributed no change to the
overall results.
The year was undoubtedly full of
great discoveries ranging from medicine to physics to
technology. This year, scientists hope to find more information
concerning the Large Hadron Collider and the possibility of more
subatomic particles. The biology of the AIDS virus also will be
further studied.
Overall, the progress of the
decade will provide change and if used properly, will allow
mankind to reach a whole new understanding.
Source: Discover 100 Top Stories
of 2011 January/February 2012
Comes from: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120206/LIFESTYLE/202060305
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