1. The Dart and Orion missions
The year opened with a bang. Or, it didn’t. The successful film Don’t Look Up, in which a comet was discovered close to Earth, had been released before Christmas 2021. In the hazy days of post-game gloom, the media was at an all-time high. , to chase down any stories about possible asteroid collisions for our collective enjoyment. Five asteroids would pass by Earth in January alone! Because of the health and well-being of people, no one was thought to come within striking distance. This may interest you : 10 best books under 300 pages to round off your reading challenge. However, the possibility of an asteroid collision with the Earth is real – the whole planet is covered with craters from the past, and it is known that 65m years ago, the craters disappeared following the impact of the asteroid about 10 kilometers across. Can anything be done to save us from this extraterrestrial threat? Fortunately, the international space community has taken the first steps to reduce the risk of being unknowingly hit by an asteroid. The joint NASA-Esa mission Dart (Double Asteroid Re-Direction Test) was an emergency attempt to change the direction of a small asteroid (Dimorphos) as it orbited a larger asteroid (Didymos), by sending a spacecraft to crash into it. In October, we learned that the mission was even more successful than expected, and that the orbit of Dimorphos had changed – indicating that we could, given enough time, change the path of the asteroid if it was close to Earth. .
Along with asteroid activity, our moon has been in the news, as the destination of choice for a new generation of astronomers. This year, it is 50 years since the Apollo 17 mission, the last time man set foot on the moon. So it’s cause for celebration that Artemis, a joint NASA-Esa project, has begun its mission to return humans to the moon. The first part of the mission, the Orion capsule, was launched in mid-November, and successfully returned to Earth last week. The capsule was designed to carry up to six astronauts – although there was no spacecraft on board the maiden flight around the moon. We can now look forward to a series of increasingly complex Orion missions – culminating in a team of astronauts landing on the moon as soon as 2025.
Monica Grady is professor of planetary and space science at the Open University
2. The addition of Covid to vaccine research
2. Covid’s boost to immune research
Defense technology has seen an unprecedented speed in development that could be helping us in many ways. The immune system works by giving a “virus” signal (something that comes from the virus) and a “warning” signal (to trigger an immune response). As our knowledge of immunology has increased, so too has our ability to develop vaccines that deliver those signals. See the article : China’s highest trust in science: a survey. Developing any new vaccine takes a long time, significant investment and many passionate volunteers, all of which have been heightened during the pandemic, leading to a surge in new cases.
The autumn Covid-19 booster shots we have just been given are another such example – these bivalent vaccines target the first type of Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid-19) alongside the Omicron variant. Bivalent vaccine has advantages over the first vaccine as they are both higher and increase our immunity. But what if you can increase your immunity further – not just two but many viruses? So-called multivalent vaccines for Covid-19 and the flu are looking promising. Another method that we can see in the near future is the use of inhaled or inhaled drugs – mucosal vaccines. These are already used in China to treat Covid-19 and can provide long-term protection against respiratory infections. They are also very appealing to those of us who are needle-phobic. If these new developments live up to their promise, one day in the near future the call to arms of the year may be a thing of the past. Sheena Cruickshank
Sheena Cruickshank is professor of biomedical science and public policy at the University of Manchester.
3. AI reveals new antibiotics
Over the past few years, AI has revolutionized the field of molecular biology. This revolution started with the AlphaFold algorithm, which quickly predicts the structures of complex proteins, helping the understanding of protein functions and the identification of drug targets. See the article : Dr. Michelle Baker is USU’s new Dean of Science. This year, AI achieved another success, this time at the other end of the drug discovery pipeline: several groups in 2022 reported the first successful applications of AI to determine when antibiotics are available.
Antimicrobial resistance is a major global problem. This year, a global research on antimicrobial resistance report published in Lancet showed that, worldwide, 4.95m deaths were related to drug-resistant bacteria in 2019, making resistant bacteria one of the leading causes of death.
Developing new drugs that overcome resistance and replenishing our arsenal of effective antibiotics is an ongoing battle. And that’s where AI is starting to make a big contribution. For example, Yue Ma and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences used machine learning methods originally developed for natural language processing to identify antimicrobial peptides encoded by the genome sequences of microbes in the human gut. The algorithm identified 2,349 potential antimicrobial peptide sequences. Of these, 216 peptides have been synthesized using chemical methods, and 181 of them have been shown to have antimicrobial properties. This is an amazing development, which would not have happened without the help of AI.
