20 17 ten weird and exciting scientific discoveries?

1. The wisdom of hippie chimpanzees is beyond human imagination.

Bonobos are one of the closest animals to humans. However, in terms of etiquette, bonobos have surpassed humans.

Bonobos are famous for their peace-loving, positive and selfless spirit in social communication. Therefore, they are also called "hippie chimpanzees". Now, researchers have added the keyword "good neighborliness" to the files of hippie chimpanzees. A study in June 20 17+0 1 showed that bonobos would pull a pole to help other similar species find food, even though they were strangers. At the same time, science has confirmed that bonobos are very enthusiastic and will take the initiative to help strangers. Researchers show that the behavior of "trusting strangers" who like new foreign objects may give primates such as bonobos (and humans) an evolutionary advantage. For example, when a female bonobo grows up and leaves the original group, this ability to create a good first impression will help her survive in a new social relationship.

2. The booming underwater "Octopus City"

Octopus is a cold and lonely person, but researchers have found that in Jervis Bay, Australia, octopus will get together, and they will cooperate, quarrel and mate. Researchers call this cephalopod community "Octopus City". A study in September said that during the eight-day observation, researchers witnessed a group of 10- 15 octopus engaged in "complex social activities". Many cephalopod groups live together in rock caves on the east coast of Australia. They feed together, discuss territory, and some even mate.

The appearance of octopus society overthrew some stereotypes about cephalopods. The researchers said that octopus is generally regarded as an antisocial lone ranger, and even when mating, it doesn't need physical contact. Maybe there's something strange under Jervis Bay. In 2009, a similar group was found about 100 yards away from the local area, named "Octopus Country".

3. Ice fog in Canada

2017 65438+1October 6th, Timmy Joe Elzinga saw a colorful shining light beam extending from the snow to the sky in Lake North Ontario. In order to see more clearly, he rushed to the top of the mountain nearby, but the beam disappeared. Later, Elzinga learned that these flickering phenomena were "light beams" and "ice fog". Nasa said that on cold nights, ice crystals freeze prematurely and sink into the ground; When ice crystals reflect traffic lights, street lamps or other city lights, they form this colorful cold light in the air.

Coincidence or not, this is enough to explain why the light beam is always reported as a UFO visit.

Veterinarians successfully treated a hedgehog with "balloon syndrome"

In July, rescuers found a wild hedgehog the size of a beach ball on the roadside and named it Zepplin. Zeplin suffers from a rare hedgehog disease "balloon syndrome", which is likely to be blunt trauma (possibly hit by a car), and his lung tissue has been torn. Every time you inhale, the air will leak from the lungs and enter the body cavity, and its body will slowly expand. Pizzi, a professional veterinarian from the Scottish Organization for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, estimated that it took Zepplin about 12-48 hours to swell to this size. Although this is not fatal, balloon syndrome is not conducive to the curl of Zeppelin, and it is easy to become the target of predators without self-defense ability.

Fortunately, Pizzi and his colleagues made some small incisions on Zepplin's skin to vent the air in the body cavity. Zeppelin became "atrophied" and returned to its normal size. They treated Zepplin with antibiotics and paid close attention to his lung recovery.

5. Human heart tissue grown from spinach leaves

Popeye's favorite spinach is expected to become the second heart of mankind. After many experiments, scientists can remove plant cells by injecting detergent into spinach leaves and plant beating human heart cells on spinach leaves. The researchers said that the proof of concept showed that spinach leaves may be used to cultivate healthy myocardium and help treat patients with heart disease.

The researchers said that after the plant cells in spinach leaves were removed, their cellulose remained intact; It is this cellulose structure that makes it a good framework for cell culture. The researchers wrote: "Cellulose is biocompatible and has been widely used in various regenerative medicine such as cartilage tissue engineering, bone tissue engineering and wound healing." The team even believes that after blood is injected into the veins of spinach leaves, cellulose can transport blood and oxygen to the developing heart tissue. Please pay close attention to this developing research!

