2020 in science

A number of significant scientific events occurred in 2020.

Events

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

Science Summary for this section (October)
7 October: A quantification of global N2O sources and sinks.
13 October: Betelgeuse is shown to be 25% smaller and closer than previously thought.
  • 7 October
    • The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry is awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for their work on genome editing.
    • Researchers reveal a new high-temperature superconducting cable, named VIPER, capable of sustaining higher levels of electric current and magnetic fields than previously possible.
    • Researchers demonstrate the first passive radiative device that absorbs heat from the hotter inside of an enclosure and emits it on the outside. The system has potential to cool vehicle and building interiors, and solar cells, without using electricity.
    • Medical researchers conclude the SARS-CoV-2 can remain on common surfaces for up to 28 days in laboratory conditions that include darkness.
    • Scientists present a comprehensive quantification of global sources and sinks of the greenhouse gas N2O and report that human-induced emissions increased by 30% over the past four decades and is the main cause of the increase in atmospheric concentrations, with recent growth exceeding some of the highest projected IPCC emission scenarios.
  • 8 October
  • 12 October – Medical scientists report, for the first time in the U.S. and fifth worldwide, confirming evidence of reinfection with the SARS-CoV-2.
  • 13 October
    • The red supergiant star Betelgeuse is shown to be 530 light years away, about 25% closer than previously thought. Additionally, its estimated size is revised downwards, from the semi-major axis of Jupiter to around two-thirds of this diameter.
    • Scientists report in a preprint the possible detection of glycine in the atmosphere of Venus with the ALMA radio telescope. The amino acid may be relevant to the origin of life and was found on meteorites earlier.
    • On 15 October BepiColombo conducts a fly-by of Venus, having instruments possibly sensitive enough to detect the gas, without a detection or non-detection being declared by 10 November.
    • A data analysis released as a preprint on 19 October shows no statistical evidence for an apparent detection of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus reported in September and that "at least a handful of spurious features" which can be obtained with the data processing method that was used in the study.
    • On 27 October scientists release a preprint according to which the detection via JCMT can be explained by the presence of other gases and the ALMA interferometric data is invalid due to calibration issues of the used data processing scripts. Independent processing of the ALMA data by several teams varied from the original study's authors'.[how?] They also claim to have found an inconsistency between the proposed photochemical model and data about the altitude of the gas in the original study.
    • On the same day, other researchers publish a paper according to which no phosphine was discovered between 2012 and 2015 at the cloud tops and the lower mesosphere above, putting an upper limit of PH3 abundance there.
    • On 28 October science journalists reported that ESO ALMA scientists found separate, unspecified issues – later reported to be a calibration error that was found as a result of the study "No phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus" – with the data that was used by authors of the study that claimed an apparent detection of phosphine in September, and took those data off the observatory's public archive so that the European ALMA Regional Centre Network, who originally calibrated the data, scrutinises it in detail and reprocesses it.
14 October: Room-temperature superconductivity is demonstrated at 15°C, an improvement of 35°C on the previous record. Report is not reliable (retracted article).The image shows a magnet levitating over a superconductor
14 October: A study shows the impact of the C19-pandemic in global CO2 emissions.
  • 14 October
15 October: The discovery of cyclopropenylidene in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan is announced.
20 October: NASA's spacecraft OSIRIS-REx collects a sample from asteroid Bennu, becoming the world's third spacecraft to do so.
26 October: Astronomers report detecting molecular water on the sunlit surface of the Moon outside of the lunar south pole.
28 October: the study "Water, energy and land insecurity in global supply chains" explained by a video
  • 28 October
    • Scientists report finding a coral reef measuring 500 m in height, located at the northern tip of Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the first discovery of its kind in 120 years.
    • Scientists publish estimates of the occurrence rates of rocky habitable zone planets around Sun-like stars with updated data and criteria for habitable zones – including ≈4 such exoplanets around G and K dwarf stars within 10 pc of the Sun and ≈300 million in the Milky Way.
    • Scientists report in a preprint that a variant of SARS-CoV-2, 20A.EU1, was first observed in Spain in early summer and has become the most frequent variant in multiple European countries. They also illustrate the emergence and spread of other frequent clusters of sequences using Nextstrain.
    • A systematic, and possibly first large-scale, cross-sectoral analysis of water, energy and land in security in 189 countries that links national and sector consumption to sources shows that countries and sectors are highly exposed to over-exploited, insecure, and degraded such resources with economic globalization having decreased security of global supply chains. The study finds that most countries exhibit greater exposure to resource risks via international trade – mainly from remote production sources – and that diversifying trading partners is unlikely to help countries and sectors to reduce these or to improve their resource self-sufficiency.
29 October: Scientists recommend a healthy preparation procedure of rice.
  • 29 October – Scientists assess four preparation procedures of rice for their capacity to reduce arsenic content and preserve nutrients, recommending a procedure involving parboiling and water-absorption.
  • 31 October – Slovakia starts implementation of a short-period mass-testing programme to test two-thirds of its citizens for COVID-19.

