It was a long, cool February night here in the bustling streets of Manila.

Once again, I looked up at the star-filled sky above me. I noticed something that looked like a big spoon but was larger and more distinct in size and brightness despite the presence of thousands; no, millions of stars above me.

The Big Dipper stared at me like a big ladle, ready to take me along on a journey towards destinations unknown.

For reasons that I cannot comprehend up to this very day, I cannot help but smile at the beauty of the constellation at night.

Most probably, it is because I had beautiful memories in life under the light of these stars.

The year is 2006.

I was lanky and tall for my age.

In addition, I was extremely curious about the world around me.

It is the final year of primary schooling at a public elementary school in Zamboanga City, a lively commercial center with an estimated population of more than a million people, give or take, at the western tip of Southern Philippines.

At the time, I never knew what a telescope looked like or what astronomy was all about. After all, our economic status did not provide us the means to buy astronomical equipment or to even buy materials for a full-fledged experiment.

Luckily, my science teachers held a camp in September of that year and they brought their precious telescopes with them.

Under a clear, picturesque sky and with a smooth, light breeze coming in from the sea, we peered upon the telescopes and identified different constellations as our teachers relayed their positions to us.

It was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about astronomy within that night alone, probably more than what I would have learned inside the classroom or by reading these constellations in books.

However, as with many things in this ephemeral world, life has its own way of stomping through the past and erasing it into oblivion.

As such, I forgot all of them as the years passed by, except for one.

It was the Big Dipper.

Looking at the Big Dipper gives me hope that I could chase my dreams and reach them no matter the odds that I face currently.

Yes, I do face many challenges of varying complexity and novelty, stretching my faculties to its full extent.

Sometimes, the going gets tough.

There are indeed times when I thought of lifting the white towel in order to just get away from all of it.

But as with many of the best things in life, hope is the torch that keeps me moving forward.

As far as this age is concerned, we are living in a state of a partial darkness where wars, dictatorships, deaths, and calamities have become commonplace to the point that they are turned from newsworthy phenomena into an integral part of life.

They have seeped into people’s psyches to the point that hopelessness about the prospect of having a constructive, productive, and inclusive future has become the norm instead of it being the exception.

In this age, hope is a highly-esteemed currency that is held preciously by people who know the value of it.

After all, wasn’t Hope the last thing to stay inside Pandora’s box after sickness, death, turmoil, famine and all the other evil qualities went out of it?

This shows that as long as hope is alive inside a person’s heart, the keys towards a brighter future are always open for exploration and completion.

As I look back towards the ground, I realize something.

At the end of the day, the Big Dipper reminds me about a truth regarding life.

No matter how harsh and cold the night may seem to be, sunlight always follows in its path, rising to the top and eradicating the darkness and fear that is present inside our hearts, minds, and lives.

Most importantly, even though the evenings may be dark, the stars are always there, piercing the veil of darkness and serving as a beacon of hope.

A hope which states that the best things in life always come in the best way possible, regardless of how bad it was in the past.

After having that long gaze, I continue my way home with a smile.

Because I know once again that the night is always the beginning to a brighter morning and that the stars are there to remind me of that fact.

With newly found strength, I trace my steps back home and get ready to face another day in the roads of this journey that is called “life.”

All human beings have similar organs, but each organ has qualities unique to itself and to the person it belongs to. Research has revealed that even some of the genes of monozygotic twins are different [1]. As opposed to the previous assumption that “when it comes to DNA, every cell in the body is essentially identical to every other cell,” it has been found that each cell has a DNA of its own [2]. This uniqueness originates from the fact that the order and number of molecules and proteins are different, which is valid for atoms and sub-atom particles as well. Having spent countless hours on microscopes and spectroscopes, a university professor of mine once said, “I witnessed different structures of iron atom each time I observed one. We even need to produce a separate periodic table for the iron element alone.”

We also witness that particles have been created uniquely, just like human beings are. From the micro universe (one millionth of a meter) down to femto universe (one quadrillionth of a meter), each particle is called a boson or fermion. When particles are examined to find out in what conditions they resemble each other in the femto universe, doors of a new world will be opened in terms of knowledge and contemplation. According to this new perspective, while the things and events are sometimes explained through mathematical equations and formulations, they are sometimes explained through experiments of thought trying to attain the truth behind them. Pauli exclusion principle is one such experiment.

Pauli Principle

There are around 380 sub-atomic particles [3]. In atomic and subatomic dimensions, two fermions (e.g. two electrons) of an atom cannot have the same set of quantum numbers. Wolfgang Pauli first explained this principle in 1925 and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1945 after experiments proved that the theory was correct. This theory has gone down in history as the Pauli Exclusion Principle.

The motion equations of subatomic particles are expressed by their magnetic states. Pauli said that none of the electrons of an atom can share the same quantum state at the same time. In other words, two electrons in the same atom cannot share the physical features such as magnetism, motion, position and velocity in the same state [2].

In addition to the three quantum numbers (principal, subordinate, and magnetic quantum numbers) described so far, Pauli defined a quantum number for the spin of a fermion (e.g. electron). The spin quantum number is related to the rotation of the electron around its axis because an electron rotates around its own axis as it rotates around the atomic nucleus. According to the Pauli Principle, if an orbit has an electron with a spin of 1/2, an electron with a spin of -1/2 can be placed in the same orbit. If we assume that the spin of an electron rotating clockwise is 1/2 the spin of an electron rotating counterclockwise will be -1/2. Thus, with Pauli’s contribution, four quantum numbers were defined for subatomic particles and it was stated that even if the other three quantum numbers were the same, electrons with different spin quantum numbers could circulate in the same orbit.

The Pauli Principle shows that atoms are not identical. This principle also applies to solid crystals, that is, the materials we use daily. The Principle is also able to explain the fact that the ores that make up the element are different, and the fact that there are different elements in the periodic table. With this principle, important properties of superconductors have been discovered.

In 1927, based on the Pauli Principle, German physicist Karl Werner Heisenberg showed that it is not possible to measure the physical properties of a particle, such as the position and momentum, at the same time and that these results can only be expressed with uncertain probability and statistics [5].

This uniqueness also manifests itself in the space we call the macro world. Stars consisting of only neutrons are called neutron stars. A neutron star is very dense: its mass is 2–3 times that of the Sun, but only about 10 km in diameter. A neutron star should theoretically collapse into a black hole, but this does not happen. The reason for this, it has been discovered, is that neutrons that cannot share the same position prevent collapse and that neutron stars remain in balance [6].

