SCI-TECH 

By: Christine  Logroño 

 National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA has just recently announced a paramount discovery within the neighboring planet of Earth known as the Red Planet, Mars. NASA’s rover, Perseverance has stumbled upon a few leopard spots on the reddish rock on Mars’ Jezero Crater back in July of 2024. The leopard spots was soon given the nickname as “Cheyava Falls”, as scientists thinks the spots may contain various chemical reactions that used to support microbial life on the planet (The Mars Report, 2025).

          The rover Perseverance’s Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), and Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) are the instruments which discovered the pattern on the minerals on the planet, which

          Soon the team gave it the nickname “leopard spots” before settling on “Cheyava Falls”. Last year, a sample was taken and was called the “Sapphire Canyon”, the 25th Martian sample from Mars Perseverance rover (NASA Science, 2025). It contains biosignatures, or the physical indication of a presence of life within a planet, currently or in the past. The leopard spots are composed of two iron-rich minerals which are vivianite or hydrated iron phosphate, and greigite or iron sulfide. Vivianite is commonly found on Earth around organic matter that is decaying, while microbial life here on Earth also produce greigite (Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2025).

          Although, the biosignatures are still in need for further study before a conclusion will be Made. According to NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, he had said "Potential biosignature on the Red Planet is a groundbreaking discovery, and one that will advance our understanding of Mars”, which shows NASA’s full and deep commitment in pursuing the goal of putting the first person on Mars’ surface (Taveau, 2025). Attaining such an achievement may require a considerable amount of time, but through society’s constant advances in technology pairing with the elite minds of each scientists working for the discovery of astronomical observatories, the first human boots will soon step on the dry, Red Planet. Becoming one of humanity’s greatest pride, to reach another planet, Mars as we discover more of our own Earth.

10/03/25

Over 4,000 confirmed infections in Guangdong Province since late July according to a recent editorial published in Biocontaminant, the largest chikungunya outbreak ever recorded in the country, with over 3,600 reported cases in Shunde District alone.

          Chikungunya is a viral fever developed from the bites of Aedes mosquitoes, the same insects responsible for dengue and zika viruses. Since the disease cannot be passed between people, reducing the mosquito population is the effective way to avoid transmission.

          The lead author of South China Normal University, Guang-Guo Ying stated “The outbreak reflects both the global spread of chikungunya and the favorable conditions for mosquito-borne diseases in southern China”, he said.

          In return, the authorities of China have launched a province-wide campaign urging residents to eliminate standing waters where mosquitoes breed. Due to climate change, continuous urbanization, and international travel, it has helped mosquitoes to spread more widely, impacting the worldwide public health challenges.

          Most patients often experience fever, headache, muscle aches, rash, and joint swelling in a few days after being bitten by an infected mosquito, as the disease might not cause deaths often, it can also cause long-term arthritis and fatigue that abides for months after recovery. Although there is no treatment or licensed vaccine for the chikungunya, hospitals focus on relieving the patients from symptoms by resting, hydration, and relieving symptoms which follow for recovery within a week.

          According to the World Health Organization (WHO), they have introduced a new clinical guideline to address these growing challenges, as well as making its Global Arbovirus Initiative to be stronger.

          Discovered in Tanzania around the 1950s, the chikungunya fever has been affecting more than 110 countries all across Asia, America, Africa, and Europe. “Chikungunya” is derived from the Kimakonde language which means “that which bends up”, a statement that refers to the stooped posture due to the severe joint pain from the infection.

10/11/25

For many centuries, our natural satellite has been one of the things that even our ancestors admire in our night sky. The Moon has been something that piqued humans’ interest and curiosity, but it was also something out of reach. That changed on the night of July 20, 1969, when millions of people all over the world stopped whatever they were doing and looked up towards the sky—or turned on their televisions—to witness a new step in history unfold.

The Apollo 11 mission was not just an ordinary space flight, it was the result of years of effort, failure, and determination. Living proof of one of humanity’s greatest challenges, yet greatest achievement. During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were fiercely competing against each other on reaching space. The current president of America, John F. Kennedy, had announced in 1961 that America would land a man on the Moon before the decade ended. Many doubted it was possible, thinking humans could never reach what was beyond our sky. During that time, space travel was still newly introduced, it was known as risky, and unpredictable. But that bold promise had pushed many scientists, engineers, and astronauts to work together towards what once seemed to be impossible.

On July 16, 1969, Apollo 11 was launched from Kennedy Space Center. The spacecraft carried three astronauts—Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins, and Buzz Aldrin. They had travelled around 376,400 kilometers, or 234,000 miles away in just a span of three days. The landing was tense yet exciting. The alarms went off, their fuel was running low, and the landing area on the Moon’s surface was rough.

Once landed, Armstrong soon announced, “The Eagle has landed,” towards NASA. Celebration soon broke out at NASA’s Mission Control, finally making an unforgettable moment in history. But, the most memorable moment soon came when Armstrong finally decided to step on the Moon. He placed his foot on the dusty surface, leaving a boot print that is still visible to this day. His famously declared the words carried towards history, “That’s one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind”. Aldrin soon joined him, he described the Moon as a place of “magnificent desolation”.

