This has been a great week for science (when isn't it?), but there were a number of new developments that were especially exciting. Here are four of the most interesting.
4. Kilts Found To Increase Fertility And Sperm Quality
Want kids? Then it might be time to buy a kilt. Erwin Kompanje at the Department of Intensive Care at Erasmus MC University Medical Centre in the Netherlands has published an article in the Scottish Medical Journal proposing just that.
He suggests that the most ideal clothing choice to enhance male fertility is a kilt with no underwear, mainly because it lowers the temperature of the man's testicular region.
3. Russian Cosmonauts Embark On An ISS Upgrade
Space! A pair of Russian cosmonauts took a six hour journey into the void on Friday to upgrade the International Space Station with a few new components. In addition to making a few adjustments to an ongoing experiment testing material exposure in space, the two also prepared the way for the European Space Agency's Automated Transfer Vehicle 4, an unmanned cargo ship named "Albert Einstein," which will arrive later this year.
2. Russia And NASA Team Up To Send Animals Into Space
American and Russian scientists have sent a group of mice, gerbils, geckos, and snails into space for a month-long project that will aim to see how interstellar travel affects animals.
"This is first and foremost to determine how our organisms adapt to weightlessness and to understand what we need to do to make sure that our organisms survive extended flights," said Valery Abrashkin, Department Head of the TsSKB-Progress space research centre.
Don't worry though, the researchers promise that those brave animals will be returned to Earth safely after their mission has been completed.
1. Superpowered New Telescope Can Spot Star-Forming Galaxies In A Fraction Of The Time
An incredible new telescope in Chile is outperforming its contemporaries by leaps and bounds. The Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA) was able to locate and observe hundreds of the early universe's star forming galaxies in a matter of minutes, a task that other telescopes have been working decades to do.
Aside from making everyone else look bad, the ALMA is a huge step forward in understanding how our galaxy developed and evolved. Even more exciting, the device was only using a quarter of the planned 66 antennas, meaning we're in for a way more accurate view of distant stars in the very near future.
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