The universe has been created with balance, and everything, from the minutest particles to the stars in the outer space, follows their particular courses to maintain the order.

References

1. scientificamerican.com/article/identical-twins-exhibit-d/
2. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090715131449.htm
3. lbl.gov/2017/listings/contents_listings.html
4. wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Pauli
5. phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/uncer.html
6. phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/pauli.html

Hsueh MF et al. Analysis of “old” proteins unmasks dynamic gradient of cartilage turnover in human limbs. Science Advances, October 2019.

Humans may not be able to regrow amputated limbs, but a recent study showed that damaged cartilage may regrow through a process similar to that of animals such as salamanders and zebrafish. Scientists collected 18 specimens of joint tissue from the hips, knees, or ankles of patients who underwent surgery. They then placed the tissue in a mass spectrometer and measured the age of the cartilage proteins in the sample. These analyses showed that the age of cartilage largely depended on where it resided in the body. Cartilage in ankles is young, middle-aged in the knee, and old in the hips. This correlation between the age of human cartilage and its location in the body suggests that limb repair occurs in humans in a similar fashion to certain animals in which tissue regeneration takes place at the furthest tips such as the ends of legs or tails. This finding also helps to explain why injuries to people’s knees and, especially, hips take a long time to recover and often develop into arthritis, while ankle injuries heal quicker and less often become severely arthritic. The researchers further identified the molecules that are instrumental in the regulation of this region-specific regeneration process. They are called microRNAs and, not surprisingly, are present at very high levels in animals that are known for limb, fin, or tail repair including salamanders, zebrafish, and lizards. Scientists believe that these regulator microRNAs can be utilized in the regeneration of degenerated cartilage of an arthritic joint to reverse arthritis. Regeneration of part or all of an injured human limb may even be possible by finding components salamanders have and we don’t. Finally, it is also possible that this could be a fundamental mechanism of repair that could be applied to many tissues, not just cartilage, which might open up many new avenues in the regenerative medicine.

The universe might have many Earth-like exoplanets

Doyle AE et al. Oxygen fugacities of extrasolar rocks: Evidence for an Earth-like geochemistry of exoplanets. Science, October 2019.

New astrophysical and geochemical evidence suggests that Earth may not be that unique, and Earth-like planets may be common in the universe. All of the planets in our solar system orbit around the Sun. Planets that orbit around other stars are called exoplanets.  The first exoplanets were discovered in the early 1990s. Since then, thousands of exoplanets have been revealed with over 4,000 confirmed and a further 4,495 potential candidates. There have been major efforts to narrow down the exoplanets that may have properties similar to Earth with conditions suitable for life. This includes being a rocky planet that is not too hot or cold so that liquid water can exist. When searching for exoplanets that are similar to Earth, astronomers typically look for worlds in orbit around a type of star called a red dwarf or an M-dwarf. These types of stars are somewhat similar to our sun and make up about 70% of the stars in our galaxy. However, a new study shows that rocky exoplanets in orbit around a different type of star, a white dwarf, can have interiors that are surprisingly similar to our planet. White dwarf stars are dense remains of normal stars that have exhausted their nuclear fuel. These stars are typically composed of light elements such as hydrogen and helium, but in some cases they attract heavier elements such as magnesium, iron, and oxygen in their atmospheres due to their extreme gravity. These heavy elements are thought to be introduced when a rocky exoplanet crashes into a star, which gives astronomers evidence of what the exoplanets were like before they were destroyed. In this recent study, scientists looked at six white dwarfs located 200 to 665 light-years from Earth and rocks from the planets that once orbited it. Their analyses showed that five out of the six white dwarfs had sucked up fragments whose chemical composition is similar to rocks on Earth, Venus, and Mars. While the conditions suitable for life depend upon many additional factors, this study points towards the idea that many rocky planets are likely very familiar in terms of their general composition and, therefore, structure and behavior. This study also made a substantial leap forward in being able to make inferences for bodies outside of our own solar system and indicates that it is very likely that there are truly Earth analogs out there.

Artificial leaf points to a sustainable path to carbon-neutral fuels

Andrei V et al. Bias-free solar syngas production by integrating a molecular cobalt catalyst with perovskite–BiVO4 tandems. Nature Materials, October 2019.

An artificial leaf from which a “clean” fuel alternative to petrol could be produced has been developed. Synthetic gas can be obtained from the lead by using only sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water.

Synthetic gas, also called syngas, is typically a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is largely produced by exposing fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas to high temperature steam and pressure, and the process releases carbon dioxide. Syngas is broadly used in a wide range of commodities including fuels, plastics, and fertilizers. While the utilization of fossil fuels has enabled large-scale industrial development in human history, the burning of fossil fuels is the largest source of emissions of carbon dioxide, which is one of the greenhouse gases that contributes to global warming. For decades scientists have been trying to discover new ways to produce syngas in order to close the global carbon cycle and to establish a sustainable chemical and fuel industry. In a recent study, researchers got inspired by leaves. These perfect little machines use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into fuel for plants through photosynthesis. An artificial leaf has been designed to have two light absorbers, similar to the molecules in plants that harvest sunlight, and a catalyst made from the naturally abundant element cobalt. When the leaf is immersed in water, one light absorber uses the catalyst to produce oxygen and the other one carries out the chemical reaction that reduces carbon dioxide and water into carbon monoxide and hydrogen, thus forming the syngas mixture. The scientists are now searching for ways to use their technology to produce a sustainable liquid syngas that could serve as an alternative to petrol. Although major efforts to generate renewable energy sources are being made, the development of synthetic petrol is critical as electricity can currently fulfill about 25% of our total global energy demand. There is a huge demand for liquid fuels to power heavy transport, shipping, and aviation sustainably.

Question: Among the characteristics of “ignorance” that his followers would not completely abandon, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, mentions boasting on the basis of one’s rank, reviling others’ genealogies, expecting rain from the stars, and wailing extremely over a lost loved one [1]. What are the lessons to be drawn from this saying?

Answer:

Boasting of one’s merits is a deception

Boasting about any quality like status, nobility, knowledge, wealth, beauty or intelligence, etc. signifies disrespect toward God. For Bediuzzaman, disregarding Divine favors is ingratitude, whereas laying claim to them is boastfulness. So, if a person wishes to avoid both ingratitude and boastfulness, he must acknowledge that all these blessings such as knowledge, wisdom, reason, judgment, wealth, health, and the like, come from God. If necessary, a person should only mention them in the form of acknowledging God’s blessings.

