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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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