Do you know what the classic image of our Milky Way galaxy looks like? All yellow in the center, with two milky-blue arms spiraling away into the blackness of space, right? Wrong. It's taken a few decades of scientists arguing over it to reach that conclusion, but we can now say it's definitely wrong.
The 'four arm' theory was first proffered by astronomers using radio telescopes in the 1950s, but seemed to be countered when NASA's Spitzer space telescope recorded images of a two armed galaxy in 2008. After poring over the detail and conducting further study, they concluded that because Spitzer works on infrared, it only sought out comparatively lighter, cooler stars like our own Sun. Because of that, it was blind to supermassive hot stars which stay closer to the center of the galaxy, forming smaller, secondary arms of their own.
Over the years, weve seen so many food trends come and go, such as ramen burgers, matcha, and spiked ice-cream. Nowadays, were seeing another trend making waves in the food industry. How many times today have you seen an Instagram photo of a scoop of black ice cream, or a cup of black yogurt, or hamburgers with black buns? Indeed, the charcoal trend has taken the world by storm.
So, what gives your latte that deep black shade? Activated charcoal, or coconut ash, is produced by heating coconut shells to insanely high temperatures until theyre burnt to a crisp. The ashes are then increased in size by steaming at high temperatures. Through this process, the ashes become a strong detoxifier, mostly because they become extra absorbent. This product may be purchased in pill form, and promises to alleviate hangovers, minimize the effects of food poisoning, and fight the visible signs of aging.
Activated charcoal is said to boost ones energy as a result of decreasing toxins in the body. However, no evidence proves that detoxifying can lead to increased energy. Also, while it can help cure a hangover, it doesnt necessarily remove alcohol from your blood. It is also said to aid in debloating your stomach because it cleanses your colon but again, this all anecdotal and isnt supported by scientific evidence as of yet. All we can say for sure is that it is a proven detoxifier.