Boasting and vanity are qualities disliked by God. Even if a person is descended from the pure lineage of the noble Prophet, he must say: “My God, coming from such a blessed lineage is not something in my control. I know that You are the One Who blessed me with it. This goodness belongs to You and it is a heavy responsibility for me at the same time. My Lord, I praise You with thanks for having bestowed on me this favor and I ask for Your help so that I can give this responsibility its due.” No one should ever use this as a way to assume superiority over others.

Being a descendant of a general, coming from a wealthy family, being the child of a high-ranking bureaucrat … none of these bear any value in the sight of God. In this respect, no matter at what level, a person should not commit a mean act by being boastful of one’s family and should not see this as a factor of superiority. The merits of one’s ancestors are of no benefit whatsoever for a person. What really matters is having worthy personal values: “Surely the noblest, most honorable of you in God’s sight is the one best in piety, righteousness and reverence for God” (Qur’an 49:13). The measure of an individual’s value is related to that person’s worship, the quality of his or her relationship with God, and whether that person leads a God-conscious life; acting with the knowledge that God sees everything and as if one were able to see God. If a man does not stand where he should, descending from a noble lineage will be of no benefit to him at all.

Superiority by lineage

Secondly, the Messenger of God referred to the issue of holding others in contempt on account of their ancestry. While a person’s coming from a humble background and being the child of a shepherd does not reduce that person’s value at all—as stated above—coming from such and such lineage does not bring any virtue either. The following couplets of Ibrahim Haqqi summarizes this situation well:

“Haqqi come, do not reveal your secret;
If you wish to progress on this path,
Do not deride the wretch my dear;
There are such wretches that hide a treasure.”

It is definitely wrong to reproach and deride people by looking at their cultural environment, material status, neighborhood, family and the like. Ideas of superiority, and seeing others as inferior, date back to a more distant past. In the present day, this understanding continues in overt or covert forms in many places in the world. There is a caste system in different forms and manifestations around the world despite so many claims of progress in civilization, democratization and human rights.

Fortune telling by the stars

Another characteristic of the Age of Ignorance that continues to survive is the issue of expecting rain from the stars and ascribing the coming rains to the stars. In Mesopotamia particularly, the people deemed the stars to imbue a special holiness. The people of that land believed the stars to be directly influential on a person’s destiny. Although such beliefs do not exist in our time, belief in fortune telling by the stars and horoscopes still continues showing that this tradition of the Age of Ignorance remains in different forms.

In relation to this subject, the noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, expressed that God Almighty stated:

“On this morning, some of My worshippers remained as true believers and some became unbelievers; he who said that it rained with the blessing and mercy of God is one who believes in Me and does not believe in the stars, but he who said it rained because of such and such (star) does not believe in Me and believes in the stars.”

Then, seeing the falling rain as a manifestation of God’s mercy and responding to it with praise is a sign of faith, whereas ascribing it to simple causes, such as the stars, is a sign of associating partners with God. If God Almighty had rendered the stars a veil before the operation of His power and greatness, it could have been acceptable to see them as causes. However, as the natural sciences have also proven, there is not even a direct relation of causality between the stars and rainfall.

Unfortunately, when people do not believe in what they should, namely, when they do not have sound faith in God, the Prophets and the Qur’an, the natural need for belief in something, that is an attribute of human nature, leads them to believe in falsehoods. While some seek help in yogism or meditation, others try to find satisfaction with horoscopes and the like. All of these block the ability and potential of the human soul from accepting the real truth. Human nature is inclined to a quest for the truth but sometimes people put on the hat of falsehood and try to satisfy their heart, which actually yearns for the truth, with stones, trees and stars instead, even though those are not even conscious beings.

Culture of wailing

The final point stated in the hadith is wailing over the dead. In some parts of the world, there still exist certain forms of mourning where people slap their hands on their knees and cry artificially like performers.

However, this exaggerated display of emotions is of no benefit to the deceased whatsoever. If a person did not attain closeness to God through worship, and did not live as an obedient servant while in this world, it is of not much of a benefit for him (or her) even if a large crowd attends his funeral, sings his praises, or bears witness that he was a good person. In addition, it also needs to be stated that knowingly giving a positive account of an evildoer is bearing false witness. We surely make judgments according to the outward reality. Only God knows what is in one’s heart. If a person has passed away with faith and righteous deeds, the number of people who attended his or her funeral does not really matter. Millions of people attended the funerals of so many pharaohs and other tyrants, but this does not absolve them from the sins of their atrocities and oppression.

As a matter of fact, the noble Prophet said that if forty people bear positive witness for a deceased person, that person will be forgiven. However, as I have tried to point out above, this does not apply to knowingly bearing false witness. The Messenger of God made the following address to Abu Hurayra as a warning against death:

“Restore your ship, for the sea is deep. Take your provisions perfectly, for the journey is truly long. Keep your load light, for the slope before you is truly steep. Preserve sincerity in your deeds because God, The All-Seeing and Righteous One, is well aware of any of your acts” [2].

These were the points the Messenger of God found worthy of emphasis. If you pass away having remained within such a righteous sphere, then you will have passed to the pure horizons of our soul and be blessed with the truth of: “Surely we belong to God (as His creatures and servants), and surely to Him we are bound to return” (al-Baqarah 2:156). Otherwise, the wailings and praises—even if performed by millions of people—and the crowds attending your funeral will do you no good at all.

Notes

[1] Hakim, Al-Mustadrak, 1/539.

[2] Daylami, Al-Musnad, 5/339.

A new Artificial Intelligence (AI) approach to translate brain waves into speech

Akbari et al. Towards reconstructing intelligible speech from the human auditory cortex. Scientific Reports January, 2019.

In a recent study, researchers demonstrated that brain signals from the human auditory cortex can be reconstructed into intelligible speech with a high rate of success. In the study, the brain signals from the auditory cortexes of five participants (suffering from epilepsy) were recorded while they were listening to stories and numbers being read. Researchers specifically chose epilepsy patients as they were already undergoing a clinical procedure involving the placement of electrodes into the temporal lobe of their brains. This procedure is called invasive electrocorticography. The researchers then spoke 10 numbers into the ears of the test subjects: zero to nine. Each number produced a unique response in the brain. The sound produced by the vocoder in response to those brain signals was analyzed and cleaned up by neural networks, a type of artificial intelligence that mimics the structure of neurons in the biological brain. Remarkably, the robotic translations were successfully understood by 75% of people enlisted to test the technology. These results suggest a hopeful future for the Brain-Computer Interface. In particular, this new technology has great potential at giving a voice to people who are paralyzed or severely injured. Despite the potential, the path for a practical device is still long. To go beyond simple numbers and access the thoughts that go with speaking, the researchers will have to probe a different part of the brain known as the Broca area. It is found in the frontal lobe and linked to speech production and language processing.

