From remnants of ancient history, to clues to mysteries that may be solved, join me as
we discover 10 amazing recent discoveries. 10. A Human Jawbone
I'm sure that you look at this entry and think, "A human jawbone? How is that an amazing discovery?"
Well it's quite simple, you can't think of it as just a jawbone, you have to think of
it as a jawbone with a lot of age attached to it. You see, this jaw is believed to be
the oldest human bone found outside of Africa. Why is this important? Most scientists believe
that Homo Sapiens were born in Africa, and then at some point in time migrated out of
the continent, which lead to Europe and Asia being colonized in their own time.
At present, the previous oldest bone found outside of Africa was from 90,000-120,000
years ago. However, this jawbone, which was found in a cave in Israel, is believed to
be at least 50,000 years older than that. At least! Which, if true, could prove that
humanity moved out of Africa much earlier than previously believed. This in turn could
rewrite what we know about the human race and its evolution. What's more, if such a
discovery is true and verified, it would also mean that there are other bones like this
that need to be discovered. And should scientists be lucky enough to find a whole human skeleton
from this perceived time period, it could provide even MORE clues as to how humanity
evolved, and when they moved out of Africa. But as in all things, only time will tell
if we get that lucky. Yet, this jawbone is a good first step towards getting deeper knowledge.
9. Karate-Kicking Cockroaches I promise you, I'm not making this up, this
was a recent discovery that proves once again how evolution can be a big thing in the world.
You see, one of the most dangerous predators in the insect world are wasps. And specifically,
parasitic wasps. They go around the world stinging other creatures and filling them
with neurotoxins so that they can become zombified slaves basically. And unless these other insects
get a defense mechanism, they have no means of defending against the stings.
Enter the cockroach, who was most definitely a big prey of these parasitic wasps. And they
were known for being very easy prey for some time. Mainly because they didn't have a natural
defense to stop the wasps from stinging them. So in 2018, scientists went and studied the
cockroaches to see if they were handling the situation better. Sure enough, they were.
They had learned to literally kick the wasps in the heads. How they learned this is a bit
of a mystery, but the fact is, it worked, and worked emphatically. For when the cockroach
does this, they're able to make the wasp look for other prey to snack on.
This of course raises many questions (and fears) about these cockroaches. Because again,
they didn't know about this technique beforehand. So that begs the question...when did they
learn how to do a karate kick? And if they know how to do such things, what else could
they learn if evolution gives them a chance? And finally, should somehow these cockroaches
grow in size...does that mean we'll have to go kung fu fighting just to kill these bugs?
I'd hesitate to partake in that matchup for the record.
8. Gene Editing Human Trials Science-fiction has often painted a picture
that was meant to show us the "potential" of humanity in regards to how far we can push
ourselves in our scientific endeavors. And arguably one of the most fascinating aspects
is one where we're able to change our bodies on a molecular level in order to become something
different. Sometimes this was shown to be as simple as changing our hair color or eye
color. And sometimes, it was used in the sense of adjusting our bodies to become more animalistic.
Whatever the case, the ability to alter our genes is purely in the realm of sci-fi, correct?
Not so much. There are processes right now that are being developed that can be used
to alter our genes. And not so long ago, the first test of gene editing was done on a human
being. Now, before you start jumping for joy and
start to plan out your transformation into a wolf or a tigress, you need to slow down.
The gene editing that they did was to help cure a cancer patient via altering their cells.
Should this continuously work, not only could it lead to a cure for cancer, and other medical
issues. As well as push us closer to more body modification. Which, obviously, many
people won't necessarily desire, but that's another debate for another time.
Before we continue, be sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel so that you can
watch all our weekly videos! 7. $17 billion dollars in gold and jewels
Many of us have dreamed of living a life where we search for buried treasure and get rich
because of it. It's a fun idea, and honestly, there are people who have dedicated their
lives to doing such a thing. But, that doesn't mean that monumental treasures are found all
the time. However, when they are found, they cause quite a stir. Such as when one treasure
trove was found off the coasts of Columbia in 2018, and its value was worth about $17
billion dollars. Ok, to be clear, the discover was actually
made in 2015. But it was in 2018 that the results and numbers of the discovery were
made. This particular treasure was found on board the ship known as San Jose, which was
sailing off the shores of Colombia around 1708 when it came into a battle with the forces
of a British fleet. The battle left the San Jose on the bottom of the ocean.
It actually took a submarine to find the wreck and its contents, which included gold, silver,
and emeralds. So you see? There are treasures still waiting
to be discovered. And that's what make the field of archaeology and treasure hunting
so exiting. Because it may take you a while to find such treasures and rare finds, but
when you DO find them...there's nothing like it.
6. Sword In The Lake You know the ancient legend of the Sword in
the Stone? You know, the tale of King Arthur? Ok, so you also know about the "Lady In The
Lake", right? So, here's a tale that actually merges the two together in hilarious and epic
fashion. You see, this young girl was on vacation,
and young Saga Vanecek went to Vidöstern Lake to relax and have fun. When she was having
fun in the water, she stepped on something odd. When she pulled it up, it was an oddly-shaped
piece of metal. So, naturally, she took it, and when she looked it some more, she realized
it was a sword. “I picked it up and was going to drop it
back in the water, but it had a handle, and I saw that it was a little bit pointy at the
end and all rusty,” she told The Local. “I held it up in the air and I said ‘Daddy,
I found a sword!’ After showing it to her parents, they took
it to some experts, and they found out that the sword was actually 1000 years old. And
it may even be older than that! Which, would mean it's actually older than the Vikings
of that era. This in and of itself is relevant as it would help paint a picture for what
was going on in this area in that time period. And of course could lead to more discoveries!
