The biggest scientific achievements of 2016

It was not until 2016 that it was possible to record gravitational waves, the existence of which had already been predicted a century ago by Albert Einstein. This is undoubtedly the biggest scientific achievement of 2016. But there were many more significant achievements. Here are the five biggest achievements of the past year, according to the editors of the Journal of Science.

In February 2016, news cooled that it had managed to measure gravitational waves. From a 1916 published ogóThe theory of relativity shows that an object with a large mass curves space wokóself, and gravitational waves are generated by certain phenomena, such as the collision of massive objectsów. And such „wrinkles of space-time” registered. They came from the collision of twoóch black holes more than a billion light years away. This breakthrough discovery was made thanks to LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory). The project involved 15 Polish scientistsów.

Another achievement that fired the imagination was the discovery of the exoplanet Proxima b. It orbits aroundól of the star Proxima Centauri – A red dwarf four light years away from Earth. It is located in the so-called. ecosphere, or in orbit, in which theówithin which conditions may be conducive to the emergence of life as we know it. The most significant element of the ecosphere is the presence of liquid water.

Quite a bit of progress was also recorded in the work on artificial intelligence. When a computer (IBM Deep Blue) beat Garriy Kasparov at chess in 1997, móIt was thought that the program would prove its intelligence only in theóat the time it defeats the game’s champion go. And it happened in March of this year. The Alpago algorithm developed by DeepMind defeated Korean champion Lee Sedol 4:1.

Also significant was the inversion ofóprice of the aging process. This was done through the use of induced pluripotential comóstem cells (iPSCs), allowing scientists to reprogram the comórek to a rudimentary stage similar to embryonic. As a result, the comórks can create intermittentótangible body tissues. An experiment was conducted on mice affected by progeria – disease leads to early aging. When subjected to comórki skóry rodent transcriptional activities by krótki period, it appeared that the signs of aging were slightly reversed.

Also worth noting is the work of Dr. John Zhang. Thanks to his efforts, a healthy baby born to a woman burdened with a genetic defect was born into the world. This fertility expert has developed a technique for replacing mitochondrial DNA, so that theówhere a healthy baby boy was born. The method also makes it possible to give birth to a child descended from three parentsów.