10 Of The Biggest World Revelations In The 21st Century

Numerous revelations about the world have been made in various forms throughout history. Researchers and scientists have continuously managed to discover new ways we can understand the world around us.

Major scientific breakthroughs have been made that helped improve our way of life and will make it easier for us to achieve even more amazing innovation eventually. The 21st century was especially fruitful for the advancements in technology and science. Many of the essential revelations in history were made during the last 100 years. This article will attempt to name the most important ones.

Evidence Of Water On Mars

In 2015, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration managed to find evidence that proves that there is liquid water on Mars. Scientists were aided by the first spectrometer provided by NASA, called the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

With its help, they were able to detect hydrated salts all over the distant planet. The hydrated salts are more prevalent during the warmer seasons, which means that water is a crucial ingredient in their development.

The Detection Of Gravitational Waves

Many scientists believe this to be the most crucial discovery of the 21st century. Since Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity was published, the thought of time travel has excited scientific minds all over the world.

The LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) project in the United States is responsible for the detection of gravitational waves, which would imply that with enough research time travel could be possible. Journey to the earliest parts of our universe does not seem as impossible as before since this discovery.

The Existence Of Dark Matter

Proof of the existence of Dark Matter was found in 2006 by a team of researchers, led by Maxim Markevitch of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge. They proved its existence by measuring the location of mass that gets created when galaxies collide. Specific clusters of mass get disconnected, and a large amount of visible matter is what makes up dark matter. While this sounds overly complex, the important thing to remember is that this proves that dark matter makes up for 68% of the universe.

Creation Of Human Organs In A Laboratory

Through stem cell research, we can provide better access to organs for patients, meaning that patients no longer need to wait for donors, making it easier to cure certain conditions. Stem cells make it possible to grow an indefinite number of cells of the same type, but other types of cells also arise from that process. This means that it is possible to regenerate organs using skin cells. In the future, the discovery could make it so that the organs needed for treatment are created in a laboratory.

Face Transplants

The process of face transplantation uses tissues of a dead person to replace another person’s face. It is a complicated process that was first successfully performed in France in 2005. This transplant was only partial, but the first full-face transplant happened only five years later in Spain.

Since then, people with significant congenital disabilities or facial disfigures caused by diseases or burns have had this procedure performed on them in multiple countries. What seemed like science fiction in the 1990s is a reality now.

Significant Progress In The Search For A Cure For HIV/AIDS

HIV is considered to be one of the deadliest viruses in the history of humankind. While we still have not found a cure for AIDS, the disease that is a result of an HIV that has advanced too much, we did manage to improve the treatment of HIV.

With the new methods, some of which were developed in Germany, patients with HIV can live longer, almost being able to lead healthy lives. With these exciting advancements, millions of lives have been saved, and it is only a matter of time before we find a complete cure.

False Memory Implants

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) managed to find a way to create false memories and plant them into the brains of mice. While this enormous scientific breakthrough can help us better understand the concept of mind and help us with dealing with mental health issues, it can still be problematic.

It does seem like a scene out of an old science fiction movie, but with this advancement, it could be possible to manipulate a person’s memory, and who knows what consequences that could have. 

Robotic Body Parts

Scientists at the University of Twente have developed robotic body parts using biomechanics. They managed to create robotic arms that can make life easier for people with severe muscular dystrophy. They also implemented previous research on prosthetics in creating these limbs. These robotic body parts could prove to be extremely helpful for wounded soldiers, people suffering from disabilities or older people.

Quantum Teleportation

A photon was teleported into space with the help of a laser beam by Canadian scientists. This process is called quantum teleportation, and it can be used to transport information about something, not its physical state. However, it is a step in the right direction of possibly making teleportation of physical matter possible someday.

The process itself was incredibly hard and required extreme precision. Photons are tiny, meaning that it will be a while until we can successfully teleport larger items. 

The Explosion Of The Internet

Although the World Wide Web originated much earlier, it was not until the 21st century that we saw everything the internet is capable of. And it is a fitting way to end this list because it impacted more lives than anything else. Thanks to the internet, we can do things we could only imagine 20 years ago, basically from anywhere in the world. We can access any information, watch every movie in existence, or talk to people halfway around the world. It is the discovery of all the possibilities of the internet that made this century what it is, at least for now.