Scientific breakthroughs of 2023

The year 2023 was another stellar year for science. The astounding discoveries made by scientists in the fields of cosmology, nuclear energy, medicine, cancer and artificial intelligence are poised to profoundly impact our lives. Below is a recap of some of the noteworthy achievements—many first of their kind—of the year.

Space exploration

In the second year after its launch, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) ushered in a new era of space exploration. With its scientific value beyond reproach, this flagship observatory captured hundreds of fantastic images―from a wondrous shot of Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth sparkling like a humongous "galactic jellyfish" to the fastest growing galaxy to the stunning view of Saturn's rings. They spotted the oldest black hole, a Goliath with the mass of 1.6 million suns, formed 470 million years after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. This discovery could help explain how today's supermassive black holes, which anchor entire galaxies including our Milky Way, grew to such mind-boggling sizes.

Peering into the past, JWST broke its own record for the most distant galaxy by reaching the epoch where some of the very first galaxies were created. It detected Earendel ("morning star" or "riding light"), the most distant star known in the universe, 12.9 billion light years away. Moreover, JWST has captured exquisite details of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, one of the youngest supernova remnants that was formed roughly 340 years ago by the explosion of a huge star located around 11,000 light years from Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. The telescope also discovered a massive chain of 20 galaxies in the early universe, making cosmologists ponder about the formation of the largest structures in the cosmos.

Nuclear fission

For decades, scientists have attempted to harness fusion energy, essentially replicating the power of the sun on Earth. If mastered, it could provide the world with a near-inexhaustible source of clean energy, nearly four million times as much energy as fossil fuels like coal or oil.

While conditions that are required in a fusion reactor―the temperature of the plasma, which is a hot "soup" of electrons and ionised hydrogen gas, be kept at temperatures exceeding 100 million degrees Celsius long enough―are now routinely achieved in experiments, improved confinement properties and stability of the plasma are needed. Specifically, towards the edges of the plasma, where it is relatively less hot, some of the hydrogen ions can combine with the electrons, creating neutral hydrogen particles. These neutral particles can cause energy to be lost from the plasma, thereby increasing the amount of energy required to sustain the reaction. For a process that is all about maximising energy outputs with minimum inputs, this is a major issue.

To solve this issue, a team of engineers at University of Wisconsin at Madison have used a spray coating technology to produce a new "workhorse material" that can withstand the harsh conditions inside a fusion reactor. The technology uses a cold spray process to deposit a coating of the metal tantalum on the stainless steel surface of the reactor. This metal absorbs the neutral hydrogen and protects the reactor's walls. Although the technology is in its embryonic stage, in the future it could enable more efficient and compact fusion reactors that are easier to repair and maintain.

Health and medicine

The effort to beat back malaria with vaccines witnessed a big boost this year. Together with the world's first malaria vaccine, Mosquirix, a second vaccine called R21/MatrixM is poised to join the fight against this killer disease. Tests showed the new vaccine significantly lowered deaths in young children, the group the disease hits hardest. In addition, after the remarkable success of mRNA vaccines in protecting people against the scourge of COVID-19, a new mRNA-based vaccine designed to offer long-lasting protection against a broad range of influenza viruses was recently developed by Moderna and Pfizer.

To date, medicine has had little to offer to tens of millions of people worldwide with Alzheimer's disease, and the few approved treatments have only targeted symptoms. But in July, US regulators approved the first drug, Leqembi, by Biogen and Esai, that clearly, if modestly, slows cognitive decline by tackling the disease's underlying biology. Another remarkable breakthrough this year: researchers at Rockefeller University in New York have developed a platform that uses microchips to grow lung buds from human embryonic stem cells. These stripped down "micro lungs" can be used to investigate the mechanisms of Coronavirus, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, pulmonary diseases and lung cancer.

Innovations in cancer therapies are increasing survival rates and curing more cancers. A new experimental drug called vorasidenib, developed at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center, has been shown to significantly slow the growth of brain tumours by more than doubling the time before the cancer begins to progress. It also reduces the need for invasive therapies such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. Medical researchers at MSK also developed a new class of drug called menin inhibitors that targets certain genetic changes that are commonly found in acute myeloid leukemia and lymphocytic leukemia.

Similar to vaccines for childhood diseases and other illnesses, several cancer vaccines were developed at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to treat melanoma, bladder cancer and prostate cancer. The clinic also developed a new type of radiation therapy, known as carbon ion therapy, to treat cancers that may be resistant to radiation or proton therapy, particularly breast cancer.

Treatments for obesity, which has a sorry past, now has a groundswell of hope. A new kind of drug called glucagon-like peptide-1, originally developed for Type-2 Diabetes, can induce significant weight loss, with manageable side effects.

Artificial intelligence

Catalysing a year of artificial intelligence (AI) fanfare was ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model developed by OpenAI. It is capable of accepting both text and image inputs and output human-like text. Likewise, in May 2003, researchers at University of Texas at Austin developed an AI model that can transcribe complex thoughts from human brainwaves.

Scientists are using AI for DNA sequencing and precision oncology to improve treatment and diagnosis. In particular, they are using AI to help identify patients who are at greater risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as stroke and heart failure. Furthermore, researchers at MIT have developed an AI model to predict a person's likelihood of developing lung cancer up to six years in advance.

In September of this year, researchers at the University College in London announced a "groundbreaking" AI model for detection of diseases using retinal images. A joint US-UK-Bangladesh study provided the first real-world evidence that autonomous AI can improve medical productivity.

In a paper published last month in the journal Science, Google introduced GraphCast, a state-of-the-art AI computer model that can predict the weather more accurately up to 10 days in advance, rivaling or even topping many gold-standard weather forecasting models.

Computers

Computers still largely rely on traditional silicon processors, which have hit something of a ceiling in terms of speed, memory space and energy efficiency. Now, IBM has changed that with the invention of a next-generation chip called "North Pole" that makes other processors look like relics from the "dark ages." Inspired by the human brain, architecture of the chip delivers massive improvements in energy efficiency, speed and memory space required for computation. It has the potential to run powerful AI hardware systems at unprecedented speed, while consuming vastly less power.

More than a decade in the making, the era of exascale computers finally arrived this year. A computer named Frontier at Oak Ridge National Laboratory became the first exascale computer open to scientists for computational work. It can perform an unimaginable quintillion (1,000,000,000,000,000,000) mathematical operations per second. Among other applications, the computer is expected to help spur the development of ultralight materials for fuel-efficient cars and airplanes.

Teleportation

The catchphrase "Beam me up Scotty," the command Captain Kirk gives to his chief engineer Scott in the science fiction TV series Star Trek, may soon become a reality. In a paper published this month in Nature Communications, a team of scientists from South Africa and Spain claims to have successfully achieved first-ever Star Trek-style teleportation of images in human history. The team hopes to further develop their technology and explore its applications in various fields, such as biomedicine, meteorology and cryptography.

Climate change

Despite the farce at COP28, likened by Al Gore to "allowing weapons manufacturers to dominate a peace conference," a team of scientists at MIT has developed a process to convert planet-warming emissions of carbon dioxide into a powdery harmless fuel that could be converted into clean electricity. The powder called sodium formate can be safely stored for decades.These incredible scientific and technological achievements of 2023, albeit not exhaustive, is the latest compendium of some of humanity's scientific endeavours that are fundamentally shaping our daily lives. These breakthroughs will inspire innovators to push the boundaries in the coming years.

Dr Quamrul Haider is professor emeritus at Fordham University in New York, US.

Views expressed in this article are the author's own. 

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