5. Human Regeneration If you're familiar with the comic book character
Wolverine (or even Deadpool), you'll know that their greatest abilities is to heal from
just about any wound. Including the loss of limbs and organs. This regenerative ability
is another that has been thought of as science fiction only. But, humanity has been working
hard to try and make it a reality. And in 2017, the scientists at Wake Forest started
to make progress in that field. Making it so that they can grow artificially growing
tissue that can grow on its own. Should this process be fruitful and test well, it can
leads to a new wave of medicine, and could possibly help people regrow lost limbs and
organs. “We are excited to be at the forefront of
this next frontier in regenerative medicine,” says Anthony Atala, M.D., director of WFIRM,
who is looking forward to revolutionizing and invigorating this field of medicine. “Just
like the invention of the moving assembly line reduced the cost of cars and made them
commonplace, the field of regenerative medicine must develop standardized manufacturing processes
to successfully make replacement tissues and organs more widely available.”
Hopefully though, the process of getting this done in people will be less painful than the
Weapon X project. 4. What If The Earth Were A Blueberry?
Let it be known, that science sometimes asks really odd questions, and then those scientists
who think of the questions apparently go and try to answer them. And last year, Anders
Sandberg, who works at the University of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute, decided to write
a whole paper dedicated solely to the topic of what would happen if the Earth itself suddenly
turned into a giant blueberry. While the paper is not fully published yet,
the basic idea is that while the Earth wouldn't suddenly implode, it would feel the pressure
of the outer atmosphere and slowly compress. This in turn would result in earthquakes that
would release a kind of jam. As for the Earth's core, it would be heated up and then pressurized
into a hardened substance called "granita ice".
True, this isn't exactly something we NEED to think about, or worry about (barring the
sudden appearance of magic in the world), but it is amazing that someone took the time
to figure out all the layers of how the Earth would be affected by such a sudden change.
And that should be appreciated. 3. The Ocean Cleanup
Earth has many, MANY, problems in it. From the humans, to the animals, and of course,
the habitats that we all live in. One of those habitats is the oceans of our world, which
makes up over 70% of the planet. However, because of human waste, there is a load of
plastic in the ocean that is just sitting there, and can occasionally kill animals like
turtles and dolphins. There is even an island of trash in the Pacific Ocean that is growing
every day. Enter Boyan Slat, who believes that he has
a solution to this problem. He made a massive pipe that can be put into the ocean and suck
up the plastic that is there and bring it back to the land where it belongs. It's called
The Ocean Cleanup, and it's a daring plan to be sure.
The device itself is actually quite brilliant. It can be easily extended, the pipe itself
is durable, and should it work, it'd be a huge step towards cleaning up the oceans.
The pipe is still going through tests, and there have been issues. But, that doesn't
mean we should give up hope for this device, in fact, we should all hope that it really
does work. 2. 60,000 Mayan Structures
The Mayan are a very interesting people. They were ones who came out of nowhere and set
up an empire in many different countries. Then, just as they seemed to be at the peak
of their power, they vanished from the face of the Earth, and no one really knows where
they went. To this day, any discovery of ancient Mayan areas is a big deal.
And lo and behold, recent searches in Guatemala have found 60,000 structures that belonged
to the Mayans that weren't known about before. This was done using Lidar, a type of laser
that searched the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Petén, Guatemala and found tens of thousands
of farms, houses and defensive structures, along with miles of roads and canals.
This singular discovery actually changed much of what we thought about the Mayan people.
Because this area was thought to be only "scarcely" populated by them. When in fact, they were
really packed in this 800 mile area. More discoveries like this could help shed
even more light on the Mayans. 1. Orange Snow
No, this is not an offshoot of the "yellow snow" joke we all know and hate. Rather, this
is a reference to a rather odd, yet intriguing, discovery that was made last year in Sochi,
which is in Russia if you didn't know. Basically, the mountains of the area are very standard,
including the snow that they have on their mountaintops. However, last year, many people
started to notice that the color of the snow on the mountains was wrong. It wasn't white,
it was orange. There was no natural reason for the snow to
be orange, as the materials of the mountain itself couldn't have mixed with the snow in
such a way to cause this discoloration. After some research, it was discovered that
what actually happened was that weather from the Sahara Desert apparently flew into the
air, traveled to Sochi, and then came down in such deposits that it caused the snow to
be turned to orange. The Athens Observatory was quoted by CNN as
saying that it was "one of the largest transfers of desert sand to Greece from the Sahara ever."
And certainly something I'm sure none of you ever heard of happening before.
Thank you all for watching. What did you think of these amazing discoveries? Which ones do
you think will have the biggest impact on our world? Which ones do you think can help
us change how we view things? Do you think we'll make even more discoveries of this nature
in 2019? Let me know in teh comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next
time!