The source of science is the balance of two apparently opposing views. On the one hand, all kinds of ideas can be accommodated with an open mind, no matter how supernatural. On the other hand, they are put through a process of constant, somewhat brutal scrutiny of assumptions and pre-established theories. Ultimately, new facts are discovered from the balance of these two thoughts.
To me, this quote by Rial Sagan is one of the few comprehensive and best definitions of science that fully reflects the scientific method as a whole. If you look carefully at any proven research, you will find that it stems from this phenomenon. Almost all research done by scientists around the world is published in scientific journals under this principle.
Environment
While scientific and industrial development has provided many facilities for mankind, its harmful effects are also becoming more prominent with time. Industrial development has probably had the greatest and most direct impact on the natural environment. Perhaps all the developed countries in the world have realized this. 2023 Several indicators of environmental changes resulting from increasing population and industrialization have been published in 2023, some of which are important predictions.
According to a study published in January 2023, the species of living things on the island of Madagascar, which is found near the continent of Africa, is rapidly decreasing. And many species of living things on the same island have become extinct. The island will now need two hundred and three hundred thousand years to come out of this dangerous extinction. According to a scientific review published in February 2023, there has been a record decrease in the amount of ice on the continent of Antarctica, due to which the global sea level is continuously rising.
Alternative sources of energy can be extremely helpful in reducing and preventing growing environmental pollution. In this regard, the enzyme HUC has been discovered in a microbe, Mycobacterium smegmatis. With the help of this enzyme, this bacterium can extract energy from the air. The results of further research for industrial use of this enzyme will be very interesting. Last year, in April, research was published about the increase in the amount of chlorofluorocarbons, which are extremely harmful to the environment. It is worth mentioning here that the emission of these compounds was banned in 1989.
Despite this ban, the reason for the increase in their emissions this year has not been known yet. According to a review published in August 2023, the average temperature of all the oceans in the world is increasing continuously. Which is a precursor to dangerous environmental changes. In this regard, according to another study published in August 2023, an increase of 2 °C in the average temperature of the planet may result in one billion deaths.
According to a study published in September 2023 in the major scientific journal Nature Communications, if the current consumption of meat is reduced by about 50% of the food obtained through plants, the destruction of forests can be almost eliminated by 2050, which has an impact on the environment. Results will be compiled. In September 2023, the discovery of Vibrio natriegens, a microbe that can break down compounds found in microplastics, was published. It is worth mentioning here that 60% of plastic is buried in the earth every year. Where it takes about 2500 years to dissolve. This situation can be controlled by using these bacteria.
Astronomy
Astronomical objects have probably been the center of human wonder and curiosity since the dawn of mankind. As a result of this curiosity and the continuous research of many scientists, we now know a lot about the structure and mechanics of these celestial objects. This journey of space research continues to this day. In January 2023, the American space agency NASA detected an Earth-like planet around a cold star named T0I 700 through its Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. In the same month, an Earth-like planet named LHS 4756 was discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope. Last year, in February, 12 new moons were discovered around Jupiter.
In May 2023, 62 more moons were discovered around Saturn, making the total number of moons around Saturn now 145. About six and a half million years ago, a penetrating meteorite from space hit the Earth, as a result of which many species of living things found on Earth disappeared forever.
The reason for the extinction of the dynasties on Earth was also the collision of the Earth with the Shahab-e-Saqib. In May 2023, scientists prepared a complete map of the meteorites orbiting the Earth, according to which there are about 28 such meteorites whose area is more than 1 km, and the probability of them hitting the Earth in the next 1000 years is zero percent. is more than
In June 2023, the presence of phosphorus was detected on Enceladus, a moon of Saturn. This discovery is important because carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus are essential for any life on Earth since carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen have already been found on the moon Enceladus. Now, the discovery of phosphorus could bolster the idea that life is possible on this moon.
About 13.6 billion years ago, the universe came into being through a process called the Big Bang. Through several mathematical theories and equations, scientists have estimated the amount of matter and energy produced by this process. But this estimate is much larger than the amount of matter and energy in the existing universe. In other words, the matter and energy in the universe are much less than the matter and energy produced by the Big Bang. These missing matter and energy are called dark matter and dark energy, respectively. In July 2023, the European AP Agency, on a six-year mission, used the Euclid telescope for the research of this missing matter and energy.
