FX.co ★ Top 7 mind-boggling scientific discoveries in 2019

NASA founds evidence of ocean fossils on Mars

The exploration of the Red Planet began in late 2018 and continued in 2019. On December 18, 2018, NASA successfully landed its InSight robot on the surface of Mars. It was designed to drill the soil to a depth of 5 m. The operation was on the verge of failure when the robot detected an electrically conductive layer with a thickness of 4 km. According to preliminary estimates, this layer contains water with dissolved salts. Scientists believe that Insight has come across the evidence of a deep subsurface sea. The simplest organism usually thrives in places with such conditions.

NASA detects atomic oxygen on Mars

According to scientists, during the year the amount of oxygen in the Martian atmosphere changes significantly: in spring it increases sharply, and in winter it falls. This phenomenon can be explained only by the fact that there are some kinds of life forms on the planet. What is more, perchlorate, a special substance, can be found in abundance in the Martian soil. When it decomposes, O2 is released. Microorganisms cannot live on the surface of the planet; they hide in a depth of 1-2 m. Scientists plan to find them using deep drilling. For now, the soil of the Red Planet is drilled only by 35 cm, and it is very difficult to identify any forms of life there.

Scientists detect first-ever neutron star-black hole collision

The unusual phenomenon was recorded by scientists in August 2019. They detected a fusion of bodies weighing about 5.0 and 2.5 times the mass of the Sun. Scientists presumed that the first object can only be a black hole because a usual cosmic body is unable to produce such a signal. The second body in the collision, weighing about 2.5 solar cells, is likely to be a neutron star, an object with a diameter of 25 km. Scientists managed to record this phenomenon at a distance of 900 million light-years from Earth with the help of the LIGO gravitational interferometer. This discovery was of great importance to astronomical society.

Astronomers announce discovery of first interstellar comet

One of the major astronomical discoveries was made in Russia. In August 2019, amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov, an engineer from the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, detected the first interstellar comet in the history of astronomy and named it 2I/Borisov. Having analyzed its orbit and trajectory of movement, scientists conceived that this comet did not belong to the Solar System. The speed of 2I/Borisov in relation to the Sun is about 30 km/s. Such a speed is considerably higher than the third cosmic speed at which the celestial body left the Solar System.

Scientists capture first-ever image of black hole’s silhouette

Scientists distinguish the two terms: the silhouette of the black hole and the black hole itself. Apparently, this supermassive monster cannot be photographed because of the huge distance. Despite their humongous sizes, black holes never show their faces. The black holes can make themselves visible by spewing bright jets of charged particles. Plus, they are located in another galaxy, 55 million light-years from Earth. The gravity of a black hole attracts gas and dust from the surrounding galaxies but the matter cannot immediately fall into the void. Before being consumed by the black hole, a rotating disk of gas and dust is formed. This disk is heated to several thousand degrees, it emits huge volumes of radiation that the Event Horizon Telescope spotted.

Geneticists discover unknown ancestor of Homo sapiens

According to new scientific data, some people obtain genes from other human species. Those genes derived from a cross with a yet unknown species of ancient humans. Scientists cannot answer where these ancestors lived and who they were. The research states that all Caucasians have the genes of Neanderthals and Mongoloids, while the indigenous people of America have the Denisovan genes. The new species of humanity was discovered in 2011. Geneticists suggest that the new species of Homo sapiens is related to both Denisovans and Neanderthals.

Scientists develop effective Ebola vaccine

In 2019, the Ebola vaccine got official approval for conditional marketing authorization. Notably, the Ebola virus disease is recognized as one of the most dangerous diseases of our time. The Ebola outbreak occurred in 2014-2015. Scientists have faced many obstacles while trying to develop a vaccine. For a long time, they failed to attain an effective drug. In 2019, they finally succeeded. The vaccine is called Ervebo and it is widely used on the African continent.