Scientists brought modern equipment to one of the pillars of the Ancient Egyptian culture, the Great Pyramid of Giza. This tomb is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and has been marvelously faced the test of time. Thanks to modern particle physics, researchers discovered a secret chamber that escaped previous observations of archaeologists.

The Newly Discovered Secret Chamber Hasn’t Been Explored Yet

Journal Nature published a report on the latest discovery in Egypt. The found room measures 100 feet long and is located above the Grand Gallery. The entire tomb was built around 2,500 B.C., and it managed to keep this ample space hidden for such a long time.

On the other hand, experts caution people not to indulge into romantic interpretations of such a discovery. The room is considered secret only because scientists weren’t able to find it so far. There are chances that the body of the king himself rests here. However, there are no investigations to back up such speculations at this point.

Nonetheless, the generous size of this secret chamber made scientists believe that it was created for a higher purpose. On top of that, the fact that the architects designed this part to make it hard for people to penetrate is also speaking volumes.

Scientists Used Non-Intrusive Muon-Detecting Techniques to Map the Great Pyramid of Giza

Mehdi Tayoubi at the HIP Institute in Paris together with his colleagues brought non-destructive analytical tools to the Great Pyramid of Giza to further investigate it. They chose a modern technique of imaging that employs muons. These are small particles such as electrons.

“What is strange, for me, is to use those very, very small particles for a huge monument like the pyramid.”

Muons are the result of the impact between cosmic rays and the atmospheric atoms. Muons rain down on Earth and they can pass through hard materials such as stones. However, they start losing energy and eventually decay. By detecting these particles, researchers can create a map of a structure with each space and wall clearly delimited.

The team claimed that they were only testing the modern technology at first. They placed the muon-detecting film in Queen’s Chamber. They started analyzing muons to determine whether they can see the above floor with King’s Chamber and Grand Gallery or not. However, they managed more than that as they intercepted the presence of a third void.

It turned out to be the newly discovered secret chamber. They now need to collaborate with Egyptologists to explore the space. On top of that, they intend to use this non-intrusive and effective technology to map other pyramids as well.

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Scientists have recently spotted the biggest opening in the Antarctic Ice since the 1970s. A satellite took the first picture of the mysterious hole on September 25, 2017.

The New Hole in the Antarctica Ice Is Known as Polynya

Around a month ago, a team of scientists from the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and the University of Toronto came upon a harrowing discovery. Their project to learn more about last year’s opening of a hole needed them to investigate the area through satellite monitoring. In the end, they learned about the formation of a new hole.

Such an appearance is known as a polynya. The term describes an ice pack growing an area of unfrozen water in it. Some of them can last over numerous winters. This was the case of the Weddell Polynya that only the new hole equals in its large dimensions.

As Antarctica is renowned for its aggressive winters, it is hard for scientists to discover such mysterious points in its ice to study them. This year, the team knew where to look for based on last year’s discovery. However, the difference this year is that the hole features a much larger size.

The location of the event is the part of the Southern Ocean with warmer and saltier water. Ocean currents are carrying these corrosive agents all the way to the surface. The high temperature starts melting holes in the blankets of ice which will come to be known as polynya.

Scientists Need More Data to Better Understand Such Phenomena

The contact between water and the atmosphere makes it difficult for new layers of ice to cover the hole. Even though the water of the surface cools, it will sink to the bottom to be reheated. In the meantime, a fresh mass of tepid water will take its place.

On the other hand, scientists don’t know precisely why these holes are reopened after some time. Kent Moore, professor of physics at the University of Toronto, claims that the culprits are marine mammals. They use these openings to breathe. Nonetheless, researchers will continue to investigate polynya to learn of its possible long-term effects.

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Most experimental studies are in a hurry to produce results. Therefore, time is not by their side. However, an intriguing conservation experiment went through a lawsuit after which it was forgotten. Nonetheless, its authors returned to it after several years to observe any signs of change. What they discovered was a luxuriant forest instead of a wasteland with dying nature. The secret to this transformation seems to be dumped orange peels.

Within Six Months, the Dumped Orange Peels Formed a Rich Layer of Organic Fertilizer over the Wasteland

In the mid-1990s, a team of researchers enrolled in a mission to find a cure for wastelands. Such barren spots lost their regenerative powers for various reasons to grow a forest. Therefore, they started off by asking a juice company called Del Oro to select a barren pasture in Costa Rica as the site to unload 1,000 trucks of 12,000 tones of orange waste.

While Princeton researchers Winnie Hallwachs and Daniel Janzen received tons of raw materials for their research, the company paid nothing to discard its waste. The land measured 3 acres of barren soil with seldom green spots on it. However, the experiment didn’t manage to survive more than two years.

Within six months, the dumped orange peels turned into a thick layer of organic fertilizer that covered the entire wasteland. However, the site presented itself not so charming for human’s senses. The material was gross but perfect for fly larvae.

A Judge Ordered the Evacuation of the Site which Remained Unaltered for 15 Years

A lawsuit followed the experiment as the location was in the proximity of the Guanacaste Conservation Area. Del Oro donated this land to the national park. Therefore, rival juice manufacturer TicoFruit sued Del Oro for defiling a national park. The Supreme Court ruled to address these allegations.

As a consequence, the experiment fell into oblivion for 15 years. In 2013, another Princeton ecologist Timothy Treuer visited the location for other matters. However, the only problem he encountered was finding the former wasteland. In its place, there was a luxurious vine-filled jungle.

Treuer’s team compared the Costa Rica former wasteland to a nearby control area which didn’t receive the orange peel treatment. The differences were obvious. However, scientists have now a new quest. They need to find out what exactly caused the dumped orange peels to regenerate a barren land in just 16 years.
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Even though there’s not a drop of air out there in cosmos, winds are still traveling the dark infinite at high speeds. Gas particles can reach hundreds of kilometers per second under the influence of supernovae. When stars explode, they can propel streams of photons that swipe gas along. Eventually, these projectiles can travel far and become intergalactic winds. Scientists believe that such phenomena had a saying in the genesis of our Milky Way.

Scientists Used Computer Simulations to Attest the Existence of Intergalactic Winds

Astronomers have been trying to decipher for decades the mechanism that puts galactic winds in motion. Daniel Anglés-Alcázar together with his colleagues at Northwestern University in Illinois started off such an ambitious mission from the process called wind recycling. This happens when the cosmic wind travels the void only for a part of it to be sucked back in. Scientists ran this kind of data in computer simulations to compare them with older versions. The results were surprising.

Their findings indicate that supernovae are powerful enough to eject fast winds of gas. In their turn, they can exit their parent galaxies, sign up for journey of billions of years across the intergalactic space until they enter a different galaxy. As a consequence, the new host can use the additional material to produce new stars.

Half of Our Milky Way May Be Created from Stardust from 1 Million Light-Years Away

The result of the research is a new niche in astronomy that was dubbed as an intergalactic transfer. Scientists observed a pattern according to which the intergalactic winds travel from smaller to larger galaxies such as Milky Way.

Based on the computer simulations, scientists extracted the conclusion that larger galaxies are 50% made of matter that was transported from a far away galaxy. As a consequence, more than half of our Milky Way consists of matter that pertains to another corner of the universe. Planets, the solar system, and even human beings can be made of stardust coming from 1 million light-years away.

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