With only a few days left in this strange beast of a year that will surely come down in the history books, we thought it would be nice to reflect on the amazing things scientists have done so far. Despite everything.
Of course, scientific achievements usually take years. However, here is a round-up of some of the exciting science news reported in 2020. Just to remember that they weren’t all that terrible.
1. We found the first known extraterrestrial proteins in meteorites
Can Life Emerge Elsewhere in the Solar System? As curious and intelligent beings, humans are naturally interested in finding out whether living creatures thrive beyond the limits of our small blue space stone. One way to find this is to turn to meteors.
Earlier this year, scientists announced that they had discovered the first extraterrestrial proteins inside a meteorite that fell to Earth 0 years ago.
“We are convinced that proteins are likely to be in space,” we realize, “astronomer Chenoa Trembell told ScienceAlert in March.” But if we can really start looking for evidence of their existence, and what some of the structures and general structures might be, Looks like it’s really interesting and exciting. “
2. We avoided some annoying changes in the atmosphere
A new study has found that the famous Montreal Protocol – the 1987 agreement to stop the production of ozone-depleting substances – may be responsible for preventing or reversing some of the disturbances in air currents around our planet’s southern hemisphere.
Recovering the protective ozone layer around the Earth seems to have stopped the migration of air currents known as southern jet streams, an event that has pushed parts of Australia into prolonged drought.
Ian Rae, a chemist at the University of Melbourne, explained, “If the ozone level is reversing, and the circulation is moving north, that’s good news on two fronts.”
An. A.I. It solved the 50-year-old biology challenge decades before anyone expected it.
Earlier this month, scientists at the UK-based artificial intelligence company Deepmind announced that the new AI system has effectively solved a long-running and unreliable complex scientific problem related to protein formation and behavior.
For nearly 50 years researchers have tried to predict how proteins achieve their three-dimensional structure. The astronomical number of possible configurations has made this task – known as the protein-folding problem – incredibly difficult.
The success of Deepmind means a huge step in the range of research efforts ranging from drug dealing and drug discovery to health research to further applications.
Sci. Scientists used rapid radio strokes to find the missing matter of the universe
In a mysterious story within a mystery, the really clever application of rapid radio burst (FRB) tracing earlier this year gave astronomers the answer to a surprising question – where is the only thing missing in the universe?
We are not talking about dark matter here, but a baronic (normal) matter, which should be the basis of all our calculations, but have not yet found it. The universe is vast, and stretches between vast galaxies. Even in that apparent empty space, the lone atoms still kick around.
While exploring the source of the powerful international signal known as FRB, the researchers discovered that the highly diffused gas was responsible for the ‘normal’ matter missing in the universe. Fau.
We. We also confirmed the FRB investigation for the first time in our own galaxy
That’s right. On April 28, 2020, a galaxy magnet called the SGR 1935 + 2154 was so incredibly bright in a single, millisecond-long explosion that it could have been detected from another galaxy.
This landmark investigation had a huge and immediate effect on the study of the mysterious FRB, which so far has only been found to have come from outside our galaxy, making it difficult to trace their exact source.
“This type, in the opinion of most people, compromises the origin of the FRB as it comes from the magnet,” Caltech astronomer Srinivas Kulkarni told Science Alert.
Astronomers held a one-time whale to do follow-up work on this probe and by November we had also confirmed that this is an intra-galactic FRB repeater. For sure we can expect even more excitement around this coming year.
6. SpaceX and NASA made history with the first crew launch
Despite being a global epidemic, space enthusiasts being sold by various launches and space missions have many reasons for excitement this year. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private space company to deliver NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
We have a liftoff. Made as history NASA_Astronauts Starting from NASAKennedy For the first time in nine years SpaceX Crew Dragon: pic.twitter.com/alX1t1JBAt
– NASA (સા NASA) May 30, 2020
Not only did they bring home safely, several months later, another crew launch departed without interruption in November, delivering four astronauts to the space station – the first likely to be a regular mission in 2021 and beyond.
