Did you know that the most common element in our atmosphere isn't oxygen? It's actually an element called nitrogen. Nitrogen makes up about 70% of our atmosphere. For more fun facts, check back often on the Science Blurbs blog.
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Two days ago, on March 21, scientists discovered that man-made carbon is being released into our atmosphere over ten times faster than any time since the extinction of the dinosaurs. Carbon and carbon dioxide exist in our atmosphere, and they are fine as long is there is not too much. However, too much carbon dioxide is bad for the atmosphere. This means that we are putting so much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that we are making danger for ourselves. To stop this very fast release of carbon dioxide, we have to look back to where this comes from. We run everything; our homes, our cars, etc on carbon. Coal, natural gas, and fossil fuels all come from the Earth. These fossil fuels are the remains of plants that have sunken into our crust, the top layer of the Earth, and turned into coal and natural gas, which are made of carbon. We can stop using this by using alternate energy sources, or sources of energy that are not from fossil fuels. For example, solar panels provide energy by taking the light from the sun. That's all for this post, so until next time I'll see you all later!
It's the end of 2015, and in this blog post we will be counting down the biggest science news stories of 2015. Let's go!
#5 | New Species of Human-Like Creatures: Our first big science news story was the discovery of a new species of humanoids, which are human-like creatures. The species was called Homo naledi. The Homo naledi has a small skull and modern hands, which is making it hard for scientists to figure out where on the human “family tree” this species fits. #4 | DNA Editing: Next we have DNA editing. This year, we discovered that we can edit and modify the code that makes us human. DNA is like code for our body. DNA tells us what our bodies will look like, what mutations we'll have, and what diseases we will develop. With what is called CRISPR technology, we found that we could do things such as make bacteria produce insulin and eliminate mosquitoes that carry the disease of malaria. This means that, in the future, we could edit ourselves to get better traits. #3 | Communicating Bacteria: Scientists found that bacteria could “talk” and communicate by sending out electrical signals to each other. This communication between bacteria is like our neurons, which are cells that run throughout our entire bodies and send electrical signals to tell our body what to do. #2 | Mission to Pluto: This science news story came in a close tie for first, but ultimately came in second. In one of the most important missions of the decade, the space probe New Horizons became the first space probe ever to reach Pluto, a dwarf planet we know very little about. This mission told us more about Pluto, its moons, Pluto's atmosphere, and much more about the tiny dwarf planet. #1 | Water on Mars: This year, scientists discovered that there is water on Mars. Scientists have known that there is water on Mars for several years now, however, this water was in the form of ice. This year, scientists found liquid water on Mars, water like the water we have on Earth. Could this mean there is life on Mars? Who knows? Honorable Mention | Hurricane Patricia: In the honorable mention is a hurricane that broke records. In October, Hurricane Patricia formed off the West coast of Mexico and set the new record for hurricane wind speeds. Hurricane Patricia had peak winds of 200 MPH, more than any other hurricane on record. That's all for now, but check back often on Science All Around and the Science Blurbs blog for more info on science, technology, and science news! Did you know that humans have made space probes that have left the Solar System? Back in the late 1970s, NASA launched a probe called Voyager 1. Voyager 1 visited Jupiter and Saturn, and then went off to the rest of the Solar System. In 2012, Voyager 1 left the Solar System and became the first, and currently only, probe to have ever left the Solar System. Check back often for more science facts!
Did you know that atoms are not the smallest things in the Universe? There are actually smaller particles called quarks. Not much is none about these quarks. They are very, very, very small. For more cool facts like this, stay tuned to the Science Blurbs blog!
Did you know that the average comets' nuclei, or center, is about 10 miles across? A comet's nuclei can be bigger than that, but 10 miles is about the average. For more cool facts like this, stay tuned to the Science Blurbs blog!
Did you know that, for movies to be made, they run at a speed faster than our eyes can process? How this works is, up to about 24 pictures a second, or frames per second (FPS), our eye can see that each image is a separate image. But once you go faster than this, the eye doesn't know and it thinks it is one moving image. For more cool facts like this, check back often on the Science Blurbs blog!
Did you know that the Sun is almost 92 million miles away from Earth? This distance is also known as an Astronomical Unit, or AU. For more cool facts like this, check back often on the Science Blurbs blog.
Did you know that there are 118 elements in the periodic table? These elements are the basis for everything in the Univere. For more cool facts like this, be sure to check back often on the Science Blurbs blog!
Did you know that on this day in 1969, Apollo 12 was launched? Apollo 12 was the second mission by the USA to land on the moon. For more fun facts like this, check back often for more Science Blurbs!
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