In September 2023, the James Webb Space Telescope discovered carbon dioxide and methane on K2-186, an Earth-like planet. Furthermore, not only is K2-186 eight times larger than Earth but there is also a strong possibility that this planet has oceans of water as large as Earth. The rings found on the sides of Saturn are one of the main reasons for its beauty. These asteroids are actually a collection of many meteors and moons. According to a study published in September this year, these rings are actually made of rocks formed as a result of the collision of two moons millions of years ago.
Artificial intelligence
There is hardly a person who is passionate about science who has not heard the name of artificial intelligence. Basically, in artificial intelligence, a computer is provided with a large collection of pre-existing information and then based on it. By providing limited information about any problem, a prediction is made about that problem. For example, people in the medical field know that tuberculosis can be diagnosed by chest X-rays. But this diagnosis can only be made by the doctor, and due to changes like the disease, sometimes the doctors also fall victim to mistakes.
Now, if the computer is given thousands of X-ray images of healthy and tuberculosis patients, at the same time it is told which X-rays are of healthy people and which X-rays are of tuberculosis patients, If there are, the computer collects this information by itself.
This process is called machine learning, and if the computer is given an X-ray image of a new person, it can predict that this X-ray is of a healthy person using artificial intelligence. Or a tuberculosis patient. Artificial intelligence was started in 1950 by the British scientist Alan Turing, but in the last two decades, this subject has developed significantly, and its applications have seen an increase in intelligence day by day. A few of these are in view.
A study published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Science in February 2023 revealed that scientists have successfully integrated a computer with artificial intelligence—a collection of cells similar to the human brain, also known as a brain organoid. Due to this their ability to work has increased enormously. Scientists believe that such cells can now be transplanted into patients with many incurable mental illnesses with beneficial results.
Similarly, in April 2023, scientists using artificial intelligence and nanotechnology created wires that can not only store image information but also present it as a memory over time. Moreover, using the same principles, they can also instruct the robot to perform various tasks.
According to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2023, Chat GPT, a popular artificial intelligence program, answered several medical questions better than doctors, indicating that Chat GPT or similar programs based on artificial intelligence will be used in the diagnosis of diseases.
Similarly, using artificial intelligence, scientists have proposed modifications in the structure of the mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 that can significantly increase the immunity generated by the vaccine. This research by Chinese scientists was published in the scientific journal Nature in May 2023.
Population and evolution
It is natural that, since the beginning of time, man has been curious about his origin. This question has been answered in different ways in different civilizations in different periods of history, but as science progressed, the answer to this basic question was found based on visible evidence. This answer became stronger, clearer, and more comprehensive over time to reflect the origin of not only man but all living beings. Scientifically, all organisms have come into existence due to constant genetic changes.
In some organisms, these genetic changes lead to adaptations that increase their adaptation to their environment. In some organisms, these changes produce the opposite results. This process is called natural selection. According to the scientific point of view, through this process of natural selection, which has been going on for millions of years, such changes gradually accumulated in a simple organism that they finally turned into complex organisms. From a scientific point of view, all forms of life are the result of this process. Which is called overall evolution.
Although the clear evidence of evolution is the genetic similarity found between organisms, the importance of the remains of extinct organisms called fossils cannot be denied. In 2023, significant research in evolution and humanism also came to the fore. For example, according to a study published in January in the scientific journal Cell Genomics, an analysis of the genetic material of ancient and recent humans shows that because of genetic changes in ancient humans, current humans are more immune to germs.
But these same changes have made the present man more susceptible to diseases caused by inflammation. In 2023, a study was published in the scientific journal Communication Biology on the remains of a dinosaur, Pinacosaurus grangeri, according to which these dinosaurs could also make sounds like birds. According to the theory of evolution, the first life on earth consisted of a unicellular cell, and as a result of the changes that took place over millions of years, it gradually changed into multicellular organisms.
However, this theory of change was arranged keeping in mind the readers. In a study published in May 2023 in the scientific journal Nature, scientists experimentally proved how the multicellular organisms seen on Earth could have originated. According to another study, human beings originated almost simultaneously in many parts of Africa.
