Science is growing by leaps and bounds every day which barely gives science enthusiasts a chance to pick up their jaws from the floor. Here are 9 scientific discoveries that are guaranteed to give you an intellectual nerd boner!

CO2 Recycling Creates Alternative Fuel

Scientists have found a way to capture the carbon dioxide, which is constantly threatening the Ozone layer and creating global warming, and turn it into methanol, which can be used as an alternative fuel source. This could go a long way to helping the environment and alleviating our current fuel crisis.

A.I. Plays Video Games

Cyborg Mice Brain

Scientists used a conductive polymer mesh full of nanowires which melded with a mouse’s brain after being rolled up and inserted using a thin needle. The nanowires are capable of sparking or recording brain activity and working with biological tissue. This technology could truly change neuroscience and benefit countless humans suffering brain damage some day.

Fast-Charging Smart Chip

Singapore Professor Rachid Yazami of the Nanyang Technological University is developing a smart chip that’s about the size of the average fingernail and can charge itself in less than 10 minutes. The goal is to eventually integrate it into phones and other handheld devices.

Race Cars That Drive Themselves

An investment firm named Kinetik is teaming up with Formula E to create the first racing championship that doesn’t have a human driver behind the wheel. The race will have 19 teams competing with two cars each for an entire hour.

Touchable Holograms

While we still can’t touch and feel holograms the way they do on Star Trek, Japanese scientists are using a laser technology called Fairy Lights that allows a person to touch and manipulate a 3D projection hovering in mid-air.

Mount Etna Eruption

After two years of virtually no volcanic activity, Mount Etna, the tallest volcano in Europe shocked every scientist out there when it came to life through a series of violent eruptions that caused a great deal of panic in Sicily, Italy. The ash plume reached a height of 9,800 feet. The next day it happened again. This time the ash plume reached 23,000 feet, forcing the Catania-Fontanarossa Airport to shut down.

Enhanced Virtual Reality

In late 2015, science took a step further in virtual reality technology by introducing the GEAR VR headset that lets you play a bunch of games. Samsung is also preparing a web browser feature that will allow the wearer to view things in 360-degree angles and even watch 3D videos.

College-Level A.I.

If you thought artificial intelligence was science fiction, guess again. The National Institute of Informatics in Japan has designed an A.I. that is college level smart. With the amount of knowledge it has gained it could literally apply and get accepted to hundreds of private and national universities.