New research suggests that the mysterious force known as dark energy could lead to the creation of multiple “Big Bangs” and the birth of new universes, much like the creature in the movie Gremlins who multiplied when splashed with water.

According to the study, dark energy – the force that is believed to be causing the accelerating expansion of the universe – could eventually cause the universe to tear apart into smaller “bubbles.” Each of these bubbles would then create a new universe with its own unique set of physical laws and constants.

The idea of multiple universes, or a “multiverse,” has been a topic of debate and speculation in the scientific community for years, but this new research provides a potential explanation for how these other universes could come to exist.

While the idea of multiple universes may seem far-fetched, it is based on the principles of established scientific theories like quantum mechanics and general relativity. The researchers behind the study hope that their work will help to further our understanding of the universe and the nature of dark energy.

Of course, the concept of a multiverse is still just a theory, and there is currently no way to test or confirm its existence. Nonetheless, the idea of a universe that is constantly expanding and creating new possibilities is a fascinating one that is sure to continue capturing the imaginations of scientists and non-scientists alike.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made a significant discovery by spotting some of the most massive galaxies in the universe, which existed just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang.

According to the latest findings, these galaxies are estimated to be 10 to 100 times larger than our Milky Way and are located at a distance of more than 13 billion light-years away.

These massive galaxies are believed to have formed during the early stages of the universe, when the cosmic microwave background radiation was still cooling. The radiation cooled enough for gravity to take hold, causing gas clouds to collapse and form the first galaxies.

The discovery is significant because it helps astronomers to understand the formation and evolution of galaxies in the early universe, and sheds light on how the universe grew and evolved into what it is today.

The Webb telescope, which is set to launch in October 2021, will continue to explore the cosmos and capture breathtaking images of the universe. The telescope is expected to provide unprecedented views of the earliest stages of the universe, and help scientists to better understand the history of the universe, including the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets.

Overall, the discovery of these massive galaxies is a remarkable achievement, and is a testament to the power and capabilities of NASA’s Webb telescope. With this discovery, we can expect even more exciting discoveries in the coming years as the telescope continues to explore the vast expanse of the universe.

At a whopping 30 million metric tonnes annually, methanotrophic bacteria consume the most harmful and problematic greenhouse gas known as methane, and now researchers at Northwestern University believe it could be the key to reversing global warming.

Methanotrophic bacteria not only eat the harmful gas, but excrete fuel known as methanol, through the use of an enzyme in its cell wall known as particulate methane monooxygenase, or pMMO. Previous researchers had a difficult time studying the process due to the damage to the bacteria through the process of extracting the enzyme, but Amy Rosenzweig, senior author of the new Northwestern paper who holds appointments in both chemistry and molecular biosciences at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, explains how a new process has been developed that preserves the bacteria enough to determine more useful information about how the methanol is created.

“Methane has a very strong bond, so it’s pretty remarkable there’s an enzyme that can do this. If we don’t understand exactly how the enzyme performs this difficult chemistry, we’re not going to be able to engineer and optimize it for biotechnological applications.”

The researchers used something called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a technique well-suited to membrane proteins due to the fact that the lipid membrane environment is undisturbed throughout the experiment. This allowed them to visualize the atomic structure of the active enzyme at high resolution for the first time.

Read more about the study at Science journal online.

Yes, vitamin D will help, but watch your levels.

Exploring the link between Vitamin D and COVID-19 has been excruciatingly complex. At first you think, “If I take more vitamin D, I’ll be protected,” and then you read, “If you take too much vitamin D, you’ll die.”

It was regrettable to see CNN talk about Vitamin D being “an internet sensation” instead of focusing on the benefits of the vitamin on the immune system from a scientific perspective. So I decided to give it a fair chance and see for myself just how beneficial and detrimental the supplement would be for me against COVID-19.

It’s not a difficult concept to digest: vitamin D increases immune system function, COVID-19 decreases immune system function, so… the D you get, the happier your body is… (That’s what she said…)

Vitamin D is produced by the body through a process in the skin induced by UVB light, primarily coming from the Sun. What makes things complicated is the fact that this vitamin D production is directly dependent upon the amount of melanin in the skin. Melanin, which inherently causes skin pigmentation, tends to lower the skin’s ability to produce vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure, which has led to some studies showing that older adults with darker skin may be more at high risk of vitamin D deficiency.

But the scientific voices are clashing on this assertion.

CNN says,

According to the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies’ Food and Nutrition Board, the recommended daily dose of vitamin D for anyone over age 4 is 600 IU/day in the US. For anyone over 70 years of age in the US, the dose goes up to 800 IU/day. In the UK, the recommended daily amount is 400 IU/day.

And this isn’t wrong, per say. If you had a sufficient level of vitamin D in your body, you wouldn’t need more than a few IU to assume you were slightly and safely more than “sufficient” in your daily vitamin D intake. The problem is that not everyone is the same.

So we need to test ourselves. We need to know our own vitamin D levels and immune system functionality. There are surprisingly a lot of home vitamin D tests available online and they range in price starting from around $50. While this may seem a bit expensive for just one test, as a monthly expense it may be affordable for most middle class people.