Looking up at the starry sky, ploughing the earth, exploring and deciphering … Recently, Science published the top ten scientific breakthroughs in 2022, leading people from a scientific perspective to pursue the past and the present.
Peeking into the "golden eye" of deep space
The james webb Space Telescope (JWST), launched on December 25th, 2021, still produced many amazing achievements in 2022, despite the twists and turns of small space rocks. From the newborn star whose poisonous spider nebula is gradually covered by dust clouds, to the high-precision version of the pillar of creation, which is clearly visible even to the red newborn star, to the deepest and clearest infrared image of the distant universe so far … This "golden eye" with a gold-plated mirror, which took 20 years and cost 10 billion US dollars, has brought countless surprises to astronomers, making it the top scientific breakthrough in Science in 2022.
Planting perennial rice for three or four years at a time.
Spring planting and autumn harvest, year after year, the hard work of farmers is self-evident. However, the perennial rice varieties developed by Hu Fengyi of Yunnan University in China, together with researchers at home and abroad, can be harvested continuously for three or four years from the second season after being planted once, eliminating the repeated work of farmers such as buying seeds, raising seedlings, plowing and transplanting for several weeks every year. Skipping this step, the workload of rice planting per person per hectare per season can be reduced by 77 days, and the cost can be reduced by half. In addition, the nutrients in the fields planted with perennial rice have increased. But in the fifth year, the output will drop a lot, and it needs to be replanted. The birth of this revolutionary perennial rice has injected new kinetic energy into the sustainable agricultural development.
Creative AI is "accelerating"
Playing chess, programming, playing board games, doing scientific research, and creating … In 2022, artificial intelligence (AI) is entering the field that is considered to be controlled by only human beings at an extremely fast speed. The text-generated image model flooded with social media platforms is refreshing. It can analyze and correspond to pictures and words on the network through machine learning technology, and create new images according to the text input by users. For example, DALL-E, a software launched by OpenAI, can generate several pictures that meet this description after receiving the instruction of "armchair in the shape of avocado". All these AI models based on diffusion can be used by the public, and even an artist won an art contest by using the pictures generated by one of the models. It can be seen that when AI has creativity, its strength can not be underestimated, or it can surpass human beings.
The "giant" in the bacterial world
The "thinness" of bacteria means that it is a "small head" that can only be observed by a microscope. But there are also bacteria that are not small. One-celled bacteria called Thiomargarita magnifica, like hair, hang on the fallen leaves in mangrove water. A filament is a cell, 1 cm long and visible to the naked eye. This single-celled bacterium, the largest so far, has been subjected to detailed structural analysis and sequencing. Its discovery inspired scientists looking for large and more complex bacteria. They believe that the "giant" of bacteria like Thiomargarita magnifica may be hidden under people’s eyes.
RSV vaccine breaks free from the shackles of "death"
The vaccine developed to conquer respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) could not cure the disease 50 years ago, but might cure the dead. At that time, a clinical trial of experimental candidate RSV vaccine resulted in the death of two children and 80% of the vaccinators were hospitalized. Since then, the research and development of RSV vaccine has been stagnant for decades. This year, two RSV vaccines broke free from the shackles of "death", which proved that they can safely protect infants and the elderly, the two groups most affected by RSV infection. These two vaccines can prevent people over the age of 60 from suffering from severe illness without serious side effects, and even one of them can be vaccinated by mothers in the third trimester and can pass antibodies to the fetus, protecting the baby from RSV for up to 6 months.
This virus induces MS’s "accusation" to sit down.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of "one’s own beat one’s own", that is, the immune system attacks neurons. Mild patients have blurred vision, fatigue and numbness, while severe patients will gradually be unable to speak and walk. Scientists have previously locked in the "suspect" Epstein-Barr virus (EB virus), but they have not found the key evidence of its "crime". Because although almost all MS patients have antibodies to EB virus, 95% of healthy adults also have the antibodies. Therefore, it is difficult for researchers to determine whether the virus is the cause. This year, researchers used a large number of military medical records to "convict" EB virus, which proved that the protein contained in EB virus can deceive the immune system and make it attack nerve cells, thus causing nerve damage. This discovery may lead to a new way to treat or prevent this mysterious disease.
The United States no longer talks about reducing emissions through climate law
As the old saying goes, "all talk and no practice." For decades, American scientists have been in the forefront of the world in recording and analyzing climate change risks. However, as the world’s second largest emitter of greenhouse gases, the United States has never passed a law to implement a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, this summer, an inflation reduction bill (IRA) was passed, which is expected to end the previous "empty talk" in the United States. The bill is the biggest step in the history of the United States to slow down global warming. It will provide $369 billion for renewable energy and nuclear power generation in the next 10 years, encourage the comprehensive transformation to electric vehicles and encourage research related to reducing industrial emissions. This will enable the United States to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 40% of the 2005 level in 10 years. However, it may not be enough for the United States to realize the promise of the Paris Agreement by IRA alone.
The "gift" of the Black Death hidden in genes
The Black Death, the plague, was once a lingering nightmare for Europeans. About half of Europeans died of the disease 700 years ago. However, while it takes life, it also gives the living a "gift"-genetic variation that enhances the immune response to Yersinia pestis (the pathogen of plague). The research team discovered this genetic variation by analyzing the ancient DNA in the bones of more than 500 people buried before, during and after the Black Death in London and Denmark. In the century after the Black Death, this protective gene variant spread rapidly among the European population, which is by far the most powerful case of natural selection in the human genome.
Man’s first planetary defense test was successful
On September 26th, 11 million kilometers away from the Earth, a spacecraft the size of a vending machine hit an "innocent" asteroid with a diameter of 160 meters-Dimorphos at a speed of 6 kilometers per second. This "violent" action is the first field test of planetary defense mission in human history, that is, NASA’s double asteroid redirection test (DART). It is not calm around the earth, and whispers often patronizes it. Although most of them are exhausted when entering the atmosphere, it does not rule out that there are larger celestial bodies, such as asteroids, which threaten the safety of the earth. The solution is to hit the asteroid hard enough to make it turn, but not too hard at the same time, causing it to launch small rock fragments to the earth. The success of the DART mission provides more data for scientists to improve the planetary defense plan.
Ancient DNA sequence of frozen soil reveals the lost world
How long can DNA be preserved? The latest answer is 2 million years. Recently, scientists extracted the DNA sequence of 2 million years ago from the frozen soil in the northeast corner of Greenland. These oldest DNA sequences so far depict a lost world-this desolate and barren place was once home to mastodons and reindeer 2 million years ago, and was covered by poplar, spruce and yew forests that are common in low latitudes, as well as sedges, shrubs and birch trees that still grow here today. These findings show that ancient sedimentary DNA may help uncover the amazing face of the past ecosystem.