An international blackout rocked Spain, Portugal, and the south of France, leaving millions in the dark this week. Experts are scratching their heads, not really sure what caused the outage. Portugal’s national electricity network initially pointed fingers at some rare thing called an “induced atmospheric vibration,” but then they were like, “Nah, never mind.”
Induced atmospheric vibrations are these funky oscillations in high voltage power lines that happen when the weather goes bonkers and the temperature changes like crazy. It’s not totally confirmed if this particular blackout was caused by that, but experts are warning that these temperature swings are gonna get more common thanks to climate change. And that’s not good news for electricity networks worldwide.
But hey, it’s not all bad news this week in the science world. Over in China, scientists dropped a bombshell by unveiling a new way to do nuclear energy that’s safer. And get this, they’re using some old U.S. tech that was abandoned. Talk about turning trash into treasure!
Now, onto a more pressing matter – dinosaur handbags. Yep, you read that right. Three companies are teaming up to make luxury accessories out of good ol’ T. rex “leather” in a lab. They claim it’s gonna be cruelty-free and eco-friendly, but not everyone’s convinced. I mean, dinosaur leather? Really?
Finding soft tissues in fossils is like finding a needle in a haystack, but some dinosaur collagen has been discovered in a few fossilized bones. The science behind T. rex collagen is a bit hazy, but these companies are ready to dive headfirst into the world of Cretaceous fashion.
And here’s a question that’s been bugging me – can astronauts burp in space? I mean, we’ve all seen those astronauts floating around weightlessly, but what happens when they need to let out a little burp? Gravity plays a big role in burping, separating gases from solids and liquids in our stomachs. But up in space, things work a bit differently.
Let’s take a trip back to the 18th century, where an Austrian vicar named Franz Xaver Sidler von Rosenegg met a rather strange fate. This monk’s remains were found preserved in a church, with his body stuffed with wood chips and fabric. Talk about a bizarre embalming technique! And to top it off, the poor guy died from tuberculosis. Mystery solved, but more questions raised.
Switching gears to a Soviet satellite from 1972 that’s on a crash course back to Earth. This space probe got stuck in orbit after a mishap during launch, and now it’s making its way back home. Where will it land? No one really knows. But hey, it could add a little excitement to someone’s day if it lands in a populated area, right?
And that’s a wrap for this week in science. From dinosaur handbags to doomed satellites, the world of discovery never fails to surprise us. So buckle up, folks, because who knows what next week will bring in the world of science!
