Science! A cancer breakthrough, flat-earth flyer, fastest production car, and a back-flipping robot

Do you love science?  Then you’ll love the news from this week!

Even if one story involves someone who said — unlike a character in Nacho Libre — “I don’t believe in science.”

1. Canadian PhD student makes groundbreaking cancer discovery

2:28 Queen’s Chemistry Student makes Cancer Discovery

A PhD candidate at Queen’s University has discovered a novel DNA binder that could “switch off” cancer cells and prevent them from spreading.

It’s a huge step forward for cancer research and future treatments.

It’s the top engaging post of the week, with more than 138,000 likes, comments and shares across the board (including a top post on the r/science subreddit)

2. Man to launch self into space to prove Earth is flat

1:05 Flat-Earther to launch self in rocket made of spare parts in hopes of proving his theory

“I want to inspire others — and you have to do something incredible to get anybody’s attention,” said 61-year-old Mike Hughes.

The feat is incredible alright: the plan is to strap himself into his homemade contraption and attempt to hurtle it over the ghost town of Amboy, Calif..

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He wants to prove the earth is flat. And says he doesn’t “believe in science.”

With nearly 20,000 interactions and 219,000 views on Facebook, this story definitely caught people’s attention.

Maybe there’s more to it?

3. Tesla shows off fastest production car ever

0:39 Tesla shows off fastest production car ever; can hit 100 km/h in 1.9 seconds

It can seat four.

Travel 1,000 km on a single charge — a new record for an electric vehicle, Elon Musk, the co-founder, CEO and Product Architect at Tesla, said.

It can go from 0 to 100 km per hour in 1.9 seconds with a maximum speed over 400 km/h, which would make it the fastest car in general production.

People were certainly wowed by this new Tesla. 24,000 people interacted with the story, with a range of comments.

Do the world even need a car this fast?

The $200,000-250,000 price range also has some spooked.

Or maybe not.

Robot lands perfect backflip… yay?

What does it mean when a bi-pedal robot can now mimic humans’ athletic movements?

We’ll let the comments speak for themselves.

eric.do@globalnews.ca
Follow @ericmarkdo