Latest Science and Technology Breakthroughs From Around The World

In this article, we are going to discuss the latest science and technology breakthroughs from around the world. From the Covid-19  update to the development of a brand new cilagicin antibiotic drug that can kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.  Read on for the latest breakthroughs..

1 THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT LIFE ON EARTH STARTED WITH BOTH RNA and DNA

How life on Earth originated still fascinates scientists. But it's not easy to peer billions of years into the past. Now, evidence is mounting for a relatively new hypothesis about how life began: with a very precise mix of RNA and DNA.

Both RNA and DNA determine the genetic setup of all biological life. With DNA acting as the genetic blueprint and RNA as the reader or decoder of the blueprint. For a long time, it was thought that RNA evolved first on Earth, and DNA evolved later. But mounting evidence suggests they may have appeared at the same time. And both DNA and RNA were involved in starting life on the planet.  

2 COVID-19 CASES IN INDIA ARE RISING WHICH CAN BE A POTENTIAL THREAT FOR THE FOURTH WAVE 

According to the data released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday, July 17, 2022.  In the last 24 hours, India recorded 49 deaths and  20,528  new Covid-19 cases. The active cases in the country are  1,43,449 and the recorded fatality rate is 1.20%. The country also recorded a recovery of  17,790 patients in a single day. 

Source: Pixabay

The 49 new deaths include  17 from Kerala, 8 from Maharashtra, 6 from West Bengal, 3 each from Punjab and  Karnataka. 2 ,each from  Jharkhand, Assam and Delhi.  Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tripura, Gujrat, Uttarakhand and Bihar each recorded one death.

3 BILL GATES WANTS TO BE POOR

Billionaire, Bill Gates says he doesn't want to be rich anymore and plans to donate all his wealth. This week, Microsoft co-founder announced that he is donating $20 billion to Bill and Melinda foundation. While repeating his pledge to give away "virtually all my wealth to the foundation". And eventually don't want to stay on the list of wealthiest people.   

Bill and Melinda foundation's efforts include fighting poverty and diseases across the world. Bill Gates said that global crises such as climate emergency and Covid “require all of us to do more”.

4 COVID-19 INFECTIONS CAN LOWER SPERM COUNT

Evidence suggests that Covid-19 infection can decrease the sperm count in semen. After infection, a low sperm count can be observed for months and the virus can be detected in semen. The virus can also be found directly attached to receptors on the haploid sperm cells. 

However, there is no solid evidence to suggest that the effects differ from those seen after other illnesses.  Other illnesses involve fever, such as influenza. Krishna Chaitanya Mantravadi at Oasis Fertility, an Indian fertility clinic. This clinic tracked sperm in 20 men aged 25 to 35 from before they were infected with SARS-CoV-2 until almost five months after they had fully recovered.

5 RADIO BLACKOUTS ARE POSSIBLE BECAUSE OF COMING POWERFUL SOLAR FLARE

A space, weather physicist has tweeted that our sun has erupted in a massive solar flare. The erupted solar flare can cause radio blackouts in many regions of the world.  During this time our sun is in the active phase of its 11-year solar cycle. So, such incidents may increase.

Solar flares are powerful electromagnetic eruptions that are composed of charged particles. Solar flares are classified on the basis of their eruption strength,  A, B, C, M, and X.  With X being the most powerful while A being the least powerful. 

The recent eruption is heading toward Earth and is expected to cause significant blackouts in GPS navigation systems. Which could end up disrupting the paths of small planes and ships. Amateurs radio operators will face some disruption due to this solar flare.  This solar flare has a 10 percent chance of being an X-class solar event.

6 SCIENTISTS DETECT THE STRONGEST KNOWN MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE UNIVERSE

Scientists have observed the strongest magnetic field ever detected in the universe. A team of scientists was studying the X-ray signals coming from the neutron star. Then the scientists detected the magnetic field which is tens of millions of times stronger than any ever created on Earth or in a lab. 

7 A NEW STUDY SUGGESTS THAT ALCOHOL DRINKING IS DANGEROUS FOR ALL PEOPLE UNDER 40. 

Authors of the Global Burden of Diseases, a project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Estimate that in 2020,  1.34 billion people consumed alcohol. This study found that is not good for those under 40 years old. This was published in a press release on Thursday.  

Their overall study found that there were absolutely no health benefits of alcohol consumption, only harmful effects were reported.  The same study found that there may be small benefits for older than 40. These include reduced risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.

8 NASA's PERSEVERANCE ROVER DETECTED A NOODLE LIKE OBJECT ON MARS.

NASA's Perseverance Rover is currently roaming on Mars. This Rover last month found a shiny silver object trapped between two rocks on Mars. That shiny object was Rover's own junk. 

This time researchers got confused when they spotted another noodle-like debris. The image noodle like debris on Mars was captured on  Tuesday 

9 A NEW ANTIBIOTIC CILAGICIN CAN DESTROY DRUG-RESISTANT BACTERIA

The Rockefeller University has developed a brand new antibiotic. This antibiotic can kill even drug-resistant bacteria. The antibiotic was developed using computational models of the bacterial genes. This study was published in the journal Science and the drug name is cilagicin. 

Cilagicin is effective in mice and shows promising results for  C. diff,  MRSA  and other deadly infections. These findings show that a new class of antibiotics can be developed using computer models. This is not just a brand new drug. it is a startup to a modern approach to drug discovery. This research is an example of synthetic chemistry,  genetic sequencing and computational biology. Coming these all together to unlock the mysteries of bacterial evolution. 

Cilagicin truly killed gram-positive bacteria in the laboratory. It did not harm human cells and successfully treated bacterial infections in mice. Of particular interest, cilagicin was effective against several drug-resistant bacteria.  When this drug was challenged against bacteria grown specifically to resist it. The synthetic compound succeed.

10 A TEAM OF SCIENTISTS HAVE SPOTTED AN UNUSUAL GALAXY FROM THE EARLY DAYS OF THE UNIVERSE

With the help of the ALMA telescope, a team of scientists has detected a slowly rotating galaxy. The discovered galaxy is the youngest ever found which is much slower than the present-day galaxies.

Most of the known galaxies rotate at high speeds. For example, our milky way galaxy (Akash Ganga) has a rotation speed of more than 200 kilometers per second. The recently discovered galaxy is called MACS1149-JD1. This galaxy existed when the Universe was only 500 million years. Making it among the youngest ever found Galaxies. 

So, these were the major science and technology breakthroughs from the around the world.