From Laser Lightening To Echidna Snot – It’s Been A Massive Month For Science

January has been a big month for scientific discoveries including new technology, snot bubbles and lightening lasers.

You’ve probably already heard all about ChatGBT, but in case you haven’t, it’s a new form of artificial intelligence that is taking the world by storm. 

The AI technology is similar to a chat bot which pulls information from a large amount of data before retuning a human-like response. 

The fascinating and seriously impressive new technology has become the centre of much controversy due to its ability to mimic the nuances of human language.

Experts are concerned that the advanced software could encourage students to use ChatGBT to write their essays or could be the cause of misinformation being spread. 

And what about the laser lightening? Well, apparently scientists have discovered a way to divert lightening through the use of lasers.

Scientists have been working since the 1960’s to find a way to guide lightening through the use of lasers. 

According to Cosmos Magazine journalist Imma Perfetto, they finally pulled it off. 

“An international team of researchers installed a car-sized terawatt laser near a telecommunications tower on a mountain in Switzerland,” she said.

“Between July and September in 2021 the researchers ran this laser for a total of six hours during thunderstorms and successfully diverted four different lightening strikes.” 

The lightening strikes were apparently diverted by approximately 50 metres. 

To top off an already interesting month, we recently discovered that Echidnas blow snot bubbles to cool themselves down during the warmer months. 

Tune into the full episode of Science Explained with host, Dr Sophie Calabretto to hear the full recap of this month’s discoveries. 

Introducing The Science Briefing: a podcast about the science of everything and your new go-to podcast for your snapshot of science news. Hosted by Dr Sophie Calabretto and featuring journalists from Cosmos Magazine.