Science and Technology in 2017: Discoveries and Achievements

The brightest and most important discoveries and achievements of science and technology in the outgoing year

In 2017, scientists made a number of scientific discoveries, and engineers and designers created new machines and devices that made our world even more fantastic. I collected the most outstanding achievements of science and technology in the outgoing year.

Discovered the most ancient traces of life on Earth

In iron-bearing rocks with an age of not less than 3.77 billion years, on the coast of the Hudson Bay in the Canadian province of Quebec, tubular structures similar to those found in microorganisms living in hydrothermal ocean sources were found. The samples found are more than 300 million years older than the oldest known signs of life on Earth.

Exoplanets, suitable for life

On February 22 at NASA conference it was reported that in the planetary system at the star TRAPPIST-1 there are 4 more exoplanets (7 in total), comparable in size with the Earth, three of them are in the habitation zone, i.e. The temperature regime on the surface of these planets allows water to be in a liquid state, which means that they can potentially be suitable for life.

Later, on April 19, a group of astronomers from the European Organization for Astronomical Research announced the discovery of a life- worthy planet LHS 1140 b near a dim star in the constellation of Keith at a distance of 40 light years from Earth.

Also in the outgoing year, two new satellites were discovered from Jupiter. Their total number reached 69.

Found a giant statue of the Egyptian pharaoh

On March 10, on the site of Heliopolis on the outskirts of Cairo, archaeologists of the Egyptian-German expedition discovered fragments of an eight-meter statue (a torso with the lower part of the head, a crown, a right ear and a fragment of the right eye).

Archaeologists found a hidden camera in the pyramid of Cheops

The research team announced that it had discovered a 100-foot (about 30-meter) cavity in the Great Pyramid of Giza ( the Cheops pyramid ), which is the largest and oldest of the three pyramids outside of Cairo.

Researchers financed by the Egyptian government used an advanced method of muon tomography to find hidden space.

The center of the hidden cavity found is located 40-50 meters above the floor of the "Chamber of the Queen" found in the beginning of the XIX century.

Created a two-dimensional magnet

Scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MTI) and Washington University in Seattle for the first time created a two-dimensional magnet consisting of a layer of chromium triiodide , one molecule thick. The search for a two-dimensional magnet has been carried out since the 1970s, but without success - all previously obtained materials could not be called with full certainty two-dimensional.

A two-dimensional magnet allows the creation of the finest electronic devices, new forms of data storage, and quantum computers.

Achievements in genetic engineering

In early 2017, scientists from the University of Guangzhou from China first used the technology of genetic editing CRISPR on viable human embryos, having cured some of them from hereditary mutations. Geneticists fertilized 6 donor eggs with spermatozoa of two men, each of which had its own genetic mutation - primaquine anemia and beta-thalassemia. Using CRISPR, scientists completely corrected one embryo with primaquine anemia and edited the other two.

Later, a group of American scientists from Portland also genetically modified a human embryo. Scientists used CRISPR to edit a mutant copy of the MYBPC3 gene, which encodes a protein that is involved in the formation of cardiac muscles. The donor-father had a mutant gene, and his mother did not have a mutation. The scientists fertilized the egg in a Petri dish and at the same time introduced parts of the edited genome into it. As a result, 75% of the embryos obtained did not have a mutant genome. CRISPR technology has a great potential for treating diseases such as HIV and various cancers.

Another group of American scientists from the biotechnology company eGenesis was able to modify for the first time the genome of the animal (pig), bringing it as close as possible to the human. This will allow the creation of organs for transplantation in the future.

And Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine is engaged in projects for the cultivation of human organs and tissues. The discoveries of the researchers of this institute can help in the restoration of nerve damage, and in the future even grow internal organs and limbs.

The fusion of neutron stars

On August 17, scientists of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory  (  LIGO ) project , who discovered gravitational waves early, first recorded the moment of the fusion of two neutron stars. This opens a new era in the study of the universe - to the aid of optical and radio astronomy comes astronomy of gravitational waves.

An interstellar object in the solar system was first discovered

October 19 astronomer Rob Weryk , a researcher at the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Hawaii, first noticed a strange moving object in the celestial sphere at a distance of about 0.2 astronomical units ( about 30 million km ) from Earth. The object had a very strange orbit trajectory - almost Perpendicular to the ecliptic plane of the solar system.

As it turned out later, this object was an asteroid, arrived in our solar system from interstellar space. According to preliminary calculations, he flew from the constellation Lyra, however, solar gravity changed its course and speed, sending it to the constellation Pegasus.

The first launch of the "spent" missile

On March 30, the company of the entrepreneur innovator Ilona Mask SpaceX successfully launched into orbit the previously used Falcon 9 rocket carrier , which, after the work was done, was again landed. The repeated use of expensive carrier rockets allows saving more than $ 18 million for each launch.

The first serial electric truck

On November 16, Tesla introduced the Tesla Semi electric truck for the first time . On one battery charge, it can travel up to 800 kilometers. The full load of the car is 36 tons, and up to 100 km / h with this weight it can be accelerated in 20 seconds. The release of Tesla Semi is expected to begin in 2019.

The first quantum computers on the market

The company the IBM , specializing in the creation of computer technology, has announced the creation of two models of a quantum computer - a system of 20 qubits, which will be available to customers by the end of 2017, and a prototype with 50 qubits, which will be the foundation for future systems, the IBM the Q .

Quantum calculations in the coming years will open new opportunities in the field of chemistry, machine learning, process optimization and many other fields of science and technology.