Neil DeGrasse Tyson Talking About Creationism, Science Celebrities And Kids On National Geographic. Watch

NASA Just Found A Solar System With 7 Earth-Like Planets

Astronomers just announced a breaking discovery that has a monumental impact on life beyond Earth: A planetary system with a number of Earth-sized planets that could host liquid water and, thus, life.

Today, scientists working with telescopes at the European Southern Observatory and NASA announced a remarkable new discovery: An entire system of Earth-sized planets. If that’s not enough, the team asserts that the density measurements of the planets indicates that the six innermost are Earth-like rocky worlds.

And that’s just the beginning.

Three of the planets lie in the star’s habitable zone. If you aren’t familiar with the term, the habitable zone (also known as the “goldilocks zone”) is the region surrounding a star in which liquid water could theoretically exist. This means that all three of these alien worlds may have entire oceans of water, dramatically increasing the possibility of life. The other planets are less likely to host oceans of water, but the team states that liquid water is still a possibility on each of these worlds.

Summing the work, lead author Michaël Gillon notes that this solar system has the largest number of Earth-sized planets yet found and the largest number of worlds that could support liquid water: “This is an amazing planetary system — not only because we have found so many planets, but because they are all surprisingly similar in size to the Earth!”

Co-author Amaury Triaud notes that the star in this system is an “ultracool dwarf,” and he clarifies what this means in relation to the planets: “The energy output from dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 is much weaker than that of our Sun. Planets would need to be in far closer orbits than we see in the Solar System if there is to be surface water. Fortunately, it seems that this kind of compact configuration is just what we see around TRAPPIST-1.”

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A Brand-New Human Organ Has Been Identified

Your body now has an extra organ — meet the mesentery.

A mighty membrane that twists and turns through the gut is starting the new year with a new classification: the structure, called the mesentery, has been upgraded to an organ.

Scientists have known about the structure, which connects a person’s small and large intestines to the abdominal wall and anchors them in place, according to the Mayo Clinic. However, until now, it was thought of as a number of distinct membranes by most scientists. Interestingly, in one of its earliest descriptions, none other than Leonardo da Vinci identified the membranes as a single structure, according to a recent review.

Brain Parasites: part II.

Taenia solium:

The pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, is the most harmful tapeworm in humans. Taenia solium infection is acquired either from human feces that contains Taenia solium eggs or from uncooked pork which contains larval cysts. If larvae are ingested, they mature into adults in the small intestine. This infection type is called taeniasis and is often asymptomatic. If eggs are ingested, the resulting disease is cysticercosis. It gets its name from larval Taenia solium called cysticercus. Both diseases are common in Africa, Asia, South America and Southern Europe. Taeniasis is rare in Muslim countries since people there do not consume pork.

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An excerpt from Time Magazines 10 Questions: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

(Time)

It’s time for #TrilobiteTuesday! During their lengthy trek through time, trilobites existed in an almost dizzying array of sizes and shapes. Perhaps no other creature in the entire history of the earth has ever displayed the diversity of design shown by these singularly distinctive arthropods. But at their heart (and yes, trilobites apparently did possess primitive but effective cardio-respiratory systems), they were all remarkably similar. Named not, as is generally surmised, for their three main body segments – cephalon (head), thorax (body) and pygidium (tail) – but rather for the three lobes that longitudinally divided their dorsal exoskeleton. Whether they were Cambrian Olenellids – such as this Olenellus romensis from Alabama – or Devonian Phacopids, most trilobites presented a fundamentally analogous body design. Such characteristics as occipital lobes, anterior margins and facial sutures (which allowed early trilobites to shed their molting shell), were shared by the majority of trilobite species, as were such exotic-sounding features as axial rings, articulating facets and pleural spines. 

Today is UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science!

We’ve pulled together this collection of quotes from inspiring women who have made huge contributions in their scientific fields.

Please share this inspiration!

We Just Moved One Step Closer to Understanding (and Defeating) Alzheimer’s

Solidification of liquid Gallium 

Gallium is a chemical element with symbol Ga and atomic number 31. Gallium is a soft, silvery metal, and elemental gallium is a brittle solid at low temperatures, and melts at 29.76 °C (85.57 °F) (slightly above room temperature). Elemental gallium is not found in nature, but it is easily obtained by smelting.

Gallium metal expands by 3.1% when it solidifies, and therefore storage in either glass or metal containers are avoided, due to the possibility of container rupture with freezing. Gallium shares the higher-density liquid state with only a few materials, like water, silicon,germanium, bismuth, and plutonium.

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TOP TEN MOST DEADLY INFECTIOUS DISEASES

This list is based off of the assumption that the infected individual does not receive medical treatment.

1. Prions (mad cow disease, Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, kuru, fatal familial insomnia): 100%

2. Rabies: ~100%

3. African trypanosomiasis (’African sleeping sickness’): ~100%

4. Primary amoebic encephalitis caused by Naegleri fowlerii (’the brain-eating amoeba’): ~100%

5. Yersinia pestis, specifically the pneumonic or septicemic subtype (’the black plague’): ~100%

6. Visceral leishmaniasis: ~100%

7. Smallpox, specifically the malignant (flat) or hemorragic subtype: 95%

8. Ebola virus, specifically the Zaire strain: 83-90%

9. HIV: 80-90%

10. Anthrax, specifically the pulmonary subtype: >85%