When there are only a handful of days left in this strange one-year-old beast that will surely go down in history books, we thought it would be good to reflect on the wonderful things that scientists still offer, in spite of everything.
Of course, scientific achievements are usually years ago. Still, here’s a rundown of some of the exciting scientific news we reported in 2020. Just remember that not everything was terrible.
1. We found the first known extraterrestrial protein in a meteorite
Could life emerge elsewhere in the solar system? As curious and intelligent beings, humans are naturally interested in finding out if living creatures thrive beyond the confines of our little blue space rock. One way to find out is to use meteorites.
Earlier this year, scientists revealed that they had found the first extraterrestrial protein, tucked inside a meteorite that fell to Earth 30 years ago.
“We’re pretty sure proteins are likely to exist in space,” astronomer Chenoa Tremblay told ScienceAlert in March. “But if we can actually start to find evidence of its existence and what some of the common structures and structures might be, I think it’s really interesting and exciting.”
2. We avoided some worrying changes to the atmosphere
A new study revealed that the famous Montreal Protocol (the 1987 agreement to stop producing ozone-depleting substances) could be responsible for stopping, or even reversing, some worrying changes in air currents. around the southern hemisphere of our planet.
The healing of the ozone protective layer surrounding the Earth appears to have stopped the migration of an air current known as the South Jet Current, a phenomenon that eventually pushed parts of Australia into prolonged drought.
“If the ozone layer recovers and circulation moves north, that’s good news on two fronts,” explained chemist Ian Rae of the University of Melbourne.
3. An AI solved a 50-year-old biological challenge, decades before anyone expected it
Earlier this month, scientists at UK-based artificial intelligence company DeepMind announced that a new artificial intelligence system had effectively solved a long-standing and incredibly complex scientific problem regarding structure and behavior of proteins.
For about 50 years, researchers have struggled to predict how proteins achieve their three-dimensional structure. The astronomical number of possible configurations has made this task, known as the problem of protein folding, incredibly difficult.
The success of DeepMind is a major step forward in a variety of research efforts, from disease modeling and drug discovery, to applications far beyond health research.
4. Scientists used rapid bursts to find the missing matter in the Universe
In a fascinating mystery story within a mystery, earlier this year a truly clever burst (FRB) clever app gave astronomers an answer to a puzzling question: where is what’s missing in the world? ‘Universe?
Here we are not talking about dark matter, but about baryonic (normal) matter that should exist because of all our calculations, but which until now could not be detected. The Universe is vast and the stretches between galaxies are huge. However, in this seemingly empty space, solitary atoms are still suffering.
While searching for the source of the powerful interstellar signals known as FRBs, the researchers discovered that extremely diffuse gas can explain all the “normal” matter missing in the Universe. Ugh.
5. We also confirmed the first detection of an FRB in our own galaxy
That’s okay. On April 28, 2020, a Milky Way magnet called SGR 1935 + 2154 was fired in a single millisecond long explosion so incredibly bright that it would have been detectable from another galaxy.
This benchmark detection had a huge and immediate impact on the study of mysterious FRBs, which so far had only been detected from outside our galaxy, making it difficult to pinpoint its precise source.
“This kind of, in the minds of most people, establishes the origin of FRBs as coming from magnets,” astronomer Shrinivas Kulkarni of Caltech told ScienceAlert.
Astronomers had had a bit of a whale tracking this detection and in November we also had confirmation that this intra-galactic FRB is a repeater. Surely we can expect even more excitement during this coming year.
6. SpaceX and NASA made history with the first manned launch
Space enthusiasts really had a lot of excitement this year, as several space launches and missions ended despite the global pandemic. On May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private space company to deliver NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
We have takeoff. The story is done as @NASA_Astronauts launch from @NASAKennedy for the first time in nine years in the @SpaceX Crew Dragon: pic.twitter.com/alX1t1JBAt
– NASA (@NASA) May 30, 2020
Not only did they take them home safely a few months later, another manned launch went off without a hitch in November and delivered four astronauts to the space station, the first in what will likely be many routine missions in 2021. and beyond.
7. NASA touched 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 touched the asteroid Bennu in October to collect a sample of surface debris, its efforts captured for posterity in magnificent images delivered by the agency space. We can expect the probe to return with its precious charge in 2023.
Last year, the Japanese space agency JAXA achieved a similar feat with the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, collecting a sample of the asteroid Ryugu. In December of this year, we witnessed the safe return of this show and we were already given a look at the black dust that the team recovered. We can’t wait to find out more about what these asteroid missions will uncover.
Ryugu powder in the outer chamber of the recovery capsule. (JAXA)
8. Scientists found the first animal that does not need oxygen to survive
In our own world, biologists were surprised when they found the first multicellular organism without a mitochondrial genome, that is, an organism that does not breathe. In fact, it lives without the need for oxygen.
Although some unicellular organisms are known to thrive perfectly under anaerobic conditions, the fact that this common parasite of salmon, a jellyfish-like creature Henneguya salminicola, does not need oxygen to survive is quite remarkable and has left researchers with many new questions to answer.
H. salminicola under the microscope. (Stephen Douglas Atkinson)
9. We got spectacular images of a “long and stingy” off the coast of Australia
In April, a strip of joint tentacle clones that he razed caused quite a stir among a group of biologists exploring a little-studied part of the ocean off the coast of Western Australia. This strange entity was a particularly long siphonophore, a floating chain of thousands of individual zooids. In fact, it could be one of the longest strings ever observed.
Check out this beautiful * giant * siphonophore Apolemia recorded at #NingalooCanyons expedition. This specimen seems likely to be the largest ever recorded and to have a strange UFO-like feeding posture. Thanks @Caseywdunn for information @wamuseum @GeoscienceAus @CurtinUni @Scripps_Ocean pic.twitter.com/QirkIWDu6S
– Schmidt Ocean (@SchmidtOcean) April 6, 2020
“Everyone was impressed when it came into view,” biologists Nerida Wilson and Lisa Kirkendale of the Western Australian Museum told ScienceAlert.
“There was a lot of excitement. People came into the control room from all over the ship. Siphonophores are usually seen, but this one looked as big as it was unusual.”
10. A physicist invented the mathematics that make time travel plausible “free of paradoxes”
Wouldn’t it be great to get into a time machine and fix some setbacks you’ve done in your past, all without accidentally killing your grandfather during the process?
Well, 2020 also became the year we came up with a mathematically sound solution for time travel that doesn’t do everything. Physics student Germain Tobar of the University of Queensland in Australia discovered how to “square the numbers” to make time viable without paradoxes.
Although he did not immediately bring us closer to having a working time machine, his calculations show that space-time can potentially be adapted to avoid paradoxes. And, according to Tobar’s supervisor, math checks. Fabulous.
11. The first COVID-19 vaccines are already being administered outside of clinical trials
The only major challenge the world faced this year was the global pandemic COVID-19. Healthcare professionals and essential workers have taken on much of the burden of keeping society afloat, and we can never thank them enough. Meanwhile, researchers from countless relevant fields (from immunology to genetics) have also worked tirelessly throughout the year to better understand the new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
This work will continue until the new year, but at the end of November we finally got the first taste of what it means to accelerate scientific research and funding beyond its typical pace. The first vaccines to protect people against COVID-19 have already completed all the necessary stages of clinical trials and are being rolled out in the UK, the US and parts of Europe.
Much more will need to be done before leaving behind this devastating pandemic and protecting the most vulnerable communities around the world, but having effective vaccines is a truly fantastic success and arguably the biggest cause of science celebration this year. One that will take us to 2021 full of hope.