10 secrets of nature, which managed to solve only in the last year

The most exciting mysteries of science, not those we already know, and those, which have not yet arrived. In the end, if science has already provided answers to all existing questions, the progress would have stopped. Some questions remain unanswered longer than others — for answers need the right technology genius or just luck. But sooner or later the answers will appear, as we see almost every day are opening new mysteries.





1. The origin of the Falkland Lisitsina in 1876, the year of the Falkland Fox was the only mammal that lived in the Falkland Islands, revealed by researchers in the XVII-th century. Foxes were amazingly friendly, almost tame, and therefore received the nickname "stupid dog from the South." Their presence on the Islands has puzzled naturalists, including Charles Darwin, who wondered how only one mammal could be so far from the mainland.

A study published in the journal "Nature", revealed this secret. Previously, scientists believed that the Fox was separated from their relatives on the mainland 330 thousand years ago, but DNA analysis showed that they parted ways only about 160 thousand years ago during the ice age, when could be ice bridge from Argentina to the Islands.

2. Small crustaceans are quite similar to adults особейCerataspis monstrosa is a species of crustaceans that are open about 180 years ago. Found them in the form of larvae in the intestines of the fish, apparently feeding on them. Adult individuals could not be found, and the clue was a DNA test.

Professor Kate crandall (Keith Crandall) from the George Washington University did a DNA analysis of the creature, dubbed "monster larva" due to its unusual appearance, and found that it is the larval form is completely different, Plesiopenaeus Armatus. Scholars have overlooked this possibility, because the adult form of deep-sea shrimp looks completely different.

To get the samples it was difficult, because these shrimp live very deep in the Atlantic ocean. Professor Crandall managed to decipher nearly 200-year-old secret by luck in search of new designs and new methods of analysis developed over the last ten years.

3. Perhaps susquehannock was not cannibalisation was a native American tribe, who had a very bad reputation among European immigrants. Considered cruel cannibals susquehannock accused of extermination of his neighbors, people ferry Shenk (Shenk Ferry). April Beso (April Beisaw, an anthropologist from Vassar, believed that such a reputation may unfairly attributed to tribe for hundreds of years, so I decided to check whether there was a bloodbath really.

She and the two helping her student began to study all available evidence. After examining more than two thousand exhibits and records from several museums she found no evidence of any animosity or violence between the two tribes. Probably, the legend became the justification for the settlers, in fact, to exterminate the tribe susquehannock. Beso hopes that her work will help "rewrite" the history of the natives.

4. Where the jaw spiralnebel sharks?Helicoprion is an amazing coloradobuy fish, the distinctive feature of which is a spiral jaw. Fossilized jaw in the form of a strange spiral was first discovered in 1899, the year. Since then, scientists have built many guesses what creature could belong to this whirlwind of razor-sharp teeth.

It was especially interesting to find out how to look the owner of jaws from tip of nose to tip of tail. If you type in the search box the word "helicoprion", then almost all you have found pictures will depict a shark whose bottom jaw is twisted down from the body such as a circular saw.

Now scientists were able to use computed tomography to scan the fossil image in high resolution and build based on these data, a 3D model of her skull. They found that the jaw was fully inside the mouth, showing a kind of "tooth factory" at the back of the lower jaw, and not peeking from the mouth out.

Despite the fact that mystery solved, 100 years of speculation has left us with a huge number of illustrations that could be one of the funniest creations of nature.

5. Why do corals pulsate?Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was one of the first scientists started to study coral in the nineteenth century. One of the mysteries ever since and until recently remained unsolved — why do some corals pulsate.

This movement, in which they svetovalnica region that open and close, requires a lot of energy, so that such behavior should be a good reason. Medusa, the only other coral animals, pulsating in a similar way, use this mechanism for movement and catching prey, but the corals do not move and do not hunt.

