Seven moments when science shone in 2022

Scientific news raged during the year 2022 with physical, chemical, biological and technological discoveries. Considering what happened during those 12 months, the Byte Chapter 8 great moments of science with key discoveries and actions to avert disaster. paying off:

1. Mpox content outbreaks

If updates during 2020 and 2021 are highlighted pandemic From Covid, which remains a health emergency in some countries, this year was also a disease responsible for several alarming headlines: Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox).

There were more than 88,000 records and 66 deaths from Mpox disease in 2022 – numbers very different from what we saw with Corona Virus🇧🇷 Although it is a zoonotic viral disease, which means it can pass from animals to humans and can also spread between people, the vaccines are already approved and the scientific community is ready to act. content That fascism did not take on greater proportions.

2. The first successful pig heart transplant

On January 7, at Unprecedented surgery, a 57-year-old man with terminal heart disease, who received a successful transplant of a transgenic pig heart. The patient, David Bennett, was ineligible for a conventional heart transplant, and doctors considered her his last hope.

Bennett died in March, but not from bankruptcy. member🇧🇷 The transplanted heart worked well for several weeks and showed none of the typical signs of body rejection, even when examined during an autopsy.

3. The human genome was completed after 20 years

in 2003, Human Genome Project It mapped about 92% of the human genome, and decoded the last 8% lost this year, in March. The code includes many genes and DNA Repeated and comparable in size to an entire chromosome.

The researchers were able to create the complete genome sequence using a special cell line that has two identical copies of each chromosome, unlike most human cells, which carry two slightly different copies.

4. Plants grown in lunar soil

In May, scientists succeeded in growing plants in lunar soil The first record of its kind in human history And a milestone in lunar and space exploration. The samples, collected during the Apollo 11, 12 and 17 missions, were loaned by NASA🇧🇷 Researchers used thimble-sized wells in plastic dishes used to grow cells.

While nearly all lunar plants germinated, there were differences between plants grown in lunar soil and the control group. For example, some of the plants that grew on the Moon were smaller, grew more slowly, or had more varied sizes than those in the other group.

5. Data from the James Webb Space Telescope

On January 24, 2022, the world’s most powerful space science telescope It has reached its orbital destination🇧🇷 But it wasn’t until July 12 that NASA released the first five images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The images with an unprecedented amount of detail left the world in awe. Since then, Webb has snapped some of the oldest galaxies in the universe (perhaps even the oldest stars in the region), revisited the location of the Pillars of Creation, and detailed alchemical histories of the galaxies. exoplanet atmosphere for the first time.

6. W Boson Particles

This year, a measurement of the mass of an elementary particle called “Boson W” intrigued physicists. Fermilab collider data (CDF) It indicates that the particle is heavier Predictably — if true, the discovery will be exactly the kind of hole researchers are looking for in the Standard Model of particle physics.

Despite this, scientists remain cautious. All eyes are now on the Large Hadron Collider, which is set to resume its experiments after a three-year renovation. The hope is that these tests will provide results that will lay the groundwork for a new, more complete theory in physics.

7. Announcing the energy resulting from nuclear fusion

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States confirmed on December 13 that A The reactor was able to produce more energy One of those used to start the process of nuclear fusion for the first time. This is a big step towards applying clean, safe and inexhaustible energy.

Nuclear fusion energy is produced through a process similar to that which occurs in the cores of stars such as the Sun: With heat, pressure and confinement, the nuclei of hydrogen atoms fuse, releasing huge amounts of energy.

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