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| Image from the deparment of Energy of the United States. |
Our current nuclear power is
based on fission, a reaction where a big atom is taken and broken apart and the
energy released is used to heat up water that in turn powers some dynamo to
make electricity. Nuclear fusion on the other hand aims to recreate the
reaction that happens in the sun where small atoms are fused together to form a
new bigger one releasing energy in the process. Physicists started
researching techniques and technology to recreate this process in the 1950s.
Nuclear fusion is considered the
“holy grail” of carbon-free energy, and with non-radioactive waste produced
makes it the source of the future. For decades they have not been able to
create the net energy gain required to make it viable. That is until now.
The federal Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California reported that they had achieved a net energy
gain in a fusion experiment using a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the
world's biggest laser. “ While the achievement is significant, there are still
monumental engineering and scientific challenges ahead”, but it is a giant step
in the right direction to feasible fusion reaction, although the public are more
interested in the energy aspect of what this could mean considering the current
fuel problem and energy consumption we are facing, this is an incredible
achievement for science as fusion could help in the research of neutrinos
detection and some other fields.
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)
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| Image taken from the Nasa JWST website. |
On December 25th, 2021 the Ariane
5 rocket was launched from the French Guiana with the load of the JWST. A
project that started in the 1990s as a substitute for the Hubble telescope but
a numerous number of issues made the project delay over and over until it
became an idea that never thought to become a reality. As soon as the launch
took place, astronomers were excited to see what this telescope had to bring to
the conversation so for the next few months the waiting was to fulfill
expectations that were paid off on July 12, 2022.
The first full-color images and
spectroscopy were released to the public and the results were astounding. A
comparison of the galaxy cluster SMACS J0723.3-7327 taken by the Hubble in 2017
and JWST in 2022 proved how the new telescope was indeed an upgrade over the
Hubble telescope. Details never seen before appeared right away and people
noticed that what they thought to be stars before turns out to be galaxies.
Over the course of the year the
JWST continues to explore deep space and the results and details are
astounding. Some of the most notable images are the Carina Nebula, Southern
Ring Nebula, Stephan’s Quintet, The Cartwheel Galaxy, Jupiter, Messier 74, the
Tarantula Nebula, and so many more.
Life After Death
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| The heart, kidneys and liver are among the most needed transplant organs. |
Researchers from Yale University
presented their results in what is considered a groundbreaking achievement for
the future of organ donations. As of now the list of people that require organ
donations is incredibly high across the globe and every year fewer and fewer
people opt for becoming transplant donors. One of the reasons this is the case
is because the transplant of organs has to be done while the person is alive,
because cells become inactive once the person dies and the organs cannot be
brought back anymore… or can they?
In an experiment involving cells
of dead pigs the researchers at Yale were able to see signs of functioning
again in places such as the heart, liver, kidneys, and brains. The researchers
hope the finding is a step in the effort to be able to make more human organs
available for transplant long after death. Although it is still too early to
say anything as the application is still very far away from use in humans, the
results tell us that it will be a reality.
Universal Flu Vaccine
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| Representation of a universal vaccine. |
Every year the biggest enemy to
health is the flu. We all at some point experience a strain of the flu even in
adulthood. Flu shots are offered every year, but even those have proven
ineffective most of the time as the flu virus is one of the fastest evolving
viruses we have, and the number of different strains that exist around the
planet is huge. With all this darkness and not seemingly solution nearby, a ray
of light shined on us with the Covid-19 vaccine.
When the vaccine for the
coronavirus was announced it was an achievement that was hard to believe. The
timeframe in which they were able to produce an effective vaccine against the
virus left many people feeling doubt about the effectiveness of it, but it
worked! This was possible due to a new technique using the mRNA of the virus
instead of the regular method of inactivated or attenuated vaccine. mRNA
vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral
protein, usually a small piece of a protein found on the virus's outer
membrane. This allows the antibodies to immediately recognize it and be
prepared for the future. The great advantage of this lies in that modifications
of the virus does not greatly affect the effectiveness of the vaccine. This new
technology makes the vaccine adequate for all strains of the virus. So, it was
only a matter of time until this technology was used to attack the flu virus.
