With just a few days left in this bizarre beast of a year that will surely go down in history books, we thought it would be nice to think about the amazing things that scientists were still doing. delivery, in spite of everything.
In fact, scientific achievements are usually years in the making. But despite this, here’s a summary of some of the interesting science news we told in 2020. Just to remember it wasn’t all horrible.
1. We found the first known extraterrestrial protein in a meteorite
Could life appear elsewhere in the Solar System? As knowledgeable and intelligent people, humans are naturally interested in finding out if living creatures thrive beyond our little blue rocks. One way to find this is to turn to meteorites.
Earlier this year, scientists revealed that they had discovered the first extraterrestrial protein, captured inside a meteorite that crashed to Earth 30 years ago.
“We’re pretty sure proteins are likely to exist in space,” astronaut Chenoa Tremblay told ScienceAlert in March. “But if we can start looking for evidence that they exist, and what some of the common structures and structures might be, I think that’s interesting and interesting.”
2. We avoided some difficult changes in the atmosphere
A new study has shown that the famous Montreal Protocol – the 1987 agreement to ban the export of ozone-depleting substances – could be responsible for stopping, or even returning, some of the ‘difficult changes in air currents around the Southern Hemisphere of our planet.
Healing the protective ozone layer around the Earth seems to have stopped the migration of an air stream called the southern jet stream, which ended up pushing parts of Australia thirsty fada.
“If the ozone layer is recovering, and the circulation is shifting north, that is good news on both sides,” explained chemist Ian Rae from the University of Melbourne.
3. AI solved the challenge of 50-year biology, decades before anyone expected it
Earlier this month, scientists at UK-based artificial intelligence company DeepMind announced that a new AI system had solved a long-standing and complex scientific problem. in terms of protein structure and behavior.
For about 50 years, researchers have attempted to predict how proteins perform their three-dimensional structure. The sporadic number of fixes that may have done this task – known as the protein complex problem – is quite complex.
The success of DeepMind means a major step forward in a range of research efforts, from disease modeling and drug discovery, to applications far beyond health research.
4. Scientists used rapid radio explosions to find out what the Universe needed
In a humorous story about mystery within secrecy, earlier this year a very clever application of rapid radio explosion detection (FRB) gave astronauts an answer to a difficult question – just where is the missing subject in the? Universe?
We are not talking about a dark matter here, but the baryonic (normal) subject that should be the result of all our calculations, but simply could not be found so far. The universe is huge, and the expansion between galaxies is enormous. But in that seemingly empty space, single atoms are still kicking.
While looking for the source of the powerful interspecific signals known as FRBs, researchers discovered that highly diffuse gas can account for all the ‘normal’ cases required in the Universe. Phew.
5. We also confirmed the first ever detection of FRB in our own galaxy
That’s right. On April 28, 2020, a Milky Way magnetar called SGR 1935 + 2154 exploded in a single, millisecond explosion so clear, it would have been detected from another galaxy.
This landmark discovery immediately had a major impact on the study of secret FRBs, which so far have only been discovered coming from outside our galaxy, making it difficult to shut down their exact source.
“This type, in most people’s minds, fixes the origin of FRB as coming from magnetars,” astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni of Caltech told ScienceAlert.
Astronomers had a long time to do follow-up work on this discovery, and by November we also had confirmation that the FRB inside this galactic is a repeat. We can expect even more happiness around next year, for sure.
6. SpaceX and NASA made history with the first launch
There was a lot of reason for space enthusiasts this year, as several space missions and missions were sold despite the global pandemic. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private space company to bring NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
We are excited. History is made as @NASA_Astronauts launch from @NASAKennedy for the first time in nine years on the @SpaceX Dragon crew: pic.twitter.com/alX1t1JBAt
– NASA (@NASA) May 30, 2020
Not only did they bring them home safely several months later, another crew went unharmed in November, delivering four astronauts to the space station – the first in 2021 and beyond farther away, apparently.
7. NASA visited an asteroid, and JAXA returned a sample
After a long journey of more than 320 million kilometers (200 million miles), NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft finally traveled on the asteroid Bennu in October, collecting a sample of surface debris, its efforts captured for the future in elegant paintings delivered by the place. group. We can expect the probe to return with its valuable load in 2023.
Last year, Japanese space agency JAXA performed a trick similar to the Hayabusa2 probe, collecting a sample from the Ryugu asteroid. In December this year, we saw that sample return safely, and we already got the first glimpse of some of the black dust that the team recovered. We can’t wait to learn more about what these asteroid missions will find.
Ryugu dust on the outer chamber of the collection capsule. (JAXA)
8. Scientists found the first animal that did not need oxygen to survive
Back here on our own world, biologists were surprised when they discovered the first heterogeneous organism without a mitochondrial genome – meaning an organism that does not take anail. In fact, it lives without the need for oxygen at all.
While some single-celled organisms are known to thrive in anaerobic conditions, the fact is that this common salmon parasite, a slippery-like creature Henneguya salminicola, oxygen is not required for survival is remarkable, and has left many new questions to researchers.
H. salminicola under the microscope. (Stephen Douglas Atkinson)
9. We found an amazing film of a “long stingy string thing” off the coast of Australia
Back in April, a ribbon of tentative tents caused quite a stir among a handful of biologists surveying a part of the ocean that was only being explored near the coast of Western Australia. This strange entity was a very long siphonophore, a series of thousands of individual zoos. In fact, this is arguably one of the longest series ever seen.
Take a look at this beautifully recorded Apolemia siphonophore * large * #NingalooCanyons tour. This sample is likely to be the largest ever recorded, and in a UFO-like strange feeding situation. thank you very much @Caseywdunn for information @wamuseum @GeoscienceAus @CurtinUni @Scripps_Ocean pic.twitter.com/QirkIWDu6S
– Cuan Schmidt (@SchmidtOcean) April 6, 2020
“Everyone was blown away when it came to sight,” biologists Nerida Wilson and Lisa Kirkendale from the Western Australian Museum told ScienceAlert.
“There was a lot of excitement. People came pouring into the control room from all over the ship. Siphonophores are commonly seen but this one was both large and unusual.”
10. Physics came up with the mathematics that make time travel ‘without paradoxes’.
Wouldn’t it be nice to visit your time machine and fix a few mishaps you’ve done before, all without unknowingly killing your grandfather in the process?
Well, 2020 also became the year when we learned about a mathematical solution to time travel that does nothing wrong. Physics student Germain Tobar from the University of Queensland in Australia worked on how to “square the numbers” to make time travel possible without the paradoxes.
While it didn’t get us any closer to a working time machine, its calculations show that space time can change into avoiding paradoxes. And, according to the Tobar director, the math will make a difference. Fabulous.
11. The first COVID-19 vaccine has already been administered outside of clinical trials
The single biggest challenge facing the world this year was the global COVID-19 pandemic. Health care professionals and essential workers have kept much of the burden on society, and we can never thank them. Meanwhile, researchers from many relevant fields – from immunology to genetics – have also been working hard year-round to better understand the coronavirus novel SARS-CoV-2.
That work will continue into the new year, but at the end of November we got our first final taste of what it means to accelerate scientific research and funding beyond the normal pace. The first vaccines intended to protect people from COVID-19 have completed all required clinical trials, and are being rolled out in the UK, US and parts or in Europe. .
Much more needs to be done before we can put this pandemic behind us and protect the most vulnerable communities around the world, but effective vaccines are already a very good achievement, and it is undoubtedly a the biggest reason to celebrate science this year. One to bring us into 2021 full of hope.