Milky Way is warped and twisted, not flat

Chen, et al. An intuitive 3D map of the Galactic warp’s precession traced by classical Cepheids. Nature Astronomy February, 2019.

Astronomers have been studying the Earth’s home galaxy, the Milky Way, for centuries in efforts to get a better understanding of its size, structure, and place in the universe. While modern instruments have provided invaluable details about our galaxy and others, a truly accurate model of our galaxy has been missing. Researchers have recently built, for the first time, an accurate 3D map of the Milky Way. We often think of spiral galaxies as a flat thin disk of stars that orbit around a central region, where billions of stars provide the massive gravitational force to hold everything together. However, a new study showed that the Milky Way’s gas disk is no longer confined to a thin plane, but is instead organized in an S-like, warped appearance. The researchers determined the Milky Way’s exact shape at high accuracy by measuring the distances to so-called Cepheid variable stars. Cepheids are young stars that can be up to 20 times as massive and 100,000 times as bright as our Sun. These high stellar masses live fast and die young, sometimes after only a few million years. They also show day-to month-long pulsations, which are observed as changes in their brightness. Combined with a Cepheid’s observed brightness, its pulsation period can be used to obtain highly reliable distances.  By using the data of 1,339 Cepheid stars as benchmarks, researchers were able to map out accurate distances between objects in the Milky Way. Interestingly, in the Milky Way’s outer regions, they found that the S-like stellar disk is warped in a progressively twisted spiral pattern. Researchers suggested that the Milky Way’s warped spiral pattern is most likely caused as a result of rotational forcing or “torques” by the massive inner disk. The further stars are from the center of the galaxy, the weaker their gravitational pull is. This new morphology is expected to provide a crucial updated map of our galaxy’s stellar motions and the origins of the Milky Way’s galaxy.

Smart fabric self-cools or self-insulates depending on conditions

Zhang et al. Dynamic gating of infrared radiation in a textile. Science, February 2019

Decades of innovation in fabrics have yielded high-tech materials that react to hot and cold conditions, allowing them to keep marathon runners cool or alpine hikers warm. However, there was never a material that could change the insulating properties of fabric in response to the environment. A recently developed fabric is the first to automatically warm wearers up or cool them down as needed. Infrared radiation is the primary way the body releases heat and is the focus of this new technology. When the condition is warm or moist, like when a body sweats, the fabric allows the infrared radiations to pass through. Conversely, in cool and dry conditions, the fabric traps the surrounding heat that escapes. The fibers are made of two different synthetic materials coated in carbon nanotubes – one absorbs water, and the other repels it. When the material gets hot and wet during sweating, the strands twist and warp. This distortion brings the strands of yarn closer together, which opens the pores in the fabric to allow heat to escape. When a wearer is too cool, this mechanism is blocked, trapping heat close to the skin. The reaction takes place almost instantly. The garment cools people down before they realize that they are getting hot. Athletes perhaps will be the first people to wear clothes made from the material, but it could be useful for infants, people with disabilities, and the elderly. Researchers say it could be in production within months as the base material is easily available and the carbon coating can be effortlessly added during the standard dying process.

Dark matter, the mysterious unseen mass, and dark energy, the universe’s mysterious force, comprise the rest of the unknown universe. We still know very little about dark energy and dark matter. Dozens of institutes and thousands of scientists have organized international collaborations in search of both. In fact, scientists hope the biggest energy particle collider [1], the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Geneva, will help solve the puzzles of dark energy and dark matter.

            It is common for people to ask, how did the universe begin? After decades of observing and measuring, today the majority of scientists explain the beginning of the universe via the Big Bang theory. Two astronomers, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, established the Big Bang theory of cosmology by observing the cosmic background of radiation [2]. According to their theory, everything in the universe was contained in one single mass and there was no space or time. Everything started with the explosion of this extremely dense and hot mass. This explosion was not like an explosion into an empty space; rather space itself began with this explosion.

The idea that led scientists to the Big Bang came from observing the universe’s expansion. Edwin P. Hubble found that almost all galaxies are moving away from the center of the universe [3]. He did so by measuring the light from these galaxies to determine their velocities. This proved that the universe was not static, but was instead expanding. After scientists realized that the universe is expanding, they thought that there must be a beginning to this expansion. Then, using the speed of this expansion, they calculated the life of the universe. Through this, they were able to show that the universe has a beginning. Today, almost every scientist agrees with the Big Bang, and they can support it with scientific evidence.

The idea of the universe, let alone an expanding universe, can be pretty incomprehensible. Let me make it a bit more comprehensible. Think about a balloon. There are two spots marked on this balloon. When you inflate the balloon, you’ll see how these two spots are moving away from each other. The balloon is the universe and the two spots are matter in that universe. This example shows how matter “rides” the expanding universe.

Until about 20 years ago, most scientists thought that the expansion of the universe was getting slower. In 1998, observations of the Type la supernovae revealed the existence of dark energy. Dark energy, scientists found, was one way to measure the expansion rate of the universe over time. This discovery was proof for the universe expanding at an increasing rate. Saul Perlmutter, Brian P. Schmidt, and Adam G. Riess have been awarded the Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2006 [4] and Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011 [5] for their breakthrough study on this topic. But though scientists know the universe is expanding faster and faster, no one yet knows why.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the universe and see how everything was induced into a perfect order. At the beginning, when the Big Bang (BB) occurred, one might think that this came with chaos and disorder. The perfect design of the universe came from that mess.

If we could get precise information all the way back to the Big Bang, it would help us to solve many outstanding mysteries. Unfortunately, we are unable to gather this information because the cosmos, in its infancy, was foggy and full of light rays. After about 300,000 years, the universe became transparent and many particles fell away; the furthest distance we can see across space is 13.7 billion light years, which is when the universe became transparent.

Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) was formed almost 380,000 years after the BB. That is the cosmic background radiation, or thermal radiation, and it is believed to be a leftover from the BB. The CMB is the source of the oldest light in the universe and it represents the kernel of stars and planets.

