Every year, scientists break new ground in their quest to understand the mysteries of life and the universe. Here are eight milestones that will capture our attention in 2024:
Reading the mind of fruit flies
The first complete map of the fruit fly brain details 139,255 nerve cells and the 54.5 million connections between them. This is the largest brain map ever made in an animal, even though the fruit fly’s brain is the size of a poppy seed.SN: 11/2/24, p. 32). These maps could lead to a deeper understanding of how information flows in the brain.
nuclear timekeeping
Scientific clock makers have unveiled the world’s first nuclear clock prototype. Nuclear clocks measure time based on fluctuations in the energy levels of atomic nuclei. Although the prototype is not a fully functioning clock, its development showed scientists the exact frequency of light needed to initiate fluctuations in the energy levels of atomic nuclei.SN: 10/5/24, p. 7). Nuclear clocks can help scientists explore fundamental physics, a scientific field full of potential discoveries.
panda protection
Giant panda biology has taken a huge leap forward this year. For the first time, researchers have transformed bear skin cells into stem cells that can be induced into other types of cells in the body.SN: 10/19/24, p. 10). Being able to obtain sperm and egg precursors by harvesting skin cells could help conservationists protect giant pandas from extinction by encouraging breeding and expanding the bears’ small gene pool.
new nitrogen plant
Eukaryotes have joined some bacteria and archaea in the nitrogen-fixing club. sort of Marine algae have internal factories that convert nitrogen into ammonia, a biologically available form.SN: 4/11/24). Factories probably began as separate life forms that entered into a symbiotic relationship with eukaryotes. Over thousands of years, the two may have become so intertwined that they became a single organism.
extremely rare collapse
By crashing protons into stationary targets, physicists witnessed a predicted but never before confirmed form of particle decay.SN: 10/19/24, p. 16). The collision created subatomic particles called kaons. The kaon decayed into an unusual combination of three different types of particles in a ratio of about 13 parts per trillion. Continued investigation of collapses may help uncover new physics.
Dead weight recycling
that Ciatea Rosaciana The tree fern was the first plant known to transform dead leaves into roots.SN: February 24, 2024, p. 5). The leaves sprout fine roots, which the fern can use to find nutrients in the soil of Panamanian forests. Now researchers are trying to figure out how the roots absorb nutrients.
black hole awakening
In a sleeping galaxy not far away, a supermassive black hole appears to be gradually waking up, giving astrophysicists their first glimpse of the transformation from a dark, quiet black hole into a bright, active black hole.SN: 7/13/24 and 7/27/24, p. 7). When a supermassive black hole absorbs matter, such as a star, the black hole usually glows for only a few days to a few weeks. But luckily for scientists, this black hole has maintained its glow for many years. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why black holes continue to glow, but they’re watching things closely and hoping to gain insight into how black holes grow.
Quantum Physics and Earth’s Speed
The speed of Earth’s rotation is well known, but scientists have measured it in a new way using entangled quantum particles.SN: 7/14/24 and 7/28/24, p. 5). Because quantum physics and the theory of gravity are largely incompatible, it is noteworthy that the experiment’s measurements are consistent with the known rotation speed of the Earth. Physicists hope this experiment will open the door to further research that will reveal how gravity and quantum physics interact.