November

Science Summary for this section (November)
4 November: Scientists announce the discovery of Kylinxia which could be at the evolutionary root of arthropods.
11 November: Scientists report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RBD antibodies as early as 3 September 2019, which could establish a substantially earlier start time of the C19 pandemic.
  • 11 November
    • Astronomers report newly found evidence for volcanic activity as recently as 53–210 kya on the planet Mars. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms.
    • Scientists report the detection of SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain antibodies in 111 (11.6%) of 959 asymptomatic individuals of a lung cancer screening trial in Italy, starting from 3 September 2019, apparently establishing a substantially earlier start time of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the journal published an expression of concern in March 2021 due to possible issues with the peer review.
  • 12 November – Scientists report the development of a microalgae-based fish-free aquaculture feed with substantial gains in sustainability, performance, economic viability, and human health.
  • 13 November – Scientists report that Mars' current loss of atomic hydrogen from water is largely driven by seasonal processes and dust storms that transport water directly to the upper atmosphere and that this has influenced the planet's climate.
  • 16 November
    • Results of phase III trials of Moderna's mRNA vaccine are announced, the company claims to 94.5% reduction of COVID-19 cases based on interim results, including severe illnesses. The vaccine is easier to distribute than BNT162b2 as no ultra-cold storage is required.
    • ALMA staff release a corrected version of the data used by other scientists in a study published on 14 September that claimed an apparent detection of phosphine in Venus' atmosphere. On the same day authors of this study publish a re-analysis as a preprint using the new data that concludes the planet-averaged PH3 abundance to be ≈7 times lower than what they detected with data of the previous ALMA processing, to vary by location and to be reconcilable with the JCMT detection of ≈20 times this abundance if substantially varying in time. They also respond to points raised in a preprint that challenged their conclusions in October and find that so far no other compound can explain the data. ALMA is reported to be expected to restart in early 2021 after a shutdown due to the COVID-19 crisis and may enable further observations that could provide insights for the ongoing investigation.
  • 18 November – Researchers report that CRISPR/Cas9, using a lipid nanoparticle delivery system, has been used to treat cancer effectively in a living animal for the first time.
  • 21 November – Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is launched into orbit, to monitor sea levels in higher detail than ever before. The satellite's resolution will allow measuring of water depths closer to the shore, which has long been an area of uncertainty.
  • 23 November
30 November: The 50-year problem of protein structure prediction is reported to be largely solved with an AI algorithm.

