2021 inventions and discoveries that will change our lives forever

We will remember 2021 as a return to normal life, many cities reopened after the pandemic. We began to look at the world around us in a completely different way. We have changed with the world. Science also did not stand still: research, calculations and experiments were carried out. "Economic truth”Has collected the most memorable inventions of 2021.

HIV vaccine successfully tested

In early December, scientists from the American National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reported the successful trial of a vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

The drug was designed by Moderna using mRNA technology. She is not unique, but in 2021 she was talked about as revolutionary. The company produces coronavirus vaccines behind it Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

Positive HIV vaccine results have been achieved in monkey trials. At 58 weeks after vaccination, all vaccinated animals developed measurable levels of antibodies that neutralize most strains of HIV infection.

Although the doses of mRNA administered were high, the vaccine was well tolerated. It caused only mild temporary side effects, such as loss of appetite.

Two weeks later, scientists began infecting macaques with a so-called bizarre virus, created by combining nucleic acid fragments from two or more different viruses. In total, there were 13 attempts at infection with an interval of once a week. As a result, two of the seven immunized macaques remained uninfected.

On the subject: Two drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 approved in the United States: how they work

The rest of the immunized animals became infected after eight weeks. Non-immunized animals became infected after three weeks. Scientists are currently adjusting the test protocols. Once the vaccine is proven to be safe and effective, a Phase I trial in healthy adults will be announced.

The fusion reactor created more energy than it consumed

Scientists from the United States in November for the first time managed to generate more energy from a controlled thermonuclear fusion reaction than a consuming installation that triggers the fusion of atomic nuclei. The work is currently undergoing peer review.

If the results are confirmed by independent experts, it will be possible to confidently say about the achievement of an important milestone in the development of this energy sector.

According to the researchers, a record energy yield of 1,3 megajoules was achieved in the fusion reaction.

This is a significantly better result compared to previous attempts. The energy yield is eight times that of other experiments, and 25 times that of experiments conducted in 2018. This is a great achievement for physicists at the Livermore National Laboratory in the USA.

This result is a historic step forward in research on inertial fusion. It opens up a fundamentally new regime for research and promotion of our most important national security objectives, ”said laboratory director Kim Budil.

Fusion with inertial content involves the creation of a small star. The capsule with the "fuel", heavy hydrogen isotopes deuter and tritium, is placed in a small empty gold chamber (holraum).

Then 192 high-power laser beams are sent to the holraum. The walls of the holraum convert this radiation into X-rays. They are channeled into a fuel capsule, heating and compressing it to conditions likely to be found in the core of stars. The temperature is over 100 million degrees and the pressure is over 100 billion atmospheres.

So in earthly conditions, a small star.

The process takes several billionths of a second. The goal of the experiment is to get “free” energy. True, a huge amount of energy is spent on the inflammation of a mini-star, but scientists do not lose hope that soon the mini-light will generate more energy than the installation will absorb.

“This is a historic result, the culmination of decades of hard work, innovation and ingenuity, massive teamwork and relentless focus on the ultimate goal,” said physicist Johan Frenier of the MIT Plasma and Fusion Center.

Viagra Reduces the Risk of Alzheimer's Disease

A study by scientists at a private clinic in Cleveland (USA) shows that the drug sildenafil (better known as Viagra) significantly reduces the likelihood of developing Alzheimer's disease. 6% of people over 65 suffer from it. The gray matter of the brain is affected, resulting in memory loss.

Scientists have analyzed applications for medical insurance 7,2 million people. They found that taking sildenafil reduced the chances of developing the disease over the next six years by almost 70% compared to patients who did not take it.

Of course, such results do not prove a causal effect. People who took sildenafil may have been using other drugs or physical activity, which increases the chances of not becoming a victim of the disease.

However, researchers they saythat the found correlation is sufficient to identify sildenafil as the main candidate for drugs against Alzheimer's. Scientists at a private clinic are going to conduct research to prove or disprove the existence of a causal relationship.

Living robots were taught to reproduce

AI-engineered and hand-built xenobots - living machines made from frog embryonic cells - can spontaneously reproduce themselves. For the first time xenobots presented scientists from the USA in 2020. To create them, stem cells from the embryos of the South African frog Xenopus laevis were used.