In the early stages of this CMB time, elementary particles were formed. These particles acquired mass while passing through the Higgs field and interacting with the Higgs boson [1]. These particles are mainly divided into two categories: fermions and bosons. Fermions are the most fundamental particles, known as quarks and leptons. The quarks and leptons are further divided into six flavors and corresponding antiparticles. Bosons are photon, gluon, W-Z bosons, and graviton. They carry forces, included the four main forces in the universe – electromagnetic, strong, weak, and gravitational.

The basic building blocks of matter are two composite particles, baryons and mesons, which are formed by the combination of quarks. Baryons are made of three quarks, such as protons (two up and one down quarks) and neutrons (two down and one up quarks), of the atomic nuclei. Mesons are usually found in cosmic rays and are composed of quark-antiquark pairs. Today, more than 200 subatomic particles have been discovered at sophisticated particle accelerator laboratories. Most of them are composite particles, composed of other fundamental particles.

After the creation of these elementary particles, stars, galaxies, and planets were formed, step-by-step.

First stars: 200,000,000 years after Big Bang
According to the results of NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), the first stars were formed 200 million years after the BB. The clumps of matter were brought together with the gravitational force and they grew like a growing snowball until they have enough energy to start nuclear fusion process, which is the main process behind the shiny stars up in the sky.
First Galaxies: 1,000,000,000 years after Big Bang

1.6 million galaxies have been identified according to the location of the Milky Way Galaxy by The 2 Micron All-Sky Survey (2 MASS). Figure 1.1 is a computer-generated map of our surrounding universe by the 2 MASS, which shows nearly 50,000 galaxies near our galaxy, Milky Way (2 MASS/ J. Carpenter, R. Hurt & T. H. Jarrett).

The Milky Way, which includes our solar system, began to form 5 billion years after the BB. There are approximately three hundred billion stars in our galaxy, and there are estimated to be 100 billion galaxies in the universe. Scientists do not know the structure and features of these galaxies. But then, they don’t even know everything about our galaxy.

How big are objects in the Milky Way? Everyone knows about the moon and the Earth, as well as the other planets in our solar system. The largest star in the Milky Way is VY Canis Majoris, a Red hyper-giant. It has a diameter of 280 million km, which is so big that an airplane flying at 900 km per hour would need 1100 years to circle the star. There are approximately 200 billion stars in Milk Way alone and the sun is only one of them.

When thinking about all the space in our universe, it makes the order of our own solar system and galaxy seem quite extraordinary.

A solar system in general consists of a star at the center and rotating astronomical objects (planets, moons, etc.) around that star. In our solar system, the object in the center is the sun and everything orbits around it. There are eight planets including the earth and their natural satellites orbiting the sun. So far, 3946 comets, many asteroids, and thousands of near-earth objects and minor planets have been discovered [6] around the sun. The sun is attracting all these objects with the gravitational force and they counter this attraction by means of their centrifugal force. These forces are balanced and keep the objects in their orbits. All of these are formed and located perfectly with a magnificent balance. How does this kind of order form from a disorder spontaneously?

References:

[1]       Kara, Cihan, "Will CERN Reveal the Origin of the Universe or Cause the End," The Fountain Magazine, Issue 92, 2013.
[2]       The Large Horn Antenna and the Discovery of Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation,             https://www.aps.org/programs/outreach/history/historicsites/penziaswilson.cfm
[3]       Hubble Space Telescope,             https://www.spacetelescope.org/about/history/the_man_behind_the_name/
[4]       The Shaw Prize in Astronomy in 2006,         http://www.shawprize.org/en/shaw.php?tmp=3&twoid=51
[5]       The Nobel Prize in Physics 2011,      https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/2011/
[6]       The Minor Planet Center: http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/

In a famous story about Archimedes, the ancient Greek mathematician sets out to calculate the hypothetical number of grains of sand that would fully occupy the known universe. Archimedes wished to know just how large our universe is, as well as how many particles might fill its vastness. Archimedes’ bold attempt at answering this question pioneered two important contributions: first, a numerical system to denote extremely large quantities (which led to modern-day exponents) and second, a guess at how voluminous the universe is and how many particles it might contain. The answer that Archimedes arrived at is that 10⁶³ grains of sand would fill the known universe, which is a 1 followed by 63 zeroes.[1]

This number 10⁶³ is as large in the physical world as it is deceptively compact in its written form. Ultimately however, Archimedes did not have the advantage of modern-day telescopes to verify his answer. Furthermore, he could not answer the natural and more scientifically-challenging follow-up question to his thought experiment: just how many particles make up this universe? In fact, the true number of particles composing the known universe is believed by modern day astronomers and astrophysicists to be over a quadrillion times the value of Archimedes’ number.

But how did scientists arrive at their number? That is, how do we count the particles in the universe? A basic version of the calculation is actually straightforward and is presented below.

First, before attempting to answer how many particles exist in the known universe we should define particles and known universe. There are several ways to characterize a particle, but popularly employed definitions are atoms, nuclei, or electrons. For the sake of this discussion’s simplicity, we shall use atoms, since they are readily understood. Therefore our task is to count the number of atoms that exist in the known universe.

As for the term known universe, we mean the observable universe as described in the standard model of cosmology that astronomers and astrophysicists use today. Based on calculations on the observed “drift velocities” of galaxies (how fast galaxies move away from one another), this standard model posits the universe to have a radius of 4.6 x 10¹⁰ light-years (i.e., 46 billion light-years or 3 × 10²³ miles), an age of 13.7 billion years, and a finite – thus, countable – number of galaxies, stars, and other celestial entities.

How many stars are there?

Just as cells are the basic units of an organism, the basic unit of the universe is the star. Thus to count the number of atoms in the universe, we first count the stars. We begin this calculation with the largest discrete entities in the universe – galaxies – which are essentially large clusters of stars. Galaxies come in various shapes and sizes. Our own Milky Way is a spiral-shaped galaxy and is slightly on the larger side, having a diameter of 110,000 light-years. In contrast, the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy is only about 10,000 light-years in diameter and has a more ellipsoid shape. But whatever their features, how many galaxies are there in total?

