At the end of February we received what will be one of the scientific news of the year 2017: the announcement that there were not three, but seven exoplanets that orbit TRAPPIST-1, an ultracool dwarf star that is 40 light years from us. . Also, three of them could be in the habitable zone .
And if we stay in space, our sights are still on our most cinematic neighbor: Mars. NASA already has three areas of the red planet selected as candidates for landing in 2020.
Another of the scientific news that we announced this month had to do with an issue that worries us all: aging. According to the latest genetic studies, it seems that some mutations that are beneficial in youth , are harmful in old age, so the latter could be a kind of toll that we pay in exchange for reaching reproductive age healthy. Also in the field of health, good news: they manage to stop the progression of multiple sclerosis for five years.
Let’s go with some curiosities: why are we left-handed or right-handed? If you think that the answer is in the activity of the right or left cerebral hemisphere, it is time to update: the key seems to be in the spinal cord. On the other hand, on Valentine’s Day we reveal that seeing your love’s face causes you ‘affective tachycardia’: first the heart rate decreases, and shortly thereafter the pulse accelerates rapidly. Has it happened to you?
New continents and the illusion of living in the Matrix
February has been the month of the new continents: first, a team of scientists announced the discovery of the remains of Mauritia, which supposedly belonged to the supercontinent Gondwana. And soon after came Zealandia, a submerged continent under the waters of the Pacific.
On the other hand, an international team of physicists presents the first evidence that our entire universe could be contained in a two-dimensional surface, so we could affirm that, if it were, we would live in a large hologram.
Women in science
On February 11 we celebrate the Day of Women and Girls in Science. A necessary event, since only 7% of girls see themselves as scientists in the future, and the gender gap is still very high in jobs related to the research career.
We wanted to help promote and recognize the role of women scientists with a special, and we also remember key figures in the advancement of science such as Lynn Margulis.
What scientific news will the month of March bring us? In Very Interesting we will tell you all!