Even more surprising, almost half of the peptides discovered were completely new, with no obvious sequence similarity to the antibiotics, thus increasing the chances of evading existing resistance mechanisms. Animal experiments have shown that three of the new peptides can be used for safe and effective treatment of bacterial pneumonia in mice. Studies like these are great news, promising an unprecedented rapid path to new treatments for some of the most terrifying pathogenic threats we face. Eriko Takano
Eriko Takano is professor of synthetic biology at the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology
4. Early weather warnings
In 2022, scientists were able to see a hurricane hitting the US coast before it even formed in the ocean. We could imagine the Brisbane River splashing through Australian homes before a drop of rain fell. And we put firefighters at the stations before the fire that burned in the south of France. We now have the ability to see many of these natural disasters coming, days in advance.
And yet 2022 was full of deadly events. In Europe, more than 20,000 people have died from extreme heat this summer, hitting more than 40C (104F) in England for the first time. In August, a third of Pakistan was under water during the monsoon season, killing 1,700 people. Global warming is making these types of disasters worse.
This is why the most important scientific issue since last year is not cutting-edge research or hi-tech engineering, but the push made by the Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, for the world to have equal access to warning. Alerting people to dangers, so that they can take action, is the best way to prevent disasters. We need equal access to technology and systems that were pioneered years ago. Most important, too, is leadership in sharing information and acting on subsequent warnings. Hannah Cloke
Hannah Cloke is professor of hydrology at Reading University
5. Inclusive inroads
This year saw a small but significant advance in the treatment of sickle cell disease, a group of inherited diseases that cause red blood cells to sickle and can cause anemia. A drug designed to treat enzyme deficiency (pyruvate kinase) has been found to improve anemia and reduce acute episodes of severe pain in sickle cell disease. While the research is still in its early stages, the researchers point out that their success came from looking at the behavior of people with sickle cell disease rather than just looking at red blood cells. This development has been seen to help people with other conditions and brings hope to millions of people around the world, but especially in Africa, the Indian subcontinent and South America.
This was also the year that NASA’s Artemis mission, which aims to “land the first woman and the first person of color on the moon” by 2025, put female torsos Helga and Zohar into space to test the effects of radiation on the grounds that women are visible. being at greater risk from space radiation than men. This may not seem surprising, but it was only in 2022 that a Swedish research team created a new crash test dummy that represents the “average woman”, rather than a scaled-down version of a male dummy that is the size of a 12-year-old girl.
Events like these offer hope for an inclusive science where gender, race and location do not discriminate. Ann Phoenix
Ann Phoenix is professor of psychology at the UCL Institute of Education
6. Elite mathematicians
The Fields Medal recognizes mathematical achievement for a current career. Often described as the Nobel Prize for mathematics, it is awarded every four years to recipients under the age of 40.
Congratulations to Prof James Maynard, who was awarded the Fields medal this year for his “extraordinary contributions” to the theory of analytical numbers, “which led to great advances in the understanding of the structure of higher numbers and in the Diophantine hypothesis”.
One of his standard proofs was to show the following: there are infinitely many prime numbers with a decimal point without the number 7.
Such a simple statement to understand but not easy to demonstrate. Maynard joins a long list of British mathematicians who have won medals.
Congratulations also to one of the other Fields medal winners, Ukrainian mathematician Maryna Viazovska, the second woman to win the award. Mathematician Henry Cohn said: “Viazovska is able to do completely non-obvious things that many people have tried and failed to do.” He is credited with many mathematical achievements, especially his proof that the so-called E8 lattice is a complex arrangement of eight in eight dimensions. Nira Chamberlain
Prof Nira Chamberlain is the director of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications
7. Soft cell, hard cell…
When we think about what influences how the cells inside our bodies grow, we usually think of biological or chemical factors. But physical forces – known as the “mechanical” environment – may be essential to the cell’s journey. The ability of cells to sense and respond to their mechanical environment has been known for several decades: for example, stem cells grown on a soft jelly-like surface will become different types of cells compared to cells grown on a hard surface such as glass.