Before that, it was thought that humans came into being in a certain part of the continent of Africa, and from there they spread all over the world. A paper published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in October 2023 points to a new dimension of the theory of evolution, according to which Darwin's theory is applied to the origin of atoms, molecules, and even celestial bodies. It can also be done through evolution.
Medicine and biology
Among all the subjects of science, human beings are most directly and intimately related to biology in general and medicine in particular. In the same sense, the pace and consequently the quantity of biological and medical research are slightly higher than in all other fields. It can also be estimated from the fact that the number of scientific journals publishing biological and medical research is slightly higher than the number of journals covering all other subjects. The year 2023 saw significant discoveries in biological and medical research, some of which are very briefly described here.
The structure of the human body has been studied with great interest since the early history of science, and it can be imagined that there is hardly anything left to know about its internal structure. But in January of this year, scientists discovered another thin membrane around the sides of the human brain that protects the brain from disease-causing germs. About ten years ago, scientists identified some of the main factors associated with cancer, which they collectively called cancer. are called hallmarks.
According to a study published in January 2023, there is a significant similarity between aging factors and the hallmarks of cancer. In this regard, according to research published in January, retroviruses present in human genetic material wake up with age and play an important role in causing the signs of aging. With time, it is becoming clear that the beneficial bacteria found in the human body play an important role in maintaining human health, and during various diseases, their number and composition are disturbed.
According to research published in January 2023, there is a significant similarity in the composition of beneficial bacteria among people living together. According to a report published by the United Nations in February 2023, by 2050, the number of deaths from these superbug bacteria will exceed one million. Different organisms are used, which are called animal models. For example, rats, monkeys, rabbits, etc.
However, scientists have been using a fly called Drosophila melanogaster for almost a century. This bee is many times smaller than common house bees. And you have often seen it hovering over fruits in your homes. Its importance can be estimated from the fact that more than 500 human diseases have been experimented with in different ways in this bee. And so far, if an animal model has won the Nobel Prize in science, it is this fly.
In March 2023, the complete cellular structure of the larval brain of the same bee was published in the famous scientific journal Science, according to which the larval brain of this bee is made up of approximately 3,000 cells, through which they communicate with each other. Alzheimer's, which is an incurable disease caused by the gradual loss of brain cells, It is caused by the formation of tau, a harmful protein in brain cells.
In a study published in April 2023, silencing the gene in this protein in humans has shown a reduction of about 50 percent in the progression of this disease. According to a survey conducted in June 2023, in 2050, the number of people suffering from diabetes will reach one billion and thirty million, and there is no possibility of this disease decreasing in any country of the world.
Although the composition of human genetic material was determined in 2000, despite the technological capabilities of that time, some parts of it were still unknown. In November 2023, the British government declared the CRISPR genetic technique, whose inventor was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2021, suitable for the treatment of sickle cell anemia and beta-thalassemia. It is worth mentioning here that the experiments on treating many diseases using this technique are going on successfully, and its effectiveness is increasing day by day.
Nobel Prizes
The most prestigious award in the world of science is the Nobel Prize, which is held annually in Switzerland. In which the scientists working in the three basic branches of science—medicine, physiology, chemistry, and physics—are awarded this honor.
Like every year, this year, also in October, three Nobel Prizes were awarded in these basic branches of science. The 2023 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology has been awarded to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman. The research of these two American scientists was related to the mRNA vaccine. The mRNA vaccine is actually a technique for making vaccines that can greatly reduce the production time of vaccines.
Using this technique, vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 were developed in record time, thanks to which millions of lives could be saved. Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023: Pierre Agostini, Ferenc Krausz, and Anne Huillier, who belong to France, Germany, and Sweden, respectively. These scientists defined new techniques and procedures for observing the motions of electrons and sub-atomic particles.
In 2023, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Moungi Bawendi, Louis E. Brus, and Alexei Ekimov. These three scientists are from the United States, and their research focuses on the discovery of quantum dot nanoparticles and the elucidation of how they are made. The utility of these particles has been proven in medicine and industrial development.