Our world is an amazing place and interesting things are happening all time. Hey, something unbelievable might be going on this very moment as you read this article! It seems almost impossible to keep track of all the discoveries, scientific inventions, and futuristic gadgets that are being invented as we speak, but who says we can’t at least try? For example, did you know there’s been a mind-bending new discovery concerning the Great Pyramid of Giza? Conspiracy theorists and extra-terrestrial life-form enthusiasts are going mad because of what it could mean (depending, of course, on what archaeologists would find inside). And what about the latest Reddit craze with a truly puzzling macro photo? We’ve picked 10 of the freshest and strangest news that will definitely turn your world upside down.
A glowing ball of light
As if Aurora Borealis wasn’t a splendid enough sight, the locals in Siberia got to enjoy an unexplainable vision they quickly dubbed ‘UFO’ and a ‘tear in the space-time continuum’. A giant glowing ball appeared out of nowhere along with the gorgeous shining of the northern lights, and started growing, until it dissipated. Lots of photographers were out that night to take pictures of the northern lights, and each of them was taken aback by this astounding vision. Siberian Times then reported there was an actual explanation for the sight – the launch of Topol-M, a ballistic missile Russia fired from Plesetsk at the testing grounds located in Kamchatka. In fact, there were several launches that night, but only one became such a sensation.
Weird ancient trees
We are used to thinking that ancient creatures could sometimes look quite bizarre, but what about plants and trees? It appears that trees today aren’t at all what they used to be 393 million years ago! A team of palaeontologists collected rare and unusual chunks of ancient trees in Xinjiang, China, preserved in volcanic sediment. What they discovered was the incredibly intricate and weird-looking structure of those trees with inter-connected small strands, each of which was like a normal tree. Yet they are all connected together forming a larger organism that grew like one huge tree! It kind of tore itself from within to grow bigger. Scientists admit it’s the only tree that has ever done anything like that (well that they know of, for now).
An AI God church
It seems that soon anyone will be able to worship an AI god at a newly created church in California. And why not? As we’re getting more and more experimental with robots and artificial intelligence, it is only a matter of time when things will become religious (well, for some people, maybe not for all). That’s why Anthony Lewandowski, a former engineer from Uber and Google, filed all the necessary paperwork to establish the Way of the Future, a religious organization which main objective is worshipping an AI god. We wonder what their church (or office?) would look like. We’ll find out soon enough!
What Americans are most afraid of this year
With so many natural disasters and zombie apocalypses happening in movies and TV shows, we thought that’s what the majority of people would be afraid of. And that’s where we were wrong! Chapman University’s Survey of American Fears offers a sneak peek into what’s troubling people most of all. On the bottom of the list there were things like the involvement of the United States in a world war, air pollution, climate change, and the weapons used by North Korea. Slightly more people were scared of water pollution – oceans, lakes, rivers, as well as drinking water. Over 55% of people admitted they were ‘afraid’ and ‘very afraid’ of Trumpcare, which is a new thing, obviously. Yet the #1 fear was far from zombies and natural disaster – 75% of participants admitted they were afraid of corrupt government officials!
Einstein’s pricey notes
Back in 1922, when Albert Einstein received news that he had won a Nobel Prize, the physicist suddenly found himself short on cash to tip a bellboy in a hotel in Tokyo, Japan. That’s when he decided to write a few meaningful notes to the boy in order to reward him. The first one stated: ‘Where there’s a will, there’s a way’, and the second longer one, often referred to as the ‘happiness letter’ stated: ‘A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.’ In his wisdom, Einstein advised the boy to hold on to these letters as they might become expensive one day – and he was right! These very letters were bought for $1,560,000 at the Winner auction house located in Jerusalem.
UberAir is closer than you think
Humanity has been dreaming about flying cars for a while now and with Uber and NASA teaming up together that dream may soon become a stunning reality. NASA’s been involved in UAM (urban air mobility) project since 2011 focusing mainly on big unmanned vehicles, but lately it’s been working on opportunities for smaller vehicles as well. NASA and Uber will work together on a car-project named UberAir (or Uber Elevate) that will have a special air-traffic-control system that will allow numerous vehicles go up into the sky. Uber even presented a video of what it would be like in the future! The first cities to experience UberAir would be Dallas, LA, and Dubai.
The mysterious Reddit photo
Take a good look at this pic and try to imagine what it could be – a flower, some devilish horns, or an exquisite pasta creation? The answer is definitely none of the above and much more bizarre if you want our opinion. On the photo below you can see a foot of a mosquito that was put under a scanning electron microscope and magnified 800 times. Now that’s some powerful tech! Steve Gschmeissner, a scientific artist, is the one behind this unusual masterpiece featuring a mosquito’s leg with scales, one claw, and a pad with hairs called pulvillus. Visit his website to see more of astounding close-ups of the microcosmos around us.
Ozone hole is smaller, but not thanks to us
A huge hole in the protective ozone layer of the Earth’s atmosphere located right over Antarctica was first noticed in 1985. Ozone helps deflect harmful UV rays, but man-made refrigerant compounds like bromine and chlorine greatly reduced the levels of ozone. Due to Montreal Protocol we are no longer using those chemicals, but it would take decades for the ozone layer to come to its former glory – scientists believe the hole will return to its 80’s state not earlier than 2070. Nevertheless, there are some natural phenomena that can ease the healing process. During the last few years the ozone hole has been getting smaller in a steady pace, but that’s no thanks to us, humans. The Antarctic Vortex kept the stratosphere above Antarctica warm, preventing the ozone hole from getting bigger and even speeding up the healing process a little bit.
Quantum communication is real
It appears that quantum encryption is a thing now and you can actually send bits of information via specially encoded photons. Scientists from the University of Ottawa have performed this experiment in a laboratory, but decided to go further and take it to the streets. They beamed photons encoded with information through air from one building to another – and it worked! The leader of the study, Ebrahim Karimi, believes this is the future of quantum communication, although, right now the encoding method is far from perfect and bits of information could be easily lost during the transition. It’s a work in progress!
Secret Chamber in the Great Pyramid of Giza
Meet ScanPyramids, a ground-breaking project that uses new technology to scan pyramids (just as the name suggests) and find hidden chambers and unknown voids. These adventurous scientists used muography, which is basically the tracking of muon particles that come right from space and onto Earth. Muons tend to pass through voids and empty spaces, but they get stuck in a material that is a bit denser. Using more than a few specially created gadgets, specialists from France and Japan found a chamber located right above the pyramid’s Grand Gallery. It’s more than 90 feet long and so far no one knows the purpose it might have served. It may become one of the greatest discoveries of the century!
