A YouTube Listicle Script on Scientific Discoveries

Science is one of those things that is ever-evolving.  It is not stagnant.  Rather, to the contrary, it is dynamic.  The science of today is unmatched to the science of earlier days in many ways as new innovations and discoveries have come along that have reinforced facts or written off previous conceptions entirely.  As vast as the knowledge is that has been accumulated to this day, there are still an infinite amount of possibilities as to what else is out there.  As the age-old saying goes, “you learn something new everyday.”

In a comparison between the ocean and space, they say we know more of space than we know of the ocean.  Although we do know more about space, there still exists a gargantuan cloud of mystery that looms over it and the surprise discoveries keep on coming.  As recently as 2021, scientists and astronomers alike have been baffled by a new discovery.  Pointing at the center of a black hole in the galactic atmosphere of space, an unknown and mysterious structure has been sighted.  It is estimated to measure approximately 2.3 light years in length and it takes on a snake-like shape.  At a glance from the images that have captured it, it appears like a strand of thread although most certainly much, much larger than one and has a rosy, fiery red color, similar to the black hole it seems to be embedded around.  So what is it?  That’s the crazy part.  Scientists do not know.  Black holes in and of themselves have a lot of mystery surrounding them so this new and particular discovery just adds to that element of mystery. Theory #1: The Particle Theory It can be unsatisfying and frustrating to feel like there isn’t a solid answer to explain this surprising phenomenon.  But on the bright side, we are not completely in the dark.  Scientists have compiled a set of possible theories as an explanation as to what the strange snake-like filament pointing at the black hole could possibly be.  One such possibility is that it could be the aftermath of particles ricocheting as a result of the commotion within the black hole.  This theory theorizes that the speedy whirling motions of the black hole as well as the gases within may as a result, conjure up some sort of vertical magnetic field - the snake-like filament being said magnetic field. Theory #2: Cosmic String, is That You? A second theory that scientists have conjured up is the possibility of the age-old mystery that are cosmic strings.  Could the curved thread-like structure be a cosmic string?  Now what is a cosmic string exactly, you might ask?  First off, a little disclaimer is that it is not even confirmed that they actually do in fact exist which yes, is a bit frustrating.  However, playing along the prospect that they are indeed among the millions of factions that make up space, cosmic strings are said to be essentially the fractures of the universe.  Yes, fractures, cracks, indiscrepancies … whatever you want to call it.  The cosmic strings theory is in correlation to the infamous “Big Bang Theory” and is theorized to primarily point back to the times of the birth and origins of the universe.  Along those lines, it is believed that at one point in time everything in the universe was one before expanding and disintegrating into other individual parts.  As a result of all of those reactions and forces taking place during the expansion and fragmentation  processes, cosmologists propose that perhaps the cosmos cooled at a pace too fast that led to time essentially being fractured hence leading to the emersion of energy filled tube-like structures that spanned the length of the universe or in simpler terms: cosmic strings.  Since there hasn’t been much solid confirmation to validate the claims of the existence of such structures in the universe, it is hard to say whether what was identified pointing towards the black hole is in fact a remnant of said cosmic strings.  But the potential prospect of it has left scientists excited that this may possibly be a breakthrough into possibly validating their existence.  Not only would it be exciting for cosmologists, astronomers, and scientists alike but also for any one intrigued by or fantasizing about the prospects of time travel.  If they do exist, cosmic strings are theorized to harness the potential for time travel thanks to their resilience and gravitational pull.  However, that’s us getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

Theory #3: … Or is it Pure Coincidence? The last possibility that scientists have proposed may come off as rather bland and unexciting as it proposes that the strange filament may be matched to millions of others found across the span of space and that the fact that it is pointing at a black hole is purely coincidental.  However, scientists do scratch their heads in doubt at this particular notion as the possibility of such a coincidence comes off a bit far fetched.  They find it unlikely that it would just be there simply by chance.  So if you were crossing your fingers and holding out in hopes for it to be a cosmic string, you may just still be in luck. News Flash: We’ve Been Living on Two Planets All Along If you were asked to name the first three things that come to mind pertaining to the solar system, it is highly likely that you would mention the moon as one of them.  Have you ever looked out onto the night sky and wondered how the moon even came to be a part of it?  One accepted theory is that the moon was formed as a result of a collision between a planet that was estimated to be a similar size to Mars and the original and “juvenile” so to speak, Earth.  Scientists have named that planet “Theia”, a name stemming from Greek mythology origins.  So where is planet Theia today?

