6 recent scientific breakthroughs and discoveries
From cancer cures to maps of the universe
Harold Maass, The Week US
New scientific research is always being conducted, and revolutionary findings come out more often than we think. These findings can improve the lives of the people around us or provide new insight into our universe and beyond. Here are six recent scientific breakthroughs that warrant attention.
1. Pancreatic cancer drug
Unlike other cancer treatments, the drug’s side effects are milder and more manageable. “Almost all patients do experience some adverse effects, with the most common being a rash that occurs in the majority of patients,” David Hong, a senior researcher at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said to Reuters. “But those effects are manageable in most patients, and the benefits significantly outweigh those adverse effects.”
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
2. Artificial neurons
Researchers have created artificial neurons that can interact with and prompt reactions from real brain cells, according to a study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. Using slices of mouse brain, the “artificial neurons successfully triggered responses in real neurons,” showing a “new level of compatibility between electronic devices and living neural systems,” said a release by Science Daily.
The study’s findings are a “step toward electronics that can communicate directly with the nervous system, with potential applications in brain-machine interfaces and neuroprosthetics, including implants for hearing, vision and movement,” said a release. Artificial neurons also lay the “groundwork for more efficient, brain-like computing systems.”
3. Map of the universe
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which is “composed of 5,000 fiber optic eyes mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona,” has “exceeded expectations by observing 47 million galaxies and quasars,” said Space.com (a sister site of The Week). Using this data, DESI “produced the largest high-resolution 3D map of the universe ever made,” said Berkeley Lab. Researchers “use that map to explore dark energy, the fundamental ingredient that makes up about 70% of our universe and is driving its accelerating expansion.”
DESI will continue to expand on its observations through 2028 and “grow its map by about 20%, from 14,000 square degrees to 17,000 square degrees,” said Berkeley Lab. The extended map will “cover parts of the sky that are more challenging to observe,” including “areas that are closer to the plane of the Milky Way, where bright nearby stars can make it harder to see more distant objects, or further to the south, where the telescope must account for peering through more of Earth’s atmosphere.”
4. Clitoris map
Scientists have created the first-ever complete map of the clitoral nerves, according to a study on the preprint server bioRxiv. “There is a societal taboo attached to female sexuality. The taboo is an obstacle to conducting scientific investigation,” Ju Young Lee, a study co-author and a neuroanatomist at the Amsterdam University Medical Center in the Netherlands, said to Smithsonian Magazine. “Much more awareness is required, starting with the knowledge that the clitoris is actually quite large.”
The clitoris, a sensitive part near the vagina, is one of the least studied organs in the body. However, understanding its anatomy and nerves “could be used to improve reconstructive procedures to restore the clitoris and clitoral function in patients who have experienced female genital mutilation,” said the study.
5. Universal vaccine
A single nasal vaccine could provide protection from a wide array of respiratory illnesses, according to a study published in the journal Science. When tested on mice, the vaccine protected against Covid-19, the flu, a variety of bacterial infections and even allergies. This vaccine works differently from the ones we currently have. Rather than “targeting any one bug, it contains molecules that mimic the signals the body naturally produces when it is under attack from a virus or bacterium,” Neil Mabbott, the personal chair of immunopathology at the University of Edinburgh, said at The Conversation.
The effect lasted about three months in the mice. The “heightened state of readiness led to a 100-to-1,000-fold reduction in viruses getting through the lungs and into the body,” said the BBC. And even for the few that made it through, the immune system was “poised, ready to fend off these in warp speed time,” Bali Pulendran, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford and author of the study, said to the BBC.
6. Night-vision contact lenses
Scientists have created contact lenses that can give people super-vision, according to a study published in the journal Cell. The lenses allow “people to see beyond the visible light range, picking up flickers of infrared light even in the dark — or with their eyes closed,” said New Scientist. They could potentially be a replacement for night-vision goggles.
“There are many potential applications right away for this material,” Tian Xue, a neuroscientist at the University of Science and Technology of China and a senior author of the study, said in a statement. “For example, flickering infrared light could be used to transmit information in security, rescue, encryption or anti-counterfeiting settings.” The lenses also do not require a power source like traditional goggles, making them a more usable alternative.