By analyzing partitioned images from the Hubble Ultra Deep Field telescope, astronomers were able to create photographs of deep space, mapping our collective view of space from Earth. In these photographs, there are myriads upon myriads of galaxies. All of them are visible as discrete entities which can be computer-counted. With this method, scientists estimate the number of galaxies in the universe to be between 100 billion and 1 trillion. Thus, this number is on the order of 10¹¹.[2]

The next question is how many stars does an average galaxy contain? Quite a few, it turns out. An analysis of the light spectrum of galaxy images from the Hubble telescope, with extrapolation from data stemming from our own Milky Way, suggests that on average a given galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars, which is again 10¹¹.[2] Combining these numbers, we calculate that there are approximately 10¹¹ x 10¹¹  = 10²² stars (10 sextillion) in the known universe.[2]

These 10²² stars differ greatly in their mass. For example, Eta Carinae, a star 8,000 light years away from Earth, is 100 times as massive as our sun. And the smallest known star, AB Doradus C, is found in the constellation Dorado and has a stellar mass of only 9% that of the sun. As an average, however, most stars are roughly as massive as our sun, which is 2 x 10³⁰ kg. For comparison’s sake, the mass of the Earth is 6 x 10²⁴ kg, putting an average star’s mass as approximately a million times more than Earth’s mass. Multiplying 10²² stars by 2 x 10³⁰ kg per star gives us a remarkable 2 x 10⁵² kg as the total star mass in the universe.

What makes up stars?

Now we must ask how many atoms does an average kilogram of star mass contain? To answer that, we have to delve into the composition of a star. Stars vary in their chemical content and contain elements ranging from the smallest one known, hydrogen, all the way up to iron. As an interesting byproduct of the big bang, much of the known matter created was hydrogen, since it is the simplest element – it is essentially one proton with one electron circling it. As a result, when stars formed from the available matter in the universe, they contained mostly hydrogen. As scientists analyzed the light spectrum of various stars, it was noted that star matter is surprisingly consistent in its average composition: it is roughly 78% Hydrogen and 27% Helium by mass.[3] The remaining 2% is made of trace elements such as Oxygen, Calcium, Silicon, and so on.

For the purposes of this simplified calculation, this 2% can be ignored. Then, by using the atomic masses of hydrogen (1.01 grams per mole) and helium (4.00 grams per mole) readily available from any periodic table of the elements, we can calculate that 1 kilogram of star matter is roughly 710 grams of elemental hydrogen and 270 grams of helium. Using basic knowledge of chemistry, we know that a gram of hydrogen is roughly 10²⁴ atoms and a gram of helium is roughly 10²³ atoms. Thus, we can calculate that there are approximately 4.6 x 1026 atoms in a kilogram of star matter.

Finishing the calculation

Now we can arrive at our answer to how many particles exist in the known universe: if there are 2 x 10⁵² kilograms of star matter in the universe, and 4.6 x 1026 atoms in each kilogram of this star matter, we yield (2 x 10⁵²) x (4.6 x 1026) = 9.2 x 10⁷⁸. So after rounding, we can declare there are approximately 10⁷⁹ atoms in the universe.

This number is astoundingly large, yet looks deceivingly small. 10⁷⁹ is over a million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillions. For comparison, the estimated number of hairs on your head is 105, the estimated number of people on this earth is 109, and the number of atoms in a typical human body is 1027.[4] If we count the atoms of each person alive and add them together we still only have 1036 atoms – that is to say, 1036 atoms make up the whole of humanity. If even humankind grew by a thousand-fold, meaning instead of 7 billion people alive, there were 7 trillion, the number of atoms making up the world’s population would still be only 1039.

Thus 10⁷⁹ is an enormous number – far larger than the grains of sand Archimedes proposed. It should also be noted that this is technically an underestimate of the true number of atoms in the universe since we did not include trace elements, mass from extraterrestrial planets, or mass from extrastellar phenomena such as the interstellar medium, intergalactic medium, black holes, brown dwarves, and other items of outer space. Also, this number deals only with visible matter, thus excluding dark matter (and dark energy), which to date remain very poorly understood concepts. Finally, we should also note that our estimate of 10⁷⁹ atoms is not the only one. Various other calculating methods have produced other estimations of the number of particles in the universe, ranging from 1072 to 1087.

Regardless of what the precise count of atoms in the universe might be – whether more or less than 10⁷⁹  – it is undoubtedly, as Archimedes noted, an awe-inspiring number. It makes the 1028 atoms in each of our bodies feel utterly humbled – but also connected to the grand whole since we are a part of that awe-inspiring number. When glancing up at the star-riddled sky, realize that the vastness of this universe can be described as 10⁷⁹ atoms organized into such things as stars and asteroids, people and plants, cars and computers. We humans are just a fraction of this astronomical quantity.

References

1. Bradshaw, Gillian. The Sand-Reckoner. New York: Forge, 2000.

2. Van Dokkum PG, Conroy C. A substantial population of low-mass stars in luminous elliptical galaxies. Nature, 2010; 468:940-942. Doi: 10.1038/nature09578

3. Irwin, Judith A. Astrophysics: Decoding the Cosmos. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2007.

4. Brandreth, Gyles. Your Vital Statistics: The Ultimate Book About the Average Human Being. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1986.

Our sun is a single star system, but using new technology, scientists are discovering double – and even triple! – star systems

The planets of the sun revolve around a single star, just like the planets in many systems. Revolving around a single star is the general principle, but scientists have recently discovered planets that revolve around two stars, without causing any irregularities. Planets that revolve around two stars are accepted as a new class of planets and according to calculations their numbers in the Milky Way galaxy are estimated to reach at least ten million.

How can this be possible? A planet traveling around two stars enters the gravitational field of each star during its motion, and its velocity and orbit constantly changes.

If stars can shade (eclipse) each other, it is possible for one planet to shade one or two stars. When this event takes place, the planet and stars orbit on the same plane. This intersection on the same orbital plane means that the planet and star have passed in front of each other; we can measure this due to a reduction in the amount of light emitted by the star. If the distance between the two stars is too long, these stars act as if they are isolated from each other. In that moment, the planet that is moving on one of the star’s orbits does not feel the effect of the other star. These are called S-type planets and dozens of them have been discovered in the last decade.

Interesting events take place when stars get close to each other. In such cases, the time required for stars to make a complete revolution around each other is described in days or weeks. The ability of a planet to move in “braided pathways”^[1] that will allow a stable orbit around two stars that are so close to each other cannot be a coincidental event without fine adjustments.

S-type systems are only one type of double-star systems. In P-type systems, the planet revolves around the two stars simultaneously. For this type of planet to travel in a stable orbit, the orbital distance from the stars must be longer than a critical distance. If it is closer than this critical distance, the planet’s orbit becomes progressively unstable, and it is either pulled towards one of the two stars and collides, or gets thrown into outer space. This critical distance is 2/3 of the star’s magnitude.

