A new statistical study has revealed that says that the likelihood of the 21st century’s string of record high-temperature years would be nearly impossible without the influence of man-made global warming. The study, from the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, says that there is only a 0.01 percent chance of this being a natural phenomenon — a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
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In 360 BCE, the philosopher Plato discussed the nature of consciousness, addressing it as a real phenomenon that could be considered a part of reality, because of its ability to both affect and be affected by other consciousnesses. This simple concept places consciousness, something that is on one hand ubiquitous to the human experience, and on the other remains one of the most elusive phenomenon known in terms of our inability to not only quantify it, but also to prove it exists in the first place. However, researchers at the University of Wisconsin have made a step towards making consciousness a quantifiable phenomenon, where science may be able to address it in a more direct fashion.
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While it probably wouldn’t have to do with Star Trek’s 70th anniversary, researchers that are part of a state-backed strategic development program in Russia say they plan to develop a quantum-based teleportation device within the next 20 years.

While such a miraculous device might sound like it’s a long way from being developed, Russian tech-sector investor Alexander Galitsky points to recent breakthroughs in quantum teleportation that hint that what is being done at the molecular level might one day be applied to the macroscopic. "It sounds fantastical today, but there have been successful experiments at Stanford at the molecular level. Much of the tech we have today was drawn from science fiction films 20 years ago."
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Last October, researchers with the Kepler Planet Hunters program announced the discovery of unusual patterns in the light output of a star indexed as KIC 8462852, patterns that could only be explained by massive objects in orbit around the star, blocking a significant portion of its light. While many theories were put forward to explain the phenomenon, ranging from proto-planetary debris to massive comets, all of the explanations failed to fit what was being observed — except for the otherwise controversial idea that the light might be blocked by massive alien artifacts.
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