December

Science Summary for this section (December)
1 December: the Arecibo telescope collapses.
  • 1 December
    • The Arecibo telescope collapses after several hurricanes, storms, and earthquakes over the 2010s raised concerns over the stability of the Arecibo observatory and two cable breaks in August and November led teams of engineers to assess a high risk of collapse. One of the three teams determined there to be no safe way to repair the damage due to which the NSF announced the decision for a controlled decommissioning of the telescope on November 19, a few days before the collapse, which was challenged by scientists worldwide who, with a public petition subsequent to this announcement, asked for it to be repaired instead. The telescope built in 1963 was Earth's largest single-aperture telescope until 2016 and the source technology for many significant scientific discoveries, SETI as well as of the 1974 Arecibo message.
    • The Chinese experimental nuclear fusion reactor HL-2M is turned on for the first time, achieving its first plasma discharge.
2 December: The world's first regulatory approval for a cultivated meat product is granted. (Image shows other cultured meat)
2 December: Scientists confirm 2020 SO to be rocket booster space junk.
  • 2 December
    • The World Meteorological Organization reports that 2020 is likely among the three warmest years on record globally, at 1.2 °C above the pre-industrial level. The ten years from 2011 to 2020 are also reported to be the warmest decade on record.
    • Scientists report finding microplastics in the placentas of women with unborn babies for the first time. These may have negative effects on the fetal development.
    • The world's first regulatory approval for a cultivated meat product is awarded by the Government of Singapore. The chicken meat was grown in a bioreactor in a fluid of amino acids, sugar, and salt. The chicken nuggets food products are ≈70% lab-grown meat, while the remainder is made from mung bean proteins and other ingredients. The company pledged to strive for price parity with premium "restaurant" chicken servings.
    • Scientists confirm 2020 SO to be rocket booster space junk.
  • 3 December
    • Chinese researchers claim to have achieved quantum supremacy, using a photonic up to 76-qubit system known as Jiuzhang, which performed calculations at 100 trillion times the speed of classical supercomputers.
    • Scientists report that repurposed Molnupiravir can completely suppress SARS-CoV-2 transmission within 24 hours in ferrets whose COVID-19 transmission they find to closely resemble SARS-CoV-2 spread in human young adult populations.
8 December: Second successful retrieval of pristine asteroid-samples via Hayabusa2.
11 December: the orbital motion for HD 106906 b may be useful for attempts to predict the semi-major axis of the hypothetical Solar System object called Planet Nine.
16 December: Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft return the first lunar sample since 1976.
  • 16 December
    • For the first time, astronomers may have detected radio emissions from a planet beyond the Solar System. According to the researchers: "The signal is from the Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an emission by the planet itself." Radio wave emissions may become a new way for examining exoplanets.
    • The Chinese Chang'e 5 spacecraft return a lunar sample, which marks the first lunar sample-return mission conducted since 1976. The Orbiter proceeded on a mission to carry out observations at Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1 after dropping the sample off to Earth.
18 December: News reports about the detection of candidate ETI radio signal, BLC1, apparently from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun.
  • 18 December
    • Media outlets report that astronomers detected a radio signal, BLC1 (Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1), apparently coming from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Astronomers have stated that this and other, yet unpublished, signals, "are likely interference that we cannot fully explain" and that it could be the strongest candidate for an extraterrestrial radio signal since the "Wow! signal" of 1977.
      • A paper by other astronomers released 10 days before the news report about BLC1 reports the detection of "a bright, long-duration optical flare, accompanied by a series of intense, coherent radio bursts" from Proxima Centauri also in April and May 2019. Their finding has not been put in direct relation to the BLC1 signal by scientists or media outlets so far but implies that planets around Proxima Centauri and other red dwarfs are likely to be rather uninhabitable for humans and other currently known organisms.
    • Ecologists report that the driest and warmest sites of 32 tracked Brazilian non-Amazon tropical forests have moved from carbon sinks to carbon sources overall c.2013.
    • Researchers report a deep learning approach to identify gene regulation at the single-cell level, which previously had been limited to tissue-level analysis.
  • 21 December
    • Jupiter and Saturn come within a 6' arc (called a great conjunction), giving a rare telescopic view of the two so close together. As the two planets have an apparent size smaller than one arc minute, occultations are extremely rare: this is the closest approach since 1623 and the next occultation will happen in the year 7541.
    • Publication of research of "counterfactual quantum communication" – whose first achievement was reported in 2017 – by which information can be exchanged without any physical particle traveling between observers and without quantum teleportation. The research suggests that this is based on some form of relation between the properties of modular angular momentum.
    • Researchers publish projections and models of potential impacts of policy-dependent modulation of how, where, and what food is produced.
  • 22 December
  • 23 December – A study finds that face masks reduce the risk of spreading large COVID-19-linked droplets when speaking or coughing by up to 99.9 percent.
  • 30 December – Scientists report finding microvascular blood vessel damage in tissue samples of brains without any detected SARS-CoV-2 as well as olfactory bulbs from patients who died from COVID-19.
  • 31 December – Scientists determine that desalination membranes are inconsistent in density and mass distribution, and show a way to increase efficiency in the membranes by up to 40%.

Awards

Deaths

See also

References

Uses material from the Wikipedia article 2020 in science, released under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license.