Early symptoms of diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s are often associated with changes in cell structure. However, it has been difficult to measure the complexity of cells and organs within our bodies, and how they change during development and disease. Tools to measure cell mechanical properties have relied on applying forces to the cell – essentially pumping or cutting the cell and seeing how it responds. This is often invasive and harmful, and is not easily done on living cells or organs within animals, let alone humans.
This year, two research groups, one in Germany, and one in the US, published separate studies showing improvements in a technique for measuring cell stiffness, known as Brillouin microscopy. This way of seeing is not harmful, it allows you to “see” the hardness of the object without touching it. The development of this technology this year has increased the speed of imaging and processing, and the reduction of image-damage, making the method more effective for detecting changes in tissue cells in living animals.
This method will provide a powerful tool for rapid diagnosis of diseases such as cancer, atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s. It will also revolutionize how scientists can measure and track the electrical changes in our cells during normal development, and improve our understanding of the importance of electrical energy in biology. Yanlan Mao
Yanlan Mao is professor of developmental biophysics at University College London
8. Quantum entanglement is not involved
8. Quantum entanglement untangled
“A terrifying action in the distance.” It is what Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement, which is when two quantum particles must be considered as one, since the influence of one of them affects the other even if it is far away.
In October this year, three pioneers of quantitative information science, Alain Aspect of the University of Paris-Saclay, John Clauser of JF Clauser & Associates, and Anton Zeilinger of the University of Vienna was awarded the Nobel Prize in physics for his contribution to the understanding of quantum entanglement.
There are many reasons to enjoy this long-awaited award. With all the beauty of offering a new perspective in an interesting area of special events. By laying the foundation for success in a number of computers to perform complex calculations that are impossible on conventional computers, and in a number of applications that can allow secure communication. To add another attempt to solve one of the great questions of science – how to reconcile quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity.
And finally, to show another example of the importance of curiosity-driven basic science that leads to real-world applications that can change the way we live and work. Saiful Islam
Saiful Islam is a professor of science at Oxford University
9. Nature positive
The great moment for biodiversity is still going on as I write: the much-delayed fifteenth meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, which will create a way to manage nature from now to 2050. These international agreements are incorporated into national laws, like the UK’s Environment Act. Alongside this, companies are making bold commitments to be “naturally good”, meaning that their activities must, in general, lead to a better environment.
Positive bonds must translate into real, measurable – and impactful – ecological recovery. This is very problematic, however, in part because many products have supply chains so that the companies themselves do not always know the biodiversity of their activities. For example, nickel is an essential element of our daily life, being used in the production of stainless steel. But how often do we stop and think about where the nickel in our cutlery or electric car batteries came from, and how much impact it has on the environment?
Another problem is the clearing of forests in areas where nickel ore is mined. The Ambatovy nickel mine, the largest mine in Madagascar, is one of a growing number of businesses making a commitment to leave the environment unharmed as a result of its operations. This mine has paid for the clearing of forests by putting measures in place to stop deforestation by the local people for farming in other areas. This year, Katie Devenish and her colleagues at Bangor University published a paper looking at their success. Using sophisticated methods to separate the effects of mining activities from other factors leading to forest loss, the researchers showed that the mine was on the way to preventing as much deforestation as it had caused. This study is an example of how scientists can conduct and independent analysis of companies’ environmental commitments, reducing the temptation of greenwash.
We need more studies like this, which connect the esoteric world of high policy making to the reality below, in all sectors from mining, food, transport and infrastructure. Then we will have a better chance of holding our governments and companies to account, and reversing the loss of nature, wherever it occurs. EJ Milner-Gulland
EJ Milner-Gulland is professor of biodiversity at Oxford University
10. Battery charge
It’s one of the great understatements of our time: the incredible development of battery technology that forms the basis of an electrified world where we wean ourselves off.
Of course there are questions. What about the prices? Will batteries ever really store enough power for their size to power something like a large plane? And where will we get all the rare metals needed to build them?
That’s why my topic of the year is the October Nature paper by Chao-Yang Wang and co-authors, explaining how to charge high-energy batteries quickly – in minutes. It really shows the incredible speed at which battery chemists, engineers and technology are rising to the challenge. If you can charge a car battery in 10-12 minutes, charging is usually less of a problem, allowing smaller, cheaper and less-powerful batteries to be made.