7. NASA touched a planet, and JX brought back a sample
After a journey of more than 320 million kilometers (200 million miles), NASA’s OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft finally landed on the asteroid Bennu in October, collecting samples of its surface debris, in an effort to capture descendants in the magnificent footage delivered by space. We can expect the investigation to return in 2023 with its precious cargo.
Last year, the Japanese space agency JXA achieved a similar feat with the Haibusa 2 probe, collecting a sample of the asteroid Ryugu. In December of this year, we saw a safe return of that sample, and the team has already given treatment for the first glimpse of the recovered black dust. We can’t wait to learn more about what this asteroid mission will discover.
Reuse dust on the outer chamber of the recovery capsule. (JAXA)
8. Scientists discovered the first animal that does not need oxygen to survive
Back here in our own world, biologists were amazed when they found the first multicellular organism without a mitochondrial genome – meaning an organism that does not breathe. In fact, it lives without any need for oxygen.
While some single-celled organisms thrive in anaerobic conditions, these common salmon parasites, jellyfish-like creatures Henegua salminicola, The fact that oxygen is not needed to survive is quite significant, and left researchers with many new questions to answer.
H. Selminicola Under the microscope. (Stephen Douglas Atkinson)
We. We found stunning footage of “long-stingy miserly” shores off the coast of Australia
Back in April, the back strip of attached tentacled clones caused quite a stir among crowds of biologists exploring part of a few ocean studies off the coast of Western Australia. This strange entity was a particularly long siphonophore, a floating string of thousands of individual zoos. In fact, this observation may be one of the longest strings ever made.
Check out this beautiful * giant * siphonophore apolemia recorded #NingalooCanyons The campaign looks like this sample is the largest ever recorded, and in the posture of feeding the bizarre UFO. Thank you Caseywdunn For information wamuseum @Geos Knowledge Aus CurinUni Liked pic.twitter.com/QirkIWDu6S
– Schmidt Ocean (@ Schmidt Ocean) April 6, 2020
“Everyone was blown away when it was taken into account,” biologists Nerida Wilson and Lisa Kirkandley of the Western Australian Museum told Science-Alert.
“There was so much excitement. People were pouring into the control room from all over the ship. Siphonophores are commonly seen but this one looked big and unusual.”
10. A physicist came up with mathematics that makes sense of ‘conflict-free’ time travel
It wouldn’t be nice to pop into that time-machine and fix some of the mishaps you’ve had in the past, without accidentally killing your grandfather in the process.
Well, 2020 also became the year when we learned about the compromise of mathematical vision for time travel that not everyone likes. German Tober, a physics student at the University of Queensland in Australia, worked on how to “square numbers” to make time travel viable without contradiction.
While he couldn’t get close to us immediately with a working time machine, his calculations show that space-time can potentially adapt itself to avoid contradictions. And, according to Tober’s supervisor, the math is checked. Fabulous.
11. The first COVID-19 vaccine is already being given outside of clinical trials
The world’s biggest challenge this year was the global COVID-19 epidemic. Healthcare professionals and essential workers have put a lot of emphasis on keeping society afloat, and we can never thank them enough. Meanwhile, researchers from a number of related fields – from immunology to genetics – have also worked tirelessly throughout the year to better understand the coronavirus SARS-CV-2 novel.
That work will continue until the new year, but in late November we got the first taste of what it means to accelerate scientific research and funding beyond its specific pace. The first vaccine to save people from COVID-19 has already completed all the necessary phases of clinical trials, and is being rolled out in the UK, US and parts or Europe.
Much will need to be done before we can put this devastating epidemic behind us and protect the most vulnerable communities around the world, but having effective vaccines already is a truly fantastic achievement, and without a doubt the biggest reason to celebrate science this year. A hopeful fulfillment to take us to 2021.
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