- Earth-like planets are everywhere. Kepler discovers another 461 potentially habitable planets, bumping the total count up to 2,740, and estimating a total 17 billion of them in the Milky Way.
- Australian wind energy is now cheaper than coal.
- African physicists develop the world’s first digital laser, which would allow the manipulation of laser beam shapes without additional lenses and optical devices.
- Pennsylvania State University researchers finally find a way to activate the TRAIL gene, a natural gene that forces tumors to commit suicide.
- MIT found a way to tag proteins in cells, bringing us one step closer to a complete map of living cells.
- It’s official, we have consumer-level bionic eyes now. 60 people have restored at least some of their sight. The bionic eye has been approved by European regulators, and the FDA is expected to follow suit.
- Molecular memory could store 1,000 terabytes per square inch. Meanwhile, they invented flexible, transparent transistors.
- More to fear than the “fear center” of the brain. Scientists terrify people who “shouldn’t” be able to feel fear. In fact, they scared them even more than “normal” people. One woman said it was the first time she had experienced fear since childhood. And they did it with carbon dioxide.
- Could hydrogen sulfide, a gas that smells like rotten eggs, be the key to ending the aging process?
- A 3D printer for human stem cells.
- Scientists confirm the existence of a previously undocumented structure in the human spine.
- In the 8th century, Earth was hit by a gamma ray burst.
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The Universe Inside You: The Extreme Science of the Human Body From Quantum Theory to the Mysteries of the Brain