Dr. Scott Hensley from the
University of Pennsylvania designed a vaccine that included a virus protein
from all 20 distinct influenza types. The vaccine has been tested on mice and
proven quite effective in their first trial. Vaccinated mice produced
antibodies against both similar and unique regions of all 20 different HAs, and
levels of these antibodies remained unchanged for months after vaccination.
This means that an universal flu vaccine is not that far away and it will be up
to all of us to eradicate this virus.
CERN Back In Business
In 2018 the European Organization
for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (from the French Conseil Européen pour la
Recherche Nucléaire), was shut down for maintenance and upgrades, but after
almost four years is finally back as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) set up for
a run 3 with an even higher energy threshold.
The LHC is set to run 24/7 for
the next four years at a record energy of 13.6 trillion electron volts. The
upgrades should give the LHC tools greater precision and hopefully more
discoveries about particles in quantum field theory. Some of the discoveries
made at CERN are the W and Z bosons, creation of the first antihydrogen,
discovery of CP violation, quark-gluon plasma state, and the Higgs boson. What
can we expect from this new run of the LHC and what can be discovered at this
new high energy level? We would have to wait to see.
Changing Asteroid Trajectory
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| Representation of the DART mission. |
Double Asteroid Redirection Test
(DART) is a NASA space mission aimed at testing methods of planetary defense
against devastating collision with a space rock. A probe was launched on 24
November 2021 and on 26 September 2022 intentionally crashed into Dimorphos, a
minor-planet moon of the asteroid Didymos shortening its orbital period around
didymos by about 32 minutes.
The results of the cosmic
collision are significant because it was the first real-life test of humanity's
ability to protect the Earth from potentially catastrophic asteroids. The
maneuver’s success suggests that with enough warning, asteroid deflection could
be a viable way to save Earth from devastating collision and who knows what
else.
Malaria Vaccine
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| A miracle that save lives. |
Malaria is a disease caused by a
parasite. The humans get infected through the bites of infected
mosquitoes. People who have malaria usually feel very sick with a high
fever and shaking chills. While the disease is uncommon in temperate climates,
malaria is still common in tropical and subtropical countries. Malaria is one
of the oldest known diseases on Earth and one of the deadliest killer diseases
killing nearly one million people every year and infecting one out of 21 human
beings on the planet. Great efforts for the creation of a vaccine have
been in the works for years but just recently in 2022 the first approved
vaccine came into effect.
RTS, S or Mosquirix as it is
named, is the only malaria vaccine approved and in use. It requires at least
three doses in infants by age 2 and reduces severe malaria and hospital
admission by 30%. This once again seems like a small step but it is quite an
achievement as it is the first effective vaccine in one of the oldest diseases
we know.
A New Space Era
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| Artemis 1 mission patch. |
After a few months of delay due to
fuel leakage, on November 16th, 2022, the Artemis program officially started.
The launch was a success in starting the new era for space exploration. After
orbiting the moon and deploying ten CubeSat the spacecraft returned to Earth on
December 11. This concluded the phase of Artemis 1 as a success and
certify Orion and the Space Launch System for crewed flights beginning with
Artemis 2 expected to launch in May 2024. The success of this mission will
serve as the platform for future Mars human explorations.
Artistic AI
You have probably seen the trend
on Tik Tok or reddit, but the doors of AI have open to the public with new
possibilities for businesses and households with text-to-image generators to
“writing hallmark movie script” giving insights to artist, urban planner, and
even reconstructive surgeons a helpful hand to visualize ideas. This is a great
time to see how far artificial intelligence has come and what to expect for the
future.
More information about black
holes, largest single cell bacteria, better batteries that do not depend on
lithium, among many others are research that were considered groundbreaking in
the past year. It was an incredible year for scientists, and I am thrilled for
what may come in the upcoming 2023.
If you want to learn more about
the subjects here, feel free to read the following.
