A few days ago, one of the most streamlined science magazines in the world fulfilled its usual Christmas tradition: the editors of Science they chose the ten main scientific milestones of 2022. And about the “winner” there was no doubt: this year the most relevant event in science took place in July, when the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) began to send the first images taken by its sensors. And if the first impression is what counts, the crush was immediate, because the handful of shots that the US president himself presented from the NASA headquarters fascinated laymen and experts, both for their extremely high definition and for their Her beauty.
According to Science, the Webb “is a massive human achievement.” And after comparing it astonishingly in complexity to man-made missions to the moon, he noted that “a number of successful operations had to be completed, including evidence of mirrors mounted on high-precision mechanisms, a cloth sunscreen, and cryogenic refrigerators that cool the instruments to almost absolute zero. Of course, developing it took the work of hundreds of researchers, over two decades and an investment close to US$ 10 billion.
“It is a revolutionary telescope, because it allows us to see distances that we have never been able to see before, much further and ‘behind’ than other famous telescopes, such as Hubble,” he told this chronicler. Estefania Coluccio LeskowPhD in physics and university professor. According to her: “Technically, it will allow us to see light waves emitted more than 13 billion years ago, when the universe was almost so young that it was only about 100 million years old.”
For her part, Dr. Susana PedrosaConicet researcher at the Institute of Astronomy and Space Physics (IAFE), explained that “the contribution of the ‘old’ Hubble telescope to science has been enormous in the 30 years of observations. But it has already shown some limitations, especially in the wavelength of light it captures and processes. In order to be able to “look” at other longitudes, especially in the infrared field which is very attractive for astronomy, the James Webb was designed. For example, if they are both pointed in the same direction and at that point in space there is an interesting cloud of dust, Hubble you won’t be able to see what’s behind it. On the other hand, the James Webb will be able to detect objects in that line of sight”. And he recorded: “the first deep field images to be released, showing stars, gravitational lenses and other celestial objects, blew my mind.”
Trailer of the Year Finalists
Beyond the Webb, Science nominated other big milestones. Among them, the discovery of a giant bacterium with a highly complex inner microworld. The very word “microbe” supposes that they are microscopic entities, but this one, baptized thiomargarita magnifica, is about 5 thousand times larger than other bacteria. And the mere fact that a bacterium can measure up to two centimeters made one of the scientists responsible for the discovery say: “It makes us rethink and question certain fundamental principles of biology and the evolution of living beings.”
Another notable fact was advances in artificial intelligenceAI) in areas that – traditionally – were exclusively human, including artistic expression. A series of developments, even open to public use, allowed AIs to resort to machine learning and –analyzing Combination of text and images– find patterns that create the leads. images completely new, but of a familiarity almost indistinguishable from the traditional ones. software like DALL-E 2 they make it easy to generate realistic and compelling images in minutes and of such sophistication that a human artist submitted one of these works in a fine art competition. And the won.
Finally, other notable milestones were the imminence of the arrival of the first effective vaccines for the prevention of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and the first successful test of NASA’s DART mission, which moved the orbit of an asteroid. It is about an experiment that, one day, can prevent the Earth from being hit by a meteorite. Another example of how science can improve our quality of life. Or, directly, save her.
What will come in 2023
In addition to the “past” 2022, the other dean journal of global science –Nature– observe where the milestones of the year 2023. According to his predictions, the technology-based Covid vaccine mRNA, was just the pioneer. This year will be tested vaccines, from that same platform, against malaria, tuberculosis and genital herpes. Also against the complaint. Another medical technology that will make “noise” is the application of dna editing by means of Crispr-Cas in some genetic diseases. It is also possible that the first drugs capable of helping the cognition of Alzheimer’s patients will be approved. The Webb telescope will have company with the Euclid of the European ESA, which will seek to draw a 3D map of the universe. And the WHO plans to update the list of dangerous and dangerous viruses for human health and set research priorities in this matter.
You may also like
