2022 was a great year for science. From genetically modified heart transplants to discovering why Saturn has bright rings, scientists and science have given us some of the most interesting stories this year.
Before 2022 ends, let’s take a look at the 7 most interesting science stories of the year.
The 7 most interesting science stories of 2022
1. A man receives a genetically modified pig heart for a transplant
We are not triggering clicks with this title. This is a true story and one of the strangest and most fascinating scientific inventions of the year. David Benett, 57, was terminally ill and urgently needed a heart transplant. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted emergency transplant authorization to perform on Bennett. Bennett received a genetically modified pig heart that was performed by cardiothoracic surgeon Bartley Griffith, MD, of the University of Maryland Medical Center. Heart transplantation was a groundbreaking discovery in science and opened the door to xenotransplantation.
Sadly, Bennett passed away 2 months after the transplant.
2. NASA’s Dart mission
On September 26, NASA’s DART satellite slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos, successfully reducing its orbit time by 32 minutes and changing its trajectory. With the success of this mission, we now have a better chance than ever of saving the planet from a future asteroid impact and avoiding the same fate as the dinosaurs.
3. China has created an artificial sun that is five times hotter than the real Sun.
Chinese scientists created the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), a nuclear fusion reactor that set records by maintaining a temperature of 158 million degrees Fahrenheit (70 million degrees Celsius) for 1,056 seconds. This achievement brings researchers a small but important step towards the development of a nearly unlimited source of clean energy. EAST had already broken a record by operating for 101 seconds at an unprecedented temperature of 216 million F in May 2021.
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By comparison, the core of the actual sun reaches temperatures of about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.
4. The James Webb Telescope discovered many of the oldest galaxies and remains of stars in the universe.
After its successful launch in December 2021 and early 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope began probing the known universe and captured the most interesting things, such as the pillars of creation, the oldest star and the oldest galaxy in the universe .
5. There is now a plausible explanation for Saturn’s rings.
Until 2022, there was no plausible explanation for the beautiful rings surrounding Saturn. Astronomers from MIT and UC-Berkeley have put forward a theory suggesting that Saturn once had an icy moon called Chrysalis. Chrysalis was torn apart by the planet and its other moon, Titan, approximately 160 million years ago. The remains of Chrysalis now look like the glowing rings that surround Saturn.
Related | NASA’s James Webb captures clearest image of Neptune’s rings
6. Time travel can become a possibility
Source: Science.com
A study published in Physical Review D theorizes that the entrances to black holes and white holes could be connected by wormholes, acting as a space-time conduit. And that wormholes are real and exist in space, but they hide in plain sight.
If wormholes are really real, then their existence would destroy everything we know about space and time, and the time travel often depicted in science fiction could become a reality.
Related | What is the difference between black holes and wormholes?
10. Graphyne nanomaterial can now be mass synthesized
Source: Wikipedia
In 1987, Baughman et al first theorized the synthesis of Graphyne, a nanomaterial. Since then, scientists have long been intrigued by graphene due to its resemblance to the “wonder substance” graphene and trying to create the new form of carbon. But thanks to recent findings from the University of Colorado Boulder, that effort is now over. Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder finally managed to synthesize Graphyne, also in large quantities.
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Science is fascinating! It is full of amazing facts and mysteries that challenge our understanding of the world. In fact, it’s one of the few things you can always count on not to change.
As human beings, we are constantly trying to make sense of the world around us. That’s why science is so interesting: it helps us understand the natural world and our place in it.
We hope you liked this article on 7 of the most interesting science stories of 2022.
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Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: ptivs2.edu.vn