From the cultivation of space crops to autonomous road taxi services, the year has seen some truly revolutionary progress in science and technology.
As a new year approaches, here’s a look at the most interesting scientific discoveries and technological achievements from 2020-
The vaccine is here!
The vaccines produced by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna against Covid-19 became the first vaccines developed using RNA Messenger. It marks the fastest development and approval of the vaccine, lasting only 10 months.
The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid infection. While the Moderna vaccine is 94.1% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19.
Plastic-consuming “superenzymes”
To address another ecological crisis, scientists have designed plastic-eating “superenzymes” that can break bottles in a matter of days.
Enzymes break down a common type of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate – used in disposable bottles, as well as in clothing and carpets – into its chemical blocks.
Water per month
NASA announced that for the first time they found water on the surface of the Moon. NASA has confirmed the presence of the water molecule, H2O, in the sunlit areas of the Moon. This indicates that the water is widely distributed on the lunar surface.
However, the Moon is so dry that, in comparison, the Sahara Desert has 100 times the amount of water than what the SOFIA mission detected in the lunar soil.
Water molecules were detected in the Clavius crater. The crater is located in the southern hemisphere of the Moon and is one of the largest visible craters on Earth.
The first crop harvested in space
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins harvested radish plants growing in Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) aboard the International Space Station.
She meticulously collected and wrapped each of the 20 radish plants in foil, placing them in cold storage for the 2021 return trip to Earth.
The plant experiment is the first time NASA has grown radishes in the laboratory orbiting the APH.
Are there strangers?
Scientists have received what they called one of the first clues to detect an exoplanet in the radio realm. It is believed that the first possible radio signal emanated from a planet outside the solar system, about 51 light-years away.
The researchers also observed other potential exoplanetary candidates for radio emissions in the constellations Cancer and Upsilon Andromedae.
Robotaxi without driver
Waymo became the first company to offer car services to the general public without a human supervisor in Chandler, Arizona. While the autonomous vehicle supplier Zoox also unveiled a fully functional, electric, autonomous vehicle, which is designed for dense urban environments.
Eliminating the need for a human driver, robotaxi could make this a very affordable solution for customers.
Chang’e 5 brings samples from the moon
In December, the moon received a new visitor: the Chang’e-5 lander from China – a robotic mission of the Chinese lunar exploration program. He returned to earth and brought 1,731 grams of samples collected from the moon. It was China’s first attempt to bring monthly samples in more than 40 years after the United States sent astronauts to the moon to collect samples.
NASA’s March 2020 mission
Mars 2020 is a Mars Rover mission of NASA’s Mars exploration program, which includes the perseverance rover and the ingenuity helicopter drone. He will study the living conditions on Mars in preparation for future human missions.
The oldest meteorite crater in the world found
A crater in Western Australia was formed by a meteorite impact more than 2.2 billion years ago and is the oldest known impact site in the world. The disclosure also raises the intriguing possibility that the massive impact could have significantly altered the Earth’s climate, helping to end a period of global “deep frost”.
Wind speed on a measured brown dwarf
For the first time, scientists have directly measured wind speed on a brown dwarf, a type of sub-stellar object that is larger than Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system), but not massive enough to become a star.
To get the finding, they used a new method that could also be applied to find out about the atmospheres of gas-dominated planets outside our solar system.
(with contributions from agencies)