We are also seeing huge advances in battery technology based on cheap, abundant sodium instead of expensive and rare lithium, as well as ways to make all these batteries easier to recycle.
The basic principles of the battery have not changed, but the capacity of the new version is amazing and getting better all the time. Helen Czerski
Helen Czerski is a research fellow at the department of mechanical engineering, University College London
What are some current advances in science?
Scientific progress on 2021
- Living abroad is now easier to find than ever before. …
- Blood-based CRISPR gene editing. …
- Electric eels are one of the happiest animals. …
- Medicine that helps prevent covid19. …
- James Webb Telescope launch. …
- It is the fastest quantum processor ever. …
- Humans are influencing the evolution of animals.
What are the new discoveries in science 2022? Light From Outside Our Galaxy Is Brighter Than Expected December 16, 2022 â Scientists have analyzed new measurements showing that the light emitted by stars outside our galaxy is two to three times brighter than the light from known groups of galaxies, troubling …
What is modern science today?
Question: What exactly is modern science? Modern science is the process of analyzing a phenomenon or other phenomenon and making a detailed analysis of the phenomenon in question so that it can be organized and, if it is a phenomenon, can be modeled mathematically.
Who is called a modern scientist? Answer and Explanation: Galileo Galilei is considered the father of modern science because of his achievements and contributions to science. He got this title because of the experimental method, which leads to many achievements.
How is modern science changing?
ââScience has come a long way in the last 150 years! We now have a strong knowledge of data analysis, sophisticated equipment for making observations and experiments, and the breadth and depth of scientific knowledge.
What is the difference between traditional science and modern science?
The differences between ancient and modern science are: Modern science is based on the scientific method. Natural philosophy is based on the speculative nature of philosophy. Modern science uses evidence and observations to support or refute explanations about natural phenomena.
What does modern science scientific method look like today?
The steps of the scientific method go like this, according to Highline College: Make an observation or observation. Make a hypothesis â a tentative explanation for the observation, and make a hypothesis based on that hypothesis. Test hypotheses and predictions in a printable test.
What is the latest scientific discovery 2022?
The discovery of a giant, complex-living bacterium rocked biology this year. Bacteria are supposed to be microscopic, but this one, called Thiomargarita magnifica, can grow 5000 times larger than most bacterial cells—as long as a pin.
When was the structure of DNA discovered? The discovery in 1953 of the double helix, the twisted-ladder structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), by James Watson and Francis Crick marked an important event in the history of science and led to the formation of modern molecular biology, which is mainly concerned with understanding why. genes that control chemical reactions in…
Why were scientists convinced that proteins would carry the secret to life?
For many years, many scientists were convinced that proteins hold the secret of life. Proteins are more abundant, complex, and diverse, while nucleic acids are more easily structured.
What is the common thread that runs through every living thing?
DNA: The Secret of Life.
How does DNA contain the secret of life?
DNA is the inheritance of life, i.e. holds and passes information from parent to child. The information carried by DNA directs the construction of each organism, its maintenance, efficiency and reproduction.
Will 2022 be a good year?
2022 outlook: hope springs eternal The survey found that 71% of Americans hope that 2022 will be a better year than 2021 for them. That’s six percentage points lower than the global average and eleven points lower than the percentage of Americans who, last year, expected 2021 to be better than 2020 (82%).
What is happening in the world in 2022? Rising sea levels, seasonal changes and the threat of disease outbreaks affect rural and urban communities and increase tensions as water levels decrease, food prices rise and people leave their homes to find safety elsewhere.
What does the world need right now 2022?
human problems and conflicts are increasing. The world is facing an unprecedented level of human need. In 2022, 274 million people are expected to need humanitarian assistance, which is almost a 20% increase from the already recorded high numbers in 2021.
What is the most popular thing in the world 2022?
Top Searches on Google: Top Searches on Google in 2022 (US & Worldwide) What is the most searched on Google in 2022? This year, âfacebookâ leads the world, followed by âyoutubeâ and âamazon.â The popular word game âwordleâ follows close behind.