As it turns out, Theia may be closer than you think.  In fact, in a sense, you may have been living on Theia all along.  That’s right, chunks left behind from the impact of the predicted collision long ago may be embedded deep within Earth’s core.  Such a scenario suggests that Earth and Theia's cores fused into one.  Scientists back this claim up by further suggesting that Theia's mantle which is the layer between the outer crust and inner core, was perhaps more dense than that of Earth's making it more likely to survive the blow and impact of the collision hence meaning it could have very well survived in the form of leftover chunks in Earth's core to this day.  As far as where these leftover remnants of planet Theia are if one were trying to pinpoint them by looking at a globe, it is estimated that they lie along Earth's core under modern-day west Africa and the Pacific ocean. In both regions, the leftover chunks are estimated to measure thousands of kilometers in both length and width.  Scientists had originally and still designate those areas as what they refer to as "low shear velocity provinces".  But with time, they have added on the theory that Theia's remnants may be along those low shear velocity provinces.  The theory is not entirely solidified and is still relatively up in the air but what are the odds?  We may very well have been living on two planets all this time without even knowing!

Delving into a bit more personal matters, let's talk about anatomy but more specifically deoxyribonucleic acid.  That's right: DNA.  We all have it.  It's the very component in our bodies that not only consists of codes that determine our features such as if we will have blue or brown eyes but it also serves to maintain our body's systems in order to function.  It's shaped as a double helix and consists of nucleotides which are molecules that pair with specific molecules.  The pairing of the nucleotides contributes to the double-helix structure.  The interesting thing about DNA is that it is constantly being replicated with each cell division.  In other words, your DNA is being replicated as we speak and on top of that does so about two trillion times a day since cells are constantly dividing.  Naturally, with such a high quantity of duplications, it is inevitable that there will be mistakes, breaks, and/or mutations.  The scary thought is that if the mistakes are not properly corrected, it can lead to some health consequences such as in the case of cancer.  However, there's a silver lining: our bodies have repairing mechanisms in the form of proteins that aid in DNA repair.

In order to be able to advance in treating illnesses, scientists have found it crucial to understand DNA and thus its repair mechanisms as well in hopes that it will shine a light that someday will prove to be helpful in the fight against diseases.  That is precisely why Dr. Donna Whelan from Australia focused on observing DNA repair via an approach known as single-molecule localization microscopy which allows for focusing on individual molecules and molecular interactions on a smaller scale as the name somewhat suggests.  Through it, she has been able to pinpoint that DNA is repaired by the body in one of two ways typically - either sporadic fusing where the breaks occur or via homologous recombination which is the process where a break is repaired by finding a similar and compatible DNA sequence to attach to the break.  The former repair method can be speedy but faulty.  The latter is slower but more efficient and less likely to be fallible.  Among other observations Whelan made through her introspection was that a specific protein known as 53BP1 works in an interesting way when it comes to DNA repair in the sense that it doesn't directly work on the repair site but rather works more as a "behind the scenes" helper so to speak as it was viewed to be in the same relative area as the repair site but not directly at the repair site but still contributed to repair.  Whelan also cited another observation regarding a protein known as BRCA2.  BRCA2 is typically seen in a negative limelight due to its association with breast cancer.  However, breast cancer is actually a consequence of a mutation in the DNA sequence that corresponds to the BRCA2 protein, not a normal BRCA2 protein.  And as it turns out, the protein somewhat redeems itself as Whelan showed that it actually contributes an essential role in DNA repair and that there is even a protein that substitutes for it as well in some cases which illustrates versatility and redundancy in the different DNA repair mechanisms present in our bodies.  All of these observations that Whelan made have left her among other scientists to believe that these could very well be useful in applying to modern-day medicine in hopes to someday be able to replicate them in a lab setting for more effective approaches in battling diseases and disorders.

Phew … Today’s video has been quite the mouthful.  Between the potential sighting of a cosmic string to a long-lost planet within Earth’s core to DNA’s fascinating repair mechanisms, it’s a lot to take in.  And believe it or not, these are just barely scratching the surface.  It is only a matter of time until there will be a crack in some other age-old mystery or an entirely new discovery.  And who knows - maybe you’ll be the one to discover it!  After all, there exists a little sliver of scientist in every one of us.