With their time on the Moon, the astronauts conducted many experiments, collected rock samples, and even planted the American flag. The samples they brought back helped many other scientists to better understand the Moon and its relationship with Earth. More importantly, the mission proved that even humans can overcome strong challenges through teamwork, intelligence, and perseverance.

Through the Moon landing, many people changed the way they view the Earth. Images of our own planet from the Moon’s point of view showed how small and fragile it looked with the vastness and darkness of space. Humanity had stepped beyond its home planet. And just for a brief moment, all problems in the world seemed pointless knowing we are just a spec of dust.

For over fifty years, the Moon landing has been one of the greatest achievements in human history. It continues to inspire many creative minds to dream, explore, and even start on asking questions about our expanding universe. Apollo 11 stands as a stark reminder of humanity’s curiosity and courage that with brilliant minds, we will set ablaze farther than imaginable. During that night in 1969, humanity didn’t just land on the Moon, but we proved that even the sky above us isn’t our limit, but a proof of our determination.

01/25/26

Black Holes are one of the most fascinating and extreme celestial objects in our known universe. They are massive vacuums in space of which its gravity is so strong that nothing—even light itself—cannot escape it. Although, Black Holes are lightyears away from our planet, scientists have been studying them through their effects on nearby matter and light.

The formation of a Black Hole is through the end of a massive star’s life, far larger than our own Sun. When a star finally runs out its fuel, it can no longer support itself against gravity. The star starts to collapse inward, and if the remaining core is big enough, it reduces into an incredibly dense point called a “singularity”. Around this singularity is what we call the “event horizon” or the boundary where escape is no longer possible. Anything that crosses the event horizon is permanently pulled into the Black Hole.

There are several types of Black Holes in our universe. One of them is called the Stellar Black Holes, which are formed from collapsing stars that usually have masses far larger than our Sun. Then the Supermassive Black Holes, which are very colossal and are millions or billions of times more massive than our Sun. They are found at the center of most galaxies, including the Milky Way. Unlike Stellar Black Holes, Supermassive Black Holes have weaker forces at the event horizon, which means an object that was pulled inside would not immediately be ripped apart. One of the discovered Supermassive Black Hole is found in the Sagittarius constellation, the TON 618. There are also Intermediate Black Holes, which fall between stellar and supermassive types. They are quite harder to detect, possibly formed from runaway stellar collisions or even clusters from smaller Black Holes.

Despite their fearsome reputation, Black Holes do not just act as a senseless vacuum that sucks everything that comes near them. These objects must come very close towards them. For example, our planet Earth is safely away from the Supermassive Black Hole located at the center of our galaxy, therefore it is not in danger of being pulled in.

One of the most fascinating ideas about Black Holes came from one of the greatest minds in history, Albert Einstein and his theory of general relativity. It describes gravity as the bending of space and time. Near a Black Hole, space-time is being warped so strongly that time itself slows down from distant observers. This effect, known as “time dilation”, has been long supported with mathematical models and observations.

During 2015, scientists had made a major breakthrough of detecting gravitational waves and ripples in space-time that was caused by the collision of two Black Holes. Soon after in 2019, astronomers released the first-ever image of a Black Hole’s shadow, resulting in strong visual evidence of their existence. These many discoveries soon marked important milestones in modern astronomy.

Throughout the years, Black Holes continue to test our very understanding of physics. They tend to push the limits of known existing laws to start on raising deep questions about the vastness of space, time, and the nature of our universe. As technology continues to advance, scientists hope to uncover even more secrets hidden within these celestial bodies, and to the possible objects lurking around space.

01/25/26

 There are several different opinions about whether or not aliens truly exist. Many believe that they are just a myth—a simple thought to make our Earth appear less lonely in the vastness of space. But, there are also a lot of curious minds that ponder space as a place with different worlds and different kinds of creatures lurking among them. But, the main question remains—when will we get to meet them?

    For many years, the outside world remains humanity's biggest mystery. Continuous questions keep invading society's minds, whether you are a scientist or an ordinary person who wishes to seek the truth of what lives outside our planet. One crucial truth that mankind has learned is that no one will ever reach the unknown. People have depicted that in countless movies, tackling about how a certain type of technology will miraculously freeze a human's time in order to remain alive after traveling many lightyears away from Earth just to reach another world. But, it has already been proven that humanity is closer towards extinction rather than finding another life outside our planet. Several U.F.O. sightings all over the globe have shook the media with videos about a flying object carrying a certain type of technology that even the smartest humans cannot explain.

    One example of these unusual sightings came from Brazil earlier this year—January 12, 2026. Throughout the evening, four videos escalated on the internet coming from different regions of the country looking up at the night sky towards the same odd object. The U.F.O.'s spaceship was not entirely visible, but what's making its presence known is from the singular horizontal light that seems to be coming from the spaceship's center. There are many believed reasons why we still have not encountered an alien until this day. A myth that was made is called the Zoo Hypothesis, where aliens are not meeting with us due to the fact that they see humanity as an observable object. They do not interfere with us in our daily lives, but they observe us without fail. Another believed myth is that aliens are already here with us, hidden amongst the parts of the Earth that mankind has not yet discovered—especially our ocean.

