Here are the most important scientific news that took place this week



[ad_1]

We know, we know, there is so much internet to read and so little time.

That's why we've collected the most interesting scientific information of the week for a quick catch-up, with a bonus challenge to keep it entertaining. The answers are at the bottom of the page. S & # 39; fun!

1. A renowned mathematician has announced that he has solved the most important problem in mathematics

160-year-old Riemann's hypothesis seems to be a difficult problem to solve, and we will not pretend to have really understood it. But Monday, Sept. 24, Sir Michael Atiyah presented his solution to the Heidelberg Winners' Forum in Germany.

To solve this assumption, you need to find a way to predict the occurrence of each prime number, even though prime numbers have always been considered random distributions. Atiyah thinks he's managed to do that.

If his solution is verified and accepted by the mathematical community, he will be eligible for an award from the Clay Mathematics Institute of Cambridge. How much is the price?

A. US $ 1,000

B. USD 10,000

C. 100,000 USD

D. 1 million of USD

2. NASA has released new data on why the Earth is wobbling when it rotates on its axis

Humans have a lot to answer for the change in our planetary system, at least in recent decades.

Now, according to a study published by NASA scientists, we can add "influence the flickering of Earth's rotation" to the resume of humanity.

Our planet does not rotate perfectly around its axis, but rather produces a slight "flicker" that changes every six to 14 years. And the worldwide melting of ice, especially in Greenland, induced by climate change, turns out to be one of the three processes contributing to this oscillation.

The second process is the glacial rebound – the low elevation of the earth's crust like the glaciers of the last Great Ice Age do not compress it as much. What is the third?

A. Migration of the crust.

B. The convection of the mantle.

C. Distribution of the pie.

D. Fluctuation of crumbs.

3. New evidence has emerged that the world's most popular weed killer could also kill bees

The potential damage of glyphosate, a widely used herbicide – known as Roundup – is a controversial topic. The way the herbicide kills plants involves a metabolic pathway that animals do not have. Therefore, its toxicity is considered low.

But a new study found that a complex interaction could exist between the gut microbiome and glyphosate exposure, and that the herbicide could be a contributing factor to the disease. colony collapse.

What was the interaction of the microbiome?

A. Glyphosate gave bees stomach ache, causing them to vomit their food.

B. Glyphosate completely eliminated intestinal bacteria from treated bees.

C. Glyphosate has caused an excess of bacteria in the intestines of bees, killing bees.

D. Glyphosate has killed some bacteria, making it easier to catch bee infections.

4. The Hayabusa 2 mission delivered the very first photos and videos taken on the surface of an asteroid

The Japanese space agency JAXA has just entered history by posing for the very first time a human-made object on an asteroid. The mission already offers a breathtaking view of this small extraterrestrial world named Ryugu.

In addition to sending amazing images, the mission will also take temperature measurements from the surface and will even project a crater on the asteroid's side so we can get samples under the surface.

What did we see in these first pictures?

A. A pile of space rocks illuminated by the sun.

B. An unusual dark object that looks like coal.

C. A reflective surface supposed to be an ice sheet.

D. Aliens.

5. Astronomers announce that they have found a strange neutron star that "should not exist"

Ok, of course it exists. But dead astronomers discovered that, about 24,000 light-years from Earth, two entities were not supposed to coexist in neutron stars and did not fit everything we knew about them so far.

The neutron star accumulator material from a large binary companion and spewing relativistic jets, it also possesses an exceptionally powerful magnetic field.

Normally, such jets are only found in neutron stars with magnetic fields 1,000 times weaker. Astronomers therefore have work to do to re-examine current theories.

What do relativistic jets contain?

A. Galvanized and super hot iron particles.

B. Radiation and dust particles of stars.

C. Pure hydrogen gas.

D. Particles of "nuclear pulp".

6. A major aerial survey revealed that the Mayan civilization was much more complex than we thought

The results of an aerial survey conducted in the Guatemalan jungle – whose preliminary results echoed last February Science this week.

A LIDAR survey mapping several sites where former Mayans once flourished revealed 61,480 structures, detailing for the first time the scale and extent of infrastructure that the ancient Mayas had built.

What types of structures were among the results?

A. Roads, roads and canals.

B. Air cemeteries.

C. Large quinoa farms.

D. Aqueducts and buildings of very great height.

Replies

1. D. US $ 1 million

The Riemann Hypothesis is one of the Institute's seven unresolved Millennial Awards, worth $ 1 million. For "the most important problem in mathematics", this seems like a decent reward. Read the whole story here.

2. B. convection of the mantle

This refers to convection currents slowly pushing hot, sticky rocks through the Earth's mantle – the thick part of our planet shell sandwiched between the outer layers and the core. Read the whole story here.

3. D. Glyphosate killed some bacteria, which allowed bees to more easily catch an infection.

When untreated bees and bees exposed to glyphosate (whose "good" intestinal bacteria were reduced) were exposed to the same bacteria – an opportunistic pathogen Serratia marcescens those exposed to the weed killer died at markedly increased rates. Read the whole story here.

4. A. A pile of space rocks illuminated by the sun.

He may not sound like it a lot, but when one realizes that no sentient being has ever seen this landscape before, it is rather mind-boggling to contemplate. Read the whole story and see pictures here and here.

5. B. Particles of radiation and star dust.

The jets are well known in the Universe – powerful streams of radiation and particles escaping almost at the speed of light from the poles of the accreting objects. "They are produced whenever the material falls on a dense central object, newly formed stars with white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes," writes one of the researchers, James Miller-Jones. Read the whole story here.

6. A. Roads, Roads and Canals.

The previously hidden road and canal infrastructure connected the main Mayan cities; the researchers also discovered corn farms, various houses and even defensive fortifications. Read the whole story here.

[ad_2]
Source link