6. Life of the Little Water Bear

This octapod, which can be seen under a microscope, can resist cold, high-temperature boiling, high-intensity radiation and the cold vacuum state of the universe, which is really shocking. Because they like to live in humid environment, slow-moving animals are called water bears or moss pigs, and they are the most tenacious creatures in nature. Although the length of this slow-moving animal is less than 1 mm (0.04 inch), it can survive for 30 years without eating, and it can curl up into a state of suspended animation, which is called "hidden life". What are slow-moving animals like in the first few hours of their long lives?

We can look at the photos of photographer Vladimir Gross. Gross used a scanning electron microscope to capture the length of a newborn slow-moving animal just born from an egg. About 50 hours after birth, tardigrade embryos have developed most organs, limbs and mouthparts. When the little water bear is ready, it will bite a hole in the egg, squeeze it out of the hole and enter the world to find its first meal. Water bears have no childhood: they are very small, but they are fully mature when they come out of their eggs.

7. The driest desert full of flowers

Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar desert in the world, with an annual rainfall of 0.6 inches (15mm). However, when the heavy rain falls here unexpectedly, such as August, a completely different scene comes to mind-it is an endless colorful sea of flowers.

This is the so-called "super bloom". Every 5-7 years, the El Ni? o climate cycle will produce rainfall, which will sweep across the Pacific Ocean and bring rain to the desert, and thousands of wildflower seeds will wake up, take root and grow. Atacama desert is sparsely populated, but this rare flower sea has attracted countless tourists to visit. This is why the locals call the driest desert on earth "the desert with flowers in full bloom".

8. The predation of spiders changed the whole world.

As we all know, arachnids eat many insects that people hate, including flies and mosquitoes that infect diseases. It is not easy to define the role of spiders in the environment, but a study this year shows that spiders all over the country eat about 440-480 million tons of insects every year.

This is really a huge number! According to the author, the global predation of spiders exceeds 440 million tons (equivalent to 400 million tons) of meat and fish consumed by humans all over the world every year. In order to get accurate data, the researchers first calculated the number of spiders in the world. They quoted data from previous studies on arachnids, and finally got a more accurate figure: there are about 27 million American tons (25 million metric tons) of spiders in the world, that is, there are about 13 1 spider per square meter of land. Then, according to the mass of different spiders, the researchers calculated how much food each spider needed, thus calculating the total food consumption of the whole spider body.

9. 12 "Dead Sea Scrolls" caves in Israel.

During the period of 1947- 1956, a cave containing the Dead Sea scrolls was discovered in 1 1 in the West Bank, which is a collection of Hebrew bibles. Contains texts, social laws, calendars and other related works. These data can be traced back to about 200 BC to 70 AD. At the beginning of this year, archaeologists discovered CaveNo. 12, the Dead Sea Scroll.

There is no new Dead Sea Scrolls in this cave. However, the blank scroll, the shell fragments of the ceramic pot and the leather packaging used to wrap the scroll indicate that there is an ancient scroll in the cave. It seems that they were plundered in the middle of the 20th century. Although the loss of the treasure is sad, archaeologists also believe that this discovery shows that there are more than 12 "Dead Sea Scrolls" caves in this area.

10. New ecosystem under Antarctic ice shelf

There is a completely dark and highly isolated ecological world hidden under the Antarctic ice shelf. A study in September showed that researchers from all over the world will accelerate the unveiling of this ecosystem from the beginning of 20 18. In order to prevent the sunlight from greatly changing its biodiversity, the investigation will be conducted before the sunlight directly hits the seabed. If researchers can quickly reach the new location of Larsen C ice shelf, they will see an unprecedented scene-an ecosystem that has been closed for more than 100000 years. At the same time, they can also witness the impact of sudden direct sunlight on the environment, which will become more and more common with the melting of the Antarctic ice shelf.