The frog's genome remained the same, but the cells were reprogrammed. After incubation, about 3 cells were connected by hand using tiny tweezers and an electrode. Created in this way, xenobots could move, find targets and recover from damage.

In the new work, scientists have taught xenobots to create their own kind. This is a completely new way of breeding. “Adult” xenobots collect cells, and after a few days “babies” turn into full-fledged xenobots.

Xenobots use what is known as kinematic self-replication, a process previously observed only at the molecular level.

To figure out which form of xenobots is best for reproduction, scientists turned to artificial intelligence. An evolutionary algorithm run on a supercomputer has tested billions of xenobot body shapes and found that it will provide efficient kinematic self-replication.

The supercomputer spent several months on this task. He settled on the C-shape, reminiscent of the "Pacman" from the game of the same name. Then the scientists assembled robots according to the scheme proposed by the computer and showed that new xenobots can successfully reproduce themselves for several generations.

The authors of the work believe that xenobots will provide a deeper understanding of the reproduction process. They will enable the creation of living machines for regenerative medicine, drug development, and the collection of microplastics in water.

A medicine to stop aging

The use of drugs that stop the aging process and rejuvenate the body can begin in five to ten years. Japanese scientists have discovered a mechanism by which you can get rid of aging cells.

According to Makoto Nakanishi, professor at the Research Institute of Medicine at the University of Tokyo, age-related weakening of body functions is caused by the accumulation of “aging” cells in the organs that trigger inflammatory processes.

They were discovered 60 years ago by the American Leonard Hayflick. He found that cells can only divide a few times. Recent studies have shown that division can stop due to DNA damage or oxidative stress.

“If you remove the“ aging ”cells, then you can stop the inflammatory processes, and therefore achieve a significant inhibition of aging,” said Nakanis.

In 2014, scientists began to find out why cells cannot reproduce, and found a molecular mechanism. They created cells with properties common to all “aging” cells and began to look for something that would kill only them.

Scientists have found that the GLS1 enzyme is important for the “aging” cell. It is closely related to the process of glutamine metabolism. In order to survive and neutralize the acidic environment, the cell needs ammonia produced by the conversion of glutamine to glutamic acid, i.e. in a process that requires GLS1.

The researchers used a drug that is undergoing clinical trials as a cancer drug. This drug was injected into an old mouse. The result was a dramatic improvement in organs and structures that have undergone age-related changes. After the injection, the scientists saw an improvement in the symptoms of diabetic disease and atherosclerosis.

“Senescent” cell clumps cause Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. One drug can improve many types of age-related diseases and achieve rejuvenation, ”said the professor.

If the drug is proven safe for humans, it will first be used for people with progeria - premature aging syndrome. Then - for those who, due to age-related muscle weakening, cannot lead a normal life. There are also patients on the waiting list who have kidney failure and need dialysis.

Learned to convert CO2 into oxygen and carbon

Australian scientists have created a simple and efficient plant for converting carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon. In the case of its scaling, cars with internal combustion engines, thermal power plants on coal or gas and industrial plants instead of carbon dioxide when burning fuel will be able to produce pure oxygen.

The experimental setup with a volume of two liters is based on physicochemical phenomena associated with the transmission of carbon dioxide through gallium. This is the so-called liquid metal that begins to melt at a temperature of 30 degrees.

In addition to gallium in liquid form and gallium in the form of nanoparticles, nanosized silver rods are added to the mixture. During operation, the mixture is intensively mixed. This causes triboelectrochemical reactions. Due to the frictional force, fluids interact more actively with the surfaces of solid fillers.

Scientists reported that the compact unit converted 100 ml of CO2 every minute without changing its characteristics for a month.

Converting a ton of CO2 into oxygen and solid carbon used 230 kWh of electricity, which costs $ 100. The conversion efficiency reached 92%. The carbon is flaked and just floats to the surface.

Scientists believe that such installations can be equipped with every car and power plant on fossil fuels, as a result of which the air will literally freshen up before our eyes. LM Plus was established to commercialize the technology.

Scientists have turned light into matter

Researchers at the American Brookhaven National Laboratory use a sophisticated particle accelerator to convert light into electrons. This is the first time this phenomenon occurs on the planet. Breakthrough confirmed predictions made by influential physicists almost a century ago.