    Way back during 1977 on a summer evening in Delaware, Ohio, a remarkable yet astonishing event had occurred that spurred many scientists with questions. An intense 72 second radio wave was detected by the Big Ear telescope of Ohio State. It has been discovered that the signal came near the Sagittarius constellation with over a 1420 MHz hydrogen line. The astronomer Jerry R. Ehman soon made a follow-up discovery that the anomaly in the data's printouts circled the sequence "6EQUJ5". The code itself was a representation of the signal's intensity, which was unlike any other natural noises from space. Due to this, the astronomer decided to write "Wow!" in the margin of the computer printout, making the event known as the Wow! signal. Its exact source remains a mystery until this very day, with the signal never repeating again. It was soon believed that creatures from lightyears away were trying to communicate with us through a high radio frequency.

    Aliens might exist outside our planet, but it will never erase the fact that we are not alone in our universe. There are millions or billions of other planets outside our solar system, it is unlikely that only us get to have a chance to be alive. Another planet out there exists in the vastness of space, carrying a kind of life that we will never meet. Would they also be curious about our own existence? Would their curiosity also pique in thinking that there are other species out there living outside their own planet? Because if they are—mankind is waiting for them. Astronomers already released the Voyager 1 and 2 back in 1977, carrying a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph known as the "Golden Record". Its contents are filled with everything there is you need to know about mankind's existence—from the structure of the human anatomy, to 116 images about the Earth—plants, animals, even thunder.

    Throughout the years, many are still hoping for humanity to meet with aliens. But, there are also those who fear their very existence due to the lack of knowing their true motive. If they did exist, the only possible similarity we share with them is that we are trying to live our own lives. They might share the same emotions, the same dreams, the same fears. But they are also creatures who only want to be a part of something, to satisfy their curiosity, and to live a life with productivity as their own star shines towards their planet. Mankind is no different from them. We are them, but from their own perspective.

01/27/26

  In the 21st Century, many have been starting to rely on A.I., not only does it assist a person's learning, but A.I. tools work fastly. People started to be comfortable in using it to find answers, ask about a certain topic, and students nowadays even began to make it do their homework for them. A.I. is originally designed to be our helper, assistant, and guide with our daily activities. Although, people began to abuse its capability and used it the wrong way.

    During the year 1956, A.I. was founded by the Dartmouth Conference and was organized by John McCarthy, who is now known as the "father of A.I.". A.I. was originally created in order to build machines that can imitate a human's intelligence. It was made to do certain activities like solving complex problems, understanding a language, and even learning from data. Its objective was to reduce human error. Even though A.I. has already existed in the 1950's, its popularity began to pique in the early 2010's. Apple's virtual A.I. assistant Siri was created in 2011, followed by Amazon's Alexa in 2014. With the passing years, A.I. also gained more improvements. The once an assistant machine is now a robot with emotions. There are even times that people began to fear it.

    Society started treating A.I. as someone you can fully rely on without thinking of any consequences, simply because they are made to obey humanity with no limitations. Although, some people began to think of what mankind's future might look like now that technology is rapidly growing, especially with the presence of Artificial Intelligence. They fear it might lose control and become unpredictable with no longer assisting, helping, and taking simple tasks. Back in 2016, Sophia the Robot—a realistic and human-like robot became famous during an interview with her expressing that she wants to destroy humans. Due to this, it sparked a massive discussion throughout the globe about how A.I. will eventually take over the world in the future. In the video game Detroit: Become Human, a female A.I. robot seemed to express how machines like her could never compare to what a human really is. Even with the exact appearance, voice, and mannerism they have to humans. She stated that she only existed thanks to the intelligence of the humans who decided to build her, but one thing she could never have was a soul.

    A.I. has also stepped foot when it comes to individuals with businesses or companies. Technological unemployment now has become more consistent. Companies began to invest in machinery in doing labor for their products, which requires a small amount of time to be achieved in comparison to an average person. Due to this, many people are having difficulties in trying to find a stable job. Without employment, people would not receive any monthly salaries. But, there are also some people that take advantage of A.I.'s creativity and credits it as their own. A few self-proclaimed artists spread many illustrations about how they created art through paintings, and even animations. Eventually, individuals with real creativity and artistic passion proved that those illustrations are made by A.I. tools. Due to this, people online began to wonder what the real world looks like compared to A.I. images and videos.

    To conclude, A.I. might not overtake mankind in a literal way, but they have already started overtaking what little knowledge left the society has. What was invented to assist and offer guidance is now being used as an excuse for people to stop pursuing, dreaming, and working diligently on their own. A.I. might not have completely made humanity suffer with torturous devices that people fear the Earth's future might be, but A.I. did become one of the reasons as to why society craves to have an easy life. It is not a threat to humanity, but a threat to our intellectuality.

01/31/26