In a system of a single star and planet, the transit of the planet occurs as if the light makes a periodic movement, such as when a light house rotates around itself. These passes allow us to detect stars. Double-star planet systems are another example of this. It is not easy to estimate the movement of an object consisting of three elements. In a single-star system, the star’s movements are stable; thus, it is easy to estimate the movement of a planet. Yet in a double-star system, the distance between the two stars is much shorter than their distances to the planet; for this reason, these stars revolve at a higher speed around each other than the planet revolves around them. This means that the planet’s rotation is difficult to predict.

As a result, the planetary movement of a double-star system will not be periodical; different than that of a single-star system, the time of transit passes will vary according to the relative motion of the planet to the star. If the planet and the star it revolves around are moving in the same direction, the transit pass time will be longer; but if the star is located at the other half portion of the orbit and traveling in the opposite direction, the transit passing time will be much shorter.

The Kepler spacecraft and telescope that NASA launched in March 2009 is designed for detecting planets that cause reductions in the light of stars when they are passing in front of them. Today, more than two thousand twin star systems that display eclipses have been discovered. Two planets that revolve around stars eclipsing each other every 7.5 days were discovered and called the Kepler-47 system. Along with these double star systems, a triple-star system has been discovered through the Kepler telescope; the properties of this system are extraordinary.

Among these, planet Kepler-47b of the inner region completes its voyage around its stars in less than 50 days. In addition, this planet, which is not visible directly, is predicted to be a very hot planet. Since a foggy layer inhibiting its visualization is found to have formed as the result of methane gas combusting in its hot atmosphere. Kepler-47b, which is three times bigger than the Earth’s radius, is the smallest planet among those that have been discovered in two-star systems.

The planet Kepler-47c of the outer region completes its one full tour around its twin stars in 303 days and it moves in a region that is described as the habitable zone in the Milky Way galaxy. There can be liquid water present on the surface of a planet in the habitable zone. However, just being in this zone does not totally mean that the place is suitable for life. Kepler-47c is predicted to be slightly bigger than Neptune and to have an atmosphere composed of thin and bright water-vapor cloud.

Reference

William F. Welsh, Laurance R. Doyle, “Worlds with Two Suns,” Scientific American, October 2013, pp. 40-47.

S- And P- type planets traveling around two stars

Kepler-47c exists in the habitable zone and liquid water is predicted to be present on its surface.

A representative image of the Kepler 16a/b based on acquired data.

^[1] The Qur’anic verse “By the heaven full of braided pathways, surely you are in contradicting views”(Adh-Dhariyat, 51:7-8) sounds like pointing to this phenomenon.

a

As science develops further, the “veils” of the universe are lifted and humanity can explore realms beyond which our senses would normally allow.

We are conscious beings and we seek answers to our existence. People search for answers to questions like, “Who am I and why do we exist?” The sciences reveal that existence is full of meaning and purpose. However, judgmental values and beliefs enter the process; restrictive and ideological approaches lead to confusion during man’s voyage to truth.

Take the question of how we exist. Different perceptions have their own point of view and reach different conclusions. While a materialist person accepts the matter to be eternal, for some the theory of evolution has all the answers; yet on the other hand, a person of faith explains existence with creation. Therefore a materialist, an evolutionist, and a believer struggle to reach a common conclusion.

Human vision is somewhat veiled; the things that are not witnessed are considered unknown. The events of both the micro and macro cosmos are veiled to us. Yet the more our science advances, the more of these worlds we begin to see. We understand how complex existence is, while also appreciating how majestically it has come into being.

Can senses and observations guide humanity to the truth? Our strongest senses are seeing and hearing; however, these senses can only perceive a narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. The human eye can see the wavelengths in between 4,000-7,000 angstroms; the ear can hear frequencies in between 16-20,000 Hz. When we rely only on our senses to understand and comprehend existence, the things that are outside our ability to see or hear become absent.

Dimension and distance are very important for vision. The dimension that humans can see with the naked eye starts at the millimeter scale; in perfect conditions, we can barely see beyond 18-25 miles. Things at dimensions much smaller than a millimeter and at considerably longer distances remain out of our visual range. A microscope brings the small dimensions into our visual spectrum and the telescope does the same for long distances. Before the invention of these devices, humankind was not aware of things such as the atom, molecule, galaxy, nebula, or black hole. Today, because of scientific advances, as we get closer to seeing things on the nanometer dimension, we are newly discovering structures at this scale and the laws that are effective here. The inner makeup of the atom has not yet been elucidated; our knowledge is based on certain theories and experiences. Our information regarding the universe is also limited. It is considered that in an expanding universe, according to the expansion velocity of galaxies and gravitational force calculations, the amount of visible matter only corresponds to 4% of the total mass of the universe, the rest estimated to consist of 26% dark matter and 70% dark energy.

When the true nature of things (objects, existence) that are unknown or seem to be simple are explained through science, the truth is found to be very different. From space, the earth looks like a small and pale blue dot. After getting closer, at first the oceans, continents, and major mountain ranges start to appear. There is not any indication of people or other organisms on earth yet. However, after looking closely enough, it is observed that earth is filled with numerous life forms.

We witness the twinkle of countless stars when we gaze at the sky on a dark night. These stars, each shining as a small spot, may seem insignificant. When we turn our telescope towards one of these spots, we face a giant star or a galaxy that houses billions of stars; we become astonished. And when we take a better look at these stars, some of which are colossal, we witness interesting events. In these thermonuclear cauldrons that are utilized like millions of atomic reactors, enormous amounts of energy are released into space after being produced each second under immense pressure at temperatures reaching millions of degrees. Humans should think for a while and be amazed by these things. The power required is immense and they last millions of years.

People can also observe the wonder of the universe by delving into much smaller dimensions (the micro world). Here, we witness the creation of wonderful beings and the employment of tiny creatures in vital tasks, even though this micro world is hidden secret from the naked eye. For instance, in the thousands of small chemical factories fitted in a seemingly plain leaf, sugars are produced from carbon dioxide and water via sunlight; nutrients are synthesized from various minerals in the soil and stored in the fruits, seeds, and roots of plants to serve as nourishment for the living.