The transformation of photons, massless particles of light into electrons, elementary particles of matter, was done by researchers at the relativistic heavy ion collider RHIC. The theoretical prerequisites for this work arose at the beginning of the 20th century. To test them, scientists have created a solenoid tracker detector (STAR).

“The stars aligned so that we succeeded,” said the author of the project, Zhangbu Xu.

The results of the experiment will be useful to astrophysicists and cosmologists.

The helicopter flew to another planet

In early 2021, the Perseverance spacecraft landed on the surface of Mars. Along with him came the Ingenuity helicopter, surprising both scientists and space enthusiasts.

It was planned to make five flights in 30 Martian days and crash. The authors of the project wanted to find out if helicopters can work in the Martian atmosphere. However, Ingenuity not only took off, but also survived the changing seasons and helped the rover explore the planet. For six months of operation, the helicopter has set several records, and NASA is pinning its hopes on it even more.

The helicopter has already completed 18 flights, covering a distance of 3,6 km. He rose to a height of 12 meters, flew at a speed of 18 km / h and spent 30 minutes in flight. The device is automatic: the leaders send the commands, and the helicopter does it itself.

The software of the device assumes flights only over a flat surface. The developers did not teach the helicopter to operate in mountainous terrain, because no one thought it would last that long.

NASA spent 1,8 million dollars on the creation of a device weighing 85 kg. Ingenuity was able to fly in the atmosphere of Mars, the density of which is 72 times lower than that of Earth. In addition, he has made invaluable contributions to the development of aerospace technology.

Breast cancer vaccine trials begin

Clinic in Cleveland announced about the beginning of unprecedented clinical trials of a drug that prevents the development of triple negative breast cancer (TNRMZ) - the most aggressive type of this disease.

According to statistics, this particular form of breast cancer is most often diagnosed in women under 40, as well as in people with a congenital genetic mutation (BRCA1), which significantly increases the risk of developing this disease.

This mutation was inherited by the actress Angelina Jolie. After learning that she was 87% likely to develop this type of cancer, she removed both breasts. After the operation, the actress's risk of getting sick dropped to 5%.

Several research teams are trying to develop a vaccine that would significantly reduce the risk of developing the disease. However, testing of potential drugs is still limited to laboratory experiments on animals.

The effect of the drug, administered in the form of three injections with a two-week break between them, is based on the search for a specific protein in the body.

It is normally produced only in young mothers during breastfeeding. The rest of the time, the presence of this protein in the blood indicates the presence of a potential tumor. Once detected, the vaccine sends a signal to the immune system.

While the drug will be tested on volunteers in whom TNRMZ was diagnosed at an early stage and is curable with traditional therapy. The next step will be to test the vaccine on healthy volunteers at risk. Among them are women with a hereditary mutation of the BRCA1 gene.

The possibility of space curvature has been proven

Former NASA aerospace engineer Harold White accidentally committed opening, which became the world's first confirmation of the reality of the so-called warp bubble or Alcubierre bubble. This can open the way for humanity to the stars.

White is a warp drive enthusiast. He works under contract with DARPA and in parallel develops his non-profit organization Limitless Space Institute (LSI).

The combination of his own research, the work of LSI and the DARPA projects allowed the researcher to make an amazing discovery: to see the birth of a warp bubble where another scientist would not pay attention to this phenomenon.

For DARPA, White investigates the Casimir effect. It is interesting in that at the microlevel it allows certain quantum phenomena to manifest themselves in the form of mutual gravitation of two objects under the influence of particles that are freely born and disappear in a vacuum.

In the macrocosm, this effect can be observed during the birth of garbage islands in the ocean. For DARPA, the scientist studied the phenomenon of the geometry of the surfaces of objects.

When analyzing the energy distribution for one of the configurations, it turned out that the energy distribution corresponds to the publications of theoretical physicist Miguel Alcubierre on the possibility of the existence of a warp bubble. This is the path to man-made curvature of space and movement at a speed higher than the speed of light.

White knew immediately what he had stumbled upon. He was further strengthened in the belief that warp drives for starships would someday become a reality. To consolidate the results of the discovery, he proposes to conduct an experiment with a cylinder with a diameter of 4 micrometers with a sphere with a diameter of 1 micrometer in its center.

Studying the three-dimensional distribution of energy density in and around objects will confirm the discovery or refute it. White himself will not conduct the experiment. This path is open to everyone who wants to go down in history.