From the cultivation of crops in space to self-driving robot taxi services on the road, the year saw some truly revolutionary advancements in science and technology.
As the New Year approaches, here’s a rundown of some of the most interesting science discoveries and technological achievements of 2020
Vaccine is here!
The vaccines produced by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna against Covid-19 were the first vaccines to be developed with Messenger RNA. It marks the fastest vaccine development and approval, taking just 10 months.
The Pfizer vaccine shows 95% efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid infection. While the Moderna vaccine is 94.1% effective in preventing symptomatic Covid-19.
Plastic-eating ‘super enzymes’
To address another ecological crisis, scientists have developed plastic-eating “super enzymes” that can break down bottles in days.
The enzymes break down a common type of plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, which is used in disposable bottles, as well as in clothing and carpets, into chemical building blocks.
Water on the moon
NASA announced that they have found water on the surface of the moon for the first time. NASA confirmed the presence of water molecule H2O in sunlit parts of the moon. This indicates that water is widely distributed on the lunar surface.
However, the moon is so dry that, by comparison, the Sahara Desert has 100 times as much water as what the SOFIA mission discovered in the lunar soil.
Water molecules have been detected in the Clavius crater. The crater is located in the southern hemisphere of the moon and is one of the largest craters visible from Earth.
First crop harvested in space
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins harvested radish plants that grew in the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) aboard the International Space Station.
She meticulously collected and wrapped each of the 20 radish plants in foil and placed them in cold storage for the return trip to Earth in 2021.
The plant experiment is the first time NASA has grown radishes in the track lab at the APH.
Aliens exist?
Scientists were given what they called one of the first clues to detect an exoplanet in the radio world. The first possible radio signal is believed to come from a planet outside the Solar System about 51 light-years away.
The researchers also observed other potential candidates for exoplanetary radio emission in the Cancer constellation and Upsilon Andromedae systems.
Driverless robotaxis
Waymo became the first company to offer self-driving car services to the general public without a human supervisor in Chandler, Arizona. While autonomous vehicle supplier Zoox also unveiled a fully functional electric autonomous vehicle designed for densely populated urban environments.
By eliminating the need for a human driver, robot taxi could make it a very affordable solution for customers.
Chang’e 5 brings monsters from the moon
In December, the moon received a new visitor: China’s Chang’e-5 lander – a robotic mission from China’s lunar exploration program. It returned to Earth, bringing with it 1,731 grams of samples from the Moon. It was China’s first attempt to bring the lunar samples in more than 40 years after the US sent astronauts to the moon to collect samples.
Nasa’s March 2020 mission
Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission of Nasa’s Mars exploration program with the persistence rover and the ingenuity helicopter drone. It will study habitable conditions on Mars in preparation for future human missions.
The world’s oldest meteor crater found
A crater in Western Australia was formed by a meteor impact over 2.2 billion years ago and is the world’s oldest known impact site. The revelation also raises the intriguing possibility that the tremendous impact could have significantly altered Earth’s climate, ending a period of global “deep freezing.”
Wind speed measured on a brown dwarf
For the first time, scientists have directly measured wind speed on a brown dwarf, a sort of substellar object larger than Jupiter (the largest planet in our solar system) but not quite massive enough to become a star.
To reach the finding, they used a new method that could also be applied to learn about the atmospheres of gas-dominated planets outside of our solar system.
(with input from agencies)