The biological structure of a human body is built by the proliferation of a fertilized single cell, called a zygote, through division. More than 200 different cells executing very unique functions in tissues such as the brain, liver, kidneys, muscles, and bones are created from a single cell. Cells have specific structures and tasks according to their types, each housing various work benches and laboratories. For example, the make-up and function of a brain, liver, or muscle cell is very diverse, each shaped for their assigned task. The organelles inside the cells are also specialized; the job of one cell type cannot be completed by another. The molecules, secreted enzymes, and hormones synthesized in cells are different. While a pancreatic cell secretes insulin and glucagon, a thyroid cell releases thyroxine. Various dimensions and models of protein, hormone, enzyme, and antibody molecules are formed with structures called ribosome to be employed in unique processes. The energy that cells need is generated in organelles of mitochondria. In addition, various transmission lines, communication networks, and defense mechanisms are established inside cells.

Organs are not just packs of meat. Billions of cells in each organ are completing their works around a common goal. In each organ and cell, micro factories and laboratories of microscopic dimensions are set up, micro-machines and robots are being utilized, and atoms and molecules are employed like conscious workers.

The entire body is formed by the specialization of this zygote into very diverse cell types during the formation of these organs. The set of tasks in different organs is programmed to sustain the life of a single organism and to serve a common goal. How could one not be amazed by the combination of trillions of cells in a way to serve one purpose, form a body, and distribute tasks to different organs?

It is also important to analyze the composition of atoms and their relations with each other for a better understanding of the facts of creation. Different atoms form with varying numbers of protons, neutrons, and electrons in their atomic structures. A different element is generated when the proton number is changed; an isotope of the same element is generated with the replacement of the neutron number. Millions of types of molecules with unique features can be made via different combinations of atoms. Molecules are the smallest units that determine the chemical properties of matter. While the simplest compound is the hydrogen molecule, formed by two atoms, there are also molecules composed of millions of atoms.

There are molecules of diverse types and sizes present in the universe. Each molecule type is constructed in a three dimensional and unique way. The number, order, and shape of the bonds present among atoms in a molecule, even the angle between atoms, is very important. Because of these differences, despite the fact that they both contain a carbon atom, a diamond and graphite (coal) are distinct substances. The carbon atom can miraculously form 1,700,000 types of compounds on its own. Just as in hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂,) and water (H₂O) molecules, a change of an atom in a molecule can alter the entire property of that particular molecule. A small change taking place on a single base sequence of the DNA chain may disrupt its condition leading it to be ineffective or cause a disease.

As humans, we only observe the tangible side of such materials. Yet the universe contains multitudes that we cannot detect or know. Just like a software composed of commands is required for computers and electronic devices made up of physical elements, the presence of an intangible world that is dominated by souls and commands undetectable by senses is necessary within the matter where the program of fate is operated.

As mankind accumulates knowledge about the universe and existence, we notice that not only do we have a greater understanding of the nature of things, but also that each dimension in existence is a veil and this veil is lifted with science.

Meinecke et al. Turbulent amplification of magnetic fields in laboratory laser-produced shock waves, June 2014, Nature Physics.

A supernova is the explosion of a massive star which releases a burst of radiation that can be as bright as 10 billion suns. Such a massive amount of radiation can shine throughout the entire universe for several light-years. Supernovas are triggered either when the fuel within a star ignites or when a star’s core collapses under extreme gravitational forces. Supernovas have already taught us very important lessons about the history of the universe. For example, these explosions have provided solid evidence that the universe is expanding. Supernovas can also tell us a lot about how old stars die and how new stars are born. When a star goes through a supernova explosion, it leaves behind a skeleton made of expanding dust and gas that scientists call a remnant. These star-remnants spread around space. They might end up on earth or other planets, or they could form the energy source of a new star. Since the best way to understand supernovas is to actually explode a star, researchers recently developed a technique to simulate small-scale supernovas in a lab environment. To do this, scientists used lasers that are 60,000 billion times more powerful than a laser pointer. They focused the laser beams on a thin carbon rod inside a gas-filled chamber. The lasers heated the chamber to over 1 million degrees Celsius, which caused the carbon rod to explode and expand out through the low density gas – just like how exploding stars speed through space. The experiment revealed that as the blast passes through the grid, it becomes irregular and turbulent. They also noticed that the magnetic field was dramatically higher within the grid than without, suggesting that the magnetic field was amplified by the generated turbulence. The supernova system developed in this study holds the possibility of helping us better understand how the universe was formed and evolved, and could provide some insight into how magnetic fields were first created.

Young blood: The fountain of youth?

Villeda SA et al. Young blood reverses age-related impairments in cognitive function and synaptic plasticity in mice. June 2014, Nature Medicine.
Sinha M. et al. Restoring systemic GDF11 levels reverses age-related dysfunction in mouse skeletal muscle. June 2014, Science.

Two recent studies of lab mice showed that transfusions of blood from younger individuals reverse the effects of aging in their elders. One research group showed that neural damage of mice with age-related cognitive impairments could be reversed by such transfusions. Alternatively, injecting the younger plasma into the brain was also very effective at repairing neural damage. Another research group showed that blood from younger mice repaired age-related heart defects in older mice. Researchers further discovered that high levels of the protein GDF11, present in the blood of younger mice, were the key for rejuvenation. Researchers proposed that blood from younger mice contains molecules with anti-aging properties that awaken the stem cells of the brain and heart muscles and thus initiate the rejuvenation. These studies are incredibly encouraging for combating Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and many other age-related diseases; however, a comprehensive set of clinical tests needs to be conducted before testing the effects in humans.

“Chameleon” plant discovered

Gianoli E. and Carrasco-Urra F. Leaf mimicry in a climbing plant Protects against herbivory. May 2014, Current Biology.

Scientists thought for many years that camouflage and mimicry were only observed in the animal kingdom. A newly discovered wood vine in Chile, Boquila trifoliolata, has been found to transform its leaves to mimic a variety of host trees. B. trifoliolata is the first plant ever shown to imitate multiple hosts. This is a rare trait called “mimetic polymorphism” and it was only previously observed in butterflies. As B. trifoliolata climbs onto a tree’s branches, it changes the color, size, shape, orientation, and even the vein patterns of its leaves to match the surrounding flora. When the same vine crosses over to a second tree, the size of its leaves can even increase 10 times  to match the second host plant. According to scientists, mimicry may protect the vine from plant-eating herbivores such as weevils and leaf beetles. It is perplexing how a plant can distinguish between individual trees and keep changing its physical characteristics. Odors, chemicals, or microbes that are released form host plants are potential candidate mechanisms for this intriguing plant behavior.