Using infrared cameras, scientists discovered that corals pulsate 95% of the time, resting only half an hour a day. With the help of special devices that allow to consider in detail the movement of water down to individual the small particles, the scientists found that the movement of corals prevents the waste water around the corals. Also, thanks to a surge in the level of oxygen in the water around corals is low, increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis in algae, used by the corals as food.

6. The fungus that caused the Irish potato golodov 1845, the year Ireland was hit by the Great potato famine that resulted in the deaths of 750 thousand people, and another two million unfortunates were forced to leave their homeland. However, the strain responsible for the destruction of crops, until recently, remained unknown. Scientists believed that the cause was a fungus, known as strain US-1, but a recent analysis has shown that this various types of mold that existed decades ago, but now extinct.

Scientists were able to analyze DNA fragments from dried plants aged from 120 to 170 years. They hope that the study will contribute to knowledge about how pathogens of plants that will ultimately contribute to the fight against plant diseases and the conservation of high value crops in the future.

7. The dilemma of Darwinisme Darwin, or the mystery of the Cambrian explosion refers to the period of time when about 500 million years ago according to the fossil record, suddenly appeared a huge variety of living organisms. Darwin called it "inexplicable", but expressed hope that in the future the mystery will be revealed.

Creationists often use this fact as evidence against the theory of evolution. In a study published in September this year, Australian scientists claim to have found the true version of events, often called the "Evolutionary Big Bang."

Researchers used advanced mathematical modeling techniques and detailed analysis of fossils and found out that at some point evolution to accelerate. This explains the almost sudden in geological terms, the emergence of living organisms (by "sudden" in this case means tens of millions of years). This speed, according to scientists, it is consistent with Darwin's theory.

8. The secret code of the founder of the Genus-Allentownhomesales of Rhode island was Roger Williams. In the last years of his life he had a habit of doing on the margins of the book "an Essay on the reconciliation of differences among Christians," notes on various topics. Unfortunately, he invented his own set of symbols that no one but he could not understand, so 300 years to decipher the text could not be anyone.

Interested in discovering the secrets teachers have set students the task of decoding the book. The group of students headed by the mathematician undertook a systematic analysis of characters. Initial statistical analysis was unsuccessful, but then one of the students guessed that Williams have created your code based on the cuts that I learned from court reporters in England. This new understanding led to a complete transcript of his notes on, apparently, historical geography, medicine, and infant baptism.

9. As the Earth rotates?In 1692-the year Edmond Halley, who discovered Halley's comet, first discovered that the Earth's geomagnetic field rotates in a westerly direction. He came to the conclusion that the Earth must have two cores spinning at different speeds, but nobody could explain why.

Later science proved that the Earth's inner core is about the size of the moon consists of solid iron and rotates in an easterly direction, and the outer core consists of liquid iron rotates in the westerly direction, but slower. As such can exist, remained a mystery.

Scientists at the University of Leeds succeeded in using a supercomputer to simulate this interaction in 100 times more accurate than ever before. They found that the difference can be explained from the point of view of equal and opposite action — this is Newton's third law. The magnetic field pushes the outer core in one direction, and an inner core in the opposite direction.

10. Whether women blush in the dark?"The question of whether blushing in the dark, young women, extremely entertaining," wrote the German scientist of the XVIII-th century Georg Lichtenberg (Georg Lictenberg). Although the question seems trivial to answer it was impossible in the dark no one can see whether a person is red, turn on the light and the darkness ceases to be darkness. Charles Darwin even made a comment in this discussion: he believed that women were likely to blush in the dark.

In search of the answer to help humanity once again came technology. Researchers from Germany and the Netherlands conducted an experiment: they sent a heat-sensitive camera at a woman in a dark room and asked her to blush. When she claimed to be blushing (scientists chose those women who could do it on their own), on her cheeks came more heat, indicating that blood flow to the cheeks — it turns out that women can blush in the dark. Long live science! published

 

P. S. And remember, only by changing their consumption — together we change the world! ©

Source: cont.ws/post/113612