Frontier

Mercurys Rapid Contraction

4.6 billion years ago， when the solar system just formed， Mercury was just a simple liquid metal ball. In the next 10 billion years， Mercury gradually cooled down and formed a solid metal core and outer crust. In the 1970s， Mariner 10 probe discovered a ridge in the planet according to the height and width of the ridge， scientists have calculated that Mercurys diameter has around 3km of shrinkage. In 2011， NASA MESSENGER ran to follow Mercury's orbit. In 2013， MESSENGER took a whole shot of Mercury surface， the pictures lead to discover more ridges and ravines. By using the latest data calculation， Mercurys diameter will be 11 kilometers which is far beyond the calculation results made 40 years ago.

A result of the crustal shortening is that the geology of the planet getting tighter and hindering volcanic activities， MESSENGER is still looking at the lava flowing traces P from Mercurys surface. Scientists have explained that the lava released is caused by meteor impacts the planets surface which in returns also causes damages to its crust. Not only Mercury， but also our moon has been proved to shrink. Researching plants shrinkage and volcanic activities are important contents in Geophysics and Astrogeophysics， which helps people to have a better understanding of the earth and the universe formation and evolution.

Voice

“Genetically Modified cant be generally spoken， from the perspective of science， Genetically Modified is the development direction.”

—— Yuan Longping

"Facing global climate changes， human should learn from polar bear， adapt to the change rule more actively， in order to survive better.".

—— Gao Dengyi

History

February 12

"Human genome" was preliminary presented on February 12，2001. It was officially announced that a preliminary analysis of the human genome was on the way by the international human genome project which was leaded by scientists from 6 different countries. The results of this project has helped researchers to confirm 25 thousands genes in the human genome which means humanity is one step closer in understanding their own path. The most important purpose of human genome analysis project is to identify all human gene sequences. By deciphering the genetic encoding， we will also discover diseases， other genetics disorders， growth， and the fundamentals for life and death.

February 22

On February 22， 1997， the Roslin Institute in Britain officially announced they have succeeded in producing the cloned sheep Dolly who was 7 months old and in good health. Dolly was the first living creature using mature cells of living organisms， consequently this marks the era of biotechnology and biological cloning time. Cloning technology works in extracting DNA from a donor and develop it into an identical organism. This technology has created a great impact in the organ culture and the protection of rare animal. However， cloning technology has also created other effectsand controversies.

February 14

On February 14， 1876， American inventor Alexander Graham Bell applied the telephone patent to the Patent Office. However it is interesting to note that actually Alexander Graham Bell already invented the telephone in June 1875， he delayed few months for the application of a patent. Another interesting fact was that another American inventor Elisha Gray made also an application for the telephone patent few hours right after Alexander Graham Bell. In the end， Alexander Graham Bell became as the father of the telephone invention.To further research acoustical and electrical components， Alexander Graham Bell made an important contribution in the realm of Electroacoustics. The Bell telephone company founded in 1877 by Alexander Graham Bell is today occupies an important position in the field of global communications of AT&T's predecessor.

Number

5×10-7

While PM10 and PM2.5 were still being destroyed our respiratory system， their little brother PM0.5 is approaching to us again. PM0.5 refers to a floating particle which the diameter is less than 0.5 micrometers （5 x 10-7 meters）. Nowadays， PM2.5 has proved to be harmful substances which is easy absorbed and it is difficult to discharge after entering the human body. The surface area of PM2.5 is bigger and adsorption ability is stronger， and it can catch out attention once it goes into peoples field of vision.

But scientists says that we should remain cautious the harm of PM0.5 particles. From a scientific point of view， a pm10 particle is a harmful component part of the particle matter itself， which attaches to toxic substances. According to the research， smoke from automobile exhausts have ultrafine particles that may be PM0.5 with source of organic matter the specific grade adsorption of granular substances has not yet been measure， so there is no need for fear when encountering particles of PM0.5.

Anecdote

Before Christmas， Curiosity Mars rover broke down again. Why say “again”， because in a whole year's news about Mars， malfunction of Curiosity seems in more trouble than completing tasks.

In the end of February 2013，the main computer of Curiosity entered the safe mode because of memory malfunction， Curiosity cant do scientific research in safe mode， it only receives and implements the Earth signal in a small range.

Then in mid to late march， Curiosity got data problems and lead to shut down all equipments， scientists took one week to put Curiosity debugging to normal. On November 20th， NASA revealed circuit problems on Curiosity again.

Although malfunction happened frequently， the achievements of Curiosity is matchless merit. As the most advanced artificial detectors， Curiosity got more data than any other previous artificial detectors. It even found evidence for the presence of water on Mars. It became one of the most important science and technology Mars news in 2013.